Half-Sleeve Session #1

So on Saturday I wandered on down to ye old tattoo parlor to start my lovely half sleeve I talked about a few posts ago. Here is the [frickinamazing] design my tattoo artist came up with:

Adam Gordon of Mr. Adam's Tattoos, Farmington, ME

So gorgeous. I love the colors and the dimensions, absolutely everything. We talked about it and I think it'll take around 3 sessions, maybe more but hopefully not.

I spent around five hours in the chair which blew by like nothing. We managed to get a greyish outline of everything (since most of the tattoo isn't going to be with harsh black lines, just a vague outline so he can see everything) and a few accents here and there (the paratroopers, the insides of the flowers, parts of the plane, etc.). Suffice it to say, it doesn't look absolutely fabulous right now...kind of like a big bruise with black marks, but you can totally tell that it's going to be the most amazing thing ever regardless and so I don't mind showing it off!

I have to wait for A MONTH to get the next part done. My artist was pretty bummed that he had some event going on at the three-week mark, so we had to push it to Saturday, February 5. I've never realized how impatient I am until right now. He said that next we'll work on the blue of the sky and maybe the plane, and on the last session fill in the flowers and do any other touch-ups that are needed. SO EXCITED. I'm hoping to kind of chronicle this journey here so that I have it to look back on later.

Funny story: there was a girl that came in just after me to get her very first tattoo - the medical symbol with the word "Diabetes" on it since she is a diabetic. We were kind of chilling out while Adam and Doug drew our respective designs into stencils, and her mother asked "Is this your first tattoo as well?" I grinned and said, "No, my seventh." Doug, the artist who did the birds on my left shoulder said something like "Don't be fooled by her, she's peppered with tattoos, you just can't see them!" That's why I'm excited for this one - my first truly visible tattoo :)

Book Recommendations

I realized that though I am an avid reader I have never really talked about books on my blog. So, as we head into this weekend, I offer you, my 3-4 (or fewer) readers a book recommendation list!

1. In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote

I don't think other people are as into true-crime books as I am, but this is still my favorite book so I'll put it on this list. I've read this 4 or 5 times since college and I still love reading it to this day. It's a pretty sad book (you know the plot if you've seen the movie "Capote") but I really like the perspective it gives on both murderer and victim. I have a first-edition copy of this book AND a copy on my Nook.

2. Under the Banner of Heaven, by Jon Krakauer

This is probably my second favorite book after "In Cold Blood." It is both a true-crime story and a reflection on Mormonism, Fundamentalist Mormonism and faith in general. It's a fascinating look at the origins of Mormonism. I know that some in the Mormon community have denounced certain facts in this book or complained about anti-faith bias, but if you read this book for what it is (a book written by an avid researcher but not a historian) you really can appreciate it. The crime behind the story (two fundamentalist Mormons brutally murder a woman and her 15-month old daughter claiming they received a revelation from God) is absolutely horrifying.


3. The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold

I've read this book twice - once in high school or college and another this past year. When I read it the second time, I started in an airport and found myself crying at my gate within the first 50 pages. A wonderful book with lovely language and fantastic imagery.


4. Little Bee by Chris Cleave

I read this in one travel day. It's a fictional account of a young woman whose village in Africa is attacked and who ends up in England. In England she connects with a British woman she actually had met in Africa. It was a really well-written, emotionally-charged book and I couldn't put it down.


5. Sh*t My Dad Says, by Justin Halpern

I bought this book on my nook just for a good laugh, but when I started reading it I realized it's actually a lot deeper than I thought. I really enjoyed reading the stories about he and his dad and the hilarious quotes after each anecdote, and I particularly enjoyed seeing the connection between him and his father.

About as Crafty as I get

I am not a crafty person. I salivate at blogs like Apartment Therapy, Hipster Housewife, etc. and marvel at how these people can take a milk container, a few lengths of ribbon and a boiled egg and can somehow make a gorgeous entertainment center with nifty shelves and baskets and crap.

I rack my brain trying to come up with ways to manage our enormous piles of clutter. Though I am only 24 and my husband only 25, we have somehow accrued so much CLUTTER that our tiny little apartment is jam-packed. I feel claustrophobic on a daily basis and I end up scouring websites and blogs all over the interwebs trying to find ways to manage it all.

One thing I found the other day were two relatively large boxes, each filled with the letters we received from each other during the four years we were apart. When Rob was in Basic, we had no way to communicate for 16 weeks aside from letters. Sometimes I would write him 2, 3, 4 letters in a single day...and I would wait impatiently by the mailbox every day for a letter from him, which he wrote when he should have been sleeping. Once he graduated Basic in July '04, he had a little more freedom and we both got cell phones, but we never stopped writing letters.

An interesting note: we actually wrote far fewer letters when Rob was in Iraq. I attribute this to the fact that the deployment was so difficult on both of us that the words didn't need to be said anymore. We both knew, unequivocably, that we were in love and that nothing would tear us apart. The words became unnecessary, is the only way I can explain it.

Anyway, here are our boxes of letters from high school through his time in Alaska (January 2003-Summer 2006):

Any idea which one's mine and which is his? I'll give you a hint - mine is the one where the letters are clearly grouped by date range.

I realized that I wanted to use these letters for some sort of decoration idea in our house. As it is they sit in a box and we never read them - some haven't even been opened yet because they were sent at a time when Rob was really busy (we decided to keep the unopened so that our children or grandchildren can read them someday). While I want to preserve and protect them, I also want to enjoy them. So Rob and I came up with a few ideas and I've put them into action (keep in mind that this took little talent):

Idea one: Rob thought it would be cool to gather envelopes with different to/from addresses, since we both were at so many different addresses. Rob was in Georgia, Alaska, then Iraq; Caitlin was in various Maine locations and Wisconsin. This one isn't complete because we need to dig out a few of the letters I wrote to Rob while he was in Iraq.

Idea two: This was also Rob's idea. We took a bunch of different letters in different sizes, two of mine and two of his, and folded them together to create a no-glue, no-cut collage. I found a letter written on yellow paper and a letter written on a small notepad to make it a little bit more interesting.

Idea three: This was actually my first idea. I took a single letter that Rob had written to me in high school and framed it. It's in a place in our bedroom that isn't immediately seen by anyone who walks in, so it's more of a personal decoration.

My next plan is to get an even bigger frame, maybe 11x14, and add even more letters. Then we'll hang them all next to each other in our bedroom (we're thinking above our bed) and put the rest of the letters away for later viewing.

So that's it, the absolute apex of my creativity. Any other fun creative ideas with love letters? I take submissions!

Getting back into blogging

I decided to start this blog with a picture:



I created a 365 Photos blog for 2011 and I decided to mostly use my cell phone rather than stressing over using the Nikon D60. I want to make sure I don't get burned out on the project and am easily able to take a picture each day. It's been an interesting experience.

Robbie and I had a rather eventful day. I am no longer on my Houston project and am therefore working from home for the foreseeable future. This has its ups and its downs, since working from home takes a lot of motivations and can lead to a lot of frustration and boredom (at least in my experience). Anyway, today we took the dog to the vet because of goopy-eye syndrome (pink eye, we think). She did very well and we were proud pet-parents.

I have been struggling over whether or not to buy this book:

The book is "Encyclopedia for the Art and History of Tattoing" by Henk Schiffmacher. Basically one giant comprehensive encyclopedic bible of tattoos written by probably the most famous tattoo historian in the world. I finally caved in and bought it despite the $100 price tag because it seemed like an absolutely awesome addition to our home (especially the coffee table, I'm thinking).

Though I got my first tattoo at age 20 I've found myself even more excited about them of late, specifically with my lady tattoo I got in October. Tattoos to me (despite having only a few myself) feel "right." It feels like some sort of deep-seeded urge that I can't explain or justify, necessarily. I just love how they look, how I feel with them. It's hard to put into words, so I'm going to use this answer to a FAQ by might as rella that really struck me:

Are tattoos addictive?

I'm gonna say no. Not physically. In fact, I'd say not at all. I think that it's somewhere deep in human nature to get tattooed...like cavemen did it, and cultures around the world have been doing it forever, and we are just living in an extremely repressive society in that regard. I think the 'addictiveness' comes from getting a tattoo and realizing that it's not such a big deal. You just kind of cross the line, from not having tattoos to having one, and then why the hell not get more? Yeah, that's my weird answer to that question. Or maybe I'm wrong and people love endorphins and being totally cool or some shit. I'm no expert.

Other than these things life has been pretty boring. My husband is on vacation so it's been nice spending all our time together. He has started taking me to the gym with him and has served as my unpaid personal trainer. I feel amazing and I can't wait to go every day...an actual non-destructive thing on which I can focus my obsessive energy. Only problem is, he kicked my ass the last two days and I literally can't move today for pain. I'm hoping I get to go tomorrow but if I'm still sore I might just lay in bed.

Newest Tattoo

After getting the tattoo I talk about below (which turned out really well) I was motivated finally to go for an upper arm tattoo (a half-sleeve). This was a difficult decision to come to, as I have a corporate job that does not look kindly upon visible body modifications. However, I spoke to a few professional mentors, my husband, and most importantly, myself, and realized that this was the right decision at the right time.

Then came the design. I knew I wanted something in a vintage sort of style, perhaps war-related in some fashion. The idea of paratroopers came to mind, as my husband jumped out of airplanes in the Army. He spent 13 months in Iraq, during one of the most tumultuous times in the war and in what was at the time the most dangerous area in Iraq. I have a lot of pride in my husband and what he did, and I feel that it shaped both him and me, as well as our relationship and our marriage.

So I had the plane and the paratroopers, but I needed a way to tie it all together. A good friend of mine suggested poppies, a flower that is typically associated with World War I and, more recently, soldiers who are killed in action or just military service in general. I thought the red poppies would be a great pop of color, and initially thought that the tattoo would be predominantly grey, black, and red.

I gave my artist the following collage:

I wanted the plane to be a C-47, the plane that WWII paratroopers jumped out of, as sort of an homage to military members past (including my grandfather, who served as a doctor in World War II).

On the 28th I revisted my tattoo artist, who had come up with a design. I wish wish wish I had taken a picture of it, but I didn't want him to think I was "stealing" it or being obnoxious, so whoever reads this will just have to wait! :)

Anyway the design he created was even more amazing than I could've ever thought. Describing it can't really do it justice...basically, the perspective is looking up from a field of poppies to a plane overhead with paratroopers falling from the plane. My artist is super excited, as am I!

My first of maybe 3-4 sessions is next Saturday and I couldn't be happier. :)

Goodbye, 2010.

Well 2010 was a pretty big year in our home. I was gone for most of the year for work, we got married, Rob ended his sophomore year and began his junior, I worked my ass off in a project in Houston, got a tattoo (the one listed below - came out GREAT and was an extremely spiritual experience for me), celebrated holidays together, laughed, cried, and enjoyed life.

I would have to say that 2010 was one of the best years of my life, but 2011 can only get better. This year I'm working on getting into shape and loving my body, focusing on our marriage and making sure we're ready for whatever comes next, and becoming more positive about my life in general.

Also, I'm about a week away from getting my biggest and most awesome tattoo...a great start to a (hopefully) great year!

By the way, I started a new 365 Photos Blog at http://2011pictures.blogspot.com. Check it out!

Happy New Year all!

New Tattoo

I'm off to get my sixth tattoo today. Here was my inspiration:

I gave my artist the above picture and told him that I wanted him to draw his own version of it (perhaps a questionable idea, because he typically draws zombies and skulls, but what can I say, I trust him). There will be a kind of vintage banner below her name that says "The Stardust of a Song."

Meaning:

My grandparents were married 3 weeks before my grandfather left for World War II. They were separated for a year and a half before they were able to begin their life together. Rob and I, due to our own wartime separation, feel a real connection with my grandparents and the love they shared.

My grandparents both passed away within a year of each other, in 2009 and 2010. It was a huge loss for my family and we've all felt a little directionless since they passed.

So the vintage war-bride type tattoo is an homage to them and their love. Their song was "Stardust" performed by Hoagie Carmichael, which explains the lyrics that will appear below her head.

I'm definitely much more excited about this tattoo than I've been about any of my others, primarily because it's so meaningful, but also because it's my first color tattoo.

Do any of you (assuming anyone reads this) have tattoos, or are planning one?