Boys don't make passes...

Today was the first day in my life that I felt confident wearing my glasses.

The Backstory
My kindergarten teacher spotted me squinting pretty severely at the pages in my book, and she recommended that my parents get me to an eye-doctor.  So, from a very young age, I've been correcting my vision.  I am far-sighted, which means that I have difficulty focusing on objects that are close by.  Unfortunately, I am pretty extreme in far-sightedness, so I have trouble focus on objects at any distance.  This means I am always correcting my vision - either with glasses or with contact lenses, and I do not qualify for laser eye surgery due to the extreme nature of my poor vision.

My glasses are super thick.  Think Milton from "Office Space".  Yeah, that thick.  So thick I couldn't get wire frames until the technology finally allowed optometrists to get slimmer glass lenses.  My parents wouldn't let me get contacts until I was 12, so I had to endure almost 8 years of torture from my peers because of those gigantic glasses.  I learned to never look people in the eye because they'd see how magnified my eyes were in my glasses.  The scars from that experience lasted long into my contact lens years.

A New Pair
A couple years ago, a coworker recommended an optometrist in Manhattan, where I was living at the time, and through him, I got a great-looking pair of glasses.  Red Ralph Lauren frames, small and chic.  Very Tina Fey.  Although I liked them, I still did not wear them in public.  My eyes just looked too magnified and people always stared.  Why would I spend the day pushing my glasses back up on my nose when I can just wear contacts, which correct my vision just as good, if not better, and then I don't even have to think about it.  Cut to a couple years later, and it's almost Thanksgiving.  My office was practically empty today because everyone is traveling.  I've been spending really long hours in front of a computer screen, and I felt like my eyes could use the break.  So, I woke up this morning and decided to actually try wearing my glasses in public.

Nerdy Chic
I wore my hair down in loose waves using a big curling iron, put on a pretty sparkly scarf from J.Crew, went light on the eye makeup (what with the whole magnifying my eyes thing and all), and held my head up high.  I even looked people in the eye.  It turns out, it's not so bad, wearing glasses.

I'm not convinced the outfit and hair made it all of a sudden so much better than before.  I think what made the difference was my confidence.  We're not 8 anymore.  People spend a lot of money on mascara that magnifies their lashes, and I have glasses that do it for free.  And if someone makes fun of my magnified eyes, it's because they're an ass... and if my glasses are the worst thing you can make fun of about me, then I guess I'm pretty awesome, glasses and all.