Well folks all I can do is apologize profusely and than beg for your forgiveness. I am SO sorry about my absence, but the winter blues really got to me 😦 Blizzard after blizzard, dreary day after dreary day, freezing temperature after freezing temperature…it was hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, literally! And, though we aren’t quite out of the woods yet, technically speaking it is spring so that means summer is not far off! I don’t know about you guys, but I think we deserve the most beautiful, warm, dry and SUNNY summer New England has ever seen, wishful thinking I know, but a girl can dream 😉

So, I bet many of you think that being housebound for the majority of the winter would be ideal for blogging and posting, but I actually found it to be quite the opposite. From the day I decided to start prettybritty I promised myself that I would NEVER write a post when I felt sad, unmotivated, depressed and especially if I was consumed by disordered eating thoughts. Unfortunately for me most days this winter I felt at least one of those emotions. The most I could do was share the occasional link on my Facebook page and even that was rare. I hate to make excuses and I am not trying to through myself a pity party, but I just want you all to know what was going on with me this winter (and I truly bet I’m not alone when I say that I felt blehh for most of the winter months). But, I am disappointed in myself for not turning to prettybritty more because I hoped to use my blog as an outlet where I could reframe negative thoughts and feelings, as well as share inspirational and informative articles, quotes, webpages, etc. That’s were I dropped the ball, but you know what… I’m back and determined to never ever let the winter blues take control of me again!

One personal takeaway I have from (barely) surviving the worst winter ever is that weather truly affects my mood and motivation. I don’t know about you all but, all I wanted to do was stay in my pjs (and let’s be real when I say pjs it’s not a cute matching set I’m talking full on grey sweatsuedo) tucked under a blanket with at least two heating pads…I’m not exaggerating when I said this winter was a rough one for me haha. The only events that got me out of the house were spinning classes, the occasional coffee run (because the Keurig is only good so many times in a row…) and going to work. But, now that I know just how severe my seasonal affect is I will be better prepared if we ever have a winter like this again…praying to God that it never happens, but you never now 😦 If we are however cursed with another winter like this one I will make every possible effort to get out and be social. I’ve decided to look back on the past few months as a learning experience and hopefully grow from there. Long story short I need to get my butt out of the house, even if it’s cold, and socialize…no more isolating and making excuses because of the elements..It’s gonna be hard, but hopefully i’ll have a year to prepare for it 😉

So, folks since I’m back in business I thought I’d share with you a really awesome article I came across. It’s a few weeks old, but I’m super excited about the efforts American Eagle is making through their promotion of healthy/realistic body images. The National Eating Disorder Association recently honored American Eagle’s lingerie/intimates brand Aerie with the first-ever NEDA Inspires Seal of Approval, for their #AerieReal campaign. “Launched in 2014, American Eagle’s Aerie campaign promotes healthy body image by not digitally removing models’ blemishes, tattoos, cellulite or other features that are typically photoshopped on the website or in advertisements.” Basically NO photoshopping ever…hats off to you American Eagle 🙂 For further detail on the campaign as well as the award they received check out the People Magazine article, “American Eagle Wins Award for Realistic Underwear Ads.”

Stay tuned ladies and gents for more updates because I’m back 🙂