A "Model" Weekend: Part II

I modeled yesterday! Yes, all 5 feet 2 inches of me, and in a bathing suit. Nope, still not sporting a six pack. Why, you might ask, would I subject myself to such public scrutiny? Well, I was approached by Lake magazine, via phone call, had my ego stroked a bit, and said sure, why not? After accepting, I quickly freak out.

Needless to say, I ate relatively light for the past week, drank water, and realized I just had to go with it. I got in Bess's closet and extracted a cute Polo cover up, a long, red (my color) sun dress and decided I was as ready as I was ever going to be for my modeling debut. I think that I've always had a pretty confident body image, but as a girl, you'll never find one of us who is entirely comfortable with her flaws, or who does not at least consider herself to have some. I think I was trying to come to terms with the fact that I am no longer sixteen, no longer have the taunt, tiny body of a sixteen year old (HELLO curves!), and my metabolism, or lack there of, has cut into my French fry loving ways. There is also something to be said about the fact that this magazine will be all over my home town in a few months, women are women's biggest critics, sadly, and I just want to be viewed as presentable and not as one of those girls who "lets herself go" after college.

Kenneth and Mary Lyman Boone, my photographers, are just such wonderful people, and I think we got some really great shots! We went to an island and it was a beautiful afternoon. They would show me the pictures, on the digital camera, and I had to admit to myself, hey-I look pretty darn good! Of course, they are building me up and telling me I look like a brunette Jessica Simpson, so that is to be expected! I love this and eat this up :) I have never been the most photogenic person, in my opinion, and have not always particularly enjoyed having my picture taken. My best pictures are usually the ones where I am not trying and slightly impromptu. My mom says I just need to work on being more natural. This goes back to childhood and my impatient nature, most likely. I started out a bit awkward, I would say, as well as nervous. I've never been quite able to make that quintessential "model" face that Brittany Bain Stegall can. I know this because we got bored one night in college and did "Do It Yourself Model" shots and mine were anything BUT sexy! I point out to the Boones that Brittany would be great and they should use her next year. Get ready Bain Hyphen Stegall!

I ended up having a lot fun, and got more and more confident as the afternoon went on. I have a really big, cheesy smile, where my eyes squench up, so we had to work on that a little bit. I had a hard time relaxing my smile, because it felt fake. Even Mona and John got in a few! Mona is very photogenic and regal looking (she's a Great Dane). There is a great one of her with the sunset behind her and it is really fantastic. The ones of John and I are on the newest edition Seadoo, and that thing will fly! John had complete Jonas Brother hair after that.

All in all, I am really glad I did it. My mom will get some recent professional pictures of me and the whole experience just reminded me to not be too hard on myself and to embrace my assets! We all need a confidence booster every once in awhile. Hopefully, when the magazine comes out, other girls will see at it and realize that you do not have to be 6 feet tall, 110lbs to be considered beautiful, as cliche as that sounds. At the end of the day, if you are able to just be yourself, that is as beautiful as you're ever going to get.

*Side note: After the shoot, I ate a ton of Sho Nuff BBQ and artichoke dip and topped it off with a slice of well deserved Pecan Pie ;)