On Weekends, Tattoos, Gelato, and Social Anxiety

This weekend was awesome in a lot of ways.

On Saturday Rob and I spent time with his brother and sister-in-law and then had drinks with his stepsister and a few of her friends. It was really relaxing and I love getting to spend time with other lovely people in our lives.

Sunday was tattoo show time!

Note: I'll admit that I was extremely nervous to begin with. I have a sort of insane dysmorphia when it comes to picturing my social interactions with people, particularly people who I want to impress or be friends with. I don't know if anyone else does this, but I generally picture myself speaking to others as about 4 feet taller, with knuckles dragging and a voice unnecessarily loud and incoherent. My husband tells me this is insane because I'm 5'3" and around 120 lb, but I'm sure someone out there understands this issue (I can't be the only one, right? Right?!).

Anyway I knew that my artist, who I generally avoid when I see him in the gym because of said dysmorphia and corresponding fear of making a total ass of myself, was bringing a bunch of friends with whom he trains (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) along with his wife and son. I didn't know any of these people aside from cursory glances at the gym and tattoo shop. Needless to say I was damn near a full-on panic attack more or less the entire morning.

I arrived at the show early and sort of stood around for awhile. For the first time ever I felt out of place for not having more tattoos...they were everywhere! I saw some beautiful work and some not-so-beautiful work, but despite the quality or lack thereof of the work itself it was awesome to be around so many tattooed people.

Long story short, it ended up being a total freaking blast. Everyone in the group was super nice and inclusive, and we were all pretty drunk (thanks to the attached bar) by around 2:30. My tattoo even won best in its category - Best Small Color Piece (Female)! It should've won Best in Show - Female, but alas, the judges weren't tattoo artists or even tattooed at all, so their tastes were a wee bit skewed in my humble opinion.

Here's me standing with Adam, my artist, along with my awesome sixth-grade hologram trophy:



Let's ignore a couple of things about this picture: (1) That it's really awkward and (2) that my stomach and hips look way bigger than normal.

Also, I was asked about this - Adam received a trophy as well. Why they give a trophy to the person who got the tattoo, I will never understand. All I did was bring the idea and sit there. But hey, gratuitous trophies are always fun and it is currently proudly displayed in our guest bedroom. Adam also won multiple awards for various other pieces - he's truly an amazing artist and tattooist.

My husband spent the day playing with his band, which apparently went really well. I'm really excited for them to begin recording and playing gigs. Rob's ideal job would be to just play music all the time and hopefully he can make that dream come true.

Confession: I also want him to get famous so I can get tattoos in visible places.

So that was the weekend. I'm really glad that I stepped outside of my comfort zone and met new people, made new connections, and did something I've never done before. Typically my social anxiety keeps me pretty limited in the activities I participate in, but once I break free I always feel proud of myself for the experience. That was my lesson for the weekend: it's never as bad as you think it will be and it's always worthwhile to challenge yourself and make yourself feel a little uncomfortable.

And to finish this post, here are some pictures from me and Robbie's gelato date this evening!

Mm, currant with chocolate...