Hello! Yesterday was a long but amazing day. Adam and I got early and drove home from Maine. I had to be at a training for my summer position by 10 am. I wanted to have time to come home and get settled and pack myself a lunch before heading to training. On the way home we stopped at Dunkin Donuts for some breakfast on the road. I got a large iced coffee (I had no idea how big a large one…sweet Jesus) and a turkey sausage, egg white flat bread sandwich.

We actually made great time and hit no traffic at all. I was pleased to see that. I was worried that I would be under the gun time-wise and stressed about getting to work on time. We had time to unpack the car and unpack all of the bags. I also had time to make a quick lunch. I made a tuna salad with celery and vegan “mayo” and put it on a whole wheat sandwich thin. I packed some pop chips and an orange as well.

The training was really great. We learned a lot about the teens we would be working with this summer and more about he schedule and kinds of things we will be doing. The program is fantastic and I got to meet the teens I would be working with. Meeting them made me really excited. It will be a really fun and challenging summer. I think I will really enjoy the experience. I left my training at about 4:15 pm and rushed back to Charlestown to attend an amazing event! The Female Self-Esteem Campaign Photography Show was created by a local Photographer, Nicole O’Neil, in  an effort to spread awareness and pull together resources for girls and women to boost their self esteem struggles.

Her ultimate goal is to conduct programs and seminars to teach healthy lifestyle choices to those who have struggled with this issue.  She photographed over 90 girls, women of all ages, body types and ethnicities holding signs with captions such as “I Am Beautiful” or “I Am Strong.” There was also a speaking program where three women will share their personal stories, which was followed by a slideshow of women and girls from around Charlestown.

I was really excited to attend the event because I was photographed for the project!

I was also one of the three women asked to speak and share my experience with struggling with self-esteem and disordered eating.

I was very nervous about speaking. I have written about my past struggles a few times on my blog (you can read those posts here and here). But it is totally different to stand up in front of people I know well and bare my vulnerabilities, struggles and emotions. I think looking out into the audience and seeing my dad and husband actually made me more nervous for some reason. When Nicole called me up to speak, I heart started pounding. But I quickly got comfortable and calmed myself down. I knew what I wanted to talk about and I was telling MY story. I actually became quiet emotional at one point and was so nervous that I would actually break down into tears. But I managed to keep it together and finish my story. It hadn’t even occurred to me that I might get emotional and I was surprised by it. When I finished I was met with applause and a big hug from Nicole. It great to hear from people after the speaking program. So many girls and women came up to me and told me they identified with pieces of my story, feeling I had or things I had been through. It made me glad that I was brave enough to share my story. I was comforting to feel the support of my community and I was grateful to Nicole for raising awareness surrounding this very powerful topic!

Congrats, Nicole on a great event and an amazing project!

Nicole and I after the show.

After the show Adam and I met a few friends for a Sunday afternoon beer!

We had a late double dinner date with our friends Kevin and Melissa at All Season’s Table. We shared an appetizer of spicy tuna on crispy sushi rice.

For my meal I Ka-Mo Tofu. It was tofu, mushrooms, peas and carrots in a spicy stir-fry sauce with a side of brown rice.

It was delicious but HUGE! I ate about half of it and brought the rest home to have for lunch! We headed to bed around 11pm, I was exhausted from a long, but really fantastic weekend!

Have you ever had to do public speaking that made you nervous or emotional? How did you get through it? How were you received by the audience?