Wednesday, January 6, 2016

A trip to Cincinnati

Crying Heart Tattoo in Cincinnati. Love how they decorated, I felt right at home.
 I’ve been following Mike Adams for a few years since photos of his tattoos floated across my tumblr dashboard. He’s only a few states away but I’m usually too scared to drive too far for fear something bad will happen to my car. Lucky for me he’s befriended some fellow tattoo artists in Cincinnati which is not a far drive at all. Even luckier I happened to be scrolling through Instagram when he posted that he was doing a guest spot there. I instantly emailed him and put down a deposit and got super excited! I was finally going to get a tattoo from Mike!

The day came and I was so anxious. I got to the city early hoping to get Holtman’s donuts, but they just happened to have a kitchen fire the day I came and had to shut down the OTR location for a week. SUPER BUMMER. So I got some coffee from 1215 Coffee bar and a raspberry danish, and walked around some shops because I had a lot of time to kill. This was on December 7th so I picked up some Christmas gifts and also some macarons from Marconi Bar because that’s something I can never pass up. I ate them all that night, haha.

I got a little worried when I couldn’t find the shop, but I was looking on the wrong side of the street. When I turned and looked the other way it was right in front of me, so I headed in half an hour early thinking that was good itquette or something haha. Mike had just arrived and was setting up so I flipped through his book of drawings and sat on some pew like benches. Nothing in the book was what I had in mind, so when he asked I explained what I wanted and he remembered my email and went back to draw.
Right in the thick of the action.

 Not too much longer later as I nervously scrolled through my phone and checked every app and live tweeted my life, he came out with a drawing and I was instantly smitten. The nerves went away(because how can you tell someone you don’t like their drawing? That would be so awkward, and then you have to live with it on your skin forever??), and he set up, applied the stencil to my arm after my deliberation of placement in the mirror, and got to work. I was so determined to impress all the guys in the shop because I figured they’d see my blonde smiley face walk in and assume the worst of me. So I didn’t grimace or wince or anything. I even smiled haha. Bare in mind I was also on my period so I think I'm pretty damn tough, haha. Everyone was very nice there, and Mike and I definitely have a love of Dogs and staying home in common. His work was quick and precise, and oh so beautiful. I was so pleased with the outcome and overjoyed I had the opportunity to get tattooed by him. If and when he comes again I will most likely book an appointment again!

 On my way home I saw a car painted to look like the catbus from My Neighbor Totoro. Of course I had to pull over and photograph it. Look how cute it is, I wish it was mine! It even had some plushies on the dashboard.





Here's his photo of my arm and instagram handle if ya'll want to follow him!


A beautiful and delicious rainbow of french cookies!
I got groceries, knowing under all my layers of clothes I had a little secret on my arm that felt like a burn wound haha. That night I peeled off wrappings and revealed my raw little arm with my awesome new tattoo! I felt so proud of myself, despite being anxious I went and planned out the day, set up the appointment, paid for and got my tattoo alone. There’s something very liberating about getting a tattoo, you’re in charge of your body and deciding to decorate it in a beautiful and permanent way. Its an awesome experience.

2 comments:

  1. Your new tattoo looks amazing! And oh my god that catbus car - I want it!

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