Thankyou, and I really mean it

[Avalon]

Welcome, Annie! So happy you found the Lounge! You're very sweet, inside and out - and I just followed your blog!

By the way, I agree with Amy Jeanne - you do resemble Joan Blondell quite a bit!

 

[KittyT]

Such a kind post! I'm so glad we were able to make a difference! Just remember that your image is a combination of how you appear on the outside AND your carriage and attitude. How you carry yourself is maybe more important than what you actually look like!

I made an acquaintance of mine cry one night at a show. She's a very curvy gal who's pretty self-conscious about her appearance, but she chooses the right clothes for her body-type and carries herself proudly, with class and confidence, and I told her so.

*Those* are the things that really matter, and it sounds like you're off to a great start! :eusa_clap

 

[CherryRed]

((((Annie))) what a sweetheart you are! I too have struggled with image issues my entire life. The FL has also helped me a lot just like you.
It's wonderful to have you among us!

 

[Deleted member 12480]

i'm struggling to know how to reply but i have to say i feel real lucky that i stumbled upon such a lovely community - and that you let me in! Haha.

I also love that all you girls are sharing the simlar experience we can, feel free to share! Xxxxxxx

 

[Deleted member 12480]

i'm struggling to know how to reply but i have to say i feel real lucky that i stumbled upon such a lovely community - and that you let me in! Haha.

I also love that all you girls are sharing the simlar experience we can, feel free to share! Xxxxxxx

 

[cherry lips]

If that is you in your icon, you remind me of Joan Blondell:

Ooo I totally see it! :eusa_clap

 

["Skeet" McD]

You might want to take a look at this, as well....

Ladies, I think it's probably more common for you to grace the rest of the FL than it is for we gents to traipse in here....so you will perhaps find the thread named "If you do one thing today...READ THIS THREAD" in the Observation Bar.

It points, unsurprisingly, to THIS thread...because I thought the gents might not find it on their own.

There's a story and picture there which is worth the trip, thanks to "Atomic."

"Skeet"

 

[Lenore]

Gee whiz, that may be the nicest post I've ever seen here, and whenever I find myself getting frustrated or annoyed at all the work we have to put into keeping things running smoothly, I'm going to come back and reread it. I think I speak for all of us here when I say thank *you* for posting it.

Ditto.

Annie,

Your post made me feel hopeful for all the young girls out there that want to break out of the mold society seems to impose upon them. As the mother of a girl, albeit a toddler, this is especially important to me. My hope is to raise her to be a mature young lady like yourself, and you've reinforced that possibility. Thank YOU. :eusa_clap

P.S. I'm following your blog now too.

 

[Miss Golightly]

What a lovely post Annie! I have to agree that I would never have guessed your age in a million years - you're clearly a very savvy young lady. I too was delighted when I stumbled upon the FL purely by chance and found so many kindred spirits - its ladies like you who make this place as fantastic as it is!

I would also like to add that I can see a resemblance with you and Joan Blondell!

 

[Deleted member 12480]

I'm so flattered! Particularly to Joan Blondell - she is so beautiful!

And skeet - i am amazed, and thankyou!

 

[BaggyPants]

Don't let the TV and magazines tell you what you should and shouldn't be. I know where you're coming from. At 15, I was 17st and still have the stretch marks on my inner arms and legs to prove it. Until you get to your late teens, your body doesn't know what the heck it's doing. I'm glad these lovely ladies have helped you to see that beauty isn't a stick thin super model. Hell, curves are good. Marilyn Monroe was no size 8

 

[SugarKitten]

As another newbie, I second all of Annie's comments. I've been a bit of a chicken about posting because I'm a bit intimidated by the style and confidence you all have, but AP hit the nail on the head. It's great to see you all, in all sizes, shapes, colors and everything else being yourself, and being beautiful.

Thanks for letting me share it. Thanks to Annie for posting it.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

Don't let the TV and magazines tell you what you should and shouldn't be. I know where you're coming from. At 15, I was 17st and still have the stretch marks on my inner arms and legs to prove it. Until you get to your late teens, your body doesn't know what the heck it's doing. I'm glad these lovely ladies have helped you to see that beauty isn't a stick thin super model. Hell, curves are good. Marilyn Monroe was no size 8

Agreed. When I was 15 I was 200 pounds (14 stone), had REALLY BAD unfeminine haircut/perm, I had "owl" glasses (the "style" at the time), zits all over, and wore THE WORST fashions you will ever want to know (I consider the early 90s to be the worst period for fashion!)

When I was 17 I dropped a bunch of weight for really no reason -- I guess my metabolism just caught up with me! I'm 140-150 pounds now and pretty much have stayed in this weight bracket for 17 years.

It didn't take me until, literally, 2009 to figure out exactly how I wanted to look. Learning to sew and do my own hair were two big factors. And BOTH of those factors I owe in some part to the Lounge.

 

[Deleted member 12480]

Amy Jeanne,
thats lovely!

xxxx

 

[Lorena B]

Forgive me if i have put this in an unecessary place, but i wanted to share something with all the ladies on FL.

I actually think this forum has changed my life.

You see, i'm only 15 and being a teenager i'm insecure about the way i look. However i've spent a great deal of my life hating how i looked, thinking i was too fat and how ugly i was.

But, i think probably over this past week my whole life has changed. I certainly haven't been a member very long but after finding the post on pin-up i looked at myself differently. I spent probably two hours just reading everyones replies on that thread and looking at peoples beautiful pin up pictures. I looked and i thought, hey, these women aren't stick thin and yet they are so beautiful. You all looked so happy and confident and it really changed my mind.

I love that everyone on this forum is so lovely to each other and its like one huge (excuse the hideous cliche) happy family. Some of you complete strangers yet you all share parts of your lives with each other and you are just so FRIENDLY.

Now when i look in the mirror i don't obsess over how my shoulders are too broad, or i could just lose that 'flab' off my tummy or my thighs are wobbly or so on.

Now i look and i think, actually, i'm beautiful.

And after thinking about it i'm pretty sure its thanks to every single beautiful lady here in The Powder Room,

(as well as some cool guys from the other areas!)

so,

sorry for being all horribly gushy or whatever but i guess i just mean

Thankyou!!


<3
Annie 'Pancake'



xxxxx

This posting is priceless.

You can really feel it comes from the heart.
Thank YOU Annie to remind all of us girls about the same, we might not be perfect but still we ARE perfect ( i hope it does make sense)
XXXXX

Lorena B

 

[23SkidooWithYou]

Annie,

I was the "fat kid" in school.

When I was 10, my Mom had my hair cut super short so it would be easier to manage on our Florida vacation. I have pictures of myself, a butterball on legs, with a cropped hairdo, in a groovy late 70's orange and hot pink stripe bathing suit. Three words...FAT LITTLE BOY! That's what I looked like. We also have pics of me in a too-tight yellow Star Wars Tshirt and a hot pink floppy brim hat from the same trip. Lovely.

When I was 12, I got glasses and braces the same year. Lucky me. I was still plump, zero definition and hated spending all of 8th grade in a school uniform that was too short. My Mom figured it was the last year and I could make do. I was soooo self conscious.

When I was 13 and a freshman in highschool, I had the most horrible incident involving my hair. I asked for a long, wavy style with a ton of layers like one of the Mandrell Sisters. My Mom had sent me by myself and the beautician said, "You don't want me to perm all this do you?" and started cutting. I burst into tears when I called for a ride home, cried so hard that night that I was sick in the morning and my Grandfather insisted I be allowed to stay home.
Wanted this:

Got this:

After that, I was terrified to have my hair cut, so when school yearbook pics rolled around, there I was with overgrown curly perm, my teeth wrangled all over the place (did I mention my eye teeth hadn't come down right and they had to shift my other teeth OUTWARD to make room to pull down the vampire fangs?) and a huge ZIT on the end of my NOSE that didn't go away for months! The following year, I learned to fake a sick day to get out of pictures!

I did belong to several school groups and was part of the Color Guard. We twirled the big silk flags when the marching band played at halftime during football season. I loved doing it but it was tough living with the fact that the entire school called us "The Dog Squad". We also served at school functions in really bad military style uniforms and had to wear our hair pulled clean back with berets and ascots. All I can tell you is that THIS member of the Dog Squad got to carry our Nation's Flag down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC, our country's capitol. Quite an honor for the fat kid! LOL

I didn't go to a single formal and wasn't asked out on a single date in 4 years. Somewhere around 16, the braces came off and the blob of chubbiness redistributed itself in all the right places (although I still felt ginormous next to my figureless classmates.) I graduated when I was 17 and started college that summer. Turns out my highschool wasn't the universe, I wasn't so bad and there was a whole world of new people and experiences and perspectives to absorb!

At our 10 year High School reunion, I was really surprised! A lot of the folks who had been the Beautiful People really weren't that great, not necessarily looks, but attitudes and life experiences. Meanwhile, a lot of us late bloomers were really quite happy, quite normal, not ugly at all and much richer for our experiences as the under dogs.

I always ask myself, "In 10 years, will it matter?"
The answer is usually "No". In 10 years, my hip measurement today won't matter, the pound I lost or gained won't matter, the people who make fun of me won't matter. Family, true friends, education, personal accomplishments, how I choose to see myself and how I choose to treat others...those are the things that matter 10 years down the road.

 

[Inky]

I love you for posting this story, 23Skidoo - i could have written something very similar. Thank you for sharing yourself with us.

 

[BoPeep]

We've all probably felt not-so-hot at one time or another. That's probably why the ladies at FL choose to celebrate each other and build each other up instead of tearing somebody down.

This IS a very supportive board - both in compliments and advice.
Annie - you'll do just fine in life. It's all about self-esteem. Love yourself. Believe in yourself. And the rest will fall into place.

 

[23SkidooWithYou]

I love you for posting this story, 23Skidoo - i could have written something very similar. Thank you for sharing yourself with us.

Inky,

You're welcome but I took my cue from AmyJean who openly shared about her teen years. I think we can all relate on some basic level. A Sisterhood, if you will. I know exactly what she meant about looking at "shape and size". I wasted, wasted, wasted soooo much time and energy comparing myself to other women's shape and size, or some designer or advertising executive's idea of shape and size. It's almost criminal.

That's why it's so fantastic when the ladies share here!

I'm so glad Annie figured it out...and about 25 years earlier than I did!

 

[CherryRed]

Annie,

I always ask myself, "In 10 years, will it matter?"
The answer is usually "No". In 10 years, my hip measurement today won't matter, the pound I lost or gained won't matter, the people who make fun of me won't matter. Family, true friends, education, personal accomplishments, how I choose to see myself and how I choose to treat others...those are the things that matter 10 years down the road.

:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap Brilliannt words of advice.

I agree Inky,I also find it interesting that so many of us are so similar even in the ways we grew up. To quote one of my favorite classic TV show's (Private Secretary) "When a wallflower leaves the wall, watch out!"