The end of an era...

In the early 2000s, who didn't want a belly like Britney!?

This week I did something major. This week, after 11 years of pierced glory, I removed my belly button ring. A singular act of rebellion against my parent's wishes, the week I turned 18, I marched into Tattoo Lou's (yup) and got the piercing I'd been pining for for years (take that Mom and Dad!) I was completely satisfied with the decision from the moment I made it; I was just the kind of girl who rocked the subtle, sparkle of a belly button ring. Over the years I endured questions (my babysitting clientele always had trouble wrapping their little brains around an earring there!), commentary ("you still have that metal thing in your stomach?" - Nanny, every time I went to her pool in Florida) and indifference (my girls would often remark, even years after I got pierced "I always forget you have a belly button ring!") But a few month ago, when I'd removed my belly bling because its protrusion was highly noticeable through the dress I was wearing, I glanced in the mirror and saw what my stomach looked like without the jewelry I'd become accustomed to seeing there. I thought "that looks.. kinda... good". I contemplated my next move for weeks, finally deciding that at the end of the summer (after bathing suit season, to give the hole time to close up) I would remove the ring forever. Fast forward to yesterday when, after having removed the ring for a dress on Tuesday, I realized I'd never put it back in. For those of you not in the know on these things, a belly piercing closes up fast and I realized it might actually hurt to try to put the ring back in... given how close I was to my personal bye bye belly ring day, I decided to not even try. It felt like the universe was sending me a sign... It was time. 

This morning, as I inspected the tiny empty hole above my belly button, I felt a little bit... sad? "Did I make a mistake taking it out!? Should I try to shove the ring back in there just for this weekend!?!" Because even though I know that belly button rings are not the height of trendiness, class or glamour, I liked having one and taking it out makes me nostalgic for a time in my life when having a belly button ring seemed perfectly reasonable. I can't pinpoint why exactly I don't feel that way anymore (maybe it's just that when I really looked at my tummy sans ring, it seemed flatter without a piece of metal poking out?!) but something about the piercing suddenly just seemed done. So goodbye belly button bling... we had a great run. I'll miss you every time I'm in a bathing suit and sporting just a little less sparkle.