weekend recap! (image heavy!)

so ill start off on wednesday... that night i went to my parents' house back in hohenwald. kicking off the christmas visit and all that jazz. here i am in the bathroom. thrilling, no?

i spent most of the evening just hanging out with baby G, watching tv/movies and things that i dont get to do while i'm at my own house. i especially love You've Got Mail and i watched it from start to finish without looking away. (here's fat baby G just ~chillin on the ottoman with Lacey...) Lacey is mom's shih-tzu... she pretty much hates Georgia haha


i proceeded to take a TON of photos of G while she was sleeping. she slept the entire time basically. well, when she WASN'T sleeping, she was running around like a mad woman. serious polar opposites.



this is her camping out in front of the christmas tree and waiting on santa.


her tongue will NOT stay in her mouth while she sleeps. its quite funny how it just pokes out. it gets all dry and crispy from the air... kind of like my mouth when i sleep with it open. too much info? probably. ha moving on! heres what i wore on christmas with my family.... heyyyy jessica mcclintock! i seriously love this dress. so so so so much.

outfit details:
dress: jessica mcclintock ($140)
cardigan: forever 21 ($30)
headband: same dang headband i wear in EVERY post!

we went out to my nana's house and who would've known... santa showed up! haha the little kids lovedddd it. mom played santa's little helper (sorry for the less-than-flattering photo, mom!) thats my sweet nana in the background.

every grandchild had to sit on santa's lap. it was quite humorous. this is my cousin amy. she's 8 months pregnant. crazy! look how different we are.


mike came over to my grandmother's from his parents' house about an hour away. i introduced him to everyone and he actually already knew one of my aunts and my cousin. i had totally forgotten we had gone out on the boat 3 years ago with them! crazy! we all played dirty santa (i snagged a fantastttttic cranberry candle, and mike got chutes & ladders but gave it to my little cousin kaylie) and then we headed home. my parents' went to robert's family christmas and i stayed home with mike so we could hang out, he had to leave soon anyway. he gave me my present and it was a fantastic ipod/iphone dock/charger/alarm deal. the sound is INCREDIBLE and i've been using it nonstop. after he left i turned my music up on it and i cleaned my parents' entire house. just to show a little gratitude for me staying there (i didnt get out of my pajamas at all on christmas eve so i didnt want to take advantage of their hospiality, etc). i slept and headed back to franklin saturday morning.

and some more candids of Georgia on the drive home. what can i say, i'm a proud mama!

mike met me at the house shortly after and he sat up my new computer screen/tv! look how tiny it makes my 17" macbook pro look! im in love!

after this we ate some yummy vegan spring rolls and lo mein, hung around for a bit, watched Glee and then i went to work. work was okay.. nothing major. i came home and of course mike was up in bed playing xbox haha.

and more sleeping beast...


yesterday we got up and got dressed and took G to the dog park. it was FREEZING. we had slush drinks from Sonic and i didnt even take a coat. luckily Mike had a hoodie in my car. bleh!

my new york city taxicab and my sailboat came in the mail! yay! my charm bracelet is almost full!

we ran errands, got zero some mice to eat (my snake), had a yummy italian lunch at Carrabba's, went to walmart, did all that jazz, then we came home to just kick it for a while. watched silly youtube videos, took a superrrr relaxing bubblebath and afterwards we cooked dinner. actually, mike cooked. i supervised. (read: sat on the cabinets and ate pickle sickles). we had spicy veggie blackbean burgers and some cooked veggies. my plate is on the left, his on the right. hahaha i even left like 3 veggies and he ate them. i'd call him a fat kid if they weren't all vegetables :P but it was definitely good. i'm glad he likes to cook... because i definitely dont.


then we do what we normally do.... get a bowl of dry cereal, crawl in bed and watch a movie. last night we watched the new Harry Potter. I saw it in theaters so i fell asleep after about an hour and 45 minutes. he stayed up for the remaining 45 mins and before i knew it, i woke up at 4am and it was pitch black and i didnt really know what had happened haha


so here it is, a new day, a new week. its 1:30pm and i'm still in my pjs, even though i've been awake for over 4 hours. i've tidied up my room just a little but nothing to write home about. i need to be productive but i got out my Felicity dvds and i'm thinking about watching an episode or two. mike left to go take care of some business and i didnt want to tag along. just waiting on him to get back so we can go to whole foods.

he's decided to go vegan for new years! so excited to have him on board and maybe now it'll be easier. its so hard to be vegan solo because cooking requires so much time, effort, money, etc. i'm stoked for sure :)

happy monday! hope everyone had a lovely weekend! hopefully ill have a mixtape for you tonight!

xo

a few photos...





here are a few photos of mike and i before i headed to work last night to tie you over until i can get a good update in tonight! i promise to update about the past few days, i've just been a busy busy bee! hope you all had a lovely holiday and are gearing up for the new year! i'm going to make this one a good one! <3

xo

Merry Christmas!

Sorry to be one of fifteen million blogs to crowd up your reading space with a text-only post but I wanted to say Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Friday, or whatever it is for whatever you celebrate before heading off to be with my extended family! I have so many great things in store for you with the new year so be ready!

xo
Kaelah

Things I Love Thursday! (photo edition)












How To Pick Yourself Up Off The Floor

♥ Immerse yourself in something positive. Volunteer at a no kill animal shelter. Read to the elderly. Start an art project. Do something to create a positive influence for yourself. Negative thoughts and places are dangerous when you’re down.

♥ Stop letting yourself only see the negatives when you look in the mirror. I used to always think “I’d be acceptable looking if I lost 10 pounds and my skin was better.” and that’s all I saw. I saw the negatives first and I almost never saw the positives. What do you like about yourself? What good things to others see in you? Why are you unique? How are you beautiful?

♥ Avoid negative people for a while. It’s best to cut those people out all together, but that’s not always possible. Just take a break. You’re weak right now and you need to avoid people who will further bring you down.

♥ Don’t be afraid to take it easy and don’t beat yourself up for it. Just like if you had a cold, you’d try to make yourself feel better with medicine, rest, and good eating habits. You’re under the weather right now, just not physically. Do things you like, surround yourself with people you love, and don’t forget to fill your life with positive energy 24/7.

♥ Try something new. Change up your hair or your clothes. Stop listening to music that reinforces how you’re currently feeling. Stop watching sad movies.

♥ Buy a blank notebook. Draw a huge heart on the cover. Don’t write anything negative in here. If you need another outlet, make a separate notebook. This one is all about love, personal growth, and getting back up. Fill it with beautiful images, reaffirming thoughts, and quotes. Write in it every day, and each day write one thing you’re grateful for in your life.

♥ Get on a healthier path. Stop eating junk food. Quit smoking. Cut back on sugar. Start exercising. Get plenty of sleep. Buy some daily vitamins and drink a lot of tea each day. Replace unhealthy foods with plenty of fruits and vegetables and drink TONS of water.

♥ Pick up a new skill and refine it.

♥ Go to the bookstore and navigate yourself to the self help section. Choose a book that appeals to you the most and best applies. Read it and then go back for another.

♥ Dedicate at least two hours of your day to yourself. This is your writing, thinking, and growing time. You’re on a mission, you need time to complete it.

♥ Find someone you can talk to. Have deep conversations with them.

♥ Do not let yourself sink into your old habits even when you start to feel better. If you fall of the wagon, get right back on it.

♥ Make a list of your negative traits that you feel can be improved. Work on them one by one.

♥ Don’t be that person who’s always complaining or upset. When you talk to people, be positive. Find the good in every situation and point it out.

♥ Never be embarrassed or afraid to admit that you’re not the strongest right now. Be honest. Everyone’s been there. Don’t hide behind a mask.

♥ Don’t jump into new relationships or cling on to people for stability. Be your own rock.

♥ Be open. Try new things. Go out and do something. Meet new people. Explore opportunities.

Quoteeeeeee Overload!

"I heard what you said. I’m not the silly romantic you think. I don’t want the heavens or the shooting stars. I don’t want gemstones or gold. I have those things already. I want…a steady hand. A kind soul. I want to fall asleep, and wake, knowing my heart is safe. I want to love, and be loved."
Shana Abé

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Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe that the future can be better, it’s unlikely you will step up and take responsibility for making it so. If you assume that there’s no hope, you guarantee that there will be no hope. If you assume that there is an instinct for freedom, there are opportunities to change things, there’s a chance you may contribute to making a better world. The choice is yours."
Noam Chomsky

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"You talk when you cease to be at peace with your thoughts."
Kahlil Gibrán

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"Everybody is a genius. But, if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing that it is stupid"
Albert Einstein

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"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are."
Erick S. Gray

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"I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain."
-Frank Herbert, Dune


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"There’s nowhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be…"
John Lennon

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"I don’t know that love changes. People change. Circumstances change."
Nicholas Sparks

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"Excuse me Reverend, as long as two people love each other, I don’t think God cares whether they have the same who who or ha ha."
Marge Simpson

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"I must say a word about fear. It is life’s only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life. It is a clever, treacherous adversary, how well I know. It has no decency, respects no law or convention, shows no mercy. It goes for your weakest spot, which it finds with unnerving ease. It begins in your mind, always … so you must fight hard to express it. You must fight hard to shine the light of words upon it. Because if you don’t, if your fear becomes a wordless darkness that you avoid, perhaps even manage to forget, you open yourself to further attacks of fear because you never truly fought the opponent who defeated you."
Yann Martel, Life of Pi

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"Going to church doesn’t make you any more a Christian than going to the garage makes you a car."
Laurence Peter

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"It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it."
Lou Holtz

Blogging: SRS BUZINESS!

So I've managed to come across a lot of really interesting reads about "bulding a better blog" etc etc. and it's really got me thinking... i want to take it seriously and all that jazz, and its another fun challenge I can add to my ever-growing list (being vegan, no alcohol, yadda yadda yadda). I really enjoy ProBlogger's stuff and I even threw down the $19.95 to download the e-book of his... "31 Days to Build a Better Blog" and i'll just say it was WELLLLLLL worth the money! What an investment! I'm so eager to start implementing everything I've been reading about. I'll really start getting into it once I return to my house from visiting my parents for Christmas. I think anyone who takes their blog even halfway seriously should think about downloading this.

I've become an affiliate for ProBlogger so I can offer you the link to download the entire book for only $19.95. I'm not just promoting it because i'm affiliated with it, i'm promoting it because it's proven success. Even if you don't implement everything in the workbook, it gives you a new way of thinking about online business, etc. This is vital if you're selling anything via the world wide interweird. So all you lovely bloggers should check it out :) Let me know if you decide to buy it! I promise I give it rave reviews.

click HERE to read all about it!

Just click the button below to buy the e-book :)
or you can click HERE.

Buy Now


PS; theres no reason not to buy it because he offers a 100% money-back guarantee if you're not completely satisfied with what you've learned from the workbook.

Two-Day Recap!

I suppose I'll use this entry to update about the occurrences of yesterday and today. Yesterday we woke up (10 again. gah!) and headed out to do all the errands we didnt manage to do on Monday. we were all over the place. the mall, walmart, barnes & nobel, etc. I managed to finish all my christmas shopping though! I had a beautiful family tree-thing engraved for my Nana and finished up the stockings for the dogs (yes, i'm one of THOSE people). we ate at genghis grill for lunch AGAIN.. the second time in 3 days. haha we came back home around 5pm and were EXHAUSTED. we did the usual routine. i took care of blog stuff, we baked yummy cookies, we made dinner, big ol' bubble bath and then we watched 500 days of summer. we've gotten pretty routine in watching a movie every night before bed. i like it. I let yesterday stress me out a lot for no reason. I started thinking about NYC and BUST and my career, i freaked myself out. i received my internship evaluation in the mail from BUST and i got nervous. luckily it said wonderful things and then i cried. i cried a lot yesterday. it was just one of those days i suppose. i was happy, but at the same time i was so worried that i wouldn't get a job at BUST and if you know me at all, you'll know that that is the single publication i am INCREDIBLY passionate about. sometimes my thoughts wander but when i pick up an issue its like it smacks me in the face and screams 'YOU NEED TO WORK FOR THIS PUBLICATION!' bleh. i'm going to own my 2nd internship this summer though. every ounce of passion i have will be poured into that office.

after cookies and baths and dinner and the movie, i managed to lay in bed with mike and just start sobbing. lordy. i think it frightened him a little at first but it was like i was feeling all of these emotions and all i could do about it was cry. i was happy... SO happy... but the only way i knew how to convey that was to sob like a fresh-from-the-womb baby. it was one of those self-realization moments... where you just KNOW. needless to say yesterday was a ridiculously emotional day. i was drained. so we slept.

this is what i wore yesterday: i didnt want to wear jeans but mike suggested that i do... so i obliged. i felt awkward all day but whatever.

Outfit Details:
Shirt: Forever 21 ($25)
Cardigan: Wet Seal ($20)
Jeans: Charlotte Russe ($30)
Shoes: Flip Flops from Old Navy ($2.50 holla!)
Necklace: For Love 21 ($8)

Here was my yummy food from Genghis Grill. You can see Mike's in the background too haha We're both huge fans of the mongolian stirfry.

Mike while we were waiting for our food at lunch.

And a few pictures of lazy baby G last night. she was sooo dead to the world!



The alarm was set for 10am yet again but i so cleverly turned it off and we woke up at 11:30. Much to mike's surprise, that is. I woke up to the sad realization that today was again "just one of those days"... One of those days where I doubt myself and I hate the way I look, etc etc. I'm not sure why. Granted, we all have those days, I know. But I was just sad for no real reason. I felt bad because it's been apparent all day. Mike even asked me in a store what was wrong several times and I finally just said "I just don't like me today"... meh. I guess I'm just ready for today to be over :) We got ready, headed out and went to Green Hills Mall where I bought him an iPhone 3g for Christmas at the Apple store. he was able to upgrade so it was way cheaper. We got the heck out of that mall because its way too dangerous for my bank account. We went to Nashville West where I took my curtains back to World Market that were a few feet too long. Then we headed to his house so he could pack his bags for his Christmas visit to his family's place. We came back to Franklin and ate a super late breakfast/late lunch/early dinner at Garcia's. His brother, Ryan, came to join us. I suppose we were there for a little over an hour or so and they dropped me off at my place and now i'm getting ready to head to my parents'. gah. go go go! I have so much to pack and get sorted and organized and loaded into the car... not to mention Georgia has to fit in there, too. bleh! having a tiny two-seater car is NOT practical people! especially when you dont have a trunk!

Here's what I wore today...

Outfit Details:
Dress: Rodarte for Target ($40)
Tights: Walmart ($5)
Cardigan: Charlotte Russe ($24)
Shoes: Vintage from Southern Thrift ($8)
Headband: Charlotte Russe ($6)

I think Mike might come back before we both head out (I'm making him a cd) and we might take a nap. I dont know why i'm so beat! I hope you're all having a fantastic Wednesday!

xo

ps; whoever left this in my formspring, THANK YOU. so so so much. I read it last night after I had my little breakdown of the sorts and it seriously made me feel a million times better. those are SUCH kind words for someone to say, especially when you merit no recognition for them (anonymous). i've never purposely ignored someone who has sincerely tried conversing with me, so please say hello! i'm so sorry if i've missed you in the past! thank you again!


(click to read at full size)

Questions Answered: Round Three!

ROUND THREE!
(follow up to Round One and Round Two)

1.) I know this may be too personal, but I'll stretch the limit since people do it to me all the time, but what was your childhood like? I've always been interesting in how people grew up and what they've become.
Hmm.. my childhood. it was an interesting one (who's isn't?!)… it was really just my mom and myself… my dad kind of blew us off early on so he was in and out of my life the whole time. i went 7 years without seeing him once, and ever since i was 13 its been a very turbulent relationship. i haven't seen him in a year and a half and honestly, things are better this way. it was my ultimate decision. my mom and i fought A LOT. i mean, i guess you could expect that… i was an angry angry child… soooo much pent up emotion and anger towards my father but i'd take it out on her (unaware at the time that this was the reason). but over the years things got way better. by the time i moved out on my own, we had become best best best friends. and to this day she's STILL my very best friend on the planet. i can't go a single day without talking to her and when im in nyc i call her about 5 times a day. she's the most amazing woman on the planet and i'm so thankful for her. the rest of my childhood was just spent playing with the neighborhood boys. i was the only girl on the block so i'd have to play tag, hide & go seek and football. i loved it. i was a realllll tomboy for a long time. SUPER tomboy. i would dry-heave at the thought of a dress. true facts. but as i got older i started to reallyyyyy get feminine. and now i dry heave at the thought of jeans and i only wear dresses. amazing how things change, huh? i played sports my entire life. cheerleading from 4 yrs. to 14, volleyball from 13 to 18, and softball from 4 to 18. it was good stuff :D

2.) what exactly happened with you and adam? you say you stuck by him through the good the bad and the ugly? can you say what exactly happened it a sort of detailed nutshell?
it's about 3 hours after i originally posted this and i'm changing my answer. i removed everything i typed for a reason... i'm beyond happy with the relationship i'm currently in... happier than i've ever been in my entire life in any relationship... so with that being said, i know what happened with Adam and our falling out was supposed to happen. my relationship with him was meant to end. it was meant to end so that this could begin again. had it not been for the sequence of events in both mike's life and my own, we never would have found each other again. i'm happy and content with the way things turned out so i can only hope that adam finds someone who he's willing to be 100% honest with 100% of the time. he has the potential to be a wonderful person and a great companion... it just wasn't supposed to be me. so i end any and all things that i've ever said about him in a negative light on that note. if you missed my original answer, i apologize. but i suppose thats really just history. and that shall stay there. thanks for understanding :)

3.) How were you different when you were 16-19? Were you ever rebellious? Were you scene? Did you date a lot of guys?
man oh man oh man! boy was i ever different! in high school i definitely went through the scene phase… but it was the front end of it. like, my 9th grade through 11th grade years (2002 - 2004). not like scene is today. but i definitely did it. i remember my myspace name was "x kaelah cutthroat x at one point HAHAHAH SOMEONE ACTUALLY CAME UP TO ME AT A SHOW AND REFERRED TO ME AS THAT! WTF?! im glad i got over it. i was never really "rebellious"… i never even drank until new years of my senior year. i've only ever tried pot (and that wasn't until i was in college).. nothing else. and i don't drink OR smoke OR do any drugs or anything anymore. but i deffff had my "~wild" stage the summer after moving out on my own. i was from a tiny town so you can imagine the slight culture shock of moving to franklin/nashville, etc. coming and going as i please, all that jazz. i dated a ton of guys that summer. i never tied myself down to anyone for long. i dated mike that year, too, the first time. but it was in my freshman year that i met adam, so we dated for 3 years and only recently split. i've been with mike ever since. granted during the time that adam and i were off and on over this past year, i dated a lot of dudes, but it was nothing serious and it wasn't sleeping around or anything of the sort. just casual dating. :)

4.) My hair is fine and I don't know a thing about styling my hair! What should I do with it? I usually just put it up in a ponytail and call it a day.
lordy girl my hair is super fine too! i mean it is thinnnnnnnnerrr than bible paper! gah! its frustrating, right?! theres so much you can do for it. dirty it up a little bit and curl it, scrunch it loosely with rave hairspray, etc! i could maybe give you better ideas if i had a picture of it? i don't have to show it to everyone, but if you'd like i can post it on here and people can give their suggestions! you can block out your face if you want to, or not if you don't haha :D but it could be helpful!

5.) Do you feel like boys are better friends than girls?
not necessarily. granted i grew up with nothing but guys around so i just came to know how to be "one of the boys", but truth be told, as mike just said to me (i read this question to him) i'm SOOOOO not a fan of passive aggression… and 75% of girls are nothing but passive aggressive. like… if something's bothering you, speak up. don't get snarky behind backs and sneer and chit chat amongst people who aren't even involved… just man up, grow some balls and stand up for yourself you know? i have lots of girl friends now (more than ever before, actually), but i also have lots of dude friends. i just like being able to relax and kick it with the boys sometimes. luckily the girls i'm friends with here in franklin have the mental attitudes of guys so they don't let petty drama seep in anywhere, its so nice :D

6.) What are your biggest pet peeves?
WHEN I CAN HEAR PEOPLE EAT! OH. MY. LORD! YOU HAVE NO IDEA! mike was eating something earlier and i could hear him chew and i just shot him the death glare… I CANNOT STAND IT! i feel like it makes me a bad person because i'm so intolerable of this.. but whatever. and when people scrape their forks and spoons in their bowl/plate… HELLO! FOOD WILL NOT MAGICALLY REAPPEAR BECAUSE YOU ARE SCRAPING TO THE BOTTOM OF THE EARTH! YOU ATE IT ALL, PLEASE STOP NOW! typically thats really it. i just hate hearing people eat food. :) [/end rant!]

7.) what's your favorite thing about yourself?
physically, mentally, etc? physically i like my lips. i love the shape and the slight pout. idk i just like them. and mentally…. my new optimistic attitude that i've managed to find over the past year or so. seriously… i'm able to hand stress and stuff SO MUCH BETTER. its so nice! :D thanks for asking this though.. sometimes i only concentrate on the negative stuff (i have my days where i doubt myself substantially) but this question helped me realize that i need to use that new optimism and focus on the good :D

8.) You wear your style with such confidence, are you confident with the way you look? I mean i know everyone has some flaws, but explain how you feel overall.
like i said in the question above, i def have days where i just doubt myself completely. i get super self conscious and i'm worried about how i look to other people and how i feel about myself… whether its body issues or intellectually… sometimes i just do not feel up to par. sometimes i wear things that even I am like WTF AM I WEARING?! AM I REALLY GOING TO ATTEMPT THIS?! but i just do it… the key is to fake it until you make it. even if you're questioning what you're attempting to do… don't ever let anyone else know that. don't let anyone else see the insecure side of you because then they'll focus on it. if you make them think that you're nothing but confident, they'll never second guess you. i promise this is true. how do you think i made it through high school and managed to snag Best Dressed senior year? i promise… some of the crap I wore makes me cringe to this day! :D

Feel free to ask me anything HERE... i'll be happy to answer them <3

xo

Tattoo Tuesday! (My Edition)

In my formsprings I received lots of questions about my own tattoos, their meanings, etc, and was asked if I'd care to share. So here they are... in all their glory. I'll start with the oldest and work my way to the more recent...

My first tattoo was a sparrow on my right hip done on my 18th birthday. The colors are blue, green and orange... no significance to the colors really. Cliche but whatever, the bird symbolized my ~freedom and all that jazz.. you know, where you think you own the world when you're 18 haha i love my little bird though. I typically forget I even have him. (March 2006)

My 2nd (and 3rd, i guess) tattoos came in August of 2006, when I was first dating Mike (he sat with me at the shop and held my hand the entire time haha crazy!). They say Art and Love on each of my feet. The plan was based off MeWithoutYou's "god is love love is real" but "art is love love is real" i just never finished it because i didnt care for the way he did the lettering. therefore my current artist will be covering both of them up with traditional roses, etc etc etc. it will be one of my first ventures after i finish my full sleeve.


In April of 2007 I got the first Kurt Halsey piece on my upper arm. The "There are places and there are opportunities" piece with the 2 kids, etc etc etc. Then slowly I started realizing I wanted to make it a half sleeve so I added 3 other Kurt pieces plus the pigs from "Numb" (one of his pieces) and it was completed in October of 2007. The first picture of this sleeve is after 5 sessions. I did 7 or 8 sessions total.

The text on the bottom reads "this song means an entire city to me"

The whole meaning behind the sleeve is representative of the fact that I KNOW i'll be up & leaving tennessee... there are bigger things for me out there and thats the plan (obviously, since i've already migrated to NYC). We colored the suitcase yellow because I have a fascination with vintage luggage. The first piece i ever bought was a super beat up yellow set from goodwill and i cherish it to this day. I guess its just a reflection of knowing I'll have to say goodbye to my home state to find things that are right for me. Pre-nostalgia if you will.

The last day of January this year (January 2009) I got my chest piece by Jason Smith (my current artist) because he was one of my best friend's artists. I got "Alis Volat Propriis" which is Latin for "She Flies With Her Own Wings"... as soon as I saw the quote (and translation), i KNEW exactly what I wanted on my chest. I'd always wanted a chest piece but committing to something there is a hefty decision. This was perfect and i think it sums me up to the T. It's a direct reflection of myself and how my mother raised me. I love love love it.



This is the top of my full sleeve on my right arm. It was started in March of 2009 by Jason. I wanted a traditional-style ship and the quote "I cannot change the direction of the wind but i can adjust my sails" to symbolize my positive and optimistic attitude on life. You can't control what life deals you but attitude means everything.


Basically if you wanted me to break it down, the boat symbolizes me and the lighthouse up in the dark stormy clouds symbolizes my mother (the top half sleeve is pretty much dedicated to her). She's always been my "guiding light" (*cue cheesy music*) and I know that I can always count on her to guide me the right way.


On the inside of the half sleeve is my mom's portrait. It's her senior portrait from 1978 and it totally resembles Axel from Guns 'n Roses... my mom was a badass! It's inside a baroque frame because they're my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE. we still have to finish out the detail on her portrait and then we're coloring in teh frame the same color as the bottom of the boat. we're just letting my inner arm rest because it's not hte most pleasurable experience.


The newest edition was to take my half sleeve into a full sleeve. I've already raved on my insane love for cephalopods and all things octopus related so I got one on my forearm. The swirls behind it is an ink cloud. We're coloring him orange/maroon/purple and then on my inner forearm is a treasure chest and we still have to outline the compass too.


Last tuesday we worked for 3 hours on the ink cloud alone. and my arm is NOTTTT having it. man oh man its healing horribly. my arm is not a fan of black but whatev, we'll just make it work! go over it again! haha I was supposed to sit yesterday but i just did nottt have time :(

so thats where i'm at currently with tattoos. and believe me i wont be stopping anytime soon. in the works: my feet coverups, a tribute to my nana & papa on each calf, a big ass sweet shark tattoo on my ribs/side, probably something else on my left forearm, etc etc etc. its never ending.

i love all of my work and i can't wait to get more.

if you have any questions about any of them feel free to ask. i didnt go into *too* much detail and i know photobooth pictures suck but i still haven't found my card reader. bleh!

do you have any tattoos? if so, what of and where? what do they mean?

xo happy tattoo tuesday!