Tuesday started out like many other rainy days. I was frantically getting ready to go to school because it was my first day working in the university’s writing center and rain equals special hair care since only my curls will make it through a rainy day. I had my common problem of having not washed a certain color (this time my lights), so I had to work with my darks for a look that would get me through the day of tutoring, class, and traveling back and forth through the rain.

Because I decided that taking pictures for the blog was more important than a time cushion for getting to work(oops), I was solely focused on getting to campus as fast as I could once I left the house. Halfway through my drive to school, the rain really started pouring down, and that’s when I realized in all of my craziness, I forgot one important thing: an umbrella.

I had to make some decisions: Did I risk being late in order to get an umbrella and be dry throughout the day or did I risk being soaked? Vanity set in and off to find an umbrella I went. My first stop was a gas station, which I was hoping would be my save-all with their random assortment of junk. When I was there, though, some guys doing a promotion for some car cleaning thing started talking to me. At first it was the typical marketing thing, but then one of them started flirting with me, and I actually recognized in the moment what he was doing (which never happens). It was one of those “when pigs fly” moments, because I always assume that a guy is not going to flirt with me. It’s probably the biggest hang-up I still have with body acceptance and self esteem.

But here I was, hurrying around in the rain, in a not perfect moment, and I recognized that I was attractive to someone else. It seems so simple, and yet it was kind of a magical moment for me. It’s not that I’ve never been flirted with before (usually I don’t recognize it or completely avoid it), but it was that in that moment with that guy, I felt confident enough to flirt back. The moment wasn’t out of a storybook. I left without exchanging numbers, and I left without an umbrella (which I bought at stop #2). But realizing that I had made progress towards accepting that others could indeed flirt with me and be attracted to me gave me a boost in my otherwise crappy day.

 Shop: V-neck & undertank (Target), Jacket (Lane Bryant),  Jeans (City Chic), Shoes (Target), Earrings and Bracelet (Target)

I didn’t care for the green on green with the earrings and jacket, but my hair mostly covered the green part of the earring, and only the gold showed through.

 P.S. By the time I got to campus, it was sunny, and I didn’t even need my newly purchased umbrella. Coincidence? I think not.

If you have been practicing body acceptance, what has been some break through moments for you? Do you all enjoy flirting/dating or is it hard for you?