Look of the Week and Other Existential Thoughts

The photo on the right is of me on Easter Sunday. The navy blue dress is from Old Navy - $15 with the 30% off coupon. I love the hat, which I found at Macy's. The photo on the left is the same dress, but with a casual hat (because once you wear a hat, your hair kind requires you to stick with it), sandals and a cardigan for Easter supper later that day.

I will be honest now and say that I was a bit horrified with the pics. I swear when I put the dress on that morning, I looked in the mirror, and I looked totally cute. Satisfied, I went off to church to rejoice in the resurrection of our Lord. And then I saw the photos. Oh, for the love of all that is holy. Did I not see myself accurately in the mirror? I know people who get ready in the morning, check the mirror and think, "Meh, good enough." I'm not saying that I always look amazing, but when I head out the door, certainly for something special, like Easter Sunday, I check myself out with, one might say, a hypercritical eye. Thus, I'm super quick to spot when a dress makes me look fat. So, what the heck happened here?

I texted Vim and started posing questions like, Do we ever accurately see ourselves? Is even the reflection in the mirror filtered through some consciousness that only sees what it wants to see? How then does this not translate to stupid, flippin' photos?

My husband weighed in, "You know, the camera adds 10 lbs. I can take some more photos of you. I think you look cute."

When my friend, Robin, turned 40 she told me she was done. DONE. Done with dieting, done with criticizing herself. Done with all that body focused nonsense. And then she put on her bathing suit and took her girls to the pool. I would also like to adopt this life-changing and fabulous attitude. But only after I take a better photo.