I refuse to believe that the secret to happiness is low expectations, but it probably helps

Tonight my 20 year old super religi cousin got married. I have to say that I had a much better time than I anticipated and stayed much later than I had planned (mostly due to my ride not leaving until the bitter end.) I had a really good conversation with my dad's favorite cousin who happens to be one of my biggest fans - conversation was similar to the one I had with Aunt May last week, I danced with my little cousins (ages 8-4) and hung out with my family. I like these people- they are awesome and warm and they love me- even though they think I am a bit odd (perhaps more than a bit) and they are all wondering who (or what) I am going to bring home. As we were driving home I realized that I am happy. At least I think I am. I'm not entirely sure that I know how to recognize it. I have wonderful people in my life (becca and her sister spent their night searching for guys for me on jdate and contacting them- i'm kind of scared) and I am really lucky. I am excited and proud of the work I am doing- eating disorder film, school, bpd research, theory of mind research, rape advocacy program but really it isn't about that. At the wedding tonight I felt totally comfortable even though I was with this ridiculously religious crowd- I realized I am happy with who I am. My cousins were all bejeweled and made up and decked out and I came with wavy hair and some make up, no jewelry and a cute dress and heels (as Elle would say- you know you want to f--- me heels)and I felt like me, in this really good way. I was myself and relaxed and irreverant all night and it was great.
Day one back on the diet and I swam for an hour straight before I went to the wedding - which made me a little late for the wedding and also was the reason that I left my house with wet hair.
Other good news- We ran our first pilot for the theory of mind/perspective taking experiment and I think it went well. My meeting this morning went really well too and I really liked the person I met with and I think she will be a great addition to the film- I get wait to get started with the filming! Things are moving in the right direction and I feel like I am in control of my life.
Totally destroying everyone else in the dating tourney- have a date with Jeremy tomorrow night (third one this week- although I would prefer second dates with the guys I actually like), still playing phone tag with Seamus- he called last night while I was out with Tyson. I'm still as crazy and nerotic as ever about dating but I think I am getting a better handle on it. And when I get anxious, I try to go swimming. It helped tremendously today. I am trying to revive my mantra from two summers ago- Faith and Patience- I need to have faith in myself and stop screwing things up with my insecurity and impatience. I will wait to see if I hear from this week's good date and trust that if I dont' hear from him, someone else who I like will come along and like me enough to follow up (follow up on non-compelling guys who did call after the first date, I tried to set up RCPAS with someone else only to be told that he is dating someone else- as I suspected, it had nothing to do with me- I can't even credit him with good taste.)