Anyone who knows me at this point in my life knows I'm an appearances minimalist. My summer uniform is shorts and various tank tops (spaghetti, halter, thick strapped--I love them all). The last time I wore makeup was when my brother got married in June. On some level I'm a person who likes to be comfortable and take the easy route when it comes to presenting myself to the world. I grew up in a home that validated my beauty and validated that beauty as it was. So not just the made up, dressed well me, but the chilling out with messy hair and comfy pants me was beautiful. Is beautiful.

That said one beauty standard I've felt like I've always had to conform to was being hairless. I must shave my armpits, my legs, get rid of that unsightly upper lip hair, and even though no one sees it (well except my husband) keeping a trim bush is so important.

I got a professional wax for the first time just before my wedding. Just on my upper lip. It was some of the worst pain I ever felt in my life. And I willingly paid someone money to feel that awful pain. Because of course I also couldn't shave because stubble on a woman was probably worse than having a light mustache.

I decided after that it didn't matter. And people still make remarks every so often. I remember when I was told by someone they were concerned I wouldn't get hired because I had some upper lip hair and didn't wear makeup. I knew at that point I wasn't the person who wore makeup everyday and didn't want to be (don't get me wrong I love a good contour), so if it turned out people weren't hiring me because of those stupid reasons I sure didn't want to be working for them.

So I continued to embrace the hair on my head and care less and less about the hair on my body, except for one specific area: my legs. You see, I could ease away the upper lip hair (cause I just wasn't going to willingly bring that pain into my life), I could forget about my bush (though sometimes I trim it up out of love for my husband), but the hair on my legs felt embarrassing.

You ever see a women's shaving commercial? It's so embarrassing to have leg hair that all the models are already clean shaven as their demonstrating the razors. Always.

I didn't starting out wanting to revolutionize or make some bold feminist statement about not shaving to not conform to beauty standards. Like much of my practices it started out of comfort.

I love the hot weather and wanted to wear shorts every single day. But you know what grows quickly? Hair, everywhere on my body. And you know what takes time? Shaving almost three feet of leg twice (yeah I got long ones). So at first I just wasn't shaving as often. Two to three weeks instead of every week. Then a whole month went by. Then I was like screw it, no one really pays attention to my legs, I don't really enjoy it, it takes forever, I just want to slip on my shorts and stop thinking about it. So I did. And you want to know what happened? Nothing.

I've worn gorgeous dresses with hairy legs--did that today as a matter of fact--and a stranger went out of her way to compliment my beauty. If anything the greatest judgment has come from me. My husband still thinks my legs are sexy with or without hair. And people? As you might guess most of us are way too focused on ourselves to notice someone else's legs. And to be honest, the people who are concerned about the hairiness of my legs aren't people I want to spend time with. I may shave my legs again, but so far I'm going on two months, and I have no plans on changing my ways.

I totally get it if you think I'm gross, weird, or eccentric that's okay. As for me, I spent way too much of my teenage years obsessing about my body. I didn't stand up straight because I was self-conscious of my height. I thought my boobs and feet were too big. I wanted to straighten my hair instead of embracing what was natural. I look at my legs the little hairs all over, and all I see is beauty. I don't shame you if you do shave, smooth legs are lovely too, but I also realize for me, and who I am I shaved because that's what I felt a proper (beautiful) woman does.

So I'm embracing who I am. And who I am loves simplicity when it comes to getting dressed (I love it even more now that I have to dress professionally everyday). Who I am would rather spend time smiling and taking stupid selfies then putting on makeup. Who I am would rather spend time writing then shaving my legs and getting my hair done. I just want all of us women to do what we want to do with our beauty and our time. So if you love to do makeup go girl, that's beautiful. If you like to wear men's t-shirts, you rock those shirts. Let's all just embrace ourselves as we are right now, hairy legs and all.