The Skinny On Having A Body-Positive Mentality

I was inspired by one of my favorite bloggers, Elizabeth of Delightfully Tacky, to share my  body positive story. My story isn't like most that you hear with negative body image issues. I never wished I could be as thin as the models in all of the magazines...because I was as thin as they were. I had the thigh gaps. You could clearly see my ribs.

Growing up, I was always naturally very skinny and underweight. Don't get me wrong, I ate and still do. I just never gained weight. I didn't really have curves and I couldn't fill out my clothes. In the photos above, I was 17-19 years old, 5'7", 95lbs, size 00. I know what you're probably thinking, "I'd kill to be that size!". I never felt that way though. When all you hear growing up are things like, "Omg, you're like a stick!", "You'd look better if you put some meat on your bones", and "You look sick", it doesn't do any favors for your positive body image. One time, at a restaurant, I even had a friend who casually said, "Oh, when you went to the bathroom, I just always thought you were going to throw up your food...". 

It could seem like this too-skinny issue was a good problem to have, but in my mind, it was just as bad as larger girls being called "fat" and being told they should lose weight. It's no different, it's just the opposite side of the spectrum. 

I heard a song on the radio when I was in the car with my husband the other day. The song was meant to be about having a positive body image mentality for girls with extra curves. She was celebrating the fact that she wasn't one of those stick figure girls. Basically, she was teaching the listeners that thin is unattractive and we should all be proud of having larger, thicker bodies. In part, that's perfectly all right. If that's how your body is, you should be comfortable with it. After hearing that song, I asked my husband, "What about those girls (me) who are/were thin and can't help it?!" How is that supposed to make us feel about our bodies?

I think people have fought against the glamorization of thin-ness in the media so much, that they neglect to think about the women who are naturally underweight. It's forgotten that some women are actually that size/shape and are perfectly healthy. Obviously though, if you're not naturally that way and you force yourself to lose weight in a harmful way or completely fake it with Photoshop (like magazines and media tend to encourage), yes, that's bad. Also, if you teach people that there's only one size or shape to be, that's not right either. 

When I was around 21, I decided that I wanted to try to gain weight. Maybe 15 pounds or so, just so I could fit in the "normal" or "average" category, and possibly take the shape of what society says a woman's figure should look like. So I started eating even more and packing on the protein and carbs. I just wanted to be a normal size person in society's eyes. I didn't want to hear anymore back-handed compliments about how skinny I was. 

I got up to 125lbs... still thin, but closer to average. Since I wasn't entirely used to this size, I often had moments when I felt fat or thought I looked fat. I knew I definitely wasn't, but it was not normal for me. I had to make myself this weight. It didn't come naturally for me. 

Nowadays, I'm generally comfortable with my body. I enjoy being thin. I don't like what society did to my self-esteem when I was growing up, but I have learned not to find my confidence in society's opinion. God didn't make a specific cookie cutter shape for all of us. We are all unique creations. Every shape and size. 

Favorite Fall Colors

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It's not quite autumn yet, but as always, I'm already excited about it and window shopping for it. However, with my baby bump, I can't fit in to some of these pieces right now, but it doesn't hurt to look and share them anyway! There are two colors in particular that I'm excited about for this fall.... emerald and mustard. These cozy and classic colors are perfect paired together or worn separately. I love the deep, rich green and funky, retro yellow hues. They remind me of the leaves changing and falling, and the weather getting cooler. I really hope to see more of these shades in this upcoming fall season. 

What fall colors are you looking forward to wearing?

Laborious Labor Day

For Cody and I, Labor Day was full of.....well, labor. By choice, though! And no, not the baby kind of labor. I've got another four months before I have to endure that. The labor we were involved with today consisted of me moving into a new salon, and then helping Cody build a table for our dining room.  

Tomorrow, I will be starting work at Options Salon. Yay! I'm pretty excited about it. The people there seem very nice. We moved most of my stuff in this morning, but I have yet to situate or organize much of it. I guess I'll finish that when I go in tomorrow. 

After we moved my things in, we hopped over to Sonic and got some delicious beverages. Cody got a cherry-vanilla Dr. Pepper, and I got a strawberry lime-ade (extra strawberries). I'm always between that and Ocean Water. Yummmm.

My husband is such a handyman. He's quite the perfectionist too, so he's very thorough with his projects. We've been working on this table for most of the weekend and still have a long way to go. Cody decided to make it out of concrete and wood. So you can imagine how incredibly heavy it's going to be! It's going to look so awesome when we're finished with it. I can't wait to show you!

Most of my helping with the table consisted of watching.... or over-seeing the project. With a belly like this, that's nearly all I can do. I'm not even huge yet, but it's already becoming a chore to bend over, crouch, and lift things. I'm nearly 5 months now, and I can feel my little critter moving and kicking around inside. It's really strange, but also incredible. There's a living creature - human - in my belly! Ahh! We'll be finding out what it is within the next couple of weeks. Soooo close!

 Labor Day has come to an end with a little extra fun and relaxation. I played with Harper in the back yard, then cooked a delicious quesadilla dinner. Now we're lounging on the couch, watching Best of YouTube videos as I type this post. 'Twas a good day. How did you spend your Labor Day? 

Yesterday, Cody and I went with some friends, Mike And Kayla (and their furbaby, Lily), to Tishomingo State Park to play disc golf. I'm really terrible at it so I usually don't play. There wouldn't even be much point in me trying to keep score, so I just go along for the hike. It's been ridiculously hot outside lately, and I'm pretty sure the temp nearly reached 100 degrees yesterday. Not the best day to be hiking through the woods and throwing discs, but it was fun nonetheless. I'm just glad I'm not near the end of my pregnancy in this heat! I probably would've passed out by hole 5.

After we finished the course, we found this little guy by the bathrooms. He didn't seem to be very afraid of us because he didn't run away when I got up close to him. He actually kind of puffed up and was probably ready to bite my face if I got any closer. Sooo.... I snapped a few shots and backed off.

5 Makeup Products to Fight Heat and Humidity

Summer is still going strong here in the south and the humidity is relentless. So, I decided to share some heat and humidity-fighting products to help your makeup last all day. Also, these products are all super affordable, because who doesn't love a good deal!? 

1. Maybelline Color Tattoo Eye Shadow - Like a tattoo, this eyeshadow is sure to last a while. It's not permanent though, so don't worry. It has an intense pigment and smooth finish so it won't cake up on your eyelids. It took a little bit of scrubbing with a makeup remover wipe to get that color swatch off my hand. I think it's safe to say that this shadow won't fade with sweat and humidity!

2. NYX Setting Spray - I looove this spray. I would even venture to say that it's as good as most high end brands. I use a setting spray on all of my bridal clients to ensure that their makeup will last throughout their special day. In the middle of a Mississippi summer, this is no easy task. If you're looking for a way to seal your makeup and fight shine on your oily areas, I definitely recommend this spray.

3. NYX Finishing Powder - Like the setting spray, this translucent powder gives your complexion a matte finish and holds your makeup in place throughout the heat of the day. It's kind of redundant with the setting spray, but it's great if you prefer powder over spray. Both are equally awesome.

4. NYX Doll Eye Mascara - This mascara is not advertised as waterproof, however, it seems to be water-resistant. I jumped in a pool the other day (with this mascara on) and swam for about an hour and the mascara didn't run at all! I was sure that I would get out looking like a raccoon, but when I dried off and checked my face, it hadn't budged at all. 

5. Smashbox Blemish Control Primer - This is also a must have in making sure that your makeup will hold up to the sweltering heat of summer. Primer gives your makeup something to adhere to on your face. This one is great because it's oil-free (so your makeup won't eventually slide off) and contains salicylic acid which helps fight blemishes - an added bonus! 

So that's a handful of excellent and affordable products that I recommend using to get you through the rest of summer. What heat/humidity-fighting products do you use?

ModCloth 40% Off Sale

In case you didn't already know, ModCloth is having such an awesome sale right now that I just had to share it. Kimonos, rompers, and Hasbeens - oh my! They have tons of adorable pieces that are 40% off, so this is definitely something you don't want to pass up. You can just click the banner above to head over there and check it all out.

Hurry up before it's all picked through.... by me.

Pregnancy Progress

I've been in the second trimester of pregnancy for a little while now, and I'm definitely enjoying it a lot more than the first! The nausea has subsided for the most part, unless I've waited too long to eat something... then it hits me with a vengeance. I've gotten some energy back, though. Not all of it, like before I was pregnant, but I'm feeling lively enough to actually perform regular, everyday tasks again. As you can see, I have a little bit of a bump! Some of that is a food baby, though, because I had just eaten a hearty lunch. Yummm.

The downside to this stage of pregnancy is that I'm not "obviously" showing yet (unless I'm wearing something very fitted). So I get those quick glances towards my belly where the person isn't quite sure so they don't want to ask and possibly offend me. Or maybe they're just thinking, "Wow, she's packed on a few pounds". I just want to wear a shirt that says, "Yes, I'm pregnant" or fast-forward to the stage where I am obviously showing. I know, as awkward as that makes me feel now, it'll probably be more awkward in other ways when I do have a huge belly. 

I haven't mentioned this to very many people until now, but I'm planning on having my baby completely naturally. My awesome sister-in-law let me borrow her Hypnobabies study guide and CD set. I just started it, but I'm loving it already. It's very calming and reassuring. It basically teaches you how to manage pain and gets you in a positive mindset about birthing. As of right now, I don't really have any fears about labor and delivery, and I'm hoping to keep it that way. So if you had a bad experience, don't tell me about it!

I'm trying really hard to enjoy my pregnancy, but I'm the type of person who always looks into the future and has a hard time just living in the present. Yes, I'm impatient...very much so. I can't wait for my little critter to arrive! ....Or at least know if it's a he or she. We'll be able to find that out early next month. Yayyyyy! I feel like it's a boy... sooo it's probably going to be a girl. Haha. 

What would be your guess?