Bikini This

Summer means bathing suit season.  For many fatties, this brings terror and outrage.  I've never actually had a lot of shame related to swimsuit season.  I LOVE swimming, the water, the pool, the beach -- anything in which I can be aquatic, and, essentially, weightless.

Maybe it's because I'm buoyant, and I know I've said it here before, but I am a great swimmer.  So, maybe for me, summertime meant reveling in a sporty activity that I could do without being athletic. 

This summer, in celebration of my life-altering decisions, I actually bought the pieces of a bikini, or maybe a few different bikinis if you mix and match, at Old Navy.  I also bought tankini-type tops so that I could choose my weapon based on my comfort level.  A bunch of friends and I had big plans to hit up a water park yesterday, so I sported the full bikini with a shirt over it, both to protect my modesty/comfort and also to protect me from the sun.  As a full-blooded Ginger, the day star and I have a long and sordid history.

When the water park turned out to be closed, we instead made our own park in our friend's backyard, and I figured, if it's just us friends, why not.

So I took off my overshirt.

I cannot stress enough how unfamiliar I am in Bikini Land.  I know lots of girls live (and shop) there, but I don't even have the visa in my passport. 

The picture above shows me that I was not completely smoking crack. But there are also pictures like this one that make me cringe and show me that I've still got a long way to go. 

It's a small triumph.  One of my guy friends tried to pick me up to drop me into the cold pool, and if I had let him, he probably could have.  But I am not yet that girl.  I may have worn a bikini in front of some of my close friends but I am still a fat girl in hiding.

More summer events are coming, though! We'll see what unfolds!!