Read My Blog. All of It. But Especially These Posts.

I'm officially a pro at blogging whenever I have 15 minutes, saving drafts, and scheduling the post for later.

If you've spent some time poking around my blog, you've probably noticed the permanent links on my toolbar. 

Meet Belle Vierge ♥ Belle's Writing Portfolio

♥ The Library: Belle's Books and Reader Resources ♥

101 Things in 1001 Days ♥ Guest Post Guidelines

Under my writing portfolio, I have links to some of my best posts, by category. Today's prompt A list of links to your favorite posts in your archives inspired me to update my list and even add two new categories.

So why these posts? Why these categories?

My blog is about virginity, but it's mostly about me and my virginity. Emphasis on the me part. I've chosen to highlight posts about my passions (feminism, consent, and virginity) and about my feelings.

In case linking you to a page with all my favorite posts already linked isn't enough for you, here are some suggestions based on what you might want to know about me.

If you're new here, I recommend reading Meet Belle Vierge and my Inaugural Post first. Then try Who I Am: A Story in Ten Parts for some background deets.

I took a lot of selfies in Niort. Don't judge me.

If you have questions about my feminism, read about my Childhood Observations, find out that My Sexual Assaults Were NOT My Fault, and learn why Gender Inequality Makes Me Angry.

If you don't understand virgins, OR if you're a virgin who feels out of place in this world, check out my Mythbusters: Virgin Edition tag. I've written an entire series on virgin stereotypes that don't apply to me.

If you want to know why I'm (mostly) anonymous, read the post in which I came out to my readers as bisexual.

As always, if you have any questions for me, I will try my best to answer them. I am notoriously bad at returning emails, so don't be surprised if you receive a reply a month later. The best way to receive an immediate response is to comment here or tweet at me. I reply to most comments within the comment section, because most comments/questions/answers are valuable for all my readers to see.

But don't be surprised if I answer your question with a list of links to my blog, or if I quote from a previous blog post... I've written a LOT about virginity, sex, boobs, feminism, sexual assault, and consent. Sometimes I don't feel like repeating myself!

Which of my blog posts is YOUR favorite? Did you like my list?

 

Books Are My Best Friends

Has anyone else noticed how some of the prompts are really similar and result in similar blog posts? 

Get real. Share something you're struggling with right now.

Last week, I wrote an apology to my twin brother, because I'm not speaking to him right now.

Last week, I wrote about "my lot in life," aka having Crohn's Disease.

I even wrote about juggling two jobs.

Honestly, those are the three realest things I'm struggling with the most right now.

A less personal, but still, a very real struggle of mine, is not having the time to read. This is killing me. I read 51 books last year, just one book shy of my goal of reading one new book a week.

I have read a mere nine books this year.

Nine.

In almost five months.

I did start a new one this weekend, for my book club. And The Poisonwood Bible was pretty long, which makes me feel slightly better. (But Flat-Out Matt was technically a novella, which makes me feel slightly worse). I also bought five books at the used bookstore last week, including the one for my book club, and the next Philippa Gregory novel I wanted to read. 

Of course, the most important book I'll read this year is actually a reread of my favorite book as a little girl.

 

Other Virgin Blogs Exist... I'm Not Alone!

Hell to the yeah, started and finished this Monday night. I'm trying to get ahead whenever I have the chance so when I'm with Beau, I can focus on him alone.

I broke the rules once and blogged about all my favorite blogs, instead of just one.

I'm breaking the rules again and blogging about my two favorite virginity blogs, instead of my five favorite blogs. Because I already did that when I broke the rules earlier this month.

If you ever can't find this post, but you desperately need to read blogs on virginity, these are all linked underneath "The Library: Belle's Books and Reader Resources."

Let's start with the most important, which is also the first virginity blog I started reading. How to Lose Your Virginity is an upcoming documentary about, well, virginity, directed by the award-winning Therese Shechter. Beau and I will actually be starring in it. I hear we're on the cover of all the movie posters. Our agents are talking to Therese about a spin-off sequel, Belle and Beau Lose Their Virginity.

Young at Heart

My childhood? Today I'm supposed to write about my childhood? Should I hop on a leather couch while you take notes at your desk?

I'm breaking the rules again. I don't want to write about childhood, not when I've done it several times before.

In Why I'm a Feminist: Childhood Observations, I describe the different feelings, experiences, and observations I had as a kid about gender inequality.

In The Talk, or How to Discuss Sex Without Scarring Your Children for Life, I think back on when my mom gave H and me the sex talk. It was sooo awkward at the time, but in retrospect, it was a very useful, informative lecture!

In my recent post Crohn's and Courage, I open up about being diagnosed with Crohn's disease when I was 8 years old.

Hey, doctor, are we done here?

 

Feeling Beautiful

It was hard to find a photo of myself that I genuinely love, that doesn't show my face. Most of my favorite pictures are of me smiling or laughing, when it's not just my mouth turned up, but my whole face is animated with joy.

But I can't share those pictures here.

It's uneven because I cut out the proofs and scanned my favorites.

This is a picture I've used in a few spots around my blog, sometimes with text over it, sometimes alone.

I was a debutante my sophomore year of college. This involved many fun events, one of which was a photo shoot for my debutante portraits. We hired a local photographer* (who is brilliant and award-winning), and we received permission from a woman at church to use her gorgeous house (mansion) and backyard for the shoot.

I love the simple elegance of this picture. It's so peaceful to me. Being a debutante was a very exciting, but busy period in my life. One of the quiet joys was feeling beautiful, and believing that feeling beautiful is okay. This picture helps me remember that.


 

*If you live in the South, and you are interested in this photographer, email me. If I find out you're in the same southern state as my home state, I will be happy to provide you with his details.