Thursday, May 9, 2013

Spring Gingham Dress

A while back I was approached by eshakti to review a dress from their spring line.  If you haven't heard of eshakti before, it's a great concept for perfectly fitting clothes!  They allow you to choose a garment and customize the style (think neckline, sleeves or length). Even better than that, everything is available in any size 0-36W! They have a wide variety of styles too, so there's something for everyone. Love that.

I picked out this dress at the end of February, but it was such a cool spring, I've only just been able to start wearing it. These were taken a few weeks ago and I'm just going to warn you about my blindingly white legs. Sorry. 

Dress c/o eshakti {similar | love this one}, glasses {target}, Shoes {old}, Watch {michael kors}





Thanks to my lovely photographer for playing with me in the middle of the DC streets. We live life on the edge.


*I was gifted the dress in exchange for review, but as always all thoughts and opinions expressed are solely my own. 

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Tick Tock

The other day I was horrified when I noticed that some of the gold plating has rubbed off my favorite Michael Kors watch. I'm taking it as a sign that I need to add a new watch into the rotation (the only logical choice right? I think so).  While my pre-law school budget probably isn't going to allow me to treat myself to any of these a girl can still shop. 

These are a few of my favorites. All very different styles, so let me know which one y'all like best so I can find a knock off ASAP. 


I love the clean face and the leather. A little casual but very classy. 


Obviously I love anything Kate Spade, but this one has been on my wish list for quite a while now. My main trepidation is how similar it is to my michael kors. I feel like I should branch out a bit, right?


I love any and every Michael Kors watch, and this one is no exception. Again with the clean face, but I adore the skinny strap with the big face. 



This one is a totally different look. Square face, leather, chains, etc. It's more of a bracelet than a watch, but I still think it's really fun. Plus since I'll be back in a school environment in three short months I can accessorize a little more casually right?

Now this one... I LOVE the sparkle and the patten leather and the diamonds and the color and did I mention the sparkle? So pretty, but is it a little much. I mean I know it's a lot, but is it too much for everyday life? On the plus side, it's the most affordable of these options. 

Hmm. Decisions decisions. What do y'all think?

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

April Birchbox

I know it's already May, but I wanted to finally share my April Birchbox with y'all. I know, I know... what took me so long? Forgive me please. 


CC Creams seem to be dominating my makeup routine lately. While I'm a big fan of juice beauty, this product was a bit of a miss for me. I didn't love the smell and the coverage was minimal, but I will say that my skin looked noticeably more radiant after a few days of use. If you don't need much coverage I would say go for it, but this was a miss for me.  


I mentioned this product in my april favorites, but I need to talk about it more. I will never be without this spray ever again. I can't even tell you what a change I've seen in recent weeks. The spray smells AMAZING, and my hair looks so healthy. My ends aren't as dry, no frizziness even as the humidity increases around here. 


I really really wanted to love this product, but I don't. It smells great and goes on so smooth, but as someone who definitely suffers from morning eye puffiness I saw little to no reduction beyond the aid of a cup of coffee and a splash of cold water on my face. Plus for the cost... there's no way.


I'm a big fan of "Yes to..." products, and this one is no exception. I absolutely loved then scent and the scrub was effective, but not overly rough. I like the idea of exfoliating my face everyday, but you definitely need a gentle scrub, this one fits the bill.

This has been one of my go to lip balms for years. I've strayed a bit for my love of EOS products. I have the mint and the berry. Super moisturizing, long lasting and they smell so good.


Monday, May 6, 2013

My favorite view in all of DC

The weather in DC has been so fabulous lately. So one day last week I grabbed my camera and ran outside during lunch to try and capture a small piece of the majestic capitol building. I'm so lucky, because I get to enjoy a view of this beautiful building every time I go to work. I know that I might never get that chance again, so I'm trying my best not to take it for granted. 




I mean come on, how gorgeous does this look with the perfectly green trees and the bluest of blue skies?


The monuments are all amazing, and I don't take as much time as I'd like to enjoy them but the capitol building will always be my favorite sight in this city. 

Someone once told me that when the sight of the dome stops taking your breath away, it's time to leave this town. For some reason that little antidote has stuck with me for years. I see the dome driving to and from work, walking around the office, or any time I leave for a meeting. But I try to take a moment each day to appreciate how lucky I am to be here. Working in DC and on capitol hill for the last three years has really been a dream come true, one that I will not soon forget. As frantic and stressful as life can be at times, I really appreciate having such a beautiful view to remind me just how lucky I am.  


*All images are original to Blue Dog Belle. 

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Cocktail Hour: Strawberry Lime-arita

To celebrate Cinco de Mayo and the perfect weather in DC this weekend I decided to whip up a fun frozen cocktail to enjoy. I'm not a huge fan of super syrupy frozen drinks, so I made my own frozen margarita of sorts. Really, it's more of a daiquiri, but I used tequila (you have to celebrate 5/5 right?). This was pretty easy to whip up, and I just threw everything in the old magic bullet. Hope y'all enjoy

Strawberry Lime-arita 


Ingredients
  • 1 cup frozen strawberries (I threw in some very ripe fresh ones too)
  • 3 oz Tequila
  • Juice of 1/2 a lime
  • 1 1/5 TBSP simple syrup

Directions

Put all the ingredients into a blender and blend. Add ice or additional syrup until you reach your desired consistency/sweetness.  Enjoy.



Now I will tell you this is tangy and delicious, and it creates a pretty big margarita so you could easily share it with a friend.  I garnished with a slice of kiwi because it was pretty. Hope y'all enjoy!


All images are original to Blue Dog Belle unless otherwise noted. 

Friday, May 3, 2013

Friday's Fancies: Floral Fun

For this week's Friday's Fancies we are featuring our favorite florals for spring. Personally I'm not a huge fan of floral prints, but I'm trying. I came across this gorgeous pink top from j crew and I knew it would be the perfect piece to build a floral outfit around. The only problem? I've fallen for too many floral pieces! Who knew?


Floral Favorites



On the left I feel like the shoes steal the show, but with some bright color blocking and a gorgeous kate spade watch I think it balances well. But if you wore this outfit you certainly couldn't be afraid of color!

On the right the floral combo is a little more traditional. Add in some fabulous flats, a little sparkle (y'all know I had to) and a fun bangle and you're all set for a spring brunch.

As always come join the fun over on {AV}'s blog!


Now for a new tradition on this blog, Friday Link Love!

I loved getting to catch up with Alissa this week, especially because she was wearing this fabulous outfit! I love her in florals and neon!

Meg is one of my go to blogs for beauty advice and I loved her April favorites post.

Tabitha never fails to make me laugh out loud, this post featuring her attractive bald fiance M had cracking up.

Allyssa had a great mother's day gift guide which has definitely given me some great shopping ideas.

Congratulations Liz on your big announcement this week! I'm so excited to have another blog friend navigating the craziness of law school!

As for the weekend, I'll just be hanging around town trying to enjoy this gorgeous spring weather we've been having. Soaking up as much DC time as I can!!! What do y'all have planned?

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Black and White Stripes for Spring

This spring I'm loving the black and white striped combo that seems to be popping up everywhere. Today I wanted to show you a few on my wish list. Some are realistically in my budget, others not so much. But hey, a girl can dream right?


ASOS, $26.60 

I absolutely love this skirt, and think it would be a perfect transition piece for these cool spring mornings. 




This dress is just perfection. I love the feminine cut, and the pop of purple is so much fun. 



JCP, $21

This JCP dress is cute too if you want to try out multiple trends in one cost effective look. 



I love the cut of this dress. All the different stripes going in different directions? As a sewing newbie I'm awed with how perfectly the seams line up. 




I'm loving the kind of ombre effect of this dress. 




How can you not love this? That's all I can say. 

Also, I went to the Blogger Scene Spring Cocktail party last night! It was hosted by the lovely girls of Fashionably Broke and Ashley of Ashley in DC. I got to catch up with some of my favorite gals, Alissa, Erin and Erin and meet so many new friends!


Tuesday, April 30, 2013

April Beauty Favorites

This month I've picked up a few new things, and rediscovered some old ones. As always I have tried to pull together some high end products and some drugstore ones (though this month leans heavy on the high end, woops).


april favorites

1. Beauty Protector Protect & Detangle -- This came in my April Birchbox (post coming soon, I promise) and let me tell you, I will never be caught with out this stuff again. DARE I say it's better than my it's a 10. I don't know y'all. My hair is thicker, stronger, shinier and I definitely have less fly-aways.

2. Kate Spade Twirl perfume-- I got this stuff in a birchbox a long time ago, and it has been one of my favorites ever since. After I heard that this perfection in a bottle was being discontinued and was making its way into TJ Maxx stores across the country I've been on the hunt. Well... I finally found it when I was in New Orleans, and I've already gone through a good chunk of the 1.7 oz bottle. Guess I needed to buy it in bulk.

3. Maybelline Color Whisper in "Who Wore It Red-er"- I just picked this up last week at CVS. Y'all know I'm all about the Revlon Lip Butters, but I was curious... While my allegience still lies with Revlon, this is a great product. Super creamy, decent pigmentation and tons of moisture.

4. Supergoop CC Cream-- Now that warm weather is quickly approaching I'm a bit concerned about my face melting off... ha. Last year it was all about the BB, this year I'm sure it will be the CC, oh and did you hear? The DD creams are coming. While it's starting to get a bit out of hand, I liked what the CC claims to offer a little more coverage while still being lighter than your average foundation. While this one is a bit pricy, I really think it delivers.

5. MAC Paint Pot in Painterly-- I think I'm the last beauty enthusiast to hop on the paint pot trend, but y'all this stuff is awesome. If you aren't familiar, it's essentially a super thick tinted cream shadow/ base. You can use primer with this, but you really don't need it. I can't believe the staying power this stuff has, and it makes my other shadows pop!

6. Rimmel Stay Matte pressed powder-- I've actually had this stuff for a while now, but never loved the coverage it gave me. In an effort to shop my stash I reached for this and paired it with the CC cream and absolutely loved the effect! As someone with oily skin this stuff keeps me matte for a good 7-8 hours. Just touch up a bit for happy hour and you're ready to go!

So those are my April Beauty Favorites. What have you been loving this month?

Monday, April 29, 2013

A weekend in pictures

So, I took an absurd amount of pictures this weekend. Thankfully for you, I've narrowed it down to just a few. Hope y'all will bare with me as I learn how to take a decent picture. 

Oliver looking sassy


Obsessed with how fun this house is on Capitol Hill


Stunning tulips


More asparagus than any sane person could eat, though I may try.


Pretty Lilacs


Iris'


Pretty Spring Colors


First trip to Pitango of the season.



Fleur de lis. Seeing NOLA everywhere lately.


Iced Coffee


and a gorgeous latte


Pretty blue sky in the hood. 






Avocado amazingness


Friday, April 26, 2013

Friday's Fancies

I've been doing some thinking lately. Since I'm going to be moving to a whole new city where I don't know anyone, I'm going to have a completely fresh start. If I want to, I can totally reinvent myself. So who do I want to be as a law student? I'm not sure, but it's made me realize that I want to push myself out of my comfort zone.

This look is a tad on the edgy side for me (which is a look I rarely embrace), growth right?


dance in the rain



Prabal Gurung full skirt dress / Nine West flat / Low heel shoes / John Lewis black patent handbag, $59 / Marc by Marc Jacobs stainless steel jewelry, $250 / Amrita Singh dangle earrings / Rose necklace / Lulu Guinness striped umbrella


I loved the prabal dress from target earlier this year and when I saw the umbrella I knew exactly what direction I wanted to go.

What do y'all have planed for the weekend? I'm going to be running around town enjoying the spring weather while it lasts, working on my DC bucket list and taking a ton of pictures on my fancy camera. Get excited folks. You are about to be inundated with probably pretty terrible pictures for a while, but I'm excited, so you should be too!

Happy Friday!

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Wrapping up the 25 before 25

Well folks. I'm 25. I've been around for a whole quarter of a century. Thank you again for all your texts, tweets and comments yesterday. I definitely feel loved. 

Now it's time to wrap up my 25 before 25 project. I have to say, even though I didn't quite meet every single goal, I feel really good about what I did do. I'm not sure if I'm going to do a 26 before 26 or maybe a 101 in 1001? either way I am going to focus on a DC bucket list (coming soon) since I'm leaving soon.

1. find a job that makes me happy 
Well, this one I'm counting as a yes. I have found a new job in law school, and while I'm not quite there yet, I'm beyond excited about getting started in August. 

2. clear out my closets 

I would have liked to do a little bit better here, but you know what, I did a lot. Plus with a cross country move coming up, I'm sure I'll be doing quite a bit more. 

3. learn how to sew 

Absolutely yes. I had no idea how to sew a year ago, and I just made myself a maxi skirt sans pattern. 

4. read 25 books {17 of 25}
Nope. I definitely didn't make this one. Reading definitely needs to be more of a priority in my life, but you know what? I don't know that I would have even read 17 books for fun if I didn't have this goal. So I'm happy with what I did accomplish. 


5. take time for projects 
I feel good about this one too. I made some place mats  a lamp, decorated my room, a few things on the sewing machine. Win. 

6. work to make new friends
When I wrote this I really meant in real life friends, but that quickly evolved into blog friends. I have really developed some (hopefully) life long friendships through this blog, and I feel like I know so many of you people. 

7. show up for the ones I have

I would say I achieved this goal too. I have tried to fight my homebody tendencies, and go out even if the weather wasn't perfect or I was just feeling lazy. 

8. do a spending freeze for a month {February-March 2013}
This one was pretty tough but I did it, and I'm so glad that I did. I would suggest this to everyone, because it really helps you see just where the heck your money goes.

9. practice meditation/yoga
From April until about August of 2012 I was a yoga addict. Since I started studying for the LSAT, not so much. But yoga has a special place in my heart, and I think it will be a really helpful tool for my sanity once I start school in the fall.

10. do something unexpected 
I NEVER in a million years expected to go work on a campaign, let alone the Presidential Campaign. Moving to Ohio 5 days after the LSAT was one of the craziest/best decisions I've ever made, and I'm thrilled that I did it. 

11. go to new york
Okay, this one is a 100% fail. I didn't go. This summer. Lets make it happen people.

12. fill my walls with art that i love
I'd love to add some more, but yes.

13. save money {I had a goal. Hit it in March!}
I have a new goal, and it's going to be tight but fingers crossed I make it.

14. focus on fitness
I wish I would have done better, but yes.

15. get enough sleep
This year has definitely been a roller coaster in the sleeping department. I've never experienced the kind of sleeping problems I did, as when I took the LSAT. But I've gotten it back under control and am hoping to keep it up as I transition to life as a student once again.

16. take the LSAT 
Not only did I take it, but I'm thrilled with my dominating skills.

17. host a themed dinner party
I had a cinco de mayo party last may, so I'm counting that.

18. volunteer {did lots of political volunteer work}
 I did a ton of political volunteer work. Not exactly what I meant when I wrote out this goal, but again I'm counting it.

19. treat myself, because I'm worth it 
I decided to splurge and got a massage the week before the LSAT. It definitely helped my sanity. So glad I did it.

20. upgrade the camera
A very last minute yes. My parents are amazing and gave me a completely amazing/extremely intimidating Rebel T3i yesterday!

21. make / do 25 things found on pinterest and blog about it. {12 + 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9101112,1314151617181920, 21} Obviously I came pretty close, and if I include the avocado egg thing floating around pinterest, that I made for dinner on Tuesday I'm at 22. So probably... I ended up there. I'm counting this as a win. 

22. practice making fun cocktails 
This was one of my favorite parts of the year. Read about some of the adventures here

23. do a 5k
Nope. But Kat and I went on a 6K walk around NOLA when I was there. So that counts, right?

24. take a cooking class
Nope.

25. Blog every day for a month 
 See December 2012

26. commit to continuing these goals once 25 comes and goes


Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Guess What?


It's My Birthday! 

via
Yep. I'm officially a quarter of a century. Hard to believe. 

Here's hoping that today is a little better than last year

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Cocktail Hour: Birthday Cake Martini

Before we get to the main event, I wanted to let y'all know I'm filling in for Christa over at Significance or Nothing today. As a fellow Southern gal trying to make her way through the political craziness that is Capital Hill I kind of love her.  Come visit me!


Now, we all know I love cocktail hour, so when I saw Nicole's is hosting a week long linkup aptly named Cocktail Week (it's a #hashtag so start using it like crazy, go) I knew I'd use it as an excuse to have some playtime at the bar. The one in my house that is.

Probably Polka Dots Cocktail Week



Someone around these parts has a birthday coming up (like tomorrow, eek!) So I wanted to treat myself to something sinfully delicious that I'd normally never touch. My personal drinking rule is I don't drink cocktails if I can't sorta see through it (with a few notable exceptions i.e. red wine and frozen margaritas) Generally all those milky syrupy sinfully sweet cocktails just leave me with a killer headache the next day.

But one every now and again is okay, right? And let me tell you, this is just about the best possible exception to the rule 

Birthday Cake Martini

via

Ingredients
  • 1 oz Amaretto
  • 1.5 oz Pinnacle Whipped Cream Vodka
  • .5 oz Godiva White Chocolate Liqour
  • 1 oz Heavy Cream
  • Sprinkles
  • Frosting
Directions
First rim your fanciest martini glass in frosting. Then dip that deliciousness in a plate full of sprinkles to make the cutest glass you've ever seen. Next up combine all the remaining ingredients. Shake to combine and carefully pour into your fancy glass. 

Seriously, I'm re-evaluating my life for not drinking with this whipped cream vodka sooner. It is SO good. Go get you some right now. Vodka Diet Cokes will never be the same. 

Please go link up your favorite Cocktail with Nicole on Probably Polka Dots. She's one of my blog bff's and just generally awesome so you need to stalk her like I do. 

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