Hey Everyone! Hope all is well with you all! It’s officially cold as heck out here in the D. I wore this outfit to a friends birthday dinner on Saturday (despite the chilling cold) and really needed an excuse to break out this super girly and flirty bell sleeve top from Zara. I have clearly been on this 70s kick my last two posts and I’m keeping the momentum going!

I wanted to share a personal reflection with you all today, and that is my battle with SELF-ESTEEM. When I started high school, I became extremely critical of my physical appearance. In my mind, there was always something wrong with the way I looked. My eyes were too big, my nose was too wide, my lips were too large and slightly uneven, my hair was too kinky. My dissatisfaction with how God made me caused me to be withdrawn and overly critical of myself. I was also being bullied. And not the type of bullying that’s right in your face. It was the type that I heard about through the grapevine. When it rains, it pours, right?Back then, school was the one thing I REALLY enjoyed. I never missed school unless I had a legit excuse. I remember one day my mom pulled into the schools parking lot per usual but I refused to get out the car. I was adamant; I was not going to school that day. My reasoning: I didn’t like the way I looked and no one should see me.  That might’ve been one of the lowest days of my young life. I couldn’t stop crying and all my mom did was turn the car around and take me back home. I’m Nigerian and if you’ve ever been around Nigerians, you know that one thing we don’t play about is education. So the fact that my mom was willing to take me home meant she understood that something was seriously wrong.
It wasn’t until my sophomore year of college that my confidence started to increase. Once I hit my senior year, I was at a point that I had been wanting to get to for so long. I was no longer paying so much attention to what others thought about me. 4 years later, that feeling has increased 10 fold. Sometimes I think “wow, I really went through that”, but I am so grateful to God that he kept me in a position where I never wanted to harm myself. Even in my darkest moments, I knew that there was a brighter future ahead. I am grateful for those moments because it has shaped the woman I have become/am becoming.
I surprise myself with the amount of confidence I have these days lol. And I don’t say that in a cocky way. It’s all because of God. I know for a fact that my emotional stability would not be what it is if I hadn’t taken my worries, fears, and troubles to God and asked Him to just help little ole me get through it. Of course I have my moments, but I make sure to not let those negative thoughts linger. Shoutout to my momma and sister too! Their constant words of encouragement and prayers played a major role. I promised God that when I got to this point, that I would share my story as a testimony and as a way to inspire someone. I hope this inspires you to know that a dark moment is never the end.

Zara Bell Sleeve Top (sold out; similar here), New York & Company Midi Skirt (in red, replica here), Thalia Sodi Lace Up Heels (similar here), Target Clutch

“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” Genesis 1:27