As you can tell from the odd title, I think this change can be summed up by the way I rang in my birthday. I was at Gambrinus, a really chill beer bar near my apartment that I'd never been to (sorry, Jon, I knew the second I walked in you would have LOVED it) with a group of friends. More important to this story, as you can guess, is the fact that I was wearing linen pants.
Linen is one of those fabrics that "doesn't lie." If you've ever been overweight, you know what I'm talking about (coughcough that weird jersey-esque stretchy fabric). When I was bigger, it was hard to find linen pants that were flowy and loose, like linen pants are supposed to be... So I just stopped trying them on. After my jeans success at H&M a few weeks ago, when I stumbled on these linen pants at H&M the other day, I finally felt willing to try a pair on. MUCH to my surprise, the 12 was too loose in the waist and marginally too loose in the hips... and (though I originally thought they were a bit tight) Rosie convinced me that the 10s were perfect. So, now I own linen khakis (and can throw out my size 14, torn Gap khakis that I have here).
Anyway, the point here, is that these are pants I wouldn't have fit into and wouldn't have even tried on 3 birthdays ago. Plus, because the band is the cutest part of them, I even had my tanktop tucked in... So there's no hiding your figure in that.
I guess I'm just trying to say that I feel so much better now and it's milestones like birthdays that make you think about it and appreciate it. 3 years ago, I was here and upset because I was trying to date someone who was totally wrong for me, was feeling bad because I didn't like how I looked, and I didn't really see how any of that would change. Now, as I welcome my 23rd year of life in with my new pants, I can say that I'm in a great place in my life with someone I love who treats me well and I'm so excited about the future. 23 is going to be a great year. I have SO much to look forward to. I can't wait for it to start!
On that note, off to bed. A full day of celebrating 'Me' day on tap for tomorrow! ;)
