When I was 17 I got my belly button pierced.  Immediately after the guy was finished I ran out to the street and threw up.  Then, at 19 I got my nose pierced…I ran to the bathroom to get water and woke up sitting on the floor in the corner of the bathroom.  Apparently I had passed out! My sister in law was with me…but didn’t notice because she was busy getting her nose pierced too.  All this to say.  I don’t do well with needles.  I had wanted a tattoo ever since high school but never thought I’d ever be able to handle the pain.  So when I finally mustered up the courage to get it done…I told NOBODY!  Ok…that’s a lie.  I told Kelly because I needed someone to drive me home in case there was an “incident.”  I knew Kell wouldn’t judge me if I chickened out, and she is my number one cheerleader.  She’d tell me it was pretty even if it looked like poop…and I needed that juuuuust in case it didn’t turn out well!  I also didn’t want to be talked out of it.  I waited to tell Andy and Krisi, who I spent the whole morning with that day, until just minutes before the appointment.  Andy offered to come for emotional support.  Love her.  BTW I think Andy is a part of every single entry I have posted!

Here we are at the fabric district in downtown LA.

And here folks is the last picture of my bare left arm.

Here I am having a little pre-session chat with Kim Saigh.  She was on LA ink for a couple seasons and I fell in love with not only her artwork, but her drama free work ethic.  I knew she was going to cost more than the average artist…but is something so permanent something you go cheap on? Absolutely not.

Well friends.  Let me tell you. IT DID NOT GO WELL.  About 15 minutes into the session, Kim asked me how I was doing and I said I was feeling a little light headed.  She went to get me water and I made a dash for the bathroom.

A few minutes later I woke up here…

The last thing I remember was grabbing the door frame in slow motion.  I fell and hit my face on the wood chair and hit the back of my head on the tile.  The next thing I remember was a really cute bearded Brenden, the other artist working that day, holding my head in his hands.  Not a bad thing to wake up to.   As I mentioned earlier…Kelly was on call in case of an “incident.”  She met Andy and I at the shop and drove me home.  I threw up on the car ride home and stayed overnight with Kelly in case I didn’t make it through the night!  I was SOO scared to go to sleep but google said that it’s actually a myth and that your body needs to sleep to heal.  Who knows!?  Kelly would wake up and make sure I was breathing throughout the night.  Not only did I wake up…I woke up with a shiner!  It got darker and darker each day.

It was all worth it.  I got a bad ass tattoo.  Here it is!

hahaha! Oh man.  Needless to say, I didn’t show this to anybody!  I kept it a secret until I had something I would be really proud to show off.  I had this masterpiece for about a week.  Kim fit me into her jam packed sched so I could look halfway decent again!  I realized that it wasn’t about the pain (which was horrible), it was nerves.  I was too nervous to tell her that the peony she selected wasn’t my absolute fave.  This probably wasn’t the best time to be accommodating…I should have been straight forward instead of getting myself worked up and passing out!  SO I brought a peony I liked better and she had no problem changing the design.

…and back to  work we went.  Please note that she has me on a table this time!  No more passing out….or hitting the floor at least.

BIG thanks to Eric who I called in a panic minutes before this session and asked him to come to an address with absolutely no explanation.  I think he thought I was in trouble! lol.

Here are some work in progress pics…

This was the first thing I saw.  I refused to watch because I was scared I’d faint…but when it was time for a potty break I got a peak and was completely astonished.  I loved it.

At the end of the four hour session…this was me!

Session 2 (technically 3!)

Finished!

Here’s Kim and I!  Even made it on her instagram!

Ooh La Loo! Here’s the final product.

FYI: Peony for purity and Magnolia for love of nature.