Belle Meets World

BEAUTY MUST-HAVES

DISCONNECT AND GO ON A PICNIC
FOOD + DRINK

DISCONNECT AND GO ON A PICNIC

This past weekend, Evan and I went on an impromptu picnic to the cemetery across the street. Yep, that’s right, a picnic in a cemetery. We live near the Oakland Cemetery here in Atlanta where many famous southerners are buried, like Margaret Mitchell. It’s not a sterile, sad place though. It’s beautiful and manicured and has benches and flowers and meadows – like a park where you want to spend time. It’s peaceful and lovely, and we can even let Bernie the dog off the leash. I love going here because it’s such a unique Atlanta experience – they host events and concerts here, too!

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THE PERILS OF LAYERING + GIVING LESS F@#*S
CASUAL STYLE

THE PERILS OF LAYERING + GIVING LESS F@#*S

I like to call this my ZERO F@#*S GIVEN outfit. I started wearing it a lot this winter after Evan challenged me to try caring less (a lot less) about what people think about me in 2017. To which I responded, uh, DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?! I am a neurotic freak who gives ALL the F@#*S about ALL the things. To which he responded, uh, EXACTLY!!!! 

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GRATITUDE
LIFE

GRATITUDE

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I hope that you are all having some downtime with friends and family. I’m spending this week with my fiance’s family in Virginia and North Carolina (no, it’s not snowing here, but this pic is so very Winter Wonderland) and it’s been really relaxing and low-key. With this side of my family, we decided to do something different this year – a giftless Christmas. And while I’ve missed the excitement of wrapping gifts for people I love and anticipating them opening something special I’ve picked out for them, it’s been SO nice to skip the shopping crowds and holiday sale frenzy. Instead we’ve focused on hanging out, playing games, reading, exercising, walking the dogs, seeing plays, cooking. It’s been awesome! 

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BACK ON TRACK
LIFE

BACK ON TRACK

Oh, Hi! Readers, Friends and my beloved Community – it’s been over three weeks since my last post. I just didn’t know what to write. All the recent and tragic news we’ve been reading everyday has made it so hard for me to face my blog and talk about things that seemingly don’t matter anymore – to me or the world at large. I mean WHO CARES about the latest mascara I’m loving these days or what I think you should wear to a job interview?! 

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ONE-WORD RESOLUTIONS FOR 2017
LIFE

ONE-WORD RESOLUTIONS FOR 2017

Happy 2017, Dear Readers! Anybody else thrilled to say goodbye to the wretched year that was 2016?! Many bloggers have written posts that reflect on their favorite moments from last year, but I simply don’t have that in me. It was one of the hardest years – both professionally and personally – of my life, and I don’t want to rehash it for anyone. What I want to do is look forward. Look forward with simplicity and positivity.

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TO HELL WITH HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDES
LIFE

TO HELL WITH HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDES

It’s that time of year that every blogger writes and publishes a beautiful holiday gift guide, but I simply can’t bring myself to do it. In theory I want to. In practice, I won’t make the time. But more importantly, it’s because the best Christmas I’ve ever had was the year I gave my family donations to different charities instead of material gifts. For a while when I had very little money, we’d stick to a $25 gift limit which helped my wallet. But the year we extended the rules to be a charitable donation of $25, plus a small little something for your stocking (like a great-smelling soap – everyone uses soap, I hope), was the most thoughtful giving year we’ve had. Nothing has topped it before or since.

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