Tattoo Frenzy

Things have been crazy lately. I have taken a break from writing because 1- it is summertime, and if you live in the Midwest, the summer is meant to be enjoyed! 2- I have found that I have been so ANGRY about news stories that are happening AND people's response to them. I'm still shaking my head at some of y'all. 3- As you all know, I am planning a party... and a wedding.

So, I have plenty that I have written drafts about, but haven't posted (for my own sanity, I think). And so here I am. Life has been fantastic though. The factory has been shut down for a week (happens twice a year), so Lefty and I have been able to do SOME things around the house, some things that needed to be done (like my crazy car tune up) and some things that we wanted to do (finally!) One of the things that we wanted to get done was... tattoos! What?!?! That is correct we have gone to the dark side of body art (ok, ok, I was already a card carrying member, but today, I got Lefty to join me!)

Lefty had a specific reason and vision for his tattoo. Last October Lefty lost his younger brother. I didn't write about it (and I don't think I will today, either-- Lefty has written about it and talks about it, and I listen) but suffice it to say EVERYone was sad, it was rough for everyone involved and Lefty was looking for a way to honor his brother in an everlasting kind of way. When my grandmother passed away in 1999, I got a tattoo. It reminds me of her every day and when I look at it I remember all the funny, great conversations that we had. It makes me smile. And now Lefty has something that will remind him of his brother; something to make him smile. Maybe I can get him to write a blog entry about its meaning? (hint, hint Lefty) Until then, here is the finished product:

Yep... super cute!!   :) He was such a trooper. This is his first tattoo and he didn't even cry! Trooper. Me? I didn't cry either. Really, this is my fourth tattoo and I got white ink, so I would deserve to be slapped if I cried for a tattoo that lasted 5 minutes. It turned out GREAT. It is simple and clean and I love it!! I took this pic by Mac Book light... hahahaha! 

And, no... I swear that I did NOT get white ink because Lefty is white (though we joked about that in the tattoo parlor) and he did not get black ink because I'm black. We are so inappropriate to laugh about that possibility... but it was super funny to us. 

Also, I just want to say that Alison at Short North Tattoo was AWESOME. Lefty told her what he wanted and she put that into a drawing that was EXACTLY what he wanted. She broke in my newbie so gracefully and I appreciate it SO much. If I had a rating system (wait, I should TOTALLY make up my own rating system...) she would get 5/5 of whatever I was giving. Oh YES... she gets 5 coffee cups. Out of 5. AKA she is the cat's meow!