{day 13} Favorite Books

 Your 5 Favorite Books 

I read Animal Vegetable Miracle in college and it completely changed the way I thought about food. Honestly I knew things had a "season" but I don't know that I could have necessarily told you that asparagus typically "bloom" in March, or that onions are in season in the summer. These foods are always in the grocery store... so they're always "in season." This book really makes you reconsider your dietary choices, and the benefits of eating locally. 

I know everyone and their sister loves The Help. I'm no exception. I was a little dissappointed by the movie, but that's just because the book was that good. 

I finally picked up Tina Fey's book when I was in Ohio. I read the whole thing in two sittings. It's hilarious. I love her. 

Who didn't love the hunger games? I couldn't put down the series once I started. SO intense. LOVED it. 

This book really changed my life. In fact, I may read it again. It inspired my {25 before 25} project, and really just made me evaluate. I seriously think you should all go out and buy this book RIGHT now. Seriously. Go. I'll be here when you get back. 

Allow myself to introduce...myself

She had rings on her fingers and bells on her shoes

And I knew without asking she was into the blues

Hellew, gorgeous!  I’m Megan, fellow SEC-rooting, Southern-raised, single twenty-something living and working in our great country’s capital city.  I have recently partnered up with the amazing, stylish Emily as a contributor to BlueDogBelle, and I am elated to join the blog-o-sphere for the first time!  So what will I be adding to BlueDogBelle, you wonder…

I have a Carrie Bradshaw-level of adoration for my city, Washington, DC.  It is a little big town amidst an atmosphere of heterogeneity.  Any taste of life an individual could desire can be found here:  history, music, passion and activism, thoughtfulness, diverse backgrounds and perspectives, politics/policy/philanthropy, and all balanced out by the finer (literal) tastes of life, with a varied palette of globally-influenced spots to wine and dine.  One of the most surprising discoveries I made as a 22 year-old graduate was just how much of a role this last item plays in the DMV culture.  Restaurants and bars were obviously an area to socialize with friends, but post-college I came to the realization that this particular arena serves as a remote location for professionals from every office level to meet, to play, to network, and to wheel and deal.  We all have heard that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, but in the District this saying transcends romantic strategy and overflows into the business of the city.  Of course, occupational drinks and meals aren’t a concept exclusive to DC - just the particular type of business dealt, and the power of the individuals at the table (or bar counter as the case may be), in these situations is nearly exclusive to DC, namely as the center of American politics.  

Which brings me to Blue Dog Belle!  I’m partnering up with my beloved fellow Southerner to dive into and celebrate DC’s Don Draper-esque scene, where bourbon meets business.  I’ll be bouncing around the District’s watering holes, both high profile and low key local favorites, and will jot down my experiences at each saloon, focusing on the style, the atmosphere, the crowd, the conversation, and naturally the highlights of the heart and barter of these spots - the libations.  Full disclosure, I’m afraid the meat of the true wheelings and dealings, as sexy as that would be to whistle blow, will not be the focus of my entries, as my attention will be on the spaces and the use of these spaces within the District. 

Thank you for visiting, and please stay tuned as I make my first entry this week!

{Day 12} and an Announcement.

what I would find in your bag

I know I've talked about it before, but I'm addicted to Lip gloss. I just counted and I have 22 various lip products in my purse. Ridiculous I know. 

Now... Big Announcement Ladies

I am welcoming a contributing writer. She is a good friend of mine who has wanted to get into blogging for a while now. She's going to be stopping by every now and again to update you on life inside the beltway. She's going to do restaurant and cocktail reviews like crazy--- so all you DMV gals, get excited. I'll let her introduce herself in a bit, but just wanted to get y'all excited!!

I, of course, am not going anywhere, and will still be bringing you beauty and fashion fabulousness in our nations capital. 

xo.

{Day 11} A Bucket List

 Write a bucket list of things you want to do before you die

Wow. What a topic. Here goes nothing. 

See all 50 states (by the time I'm 30 preferably).

Write a book

Travel the world for a year

Successfully bake a chocolate souffle 

Meet President Obama and have a conversation with him

Own a Chanel bag

Get a graduate degree

Make a difference in the world

Be a Mom

Dive with Great White Sharks in South Africa (in a cage of course)

Own a vineyard

Have an amazing garden

See Angkor Wat

Take a cooking class in Italy

Own a 67 Mustang. 

I'm sure I could go on and on... especially when it comes to travel... but I'm still working on this list. Do you have a bucket list? Are you making any progress on it?

{Day 10} and My Christmas List

So I know every other blogger on earth has put together a gift guide, but if anyone I know reads the blog... I thought I would share a few things on my Christmas list this year. 

Dress  |  Monogram Necklace  |  Gold Earrings  |  Post Earrings  |  Monogram iphone case  |  Kate Spade Twirl Perfume  |  French Press  |  Yoga Mat Journey  |  Business Card Holder  |  Antiqued Mercury Glass Votives  |  Nikon D3100 DSLR Camera  |  Starbucks Card  |  Naked Basics Palette

While my Christmas list this year may not be entirely realistic, a girl can dream right? 

I always need new dresses for work (or colorful pencils skirts and cardigans). And a few bobbles and sparkly jewels to go with it are always appreciated. 

I got the naked palette last year, and I still use it every single day. However Urban Decay just released their Naked Basics Palette-- which has some gorgeous matte colors and at $27 it's much more affordable than other UD palettes. 

A cute monogrammed business card holder.

A french press and starbucks $$$  (you can't go wrong)

A new yoga mat (that get good traction)

I've been lusting after a monogram cut out necklace for years now. I think it's time. 

Kate Spade Twirl Perfume

and.... if anyone REALLY loves me they can get me the Nikon D3100 I've been lusting after. 

What's on your christmas list?

Now... 

songs you listen to when you are happy, sad, bored, hyped, mad

I have a pretty eclectic taste in music-- in that I don't know a lot about the music scene, and I pretty much only listen to the songs on my favorite top 40's station. There. I admit it. I have lame taste. Judge away. 

I generally listen to music when I'm getting ready in the morning (while my emotions generally run through the stages of grief because I have to get up from my comfy bed and go to work), right now I'm all about southern rock from the 70's. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker Band and the Allman Brothers.

Then I get in the car and listen to Christmas music or top 40's. 

Then I listen to CNN all day. I know it's not music, but I feel its necessary to include. 

Then I listen to All Things Considered on NPR as I drive home. 

So that's my musical taste of the moment. 

{Day 9}

something you’re proud of in the past few days

hmm... this is a tough one. I'm feeling a little under the weather today, so productivity is low. 

I've been working hard on my law school applications over the last week or so.

I've done an inordinate amount of laundry today. 

I knocked out all of my office christmas presents! Woohoo. 

I've been working on some exciting things for the blog... which y'all will find out about soon enough. 

I guess I need to be a little more productive over the coming days... hmm.

{Day 8} Short Term Goals

short term goals for this month

My main goal for this month is to complete this month of blogging through all of the craziness of the holidays.

I want to take advantage of some quality time with friends and family.

I want to make some more progress on the 25 before 25

I want to get back to yoga.

work on getting some new years resolutions together.

{Day 7} Impacts and Friday's Fancies #11

 a picture of someone/something that has had the biggest impact on you

My Parents.

Obviously they've been there since day 1, but they constantly provide guidance and motivation, without which I don't know where I would be. I am eternally grateful for their love and support.

Now for some

shirt  |  pants  |  boots  |  leather satchel |   watch 

Have a great weekend y'all!

{Day 6} Favorite Super Hero

First of all this happened yesterday! And I can hardly believe it!

Seriously. Thank y'all so much. We may have to do a giveaway soon to celebrate! 

Now I have a favor to ask of all of y'all. I am curious to see what keeps you coming back day after day, what you like, and more importantly what you don't like. If you have a quick second could you please fill out this quick survey just to let me know what you're thinking. I will love you forever and ever.

*If you're in google reader please click over to the page to actually fill out the survey*

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Okay y'all. Now that all that is over on to the real show. I'm excited for this one. 

 Favorite Super Hero and Why

Captain Planet!!!

Who is shocked by this choice? Haha. A democrat who loves protecting the environment? "Why I've never heard such a thing" *(you have to say it in a southern accent)

But seriously. This show was awesome. I really need to start watching it again. It was a life goal of mine to become a Planeteer. While I had a crush on on Wheeler (whose power was Fire), I wanted to be Gi (Water) because she always got to hang out with dolphins. And who didn't want to ride around in a solar powered geo-cruiser? I still do.  Really... whoever came up with that show was brilliant. They created all these little environmentalists running around. And while it may be a stretch... I bet there is some relation to our generation (I think I'm a Millennial)  being more concerned with the environment than say generation x, and certainly the baby boomers. Come on, I don't think superman did that...

I can still hear that song in my head when the planeteers get together to call Captain Planet. "Earth! Wind! Fire! Water! Heart! Go.... PLANET! Captain Planet, He's our hero, Gonna take pollution down to zero..."

I mean come on. Who wrote that? Beyond awesome.

Who is your favorite super hero?

Day 5: Spain

Happy Wednesday! I hope y'all are enjoying the

It has definitely been a challenge so far, but one that I'm loving, so I hope y'all are too. Today's topic is 

 a picture of somewhere you've been

Well this was actually a hard one for me... because I've been a lot of places. But the one place that captured my heart is...

SPAIN

in 2004 I spent 5 weeks one summer in a home-stay in a small town called Almunecar on the beach in Andalucia. Well to say I fell in love with the country and traveling in general was quite the understatement. 

I went back for a full semester in 2008, and those four months changed my life completely. I met so many wonderful people, including KC who I still talk to every single day (except when she's in her law school exams). I lived in Valencia (on the east coast) and I definitely left a piece of my heart there. 

If you ever find yourself planning a trip to Spain, please go to Valencia. It's absolutely gorgeous. It's got fabulous beaches. Amazing architecture. Great Restaurants. They invented Paella! and it's not your "typical" tourist city--- which I love. I could seriously gush about Valencia for hours, but I'm sure y'all don't want to read it, so I'll keep it brief. 

I was lucky enough to have about 5 weeks afterwards to travel around Spain and Europe, which I haven't talked about much. But I was bit hard by the travel bug, and I still get the itch to just get up and go.

Where is your favorite place to travel? 

Day 4 and ASOS

Today's topic of the 

a habit that you wish you didn’t have

I am addicted to the snooze button. Seriously. I think I always have been since probably about age 4. I love to sleep, but I do not appreciate being woken up (even if it is by my iphone). I usually set the alarm for 15 minutes before I need to get up, but my "body clock" wakes me up 10 minutes before that. But why get up like a normal person? No. I need those extra 10 minutes. Duh. Unfortunately I have an insane ability to fall deep into sleep in 10 minutes making it ridiculously hard to wake up on time. Then I'm running late. Dry shampoo and a sock bun happens way too often. Maybe that'll be a new years resolution... I don't know if 20+ years of a habit can be broken... But it sure is a habit I wish I didn't have. 

Now... I pulled this post together, but apparently I'm behind in my blog reading, because one of my usual Tuesday Linkups (Loving Lately as seen here, here, and here) is no more. Well. No matter. This is my latest obsession. I've been doing some online hunting lately, and I am seriously obsessed with all things ASOS. Unfortunately their stuff doesn't fit me very well. For some reason it's cut for girls much taller than me... so I can't ever get the fit just right. No matter. A girl can still shop right? 

Day 3 and The Birthday Party

Happy Monday! Before I update y'all on my jam packed weekend let's get to know me better with day 3 of the....

a picture of you as a child

I know. I was so cool right? The hipster bangs. The sun glasses. The red boots. I mean. I couldn't be any cooler. 

There are some awesome ladies out there who are also doing the challenge, if you're participating will you please send me a link to your post and I'll make sure to give you a shout out!

Check out Emily and Sarah Elizabeth and Mree

Now, I wanted to thank you all again for your help last week. The party went well, and I think my minimalist decorations were a hit!

We did a full bar with some DIY signature cocktails. We had lots of fun making simple syrups and thinking of cute names for drinks! Then I made these, and omg y'all. they were SO good. 

We opted not to get a tree this year, but we hung up lots of lights in front of the window and it's so pretty. 

I also neglected to take a picture (I know-- blogger fail), but I made this super cute polka dot banner that we ran all over the house. It was SO easy and took maybe 30 minutes to put the whole thing together. I promise I'll post a picture tomorrow--- and take you through it. So fun.

Oh. Of course there were drinking games played. Beer Pong and Flip Cup at at 25 year old's Birthday Party is totally acceptable right?

Day 2

Okay, it's day two of the

the meaning behind your blog name

I'm so excited to finally talk about this, because I think there are a lot of people out there who don't "get" my blog's name. If you're not a political nerd you may not know 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. Haha. Well, 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.

Day 1

Welcome to the inaugural day of the...

day 1 – recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself

"Hi There!"

1. I always sing along to the radio when I'm in the car. 
2. I have a fear of cotton balls
3. My eyes change color depending on what I'm wearing (they range from very light blue to deep green)
4. I'm obsessed with everything on Bravo. 
5. I cannot stand Kelly Clarkson.  
6. I spent a summer in Tanzania teaching english to children affected by HIV/Aids. 
7. I have four best friends. Three of whom I've known since before I was 12. 
8. I am super picky about textures. Clothes, food, linens. Everything.
9. I lived in Spain.
10. I was a super competitive softball player. I played just about year round from age 12 to 18. 
11. I have a unhealthy obsession with cilantro. 
12. I probably watch CNN 60 hours a week. No lie. 
13. I hate texting. I avoid it at all costs. Even more than that, I hate when people abbreviate their texts.  u no wat im sayin.  
14. I am was once an N'SYNC super fan. Lance was my favorite.
15. I'm not ashamed to say I have a serious crush on several elderly grey haired politicians. (If you really need to know: Joe Biden,  Chris Dodd, Max Baucus and Bill Clinton. 

and Happy Birthday to this girl!

Love you BW!