A Tattoo Tour 4 #NationalTattooDay

I'm a big fan of the National Days and I enjoy finding a reason to celebrate life. July 17th is #NationalTattooDay! Since my first in September of 2021, I have added some more ink to make five of those bad bois total. I've never officially done a tattoo tour and since a grand total of zero people asked for it, I thought it would be the perfect time!

Frida and the BrainHeart

I'm someone who likes symmetry. I like balance; I like when things add up. I started college as an account major and now I have a middle part and septum piercing. It's about the details and little things to me. I'm sharing this because I couldn't get one tattoo and then feel physically uneven. So for my "first tattoo" - I got two.

Frida was the first of the appointment. I had a specific vision and send multiple reference photos to my artist. It's my first one - I'm gonna be picky! I really loved the idea of only doing the top half of her face, with the iconic unibrow as the focus. I was introduced to Frida in 2014; I was a junior in high school and we watched Salma Hayek's Frida in Spanish Culture. She was powerful, a bi-sexual queen, strong, take-no-prisoner kind of woman and artist. I immediately felt connected and inspired. I enjoy her story and her work; Frida is important enough to me to be my first "bumper sticker on a Ferrari".

I mirrored the placement of Frida with a brain/heart combo. I matched the flowers in Frida's crown to be the same as the ones in the arteries. I don't have a deep reason for this one but I do love it. I could say it's because life should be lived with both your head and your heart. But I just got a basic Pinterest tattoo because I liked the ~design and style~.

Safety Pin and a Ballpoint Pen

I'd like to think this isn't your first blog or post of mine to consume but hey if it is then I'll catch you up to speed - I'm a huge fan of The Front Bottoms. I'm obsessed actually. I've been in love with the band since I was first introduced in 2013. Backflip is a song of the second studio album and the inspiration for my third tattoo. I could write a whole book on what this band means to me or what the tattoo is but check out the video below, listen to the lyrics, and it'll sum up at least part of it.

Shoutout to Brooke from Amity Irons Tattoo for being patient with my stress over the placement of the first two and pre-thank you for the many more I'll be messaging for.

121

I'm lucky. I have a best friend and she came into my life on a whim. Bri Vega was my graduate school roommate. We both were college coaches and achieving the free tuition dream. We both thought that deal came with our own rooms but we were wrong. On an afternoon in late August 2019, I got an email stating that I was assigned a room in Harborview Hall and my co-inhabitant would be she. Was I pissed? Duh. But after a quick LinkedIn and IG stalk, I knew she'd be my twin. We lived in 121 Harborview Hall. I wouldn't have traded that year for anything - despite the fact that we were 23 yr old adults forced to sleep 15 feet from each in twin beds. 121 is to honor my best friend and the college experience that I'll always be thankful for. Thank you to Three Kings Tattoo and Anthony for putting our friendship into ink.

Big 'Ol Tooth

I've written about this previously and linked the shop/artist. But since then, the tattoo has meant more to me than I said. I told the original story to one of my regulars and he said nope. He didn't like it. So instead he asked me a few questions about my past and reminded me that my Granny Lulu used to pull our (the grandkids) teeth. Yeah - that's right. My mother's mother used to pay six and seven year olds to sit still and to let her pull our teeth out. I remember she once tied a string to my cousin's front tooth and did the door slam trick. She HATED the wiggling of a loose tooth and now that I'm grown, I side with her. We got blessed from Granny Lulu's pockets for the pain and then the Tooth Fairy added to our piggy banks. However, Granny Lulu would probably not approve of a tattoo and much less a tattoo in her honor. But the world will never know so I've changed the dedication of this ink to my late grandmother, Loretta aka Sugar Tart.

???

Will I get more? Of course. Do I know what I want yet? Absolutely not. But you bet ya ass that I'll be making content when the day comes and probably to the "don't be sad, go get a tattoo" audio.

BONUS FOOTAGE - Just because! You can listen carefully and hear the piercer of Bay Street Tattoo joke about it taking another half hour. I didn't feel or sense that the most painful piercing to date was even over.