Sleeveless in Seattle

I've never been in Seattle though, or out of the country, for that matter. I was only sleeveless in Shangri-La mall, ahahaha...

Moving on! I just got back from my senior year retreat yesterday! Secretly missing Caleruega already because of the chill vibes and even chillier weather. I'll save that for a separate post to go under the 'all my feels' tag. But to the point of this post: I wore sleeveless in public last weekend. Like, legit public, not the kind where you go to a cheap place our out with the family or someplace where you came from the beach.

I went sleeveless in Shang!!! THAT'S AS LEGIT AS IT GETS. This is a big deal that needs to be blogged because I NEVER wear sleeveless in public. Simply because I have big arms; I'm fat to begin with, but I also inherited the big arm genes in the family. This is also why I have mastered the art of layering.

LOLJK I wouldn't say that, but I've definitely always worn something under a sleeveless number. Even if the sleeves were sheer, they'd still give me the comfort that my arms are covered. SLEEVES ARE INA'S BEST FRIENDOS! Lately I've been more open to wearing sleeveless stuff (by lately I guess I only meant last weekend?), but that would depend on the place and time.

Thrifted (?) dress, Nomad shoes, Thrifted purse

This is what I called 'the morning after' outfit, because it was the outfit I wore the day after Krista's party, hence the same shoes and accessories from this post. I slept over at Krista's the night of her party and thought I'd be too lazy to dress up the morning after, like how I usually am post-sleepovers.

I think my tattoos play a role in my being open to wearing sleeveless crap. I love my tattoos man, so of course I'd want to show them off every once in a while. Kamon, it's like buying new clothes and wanting to wear them out.

Like I said, my wearing sleeveless stuff in public would depend. Like, I definitely wouldn't wear sleeveless to a get together with friends. I DID wear a tank top to an out-of-town trip with my favorite people, but mostly because Jam requested it and I owed her a lot since it was the day after the TBS concert. (Nevertheless, I ended up pulling that petticoat I wore on top down to my skirt later on during Krista's party, mostly because it was dark and I was like K IDGAF ANYMORE and also because I was looking after drunk!Krista and it was hard pulling vomiting!Krista to the couch HAHAHA)

After an afternoon of errands with Papa, it got too hot so I changed into some shorts. Wore this also in Shang and LOOK I'VE GOT A PATCH ON MY KNEE! As I mentioned in my CS post, I fell while taking some friends to their ride. I ended up with ripped tights and a scraped knee. I was actually amused at first though, 'cause the last time I ever wounded my knee was when I was a kid.

My cousin joked that it would've been better if I fell drunk, BUT NOOOO I FELL WHEN I WAS SOBER. And I was even holding on to Terry when I fell, for crying out loud. Double-u-tee-eff.

This is what it looks like now. I'm scared it'll scar over, but it can't be helped. The band-aid on my left knee was for a small scratch from my fall. It was super hard getting the gauze off my scraped knee 'cause the pus dried up and the gauze stuck and OMGITHURT. After I finally removed it last night and  cleaned it, it's just been stinging. Not that the stinging ever went away, but I was doing pretty good during my retreat. Now I'm just reduced to limping again.

This was when my arm disappeared.

The whole sleeveless thing might seem shallow to some, but it's a big deal for me because my apprehension towards it stems from my self-esteem issues. YEP, KID HAS 'EM. I couldn't even have the nerve to wear shorts or short skirts without tights underneath when I was in high school. Growing up I was a shy kid (severely shy; I'd cry if I were forced to speak in front of a good number of people) and my insecurity plus lack of self-esteem were at its lowest around 2005. Oh man that year my insecurities weren't even on physical attributes. I broke out of my shell come college though, and now I'm equal parts introvert and extrovert. I've been trying to work on my self-esteem issues since 2011-ish though, but it's not all sunshine and rainbows. Sigh. Maybe I'll get there eventually? Baby steps, Ina. Baby steps.