Laura, that sounds almost exaclty like my experience. I didn't even think twice about some of the girly things I did when I was little (like "painting" my nails with markers, pencils, or pens). Mostly I just followed my older sister's lead.
I'm working on the "unlearning" of the masculine traits, but I definitely remember making a conscious effort when I was maybe 10 or 15 years old to be more masculine. People saw through it, sure, but when I went away to college, nobody cared.
I've always studied women. It's not rude. When I see a woman I think is attractively feminine in some way, I note all the things I can about her appearance -- the pattern on her shirt, the way she holds herself, the inflection of her speech, her hair style, etc.
For a while I forced myself to do this with guys so that I could get by living as a man. But it always just came naturally to study women in this way. And all women do this. It's how all girls learn to be women.