GET IT? A TATTOO TOUR. TAT-TOUR.

Despite my suburban house in New England, my collection of Better Homes & Gardens magazines and my love of knitting, I am not as straight laced as I sound.

Just a warning for those related to me: if you’d like to continue pretending you have no knowledge of my ink, stop reading immediately. You can pretend I’m too smart/classy/God-fearing/whatever helps you sleep at night to EVER defile my body with an EVIL, VILE tattoo. If you do continue reading I don’t want to hear any of the following phrases, ever:
You’ll regret that when you’re 70
Why would you DO that to yourself?
Jesus kills a puppy every time someone gets a tattoo.

The answers are, No I won’t, because I like art and that’s ok I hate puppies anyways.

Still reading? Let’s start with my least meaningful tattoo:

Savannah, Georgia, September(ish) 2003

Yeah, it’s a lower back tattoo. In my defense, having a tramp stamp was practically required to attend C of C. I used to sit behind girls in EVERY class and stare at their butterflies/tribal art/lilies/Chinese characters/etc and wish I was cool enough for a tattoo. My mom had threatened to stop paying for college if I got one, which scared me enough to wait until senior year. I figured by then she wasn’t going to throw $40,000 down the drain just because of a little flower – although I did call to warn her I MIGHT be getting one about 30 seconds before the guy started.

My sister drew up a rough design for me and E (then just a boyfriend) drove me down to Savannah, since tattoos were still illegal in South Carolina at the time. Funny story, I told everyone at work he was taking me down to propose when it turned out his “surprise” was just a tattoo. Imagine how HILARIOUS it was to go into work on Monday to show off my ass crack instead of my left hand.

Norwich, Connecticut, October 2007 (and also, a teeny tiny baby bump)

For some crazy reason I decided I REALLY needed a ribcage tattoo and wouldn’t listen to anyone who warned me how much it hurt. I spent HOURS on the internet printing out “good” hummingbirds to show my tattoo artist, but he ended up drawing this one for me. He did the vine and the flowers freehand with a Sharpie and the whole thing took 2 2-hour sessions. I barely remember the first one when he did all the black because I was in such a pain haze, but the second one is vividly awful in my memory. SO MUCH PAIN. But in the end I love it so much I’d do it again. The bird is in honor of my uncle Scott who passed away in August 2007, who I think would have liked it, despite what his mother might say if she knew.

Charleston, South Carolina, April 4, 2008

Charleston is my favorite place in the world. I went to school there, I met my best friend there, I met my husband there, I got married there. So when my husband and I went back for my best friend’s wedding in April 2008 we MIGHT have skipped out of the rehearsal dinner a little early so I could get the South Carolina state flag symbol on my ankle. I had originally wanted it on my foot but chickened out at the last minute, which I regret a little bit. I think foot tattoos are classier than ankle tattoos. But whatevs, the guy did a fantastic job and the detail is really good for all black.

Groton, Connecticut November 2009

And finally, the tattoo I got in honor of Baby Evan. It’s an E and a 3 to stand for Evan Richard III but also a butterfly which I thought was pretty clever. Since I got it a few people have asked if it’s a tooth though, so maybe it’s not as butterfly-esque as I would have liked. I’m thinking I might incorporate a tattoo for this next baby somehow so it looks less toothy.

Now, because he wanted to play too, I’ll show you my husband’s tattoos.

Groton, Connecticut, 2006

A guy on E’s submarine drew this up while they were underway. The quality of the work is…not the best but the meaning is super duper special. The cards are the 8 and 7 of hearts and the chip says 2004 – our wedding date (8-7-04). Then if you look on the 1 chip, the middle of “Calypso Ultimate” says “soul” (calypSO ULtimate)…so there are 2 hearts, 1 soul. It’s very sweet without being too dorky. Unless you consider poker dorky. He’s hoping to have someone re-do it in the future to make it easier to read.

Groton, Connecticut, July 2009

Don’t even get me started on this one. I think it’s scary, although I do have to admit the art is fantastic, especially considering the guy drew it on just an oral description of what E wanted. It was in honor of making chief (an E-7 in the Navy for those who care about these things) so there’s a lot of significance in the anchor and the horns. Just don’t ask me to explain it what exactly it is. E’s ultimate plan is to have full sleeves on both arms (Sorry Mom!  And E’s Mom!) but I think his next tattoo will be something in honor of his kids. Plural now.

Be sure to check out the rest of the links below to see some more awesome art!

I finally got my baby tattoo, only six months after first thinking about it.

This is from my point of view. I think the artist found the perfect balance between looking like an E and looking like a 3.

This is how it looks when I show it to people. I love that it's more like a butterfly than letters and numbers.

A friend mentioned she thought tattoos were contraindicated during breastfeeding, but the internet tells me it’s (probably) ok. Actually, what La Leche League says is the ink cannot pass into breastmilk and the risks associated with getting a tattoo while nursing are the same as getting any tatttoo. I am 100% confident in the health and safety practices of the shop and the artist where I had it done, so as long as I follow my after care instruction Baby Evan and I should be totally safe. This is not my first time under the needle.

As a side note though, when E and I stopped in to make the appointment we had Baby Evan with us so the artist knew I had a 7 month old. The question of whether or not I was nursing was never asked and wasn’t in the waiver of liability I signed. I wonder if he would have had an issue doing it if I had brought it up?