Of Ghosts and Bronzed Goddesses...

I got a spray tan today.  I'll wait a couple of minutes while you laugh hysterically...

Okay.  Time's up.  This is the second one I've gotten.  I got the first one last month before I went to the beach because, seriously, who wants to go to the beach as white as the sand they'll be sitting in?  Any other time my glow in the dark skin wouldn't bother me.  I mean after spending 40 something years as pale as a ghost, who the heck cares?

This time I did it to help out a friend (not because I got so many compliments on the last one). She's going to the beach and she didn't want to be the pale person. If you have 5 or more people sign up you get $5 off.  I'm a great friend, don't you think?  I helped her save money by unashamedly standing in front of a complete stranger in nothing but my undergarments.  I think I deserve some kind of reward for my sacrifice.  Plus, if you had seen the girl who does the tans, you would understand why I deserve a reward.  She's gorgeous.

So, for the next few weeks I will live as a bronzed goddess...okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration...but I will have a nice glow to my skin, and not the ghostly kind.



*If you see me and don't recognize me, I'll completely understand. :)

How to Get Out

I didn't write the post below and not everything in the post happened to me, however the majority of what you'll read was my life for about two years.  I strongly urge anyone who is in an abusive relationship, whether it's due to drugs, mental illness or just plain cruelty to GET OUT.  No one deserves to live this way.  Period.

http://thoughtcatalog.com/2013/how-to-get-out/

Self Image

Being a woman (actually, just being human), self image is something I struggle with on a daily basis.  There is so much pressure from TV, social media, and even our own friends and family, to have the perfect body.  If your hair isn't the right color, or your thighs are too big, or your or you have too many freckles, or your skin is too pale (honestly, I could go on forever) someone is going to let you know.  Whether they do it politely or not, that's another story.

I read this post the other day (Thought Catalog) and it really struck a chord.  It really is hard to love ourselves when the world is constantly telling us that we're not good enough.  And the irony is, the world tells us to be ourselves.  But, wait...don't REALLY be yourself...be what you're expected to be.  Whoever decided what the ideal is?  I'd love to meet that person.

So, what is the real idea of beauty?  I still like to subscribe to the idea that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  If you look in the mirror and like what you see, then screw the world.  Screw the last person who told you that you needed to smile more or you shouldn't wear those clothes because they made you look fat.  We honestly need to learn to be comfortable in our own skin.  There is no perfect person, we can only try to be perfectly content with who we are.

There Is Love - Fort Atlantic

Heard this song for the first time today.  Admittedly, the music is pretty slow, but the lyrics are what really got me.  Just. Listen.

http://youtu.be/qJ4npeqZ3C8