Photo Friday

I took this with my phone a couple weeks ago. =)

It's fairly self-explanatory, but I feel like writing, so here I go...

It was a Friday and I left work early, as per usual. :)  I had a meeting with SNU-Tulsa that afternoon to go over their program, so that was exciting!  The cost had been a bit surprising, but I spent most of my drive listening to Joyce speak on faith, and convincing myself that this was absolutely worth the money and that it was a very doable goal.  Then I got to OKC around 4:15.

I was meeting Malori for dinner at Bravo at 6:00 (yum!) ...she's been so encouraging on everything with me going back to school, and we spent a lot of time going over all that and both being excited!

Anyway, before dinner, I had an hour-and-a-half that I could either spend aimlessly shopping through Quail Springs... or spend reading.  Not a tough call at all. lol  I went to Starbucks, which always makes me feel super cute and I don't care if that sounds ridiculous, and got a hot chocolate.  At the last minute, I decided to try the salted caramel one again -- it was much too salty for me the first time I tried it, but everyone raves about it, so I thought maybe I'd just gotten a bad one -- I asked if they had the caramel hot chocolate.  He misunderstood and said, "Yeah, we can add caramel to it." OMG, SO GOOD. 

So now that's my new favorite Starbucks drink.  My usual hot chocolate, plus caramel.  No salt needed!  (Pretty much pure sugar... luckily, I don't go there too often.)

Anyway, I sat there sipping my awesome caramel hot chocolate, looking outside and doing a little people watching, and reading a book that I really loved!  I really do enjoy reading.  I got the KindleTouch a couple days ago and am already over halfway through my "February" book!  (It has to be a book that has an overall uplifting message, is not dirty, and is not too mentally taxing... but there are plenty of those!)  And I enjoy being a reader... being someone who can go to Starbucks or Panera or whatever other cute little place my introvert heart desires and sit there for hours just reading and people watching. :)  I don't plan to be single forever, and I dearly love all my friends and need that connection and support, but I'm actually really happy that I am comfortable enough with myself to just sit and read at Starbucks or eat alone at Panera or go to the movies by myself or go to the Taylor Swift concert by myself on a random whim!  =)  (That has not always been the case.)

This is really not about the photo anymore, but I am also happy that I'm feeling cute again lately.

I still have a lot of weight to lose, but I am doing something about it and feeling good about that.

I'm not cringing when I look in the mirror or feeling excessive guilt when I eat something chocolate.

I am not what our culture would define as hot, but I am pretty.  I read a post about the difference between the two and how "innocent and pretty" is no longer what women strive for, because they trick themselves into believing that men only value "hot."  Their point was that "pretty" is at least partially about character and heart, while "hot" is as vapid as it sounds.  I understood exactly what they were talking about, and it made me happy to know that I and many of my friends would proudly fall in the "pretty" category.  You know, wholesome and pure, but not scared or unsure. ;)

Last random thought on feeling cute... yesterday, I wore my sky blue shirt (three-quarter sleeves, ruffles around the V-neck line) and my orangy-brown "Infinity scarf" from Anthropologie.  I was in my own little world and got out of my car feeling cute and thinking to myself, "Aww, this is just the perfect outfit for fall."  It seriously took me a couple minutes to remember that it's January... hmm. lol  That's all for today.  Yay, God!  Yay for self-esteem boosts and great books and cute clothes and my awesome new Starbucks drink!  Yay for the ability to breathe... I'm finally beginning to feel better and less congested today. =)  And yay that Laura is coming over tonight and we're watching The Help, which she hasn't seen yet!  It's always more fun to watch a movie with someone who hasn't already seen it.  And it'll be interesting to see it now, having just read the book.  Oh, look, now we're finally back to the photo. =)