Several weeks ago, I saw that Mandi of the blog "Here's Looking at Me Kid" was planning/thinking about getting a tattoo…and I thought, what a dear and lovely soul to link arms with and get this adventure done! So, here's the story of her tattoo. It's BEAUTIFUL, by the way. Definitely make sure to head over to her blog to give her kudos, and also just to have a look around. Of course, her blog is as beautiful as she is. :)
in her words…
"I spent 2 years of my life agonizing over what my tattoo should
be. And 5 hours agonizing over the pain at the tattoo parlor. But it
was so worth it! One of my new year's resolutions was to get that
tattoo I had always wanted. So, when Hayley asked me if I wanted to
make this into a shared adventure, it was just the gentle kick in the
butt that I needed to finally get it done. For the last two years, I
pretty much knew what I wanted: something vintage and floral. But I
kept setting ridiculous goals for myself that I had to complete before
actually getting the tattoo. After sabotaging my goals for two years, I
decided I had better just make getting the tattoo itself my goal,
rather than the reward.
Another
reason I waited so long to get the tattoo is because I didn't really
know how to go about it, or, for that matter, who was a good tattoo
artist for me. I'm one of those people who are too afraid to ask
"stupid" questions, so I didn't want to make a fool of myself when I
called the tattoo parlor. Fortunately for my ego, my good friend (who
just had a huge peacock inked on her side) walked me through what to
expect and gave me the name of a tattoo artist who specializes in
florals. So I called Jesse, from The Good Life in Akron, Ohio, went in
for a consultation visit, and then three weeks later spent my entire
evening getting poked with needles.
When
he started on my arm, I thought, hey, this is nothing! I don't know why
people act like this is such a painful ordeal! But! But. When he got to
the base of my neck, I thought I was going to die. I still have bruises
where I was squeezing my arm so tightly against the arm rest and
clutching my hands together in order to get through the pain. My mantra
was: Just three more hours! Just three more hours! Then: "Just one more
hour! Just one more hour!" If you want to get a large tattoo and you
can handle pain well (which I really think I can), I would say just
suck it up and get it done in one 5 hour sitting, like I did. It makes
for a much more efficient healing process. But, if you're worried about
the pain, I would say to break it up into a couple of sittings. If you
are afraid of needles, don't worry. You won't even see the needles and
really it doesn't feel like needles. Bottom line: If you have been
dreaming of a tattoo and you are the type of person who knows what you
want… well, what are you waiting for?"
I love Mandi's take on her tattoo, it is so fun to read of other people's experiences and emotions. Doing this little exercise together was JUST what I needed to push me over the proverbial edge. It was nice to have someone that I knew was counting on me not to chicken out. We all need that in life, sometimes. Agreed?
Thanks for being adventuresome with me, Mandi! You are beautiful and so is your new tattoo…beautiful (BEAUTIFUL!) art, indeed!!