Saturday Night *sings*

Went to a birthday party last night and I had a great time! Thought of 2 outfits to wear and laid them out on the bed to choose. The theme was circus and/or casual. It was a lot of fun thinking of outfits and putting them together. Having enough clothes that I actually like to put together 2 outfits was a new and different thing for me! I noted down everything I wore so I'll definitely have to do a What I Wore drawing when I get time. It was a pretty casual outfit really, just with a few quirks, but when I put it on, I felt kinda bold. It had horizontal stripes! And tight pants! And the top wasn't long enough to cover the bottom part of the sticky-outy bit of my stomach!
Gasp!
Looked at it in the mirror and thought, 'screw it'! And I went, and I danced, and I had a good time. I was (by far) the biggest girl on the dance floor, but whenever I was tempted to feel self-conscious, I thought, 'I want them all to know that I like my body!'

The food was fantastic too, and I didn't spend any time stressing out about whether I'd eaten too much, if I could eat some more, if anyone saw me eating, if it was healthy enough, blah blah blah. (It was all healthy, as well as delicious, so there was no need to stress out anyway.)

Read an article recently (I can't remember where, it might have been a podcast, actually) about self-criticism, negative self-talk, whatever you want to call it. That state of mind where there's negative stuff just cycling through your brain and it won't shut up and makes you feel terrible. It was referred to as Barking Dog Mind. I like that description. Well, last night, Barking Dog Mind was left at home in its kennel!