when is it ok to tell instead of show?

Of course! Think of it like you're inside your MC's head. That's really how it works, even if it's 3rd person, especially if it's 1st. If you're next to the boy you like, wouldn't you think to yourself "oh my gosh, his eyes" or "oh my gosh, I like him so much" at least once or twice (or in some cases, twenty times)? It's not as if your MC isn't thinking. Go ahead and gush a little.
Remember, there's such a thing as too much showing. Telling isn't against the law, it's just all about how you use it.

I would think that's totally fine for "telling." Anytime people would naturally say or think something outright, go for it. It's when you delve into the telling that isn't natural that you run into trouble.

There's often such a lot of fuss about absolutely always showing over telling. I think that it depends a lot on your main character. If she's in love but isn't aware of it, or is in denial about it, then that would be something to show rather than tell. But if your she is fully aware that she's got a crush on someone, then I don't see why she wouldn't just say so.

I think telling is problematic when it overwhelms readers with irrelevant information, weighs down the narrative and is basically unnecessary. But this doesn't sound like one of those situations. Let her tell it like it is.

piano_island said:

My WIP is in first person and, while I hate constant streams of internal dialouge, when is it ok for your MC to tell the reader instead of show?

Example: My MC has a thing for some guy. I've shown it through body language and so on and so forth; is it too much for her to say in her own mind and "to the readers", at some point, that he makes her weak in the knees? I'm not talking full out "he's absolutely perfect all the time" gushing...her personality is not like that, but for her to acknowledge that she has a thing for him.

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Be careful about the overuse of inner dialog. It can be a shortcut and comes off as an info dump.

piano_island said:

My WIP is in first person and, while I hate constant streams of internal dialouge, when is it ok for your MC to tell the reader instead of show?

Example: My MC has a thing for some guy. I've shown it through body language and so on and so forth; is it too much for her to say in her own mind and "to the readers", at some point, that he makes her weak in the knees? I'm not talking full out "he's absolutely perfect all the time" gushing...her personality is not like that, but for her to acknowledge that she has a thing for him.

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This is why I have such a problem with "Show Tell" (though I'm guilty of using the phrase myself). It's very simplyfied and people tend to worry about it too much, imo. Good story telling isn't always showing - it's knowing when to show things through action and when to tell things.

If you're writing a first person POV you likely should be including some of your characters thoughts and some of those thoughts would likely be about liking the boy. I agree that you should avoid gushing but I see no reason why you wouldn't include some of her thoughts about her crush - unless it's s situation where she's slowly coming around to the realization.

The key to "telling" in first person is to keep it in the character's voice, that way they come across as just thinking something vs the author butting in to explain something.

This applies with dialogue. Not everyone speaks with perfect diction and grammar, and not everyone thinks in the "show don't tell" rule. I'm sure everyone at one time goes "Oh my god, he's hot". As long as it's your character thinking, then it's alright.

I learned in my CRWR class to show what's important, and tell what it isn't - preferably in the quickest space possible. Personally, I think interior dialog is okay, as long as it doesn't bog down the work.