Friday's Fancies: Memorial Day Diva

We made it again folks! Boy am I glad this week is over, and it's a three day weekend to boot! Yay! since my days in DC are numbered I've decided to stick around town and take in some of the best sights this city has to offer. A National's game on Sunday, the Memorial Day Concert on the mall on Monday, it's going to be great! And I'm pretty sure this is the perfect outfit for all that gallivanting around town.

seersucker dress / flat sandals / tote bag / pendant jewelry / sunglasses / Sunscreen

How cute is this seersucker dress? First of all I love anything seersucker, but how perfectly patriotic for Memorial Day weekend right?

Since I'm going to be out and about quite a bit I'll definitely putting my sunscreen supplies to good use. Don't forget ladies! No one wants wrinkles or skin cancer!

Okay, now for a little link love. PS I hope y'all are liking this new weekly feature! It's quickly becoming one of my favorites!

• Need a one stop show for creative blog resources? Ashley Ella Designs put together a great one this week! So helpful. 
• Like any true southern girl I love me some boiled peanuts, but I've never thought to make them for myself. Thankfully Carlene is here to rescue us all with this recipe. Rumor is she's going to make boiled peanut hummus soon too. Yum. 
• Since summer is unofficially here we all need to remember to protect ourselves from the harmful rays of the sun. Here's 12 things you're doing wrong with your sunscreen right. 
• I'm SO doing this to my vanity! 
• How amazing does this chicken sound? I love all of her recipes, but this one is just calling my name! 
• I think I've found my next DIY project! I love this camera strap! 

Alright gals! I hope y'all have a fabulous long weekend!

A Little Revamp

Thank you all for your sweet response to yesterday's post. I think I definitely just needed a little break from all of the craziness, so I spent the day allowing me to treat myself here and there. Cupcakes for breakfast? Sure. A latte in the afternoon? Why not. Needless to say I'm feeling much better today.

I've been reading a lot of design blogs lately, and after reading this awesome post from Allyssa I decided it was finally time to take the plunge and do a little revamping of my "about" page. My original one was thrown up kind of haphazardly more than a year ago. So I figured why not go ahead and update it?  Here's the whole shebang...

Emily: The Girl Behind the Blog

Welcome! I'm Emily, the girl behind the Blue Dog Belle blog. I am originally from Georgia where I lived the first 21 years of my life. A few months before I graduated from college, I picked up everything and moved to Washington, D.C. to pursue my dream of working in politics. 

I love all things girly and have a strange obsession with the color gray. Like any southern girl I love a good monogram and drinks in mason jars. I am a beauty junkie with a weakness for all things makeup, and I'm a huge college football fan. Throw in an infatuation with glitter and you have me in a nutshell. Want more? Quirks. Goals. Friends. Confessions. History of me. 

Washington, D.C. : The Setting

After nearly four years living in Washington, D.C. the city has really become my home. DC has a unique culture unlike any other city in the world. This is truly the epicenter for all things political, but with a diverse and youthful citizenry the life of a local is never too serious or boring. Want a little taste of what it's like to gallivant around DC? Try this. this. this. this. or this.   

Blue Dog Belle: The Name

Many a-political types aren't tuned in to the various coalitions within political parties, and that's okay. But to understand a little more about me, you need to understand what a Blue Dog is.  According to their website...

"The Blue Dog Coalition was created in 1995 to represent the commonsense middle of the Democratic Party. Blue Dogs advocate for mainstream American values, a commitment to fiscal responsibility, and a strong national defense. 

The name “Blue Dog” originates from the long-time tradition of referring to a strong Democratic Party supporter as being a “Yellow Dog Democrat,” who would, “vote for a yellow dog if it was listed on the ballot as a Democrat.” Leading up to the 1994 election the founding members of the Blue Dogs felt that they had been “choked blue” by the extremes of both political parties." 

So essentially a "Blue Dog" is a moderate Democrat. Fiscally conservative, socially liberal is what I like to think. The Belle portion comes from my desire to be a southern belle. Really I just wanted a name that would represent multiple aspects of my personality. You guys know this, but I'm a political junkie with an addiction to glitter and sparkles. For more on the meaning behind the blog read my post: here.

New Orleans: The Future

As I posted here I will be picking up my life again to move to New Orleans, Louisiana to pursue my dream of going to law school. I'm both terrified and excited about this new adventure, saying goodbye to DC is much harder than I expected. Stick along for the ride though, and I'm sure we'll have tons of adventures in cajun country together. Read about my first adventure here.


And I'm back! So what do y'all think? too long? Are you annoyed by the round pictures? I hope you love it just as much as I do! Now I'm inspired to make even more changes! What should I tackle next???

Heavy Hearts

I'm going to go ahead and warn you, this post albeit brief is not the normally light hearted post you are probably used to seeing around this blog. I'm not sure what's really going on with me this week, but I'm just feeling emotionally crushed by the state of my world. I know so much of my feelings are coming from the absolutely heartbreaking images coming from Moore, Oklahoma.  But it's beyond that. This has been a really tough year. First the shootings in Aurora, Co., then hurricane Sandy, then the absolute tragedy of Sandy Hook, the Boston bombings, all the coverage of those girls in Ohio, and now the devastation in Oklahoma.  My heart has been saddened by each and everyone of these events. 

I like so many others have shed plenty of tears for the victims of these tragedies, but at the moment I'm just feeling so overwhelmed by all the sadness in the world.  I'm so appreciative that none of the tragedy has touched my personal life, but that doesn't negate the sadness hanging over me. 

I don't really know how to explain my feelings other than to say I'm utterly overwhelmed. 

So I hope you'll excuse me today as a take the day off to get myself back into a better head space. I need to focus on the good in the world, and in my world in particular.  For now I'll just leave you with this quote...

South Moon Under Shopping

Last week I made the trek out to South Moon Under in the Mosaic District in Fairfax for the Rebecca Minkoff trunk show, and let me tell y'all it was well worth the adventure. I know I'm making this sound like it's hours outside the city, but like many other district dwellers I rarely venture out to virginia, let alone outside the beltway! 

Honestly though, I wish I had done it sooner. Fabulous boutique shopping, many of my favorite DC area restaurants and target in one place? I don't even have to pay for parking? Amazing. Anyways, South Moon Under is a gem, so many unique and on trend pieces I definitely know where I'll be doing my shopping from now on. 

I was beyond impressed with the selection, and hey a 20% off night doesn't hurt either right?