As I walked into work this morning, I was confronted by a strange, strange sight. In my post-commute, pre-coffee stupor, I almost ran into someone, and it took me a minute to figure out what was going on. Why was I eye level with a shoulder blade? Why was I surrounded by resort wear on a 45 degree day? Why did I see miles and miles of legs? Being the shortest one in the room I’m used to, but having to drop my head all the way back to look at a dozen designer sunglass-ed faces I am not.

The fog lifted, and it dawned on me. Models. It was a parade of models.

In all fairness, The Today Show is filmed outside my office building on a daily basis. I have seen all manner of odd things, from circus performers to weddings to Beyonce (who, coincidentally, I also almost ran into. What is wrong with me?!). But this one, for some reason, was more jarring than most.

My height, my weight, my decidedly half-assed business-casual attire and half-heartedly blow-dried hair were all thrown into sharp relief. How did these alien people, who have done nothing but exist in the same air space as me, make me feel like a lesser person than when I entered the building? Read More »

You know when life just sucks? When one crappy thing happens after another, after another and you feel like life just took a big dump on you?

Yeah, welcome to my life as of late.

It’s like I can’t get out of these series of unfortunate events that are just cropping up day after day. Not everything is totally sh*tty, I do see the good things that are continuously happening, but it’s like I’m being stoned and the world just keeps on throwing rock after rock at my face.

And it hurts.

The worst part of it though, is that I’m having a hard time separating these crappy times from my self-esteem. When life gets me down, my self worth tends to go with it. And most times, I end up at the end of it all trying to get my life—and my body—back in loveable condition.

But this time I say NO.

This time, despite all the sh*t, I’m trying my hardest to keep my body-love separate from my life-love. So what if my life sucks, I am determined not to let the self-esteem I have worked so hard to build crumble along with the rest of my life. Even when everything else is going down, I am working on staying strong.

I happened along the blog La Dolce Vita’s most recent entry, an affirmation to YOU.

There is no one else in the world like you. There is no one who has experienced every single experience you have or shares the exact same outlook that you do. You bring something unique and wonderful into this world every single day you are in it. You are one of a kind and while it might be nice to admire the bodies, personalities, achievements and other attributes belonging to others, you can only be you. Read More »

As summer looms closer, many people start to realize their blindingly pale skin and hit the tanning bed. But, according to a new study published in the March 2007 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, tanning may not only be a self-esteem booster, but a real addiction as well.

The study used a testing tool to gauge the presence of a substance-related disorder to determine whether some college students could really be hooked on tanning, as if it was a drug or substance. 18% of the students who admitted to purposely tanning their skin scored positive on this test, indicating they could be addicted to UV light.

Our society tends to associate being bronzed with attractiveness, and I don’t know why that is. I have to admit that the tanner I am, the better I feel about myself. But I have to ask myself if it’ll be worth it in the long run. What do you think? Could you be a tan-o-holic?