Early this morning I am flying to New York City. All I’m bringing is this:
You guys, I am officially a swimsuit model. I know, I know, you always thought I had a bodacious bod and was just wasting my God-given beauty. Well, I’m making it official. Next I’ll be on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue!
I’m just kidding around. I’m bringing more with me to NYC. But I really AM a swimsuit model now (it’s totally going on my resume). Through my other website, Curvy Girl Guide, I will be doing a bunch of press (along with my co-creator and some of our fabulous writers). Why? We’ve partnered up with Lands’ End to promote National Swimsuit Confidence Week. The point of National Swimsuit Confidence Week is to encourage women to stop being afraid to strut their stuff in a bathing suit. It’s time to be confident and show it!
Growing up in Southern California, I lived in a bathing suit all summer. My parents had a pool, and we were in it from sunrise to sunset.
I…do not know what’s on my head.
I’d run from my house to my friends’ houses, jump in their pools, and walk all over the neighborhood in just a bathing suit. At some point I learned modesty, and I started covering myself. After I had kids, I wore a bathing suit as little as possible.
We have big plans this summer – Annie is going to learn to swim – and I need to show her that the water is a fun place. I can’t have her see me on the sidelines, fully clothed. I am going to be a good example for her, and that means I am going to wear a bathing suit. And not only am I going to wear it – I’m going to be confident in it.
This morning on Curvy Girl Guide there is a picture of me in a bathing suit. GASP! I’m also going to be photographed in a bunch of bathing suits, and will even be on TV style shows, news stations, and the CBS Morning Show (I’ll post times and stations when I have them)!
This is craziness. I need to find some confidence pills.
{ 46 comments… read them below or add one }
I honestly can’t remember the last time I wore a swimsuit. I guess now is as good a time as any to work up the confidence. My daughter loves going to the poooo-l but my husband is the one that goes in with her while I sit and watch.
You’ll do great! Good luck & have fun.
Elle´s last [type] ..Sometimes I feel like I have to be Mommie Dearest but without the wire hangers and all the other psycho things Maybe I’m more like Dina Lohan Oh gawd- nevermind I’ll take Mommie Dearest
You are going to be awesome!
I pretty much hibernated last summer, but this year, I’m planning on going on a swimming suit hunt and joining the family in some swimming.
Tracie´s last [type] ..Looking at Corn
I had no idea that you wrote for another blog! Did everyone else know this but me? Good luck today! I got my swimsuit confidence back when an Athleta catalogue was mailed to my house five years ago and I found the perfect tankini/boy short two piece combo. I’ve been re-buying the same style in different colors ever since.
Good for you Heather – I’m almost 42, have had 2 BIG babies & I wonder if each summer (in Spain) will be my last in a bikini.. All I can say is – I think i’ve held it off another year.. I don’t spend any time thinking about how I look I’m too busy lolling about in the pool with my kids – they LOVE holiday mum. And also those Spanish grannies that sit on the beach (bikini bottoms only) in all their glory really show that a body is just a body, they are too busy catching up on all the gossip.. My soft round belly, varicose veins and stretch marks are the marks of my babies, I truly wouldn’t swap them for the world.. The thighs – they are all my own !! Ps .. I’m watching Barak and Michelle Obama arrive in Ireland, my kids are sooooo excited..We will give them a very warm Irish welcome.
I did not know that you wrote another blog either. I am going to go check it out so that I can follow your swim suit model career! Go Heather!!
amourningmom´s last [type] ..SUIDS- SIDS & Sawyer
Woo hoo! So, so happy for you. Can I also just say thank you for giving those of us with less confidence the potential boost we need to get back out there? I think I can, so, thank you. Good luck; I’ll be following you over at Curvy Girl Guide now, too!
Staci´s last [type] ..what i like most about me
Go, Heather & the CG Gang! I love the message that you’re sending to your children as well as other women who may not feel completely comfortable in their own skin.
I have to say that I also rock a swimsuit for most of the summer. I live in SC, where it’s hot and muggy from May through September. After two kids, two ruptured lumbar discs, one spinal surgery and multiple health issues, I’m also a size 20. I can’t say that I rock my swimsuit with confidence, but two years ago I broke from my usual monotony of black and bought a wine-colored, shoulder-knotted, ruched number that is still my go-to suit. Hey, it’s a beginning, right?
Good for you ! I think we all look great compared to those guys who walk around with their huge stomachs hanging out .
I had 2 c-sections . They had multiple beers , etc….
Go for it , Heather ! So happy to see all your success . Can’t wait to see you in the ads !
Just went and saw the picture…. you look fantastic!
Good for you! I think you look FABOO in your suit! I got over some of my reluctance to wear one in public last month on my honeymoon in Budapest. We went to a public bath and there was absolutely every body type imaginable there….most of them old, saggy, and in teeny Speedos, all completely comfortable with themselves. If they can flaunt it, so can I!
Deborah´s last [type] ..New Flower Macro Images
YES! Going to a Turkish bath was one of the best experiences for body image I think I will ever have. Every woman in there was a radically different shape, and ALL were walking around laughing, talking, relaxing, just enjoying themselves … many of them not even IN a bathing suit (or at least not the top). =)
Work it ladies. Curves are MEANT to be flaunted!
I think that is awesome. As Mother’s of Daughters, we must be a role model for them. I don’t want my girls growing up hating their bodies and having low self esteem.
Swimsuits are fun!
Rumour Miller´s last [type] ..Dear Body of Mine
I love you for this, I just really do!
you don’t need confidence pills, you look great! Have fun!
When I sit on the toilet my tummy holds my boobs up. Sitting on the toilet is already a fairly denigrating experience, but to have my tummy betray me and become the North Atlantic shelf, adds insult to injury. I’ve been wanting to lop it off with a dough slicer. So thank you for staying my hand. Seeing all you voluptuous women in those ravishing suits has encouraged me to enjoy an equally fabulous form of beautiful. xo
The Woman Formerly Known as Beautiful´s last [type] ..Arnold Schwarzen-Ass
Heather, you are awesome!
Rebecca´s last [type] ..My Daughter The Illustrator
This is awesome. If you need confidence pills, I need confidence…crack, or something, because you look fantastic. But I’m going to try to get over myself and do this–like you, for the sake of my little girl. Thanks for being so inspiring!
Way to go Heather! And, it totally should go on your resume.
Kristin´s last [type] ..Saturday Spin- Turn 2 on Sunday
You go girl!! Wear that suit with pride! (it’s super cute!) You look fantastic! I too spent every summer in a suit (even here in Chicago!) and I still spend a considerable amount of time in a suit (I swim for exercise and take my son to swim lessons). I have confidence while near a pool but you’re super brave for going on TV! I’d be afraid I’d be cold and nip out! Ha!
Awesomesauce! Go you!
Really, this is so much more than a bathing suit–this is you standing up for Annie and my daughter and all little girls, most of whom will grow up thinking that there is something wrong with them if we continue the way we have been. As women, we waste so much time hating ourselves…imagine what we could do with all that time and energy!
I agree with everyone else you dont need confidence pills. You look great so go and have a good time and be proud of your self. I wish I looked half that good in a one piece!!
I think you are wearing a T-shirt and have pulled it up over your head.
You look AH-MAZING in that little red number! Good for you, sister.
You and Bethany both look great. What fabulous costumes.
Penbleth´s last [type] ..It’s like post-Rapture- but with the threat of interrupted sleep
You are a great role model for Annie. I think you were meant to have daughters
Your suit is so cute, and you look great in it!
You rock, Heather. But, like, what are you supposed to do when you were a size 16 before getting pregnant and now are 7 months pregnant and have fat cellulitey thighs and enormaboobs? Nobody wants to see that, right?
Lots of women (and men!) want to see actual, non-airbrushed women enjoying the sunshine. But even if that were not the case, you do not “owe” anyone a view of a perfect (whatever that is) body. If you want to get in the pool, you should.
Heather, you look fantastic! What an inspiring message to send. I had to get over my bathing-suit phobia real fast when we took our son to swim class in April.
You look FANTASTIC!
Kristin (MamaKK922)´s last [type] ..How does your garden grow
you look amazing!! as do all the other ladies
have an awesome time
xoxo
You look GREAT!!! I wish I had the confidence, ugh. Now, my only question is, where in the world are you, it looks like some back alleyway??
I don’t wear swimsuits because I am large chested. I mean, really large. We are talking approaching the middle of the alphabet. They just don’t make swimsuits for me. And to find a “bra size” swimsuit is a pain. It is almost always a bikini which I wouldn’t wear. I don’t mind a tankini type thing but my stomach does NOT need to be visible. It makes me crazy. I will find them push up style for littles but nothing for me. And if I do find something that might work, it is way to expensive. I wear a bra under a swimsuit and a shirt over the top. There is a reason I don’t get in the pool. I don’t need to give my nephews a show in the pool!!!!!!!!!!
Have you ever looked at http://www.bravissimo.com/ or http://www.figleaves.com/us/ ? I have the same problem and had some success swimsuit shopping at these sites.
This is so great! Your wonderful example for Annie is so admirable. I see many moms, good moms, fail at this. They hold on to insecurities throughout motherhood and it rubs off on their daughters. I know no mother can be perfect and no one expects that, but this is a goal (busting beauty hang-ups) that I hold high in my value system and I think it’s great you’re going for it!
I REALLY admire you for doing this! Thank you thank you.
- A 19 year old struggling with self confidence
Caroline´s last [type] ..Project Real – Swimsuit Confidence
You look hot.
I think it’s great that you have the confidence to not only wear a swimsuit but do so in such a public way! Way to go girl!
I don’t know if anyone else has said this, but you so remind me of the girl in the Sun Drop commericials….”Drop it like it’s hot”, lol. Just from reading your blog I could see you doing something silly like that.
Heather… I went over to see the pictures. You look fantastic and love your bathing suit. Where is it from?
As someone else said…as a mother of a daughter I had to be her example of confidence and every summer I wear my 2 piece. Every year I ask her if maybe I shouldn’t be wearing a 2 piece and switch to a one piece, and every summer she tells me if I didn’t it just wouldn’t be ME. So I continue to wear it
This is made of awesome! I checked out your post — what beautiful women! Thanks for doing this! (And I love Lands End swimsuits!)
This is awesome.
Next time, bring me with you
I am so proud of you. I remember going to the beach as a kid with my mom, and being disappointed that she wouldn’t get in the water. And now I can completely understand her desire to hide her body. But I want to do better by my kids, and what you are doing for Annie is fabulous.
Love that photo of you and your brother with your shirt over your head. =P
Congrats, on being featured! That’s awesome! Can’t wait to see you on televison. ;o)
Swimsuit models unite! You are awesome!
AmazingGreis´s last [type] ..NYC and Swimsuits…
Heather, you look darling in that swim suit! Nothing whatsoever to worry about – I kinda think you should be disqualified! You look great!
Megan@TrueDaughter´s last [type] ..Fear and Loathing
WOW! Congrats on the beginning of your swimsuit modeling career. (What?! We ALL know you aren’t going to stop here!
Dawn @What’s Around the Next Bend?´s last [type] ..Storms that hit TOO close to home
This is amazing!! Good luck with everything and keep us posted.
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