Spandex isn’t a right, it’s a privilege
April 7, 2008 – 8:28 pmIt hit me just last week that I am going to be spending nearly a week this July on a lake in upstate New York (on Seneca Lake, near Watkin’s Glen) and that meant a new bathing suit. Ugh. There is little that is more unnerving than having to pick out a piece of colorful spandex to wear against my pasty Irish skin. Nothing looks all that good and really, there isn’t much you can do to hide any flaws. It’s times like this that I am thankful that I didn’t grow up near a beach that was warm enough to have to wear swimsuits all the time. But my aunt and uncle are hosting a huge family reunion at their lakeside home and if this is my only vacation of the year, I sure as hell am going to take it.
I noticed one at Nordstrom that I actually could see myself wearing and somewhat comfortable in and then - I saw the label and the price. Of course I could be comfortable in it; it was a Juicy Couture and it was $170 dollars. Now generally, I don’t like Juicy Couture. I find it tacky for the most part. But this suit had a vintage twist on it and came it fabulous colors . . . I at least had the smarts not to try it on or I would have found myself wanting it even more.
Naturally, I’ll want to look good at the reunion. This is my mother’s side of the family and there are family members I haven’t seen since I was 17 or 14 or even 10. The majority of them were unable to fly out for my wedding last summer, so there is a good chance they still remember me as the little girl with curly hair in the Laura Ashley pink dress with poof sleeves and lace overlay. Yeah . . . time to update their recollection of me. Not to mention that there are new children of cousins that I have only ever seen pictures of.
It’s just item 12 on the list of reasons why to stay on the diet and lose the weight, no matter what. As if the reasons before that aren’t enough . . .
There are issues that I have to consider with my bathing suit, because A. I don’t have a toned enough tummy for a bikini and even if I drop another twenty pounds before I board that plane, I still won’t have a bikini-ready body. I don’t care what SELF magazine promises . . . every sit up in the world wouldn’t get me confident enough to be seen in something like this:
However, I do find something like this extremely do-able:
As for the pasty white skin, I will be stocking up again on the Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Helioplex Sunblock. I actually spotted it in SPF 85 a few weeks ago . . . so sweet.
Now I just need to keep up on the working out, eating right and toning my arms, thighs and back. Oh, and brushing up on my drinking and card playing. We Swinnertons are drinkers and gamblers . . . but aren’t all families???
