a few photos from my first trip to mexico + a cheesy story:

i remember being thirteen and sitting down to school lunch with my friends and telling them that i wanted to be a model and having them laugh in my face. (and, and, and)

i was fairly adverse to anything girly at the time (dresses, make-up, etc.), but that didn’t seem like a solid enough reason for them to turn one of my dreams into a joke. the only other justification i could think of was that they honestly believed i wasn’t pretty enough to be a model; they thought i was ugly.

well it took me a decade to realize this — and i have hated my body in all kinds of ways between then and now (and for various reasons, at that) — but:

1. those girls were not my friends.
2. beauty is relative.

i love myself and work hard to stay fit. i may not be professional model worthy, but that’s ok. i have a body, but i am not defined by it.

and if i ever forget these things, i have real friends to remind me of them.

like the one that took these photos of me :)

such is life.

ps: mexico was awesome! couldn’t have spent my time there with better company.