Beachside Babe

I was going through this photo set, I couldn’t help but notice how different my body looks in this swimsuit from Andrea Iyamah since I last wore it several years ago. There’s nothing really to account for the change except the fact that I’ve gotten older. Realizing that really got me thinking about my body and all of the changes I’ve watched it go through in this post-25 era.

Photo credit: Hallie Duesenberg

I’ve always loved this swimsuit because of how unique and fashion forward it is. But I have to admit that, with the exception of my previous shoot for the blog, I’ve never actually worn it.  I’ve shied away from wearing it because I couldn’t help but feel like it would look better if I were a little curvier. But for some reason, when I put it on this time during a trip to the beautiful Fairmont Mayakoba in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, I felt amazing in it. I wasn’t worried about whether I looked too thin or what people would think. In fact, to my own shock…I actually felt sexy!

When I look at my body these days, I see someone who looks stronger, more mature and less like the “little girl body” I had come to know and love. I’ll probably always be thin and slightly gangly, but my hope for myself is that no matter what I’ll always love and accept the skin I’m in.

The changes to my body over the past few years haven’t been drastic and are probably hard for other people to notice, but I definitely notice them and the irony of it makes me chuckle. As women, we spend our entire lives learning to love our bodies and the second we do…it changes. We get older. We have babies. We change our diets. And one day we wake up and there’s a completely new woman in the mirror.

This new version of me might be my favorite version yet.

To all of my fellow women, I hope you’re loving the skin you’re in, too!

xoxo, Blake

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