Wow Madds. What’s amazing about this photo is this, my friends… THIS was the time in my life that I was MOST confident and felt most beautiful. I was over the moon about braces being around the corner (ya think?), and I couldn’t wait to get up there on stage and do my thing (this was a ballet concert).

I loved my hair, and my costume, and I loved to dance. This was such a simple time. Pre-acne and large ass.. pre-knowing that I would never really grow a torso (or a neck), and also before I chose to tweeze off ALL of my eye brows so I could look like the “super models”.

I would cozy up in bed at night with my head gear, tune into the oldies station, located on the boxy radio stashed in my headboard that Dad built, and fall asleep in an awkward pink, silky night gown dreaming of all that was to come tomorrow. The fuzzy group in math (aka, you didn’t get it), painting my nails with white out (so cool), and sneakily writing our initials on the backs of the bus seats.

Actually, the scariest part of this entire topic is that I still have that costume… and frequently don it when we have guests come to visit. Nothing makes a friend piss their pants like dusting off the good old clown costume. Ok. Maybe I will post a pic of today Maddie wearing the dance costume of yesterday’s Maddie.

Only if you really beg.