New Tattoo

After a lot of research last night, I decided I wanted a cherry blossom branch as my new tattoo.  I'm sure it's no coincidence that a cherry blossom branch happened to be the first real painting I did, too.  I guess I must be partial to that particular tree.  I also decided that I wasn't going to get some dainty little thing that was just going to be floating around in the middle of my ankle like my rose--uh uh; it was 'go big or go home' this time around.  Today, we went to the tattoo parlor, and I told my artist (who was absolutely awesome--same guy who did Clint's) what I had in mind, and he was able to sketch out a design on my foot/ankle pretty quickly.  Once I approved it, he got to work.  It took almost exactly an hour-and-a-half.  He had estimated two hours, so shaving that extra half hour off was sheer bliss. 

The pain of getting this tattoo was much more intense than I expected, but maybe I'm just wimpier than I used to be.  The top of my foot was the worst.  The skin is so thin there, and there was just no barricade against that needle.  Nonetheless, I held it together the entire time...I spent the entire time joking around with Clint and the tattoo artist, singing songs in my head, counting spots on the ceiling, etc.  When the pain got real bad, I would just focus on relaxing my hands and arms (both of which kept tensing up), and I would try to imagine that they felt like water.  For some reason, doing this temporarily took me away from the pain.  One positive thing is that, although the first ten minutes is the longest (endorphins still waiting to kick in, maybe?), the time flies after that.  Those ninety minutes felt more like thirty.

Okay, enough chatter.  Here's the new tattoo....

My tattoo artist had just finished the tattoo when we took these pics, so my skin was still pink and raw.  Now that it's nine hours later, the flowers have more white in them that makes them pop out more and look much prettier.  The two largest blossoms closer to the top are what's actually covering up my old tattoo.  Overall, I am SO happy with the final product!  It's simple but dramatic.  And other than some initial shock I'm receiving from the older relatives, I'm getting a ton of positive feedback on this one.

After leaving the tattoo parlor, Clint and I were both feeling pretty famished.  Apparently self-mutilation works up an appetite.  Steve was stuck at Starbucks all day waiting for his car to be fixed, so we decided to meet him for lunch.  Much to my delight, he chose sushi (it's ridiculous how much I love the stuff now).  Clint had never tried sushi before, and he and Steve both ordered the all-you-can-eat special and pretty much ate themselves into a coma.  I, on the otherhand, ordered sane proportions of food, but that's neither here nor there.  Overall, lunch was definitely my favorite part of the day. 

Tomorrow I will be decorating Rose Floats in Pasadena from 1:00 p.m until 1:00 a.m (yep, A.M.!) with 25 middle schoolers and about 15 high-schoolers.  Wish me luck!