A Blond, A Brunette and A Redhead Walk into a Bar . . .

Rachel (Ray Ray), Niki (Nipple Niki) and I (Err Bear) have been the walking cliche for a decade, ever since we met working as can-can girls at Rosie O'Grady's in downtown Orlando. (Clearly, that picture to the left is not us, it's from like the early 90's but that's what we wore and did. I don't have my older pictures out here with me in Singa!) For anyone not from Orlando, Rosie O'Grady's was a tourist hot spot that boasted the "Good Time Gang" which consisted of a ragtime band, jazz singer (the "Hot Mama") and a can-can dance on the bar performed by the cocktail waitresses. We would slide down the two story brass fireman's pole in the center of the stage and rouse the crowd with our can-can routine, full of "Wooo's!" and high kicks. It was one of my first jobs, and I can still say to this day, it was the one of the most fun jobs I've ever had! Rachel (the blond), Niki (the brunette) and I (duh) were fast friends and when Rosie O'Grady's closed it's doors, our manager said, "Yeah, you three act like you are inseparable, but I bet you won't keep in touch for more than a year." Famous last words, Jim.

If I were to even try to tell you all the adventures I have had as a part of this threesome friendship, we'd be here all day! The stories from the summer after college when I lived with them, alone, would take a week to regale and they could never compare to the experience. I'm introducing you to these amazing ladies to highlight one of my deep dark secrets. I have never been able to, and fear I will never be able to flirt. And if I didn't learn from these girls (the masters), I doubt there is any one who could teach me! I think I'm just one of those girls who feels more comfortable hanging back and watching in awe as my beautiful friends work their magic. I'm the sarcastically funny one, which I am happy with, but it usually makes you "the buddy" or "wing man" when it comes to the opposite sex.

Now, make no mistake, Niki and Rachel are hilariously funny also! That's what brought us all together. All of my girlfriends from Orlando happen to be the most stunning, humble, and comical people I know.

First let's take Niki, a molecular microbiology major, graduate of UCF, Pilate's instructor, pharmaceutical sales rep and all around generally amazing person. She's the first to throw a get together in her home when I come visit Orlando and always has dozens of guys waiting for her to become single (which she rarely is). Flirting technique? The eyelash bat. Seriously, Niki bats her eyelashes at men like Minnie Mouse and they fall to their knees. It's actually a lethal combination of a giggle and eye lash bat, but I digress. I realized shortly into our friendship that it only shows itself when there are people of the male species within a 6 foot radius. I tried to do it once. I just looked like I had something in my contact or was at the onset of an epileptic seizure.

Next, we have Rachel, a five foot eight or nine blond Cuban model, built like a shit brick house. She is one of those people you hate because she has had a baby and looks better then you ever will pre-baby. This is someone who does not even NEED the skill of flirting, because guys just stop, look and listen when she walks in the door. On top of her looks, she's a spectacular mother, amazing lifelong friend, a top real estate agent, and the first one to cook dinner for me every time I come to town (and an spectacular cook on top of all that). Flirting technique? The Spicy Cuban-ness. She's has no inhibitions whatsoever! She walks into a bar or club and heads right to the dance floor and throws down some wicked moves. If she wants to talk to a guy, there's no hesitation or waiting, she will just go up to him; and I've certainly never seen any guy mind! The funniest thing about it is that she is one of the kindest sweetest people I know, but you don't want to be a girl in a bar giving her the stink eye. She has no problem showing you how she feels about that out back in the alley, walking away from it with a ripped skirt and one shoe on, but always victorious. Clearly, even trying this flirting technique when you are a bony Irish girl would be ludicrous.

And bless their hearts, but Niki and Rachel certainly didn't help my case. I was working at Universal Studios, Orlando as Kimberley Duncan in T2-3D at the time and for some reason they found the opening monologue knee-slappingly hilarious. I had rehearsed in front of them at home when I was training in to the role and that was the start of a never ending barrage of, "Oh! Do the Kimberley monologue!!" at every outting we had. If they had a drink and there were a group of guys talking to us, I knew it was only a matter of time before they would shout, "Oh my gosh, you guys, Erin is so funny! Erin! Do the Kimberley monologue!" Now, the monologue was "cute" on it's best day, but out of the context of the show, in a bar, it was most certainly not funny. In fact, I would describe it more as confusing. But after minutes of, "Oh please! Come on! It's SO FUNNY!" I would give in because otherwise I looked like a jerk. I would always preface it with, "It's really not that funny," then I would watch Niki and Rachel die laughing as I spoke and the guys just stare blankly, wondering when the funny part was coming. I guess, ultimately, this was my flirting technique, albeit something I did repeatedly against my will and to my great discomfort.

Maybe I have a flirting technique that just hasn't quite manifested yet and when it does, it will be spectacular. I certainly don't have trouble making friends with guys but that's pretty much as far as it goes on my end. My relationships have generally come about because the guy has flirted with me. In fact, if I'm attracted to someone, I am much less likely to talk to them or attempt flirting. Obviously, that's a flawless system.

Make no mistake, I'm perfectly content being the audience for these adventures. My friends are the best! We can be completely ridiculous and have a ball. For instance, the picture below is just a regular night in Orlando where we decided it was The Village People Appreciation Day. We started at Cigarz, where we all tended bar (that's the owner and our surrogate pops, Syd) and continued to several bars around downtown in our costumes. I even had caution tape that I put up in various places. Being 22 years old makes these things possible.

I miss these girls terribly and can't wait to get back to Orlando to have more adventures!

But the important question is, What's your flirting technique? Do you have a friend who has that magical, effortless technique as well? Sign up, follow my blog and share! (pretty please!)

Building Sand Castles

When I was a little girl, I was extremely shy. My mother likes to constantly remind me of how she would have to take my hand and walk me over to groups of other little girls playing (whether we were on the beach, playground, you name it) and ask if they would mind if I joined them. I remember vividly one day on the beach when I was probably about 7 or 8 years old, standing in front of a group of little girls, with my head down, looking at my feet, waiting to hear their answer to my mother's request. I was really hoping they would say I could play with them because they were building an incredible sand castle. I had been watching from our beach towels with envy and had tried to psyche myself up to ask them myself but I just couldn't do it.

Of course, they said yes, as sweet little 7 year old girls always did, and I joined them in their sand castle building adventure. (It had a moat and the walls were as tall as I was, people!) Sometimes I can't believe how painfully shy I was; but to a certain extent, I still am. I always feel a little awkward when I'm thrown into a new group of people. When I have a security blanket of a boyfriend or best friend, I find myself getting comfortable in that relationship and not branching out as much as I should. If not, I just hang back and wait until time passes and I feel comfortable. Usually, I end up cracking a joke and then people all of a sudden look at me and say, "Whoa, you're funny. I always thought you were so quiet!" Don't ask me why it feels like a completely different thing to get up and perform or do stand up, but it somehow compartmentalizes to a different part of my brain where the shy gene does not have any power.

Since I came to Singapore, I had definitely kept a distance from meeting a lot of people by staying in the safety zone of my relationship. Moving here was so scary and different that it was easier to just sit on the beach towel and watch while everyone else built sand castles.

When my boyfriend, who was my closest friend, wasn't there to hide away with me anymore, I must admit my first instinct was, "RUN!" Then, after about a week, I didn't want to run away, but I DID feel like now everyone had their little clicks and it would be harder to work my way in and become friends.

This past Friday, Chelsey, Tori, Crista and I took the short little boat ride to Puala Ubin, a beautiful little island in Singapore, to mountain bike through the trails. It was such a fun little half-day adventure, and I felt really lucky to have gotten to a place where I have these kinds of friends. We spent the morning and early afternoon just biking, having girl talk and laughing.

And that's just a small example of the interesting and multi-faceted people I have gotten to know here. The amount of people I've communicated with in the past month in contrast to the first nearly 5 months of living here is incomparable. It's really shown me that even though it's a good thing to find someone I feel the security to hermit away with, sometimes I have to push through the shyness to connect with the other incredible people around me.

But I can't say I don't miss my mom holding my hand every once in a while.

I'm Back! Did ya miss me?

It's been a month since my last post! I can't believe it! There are just some things that you go through in life that leave you empty for a while. In a blog where most people reading it actually know me in person, I find I can't always write about everything I'm actually going through. It's all a process and I am working hard to get through, but today I found myself going, "I want to write. I miss it." So, here I am! And as promised, I will give you a recap of the fabulous girls weekend I had in Bintan.

I showed up on Chelsey's doorstep that morning, in pajamas, red-faced, nose running, and broken. The night before I had been given news that I didn't know what to do with. I had kept it to myself that evening, slept on it, made it a few hours into the day before I realized, "I can't do this alone." Chelsey patiently listened as I wept on her couch and refused every offer of tea, water, cereal, or any other consumable she had. She had literally just said, "Man, I wish we had a few days off to just get away from here," when both of our phones went off with text messages from our employer saying, "The park needs last minute repairs and tests before the opening, all performers have the next 3 days off."

Now, if you know me, you know I'm a planner. I like to have prepared hours, or most often days of research on a vacation spot before I even consider it. But we had heard that lots of our friends had taken little mini-vacations to Bintan, Indonesia and loved it. It's an hour long ferry ride from Singapore and supposedly has spectacular beaches. Chelsey is also a huge "planner" so for us both to look down at our phones and say, "Let's get out of here!" was a big thrill and sort of scary! We looked up maybe 3 hotels in Bintan, picked one and booked our hotel within 45 minutes. We had contacted a few other ladies who wanted to go, but had evening plans so they decided to meet us on the island the next day. I looked at Chelsey and said, "I'll be back in a half hour with a suitcase," and walked back across the street to my apartment.

Because Chelsey and I had previously gone to the island of Batam (near Bintan, but not the same) we just assumed the ferry left from Harbor Front where the other ferry had left. We decided to just grab a cab there and book the ferry on the spot. We rushed to the ferry terminal and said, "Two round trip ferry tickets to Bintan please!" The bored-looking woman behind the counter looked at us blankly and said, "Batam?"

"No, Bintan please." We smiled and were just giddy with the excitement of our impending, spontaneous adventure. The woman stared back at us and said, "There are no ferries to Bintan from here. You have to go to Tanah Merah." So much for spontaneity.

We then had to take another taxi to Tanah Merah, which was NOT close by. And along the way, the taxi seemed to play every 80's or 90's romantic power ballad I've ever heard. Every time a new song came on we literally looked at each other like, "Are you kidding?" Regardless of the mix up, we were on the island of Bintan by nightfall and I couldn't believe I had a friend like Chelsey who would drop everything (and be cool with missing out on three days off of work with her boyfriend) to take my mind off my problem.

The next morning, Lisa, Lauren and Tori joined us and we hit the beach. It was beautiful (aside from the massive amounts of construction to expand the hotel.) The water was too choppy to jet ski, which we wanted to do, so we set up a boat tour for the next day at the mangroves, and decided to just relax on the beach and at the pool the whole day. (From left to right: Tori, Lisa, Chelsey and I)

That night, after a fabulous dinner at a Japanese restaurant on the beach we headed back to our resort to do some karaoke. We got to the karaoke bar and a stylish Asian waif informed us, "Our main room is closed to the public because the prince of Malaysia is having a private party." I was in no position or mood to argue with that so I was thinking, "Okay, what's plan B?" Lisa had a very different opinion (and maybe a little sake in her . . . just a little.)


Lisa explained, "But we are all professional singers! He's gonna want us at this party! Look at us! We are hot and we are all professional singers!" Tori and I shot glances at each other like, "Uhhhh, not quite ALL of us are professional singers, but I guess we are going along with this." I assumed, because of how adamant Lisa was, that it was only moments before someone was going to escort us out of the bar. But the manager came and said, "Okay, we will give you all a private room and let the prince know that you are here and would like to sing for him. Then we will let you know."

We got to our private room and frankly, I forgot all about the prince. My girlfriends filled the karaoke queue up with girl power songs like, "Independent Women," "I Will Survive," and even a Spice Girls song. (Did I mention they are the BEST?) We danced around, drank beer and sake and sang at the top of our lungs; even us "non-singers."

The manager came back in and said, "Okay, the prince of Malaysia would like you to join him in the main room." I started to get nervous at this point! I was certainly not going to sing for the prince and was really hoping that Chelsey, Lisa and Lauren would completely take over in that scenario.

The room was empty accept for three Malaysian gentleman and three Malaysian young women who were all gussied up and very intently texting on their phones. Apparently, they were not adequately entertaining the prince!

The singers in our group picked out some Celine Dion songs and belted their hearts out. The prince was very impressed. Now I felt the pressure to earn my keep, but when I sing karaoke, it is restricted to 80's and 90's old school rap. So, in typical Muroski style, I dropped a little Salt and Pepper on them. I think they were confused, but ultimately impressed.

The next day we woke up early to get our delicious free breakfast buffet, fill some napkins with muffins and banana bread for later and hop in a neon pink van that would take us to the Bintan Mangroves. The tour was breath-taking, and although you would expect a boat tour of trees to be uneventful, you would be mistaken. Our tour guide proceeded to tell us about all the poisonous snakes that reside in the mangroves and up in the trees. As he is telling us this, they STOP THE BOAT as we are underneath a snake curled up asleep draped across some very shaky looking branches. I think we all had slight anxiety attacks during that encounter. We also had the pleasure of seeing monkeys jumping across our watery path from tree to tree.

This is a little video clip I took during the tour. The guide is talking about the venomous snakes and then the different types of monkeys. Yes, Lauren is texting through most of it.

Our tour guide was an Indonesian man who has lived among the mangroves his whole life. He explained that the oxygen given off by the mangroves keeps you young. He actually showed us his identification because none of us could believe he was in his 70's! It was, as my brother would say, an "educational tour" but still very fun. That's us looking in disbelief at his id.
We got back to the hotel and decided to take the later ferry home so we could go back to the beach and relax. I hadn't ever taken a last minute trip like that and I'm so glad I did, even though it was tough most of the time to fully enjoy it because of my emotional state, looking back I had some really wonderful moments and realized that I am surrounded by some pretty awesome ladies out here. Thank goodness they have my back. It makes me feel safe in an otherwise intimidating place.
On a funnier final note, right before we were going to leave to go to the ferry, Chelsey was complaining of a headache from the heat. She popped some Tylenol in her mouth and grabbed a bottle of water out of our tote bag of beverages. As she took a big pull from the bottle and swallowed, her eyes almost popped out of her head! She dove her hand into my bag and grabbed my bottle of water and chugged it down. When she could finally find her voice she croaked, "That was a bottle of vodka that I just washed my pills down with!" We had transferred our duty free vodka to a water bottle in order to get it through security and back to Singapore with us. Unfortunately, we had forgotten to label it.

One Foot in Front of the Other

I love sharing my life and experiences with anyone who enjoys reading what I write. Unfortunately, life has thrown me a curve ball that I don't feel comfortable sharing here. It's not fair to a person I love very much. But I can say that I will be back, hopefully soon, to writing this blog and including my followers in my adventures.

As a teaser . . . I did spend a fabulous girls weekend in Bintan, Indonesia. We are talking a tropical Indonesian island weekend with the ladies, people. It was fabulous. And what amazing and compassionate women I am surrounded with out here! That makes me truly grateful. More on that later . . . with pictures and video!

God always makes sure I have a rock to lean on where ever my travels have taken me. At home in Florida I have my family, in New York I had Ana and JC, in LA I had Kat. I have no doubt that there's a reason I am out here at the same time as my friend Chelsey. There couldn't be a better person to listen, offer advice and just be an amazing person. I don't know what on earth I'd be doing right now if it wasn't for her. She sent me this passage today from an email subscription that she gets:

"When something difficult or painful happens, always look to see what it makes possible that wouldn't have otherwise been possible. Like a new adventure, a closer friendship, or chocolate in your peanut butter.
Everything makes you better,
The Universe"

I can't wait until I really believe, deep down, that things will get better. I know that I will. I just want it to happen soon and unfortunately, you can't rush these things. You just have to trudge through them, one foot in front of the other.

I'll be back soon. And I'll have lots of fabulous stories to tell so please, check back soon!

A Simpler Day

I haven't been particularly inspired to write the past few days. Actually, there is quite a lot going on that I'd like to blog about but I won't. Take that as you will.

I had boarded the train to go to work today and was relieved when there was an empty seat to plop down in for the 15 minute ride into HarbourFront. I realized once I sat that I had been clinging on to my keys the past twenty minutes as I made my walk from the front door of my apartment, down 14 floors on the elevator, and walking through the HDB apartments of Saint George on my way to the Boon Keng MRT station. It's a strange habit that I have acquired since I moved here. I constantly have my key or my MRT pass in my hand long after I've used them. I'm sure there is something to analyze in that.

At any rate, I looked down at my keys in my hand and smiled at my Sam Adams bottle opener key chain. Del and I both use these trinkets that we were given at the Sam Adams beer tasting at the Food and Wine Festival. One of my best friends Heather and her boyfriend Will brought us with them to EPCOT for the festival while we were in Florida and it was the first time I had ever been to it. The four of us had such an amazing time! I would definitely recommend hitting up the tequila lounge in Mexico!

I smiled remembering that scorching hot day, just a few months ago, with a couple of my favorite people. I wondered what "Singapore" would be like at EPCOT if there were one. There would be a kiosk with Chicken Rice and bubble tea, most definitely.

Then I thought about how ironic it was that I had a bottle opener on my key chain considering I had never used it. The last time I had a beer was at the Night Safari. I paid $12 for a can of beer. Yes, my friends, a CAN. And not one of those big cans that are the size of two beers or those nifty cans that look like a keg. There were no dancing girls delivering my drink, no flaming swords show. Nope, it was just a can of beer. The best part was that the bartender/server didn't even bring it to your table. You have to go up to the bar and take it back to your table with you.

I spent about 20 minutes looking for the actual percentage of tax on alcohol for Singapore and can't find it in writing anywhere. I have been told that it is 111% which seemed high to me, but when I look at the prices of the spirits and wine in the supermarket, it makes sense. To give you some perspective, a 750mL bottle of Absolut Vodka (which would sell for around $19-$22 in the U.S.) costs S$88.50 in the grocery store. That equals $62.91 U.S. dollars. And you can't find much of a variety of alcohol either. Usually its Absolut, Jack Daniels and Bacardi and that's it. A six pack of beer (cans) is S$15-S$20 and you would be lucky to find a bottle of wine that is less then S$20. That's just how it is.

Now, when I first got here and saw the prices, it was jaw dropping. It was kind of a novelty! The only time it really bothers me is when you want to just get out of the house and have a nice meal with a cocktail and for a couple it's pretty hard to go anywhere and do that for under $100. Del and I aren't really party animals anyway, but sometimes you just want to get out of the house or not cook and it's tough out here to do that on a budget.

It makes me long for a sunny Florida day at EPCOT with Heather and Will, making our rounds to the different countries for a taste of their cuisine and a mini cocktail.

A Little Compassion

I have always worn my heart on my sleeve. Although I can come across as very strong, put together and, at times "bitchy," I am an extremely sensitive person. I have been trying for the past two days NOT to blog about this, but it's literally constantly on my mind so I just can't help it. Please forgive this bleeding heart.

The reaction to the death of Dawn Brancheau at Sea World in Orlando has really upset me to my core. For anyone who may not have heard the headlines from yesterday, a Sea World Orlando senior whale trainer was dragged into the water by her ponytail after an early afternoon show while she was feeding and playing with a 12,000 pound Orca whale. She was killed in the attack.

Folks that I know and, under normal circumstances, really dig, have posted surprisingly nasty things in their "status" on facebook like, "Yeah, it's called a KILLER whale for a reason!" and, "When will people start realizing these are wild animals?" This woman was an animal trainer since graduating college and had dreamed of working with whales after a visit to Sea World since she was nine years old. Of course she knew these were wild animals! I really doubt if you asked any animal trainer if they realize that animals are wild and there is a risk they could get seriously injured or lose their life that they would say, "Oh, really? I never thought about that!"

And it's not only that the comments about the death of this woman (who died only about 48 hours ago, mind you) are seemingly ignorant, it's that they are completely void of any compassion or sensitivity. Making jokes at the expense of a tragedy is an everyday occurrence. However, the righteousness that has followed Dawn's death is truly sickening to me. How brave of you to say on your facebook page, "She had this coming to her. These are wild animals!" Try saying that about a woman living out her dream of working with whales to her family and friends. With her death so fresh and recent, I can't fathom what would compel someone to broadcast their negative attitude on the situation.

The headlines also read, "Sea World decides not to destroy Killer Orca." It amazes me that one of the first instincts people have is to ask, "Well are they going to kill the whale?" It just reminds me of how humans constantly blame the animal for these attacks, as if the wild animal has any knowledge that they have done wrong. It is usually the human behind an attack that should be held responsible, but often times the animal is destroyed. I can't even count how many news stories I have heard of pit bulls, dobermans, monkeys or other "pets" that have attacked because their owner didn't restrain them properly or tend to them properly in the first place.

Dawn's sister has been quoted in the newspaper saying that Dawn would have never wanted the whale to be hurt or destroyed. She considered the whales her family. One of the trainers who worked with Dawn who watched the video of the events prior to and surrounding her death said that Dawn would have acknowledged the attack was her fault, had she lived to tell the tale. She was constantly letting her long ponytail swing in front of the whale and the whale grabbed it and took her under, thinking it was a game.

The folks who believe it's the wrongdoing of the whale and he should be "put down" reference two other deaths in which the whale was involved. One was a similar incidence to this, where a trainer fell into the water and Tillikin (the whale responsible for Dawn's death) and two others passed the trainer back and forth like a game. No trainers were supposed to be in the water with this whale and it was an accident. The other death involved a man who broke in to Sea World after hours so he could swim naked with the animals. He died of hypothermia. In my humble opinion, one death was completely the fault of a human and the other two were a bad combination of a wild animal kept in captivity with human error. Were any of these the fault of the whale? Should the animals be punished for acting out what is in their nature? Would "putting this whale down" prevent future deaths of this kind? In my heart, I feel the answer is "no."

I struggle with the idea that these animals are kept in captivity and are taught to put on shows to entertain the masses. One part of me says that having a few animals in captivity can bring awareness and inspiration to people in order to protect the population of animals in the wild. Another part of me thinks that some big corporation is making money off of monkeys wearing shower caps and dolphins jumping through hoops. It's one of those grey areas in my opinion where I see both sides of the coin and feel that I can't really say what is right and what is wrong.

All I can say is that I wish there was a little more compassion in the light of this tragedy. This woman was so passionate about her job and got to do what she loved every day. I can only dream about that. If someone told me, "You can do what you have always dreamed of doing, but there is a risk . . . " I can't say that it would stop me. Can you? Does that make you a fool, deserving of ridicule from thousands of people spanning the globe? Am I just oversensitive?

Does Size Really Matter?

Last night I sat around my tiny apartment with seven of my girlfriends drinking wine, eating chocolate and talking about boobs. It was the epitome of girls night conversation, and I was thankful that the discussions never dove into complaining about work, because that seems to be on most of our minds lately.

Our particular group that night didn't have anyone who had undergone augmentation, but several of the ladies were discussing wanting to fly to Thailand to get these inexpensive but amazingly spectacular fake tits. Apparently we work with a Aussie guy who has sent several girl friends to get them done with "one of the best plastic surgeons in the world." I just sat around looking at all the ladies that were lounging around my living room/dining room/patio/kitchen thinking how gorgeous they all were in completely different ways. We really had a cross section of all different body types, but each girl is so beautiful I can't imagine that any of them want to change things.

Of course, yes, we mutilate ourselves in other ways for beauty. (We did have a rousing waxing conversation.) But taking it to "going under the knife," seems so much more extreme to me!

Let me first say that I do not take the stance of, "No one should get breast implants!" I think it's your body, do what you want. Who am I to say what's right, wrong, best for anyone, etc. Trust me, I could hand you the list of the things I find wrong with my exterior! I constantly have the thoughts of, "I'd be beautiful if only . . . my nose weren't crooked, my teeth were straight, my ears didn't stick out, my arms weren't so long and lanky, my thighs had space between them, my eyes weren't so huge," and the list goes on and on. But when I'm really faced with changing any of those things, I always chicken out. Ultimately, I think I like looking like me even if it's not some universal idea of what is aesthetically beautiful.

As a daughter of a breast cancer survivor, and having had a scare recently myself, I can tell you the only way I'm going under the knife for my boobs is if it's to get everything taken out and REPLACED by the fakies. That's a whole other story, but my only concern with "my girls" is that they are healthy! So, today out of curiosity, I did some research and I was floored. The Internet can be a very scary thing.

According to research from the NRC for women and families, approximately 55% of breast tumors are hidden in mammograms by implants in the women who have them. Not only that but you have a chance of your implant rupturing during a mammogram so many women forgo getting it done! The National Cancer Institute found a 21% increase in breast cancer in women with implants over 7 years. And in 2008 more then 300,000 women and teenagers underwent breast augmentations (not including the 80,000 which were reconstructions for cancer patients,) while over 40,000 patients got implants removed that same year. These just a few of the jaw dropping facts I found. I don't want to get preachy or plead with anyone, but I just thought I'd share some of it with you.

I know all the reasons women want to get them. They want to feel more feminine, look better in a bathing suit, attract the opposite sex, look more in proportion, etc. But, honestly, when it puts you at such a high risk for disease and complications I'd rather have my beautiful "disproportionate" friends any day!

I am so thankful that we have the kind of knowledge, technology and brilliant doctors to be able to reconstruct ourselves when disease or accidents alter our appearance but I just wish we (me included!) could get to a place where we are happy with what was given to us!

Girls, get your hair done, wax those legs, and get yourself a Victoria Secret Very Sexy Plunge Push-up Bra (no, seriously, they work miracles.) The rest of your beauty is shining out from the inside and that's what really counts!