Tattoo Tuesday V.103

 
Name: Cherry Dollface // YouTube - Facebook - Twitter
Age: 29
Occupation: film production
Age of first tattoo: 19
Favorite tattoo: My back piece, still in progress!
Featured tattoo/location: Chest piece-- cherries, "No Rainbows Without Rain", a boombox and a dictionary
Artist/shop/location of feature tattoo: cherries and heart originally done by Jason Bradbury at Atomic Art in Portland, OR. Everything else was added and retouched by Eno at Guru Tattoo in San Diego, CA.

1) Tell us about your featured tattoo- is there a background story about why you chose it, or maybe a special meaning?

My favorite tattoo was a work in process over a span of 8 years. My first tattoo ever were the cherries all by themselves-- my nickname was Cherry growing up. I then added the sparkles around them and the scared heart in the center because I have a heart condition. Right before I moved to LA, I was going through a really rough time in my life so I got the quote tattooed to give me inspiration that brighter days were on the horizon. When I moved down here, Sink or Swim by Gaslight Anthem was my soundtrack and Boomboxes and Dictionaries was the song that I had on repeat as I drove from LA to Portland in a blizzard. I had the whole piece put together and finished when I was working with Eno at a shop in Venice. It is probably altogether my most meaningful piece.

2) Do you have any other tattoos? If so, what do you have and where?

Yes! I have both arms covered with various things, I have stars filled with leopard down both legs, a coffin with bats on my stomach, I have a vintage 1950's atomic china pattern behind both ears, a lock and key on my thumbs, and "uh uh!" on the inside of my index finger. I have also just started my back piece with Eno-- it is going to be an amazing mermaid/ship piece.

3) Do you plan on getting more?

Once I finish my back, I think I am done. I don't want to be the illustrated woman! Definitely no neck or hands.

4) How do your family and friends feel about your tattoo(s)? Have you run into any adversity or negativity because of them? Do you have a significant other? Does he/she have tattoos?

When I started getting tattooed, there were very few heavily tattooed females and tattoos were still not socially acceptable. It was long before the days of LA Ink. Now that tattoos are more mainstream, I feel that it is less shocking to people. But when I first started, my mom cried every time she saw me, and I got stared at constantly in public. I am still very aware of them when I am in a professional setting-- I never want to be judged first by my skin, so I make sure to cover up when I am working or going on interviews. I have a boyfriend that has tattoos-- but he also only has one eye, so he gets stared at more for that. We actually play the "who are they staring at" game-- it cracks us up.



5) What's the most interesting experience you've ever had in regards to your tattoos?

It still blows my mind that people think that just because I have tattoos on my skin, they can touch me without my permission. It was worse when all I had was my chest-- people would come up and just start touching away. Now it is usually my arms, but it still infuriates me. It seems that because my skin is tattooed, people don't need to respect my personal bubble. You wouldn't go up to a painting in a gallery and start putting your mitts all over it. And you wouldn't start touching a person without tattoos. So keep your hands to yourself! Sheesh.



6) Any advice for those interested in getting tattooed but haven't gotten one yet?

I am still of the old school mind that hand and neck tattoos are earned. If you want to look heavily tattooed-- then be heavily tattooed. It always blows my mind when I see someone that looks all covered and then they take of their hoodie and just have a tattooed neck and tattooed hands. I know it is all about personal taste, so that is just my opinion. And research your tattooer-- I see so many young kids that want cheap tattoos and they end up covered in horrible work that costs more to cover up than it would have to start off with a good tattooer. Good tattoos aren't cheap, and cheap tattoos aren't good. These things are forever!

Meal-Planning

When we're on top of our game, Hank and I will take Sunday night and plan out what we want to eat for dinner over the next week. This is awesome on so many levels. For one, it makes my weekly food shopping so much more focused and two, it keeps us on the same page. There are so many times when I'll want to make something for dinner only to have Hank come home and tell me he already went out for said food for lunch. This way we're organized, can look forward to delicious meals, and we have a lot of fun cooking together too.  Hank takes leftovers to work, or Henry will have them for his lunch or dinner the next day, so it saves us a lot of money (and time!). 

Below you'll find our plan for this next week. All of the meals are homemade outside of a few of the products that go into the meals. Tonight we'll be traveling and just end up grabbing something random when we get home, so this week is just a four-day plan.

Dinner 1 (Tuesday): Spaghetti and vegetarian meatballs w/semi-homemade sauce and garlic bread/salad
Dinner 2 (Wednesday): Bean, cheese, and veggie burritos w/guacamole
Dinner 3 (Thursday): Brown rice and veggie stirfry
Dinner 4 (Friday): Vegetarian Pot Pies (using Quorn "chicken") w/salad

From here I then break it down to a shopping list based on what we have and what we need after a simple look in the pantry and fridge.  Once you make lists like this for a couple of weeks you become very aware of all of the food you have that you don't use, food you buy that goes to waste, etc. I love the mindfulness meal-planning gives me. Another bonus is that usually a couple of the days will have overlapping items and this saves money too- simply reserve enough of whatever item you'll need again and you can get two or even three meals out of it.  For instance we will use many of the same vegetables in meal one, two, and three, and then again with our salads.

Here's this week's shopping list- things we need for our meals that we don't already have at home. Always be sure to check for available grocery coupons too. 

veggie meatballs (you can also make your own)
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
broccoli
yellow onion
cherry tomatoes
3 avocados
salad greens
block of sharp cheddar
loaf of French bread
tortillas

And that's it! We try to buy organic whenever we can, so most of our shopping is done at our local natural grocer but I'm always sure to check the ads and buy as much as I can on sale.

Do you meal-plan? If not, this is the perfect time to start! If you're interested, my friend Rachel did an informative post on how she meal plans, and it's a great read. I'll also be sharing our meal ideas throughout the week if you guys would like, so let me know if that's something you'd enjoy reading about. We usually don't cook anything super complicated or crazy, but we do keep it very healthy and typically vegan or vegetarian. 

Have a great Monday!

Giveaway: Full Blog Design by Don Naylor of Adeline's Daddy Blog (CLOSED)

***WINNER***

Congratulations to Brandilyn of Cats&Cardigans! I'm going to email you now! :) Thanks to all who entered, and thanks again to Don for offering such a great giveaway. Brandilyn, I'm so excited for you!

 

So, I have these wonderful friends- Rachel, Don, and their daughter Adeline. I adore these folks and feel lucky to be able to follow along with all of their fun happenings via Don's blog and their Instagram accounts. Isn't the internet awesome? I'm certain that one day when our little families meet we'll be fast real-life friends too. Annnnd, it just so happens that Don is also the talented fellow that did my recent (awesome) blog redesign!

I was nervous to change it up but Don blew me away with his ideas, execution and professionalism. He did exactly what he said he would do, in the timeframe he promised, and went above and beyond to make it perfect. Afterward he even made me a personalized tutorial so I could figure out how to update all of my ads myself due to the fancy columns he set up. I can't say enough great things about not just the design, but the entire experience, and I wholeheartedly recommend Don to all of you for all of you blog design needs.

You can check out his info page here. Here are some of the services Don currently offers:

• full blog makeovers and custom themes

• button & badge promo images

• business cards and postcards

• full website design

• you name it...

He's also offering some new services in 2012:

• custom domain name setup for your blog

• WordPress setup and hosting

• WordPress design including installation of Thesis customizable theme

----------

And with this new year, what's better than a new blog design, right?! And today I am so incredibly excited that Don is offering up ONE FULL BLOG REDESIGN to one lucky reader.




Here's how to enter to win a blog makeover-

1. Be a follower of Don's blog, Adeline's Daddy.

2. Leave a comment letting me know that you are indeed a follower, along with your name and email address!

That's it! Simple.

For two additional entries you can tweet (see below) or post about this giveaway, and leave up to two additional comments letting me know, along with your name and email address again.

Win a free blog design by @addydaddyblog via @danihampton and Sometimes Sweet! http://tinyurl.com/86wnuf6

So that's up to three chances to win! I'll choose a winner this Friday, January 6th.  AND I'll remind you again on Friday but on the 7th Don is offering $25 off designs for a couple of days. Awesome.

Good luck to all who enter!

New Year's Weekend

Oh, Arizona!  After a bit of a rough morning we decided to spend Saturday afternoon at the park in my parents' neighborhood to cheer up a bit. It was a beautiful day- 77 degrees and sunny. What a New Years' Eve, right? It was a lot of fun watching Abe and Hank throw the football around (the photo of them makes me laugh) and Henry enjoyed playing in the grass since most of it up north at our house is dead due to the freezing winter conditions. I love that you can drive a short two hours one way and be in snow, and turn right around the other way and head towards heat. Pretty cool.

We spent the rest of our New Year's laying low, eating and laughing. It was the perfect way to ring in 2012! We're currently dealing with some family stuff- my Grandma isn't doing too well- so being together was great. Plus, Henry brings a smile to everyone's face. I was so tempted to wake him up at midnight for a little smooch but my responsible side won out.

Whatever you did, I hope you had the happiest of New Year's Eves! Here's to a great 2012. 

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012!

image

New Year's Eve takes me back. Every year until we moved to Arizona when I was 13, my parents would pile everyone into the car and drive us up north to our best family friends' house.  Both sets of our parents would go out to the Fireman's Ball to drink and dance the night away, and our trusty babysitter Betty would watch us girls.  It was always the four of us- two sets of sisters: Lauren and me, Corin and Caitlyn. Corin was my age and Cait was Lauren's, and we grew up spending all of life's milestones and family vacations together. Our Moms were best friends in college, bridesmaids in each others' weddings, and after each of them started a family they all became one big group of friends along with some other couples and their kids too. It's neat to look back at all the fun we had, and New Year's Eve was always such a fun night that we looked forward to all year. In typical fashion once our parents left we'd indulge in a million appetizers our Moms would set out, we'd eat yummy cake and German sweets (thanks to Aunt Marita) and drink soda. We'd giggle and run around the house, get into the The Twilight Zone marathon, and at midnight we'd watch the ball drop and toast with our little cups of sparkling cider. Sweet, elderly Betty would somehow round us up and get us into bed, but we'd never sleep. This was always a late night for our parents, so for the next couple of hours we'd have "sister wars," playing pranks on Lauren and Cait, they'd spy on us, send little notes under the doors, and try to avoid Betty coming back down the hallway telling us to go to sleep! We'd always make up little missions for each other- "sneak down the hallway and grab a piece of chocolate cake without Betty noticing." Oh, we were rebels! haha. Then sometime around 2am our parents would come home, we'd pretend to be asleep, then pretend to wake up so we could snack on some of the yummy treats they'd bring home for us. It was so magical.

Nowadays New Year's Eve means family for us. This year we planned on having a few friends over to celebrate, but we ended up coming down to Phoenix to spend it with my parents, sister and brother-in-law. I'm so happy to be here, and I couldn't be more ecstatic to ring in a New Year sitting in our pajamas, eating too much food, and knowing that Henry is sleeping soundly upstairs. 

2011 was wonderful, and just like I said about last year, it really was the best year of my life. I feel lucky that I'm able to say that once again. I think this past year was more about personal growth than anything. As I expected this first full year of being a Mom was so transformative; I feel like so much has changed. Having a baby has a way or re-prioritizing everything in your world. Insignificant things that were once important seem to fall away, and life begins to simplify a bit as your focus narrows. That was 2011 for me.



I am looking forward to so much in these next 12 months. I love the New Year and think any sort of fresh start is inspiring. Yes, tomorrow is just another day, but it still is a fun symbol of starting anew. I'm not making specific resolutions but I am focusing on a few different areas of my life, and I'm excited to keep making headway on those things.

2011, you've been good to us. We continued adjusting to our new role as parents, my sister got married, we had an AZ blogger meetup, and I attended some great concerts and shows.  I had a lot of fun girls' nights (like this one and this one), I started writing for Hello Giggles, I began the last year of my 20s, started Henry in swim class, celebrated his first 4th of July, and took a 2-week vacation all around the East Coast.

I traveled to California to celebrate Shirley's bachelorette weekend, took fun family day trips like this one to Flagstaff, my best friend Sarah got married- I was her Maid of Honor, and we celebrated the beginning of Arizona's centennial. I also got my blog redesigned, visited Las Vegas with my little family, and later took an amazing trip back with some of my favorite ladies, and was a bridesmaid in sweet Shirley's wedding too.

Henry visited his first pumpkin patch, took part in his first Halloween festival downtown, and we happily celebrated his first Halloween. Our little guy turned one, we had a fun party for him, and we had two family photo sessions with our friend Christina. We ended the year celebrating Christmas with a light parade, a fun girly sleepover, and spending time with family.



It's awesome to look back, and then to think ahead and imagine what great things this next year has in store for us. Thank you once again, from the bottom of my heart, for reading along with all 558 of my posts this year (wow!). I love you guys.

Happy New Year!

Weekend links

flashback Friday: Madeline and me, two years ago

Happy weekend everyone! I'll be back tomorrow with a little New Year's post, but until then here are some links to explore. Enjoy!

If you click ONE thing in this post, click this link to read about 30 things to stop doing to yourself now. I love this.

The top 12 vegan recipes on Oh She Glows. Awesome!

How adorable would this necklace be for a newlywed, or even at a bridal shower (or even now...hint, hint!).

A list of 'Pay It Forward' ideas. Super inspiring.

After reading her post about getting fit in 2012, I am sending Krista a huge internet high-five.

Are you in the market for a new day planner for 2012? Check out this post.

My friend Casey sent me the sweetest gift this past week- a painting! I'll share a photo of it soon.

I'm always looking for fun ways to spice up get-togethers, so this appetizer idea is great.

Great news, Amber is blogging more.

I enjoyed reading about Michelle's 11 random things and found out we have a few very weird things in common!

True feeling versus should-be-feelings. I liked this post about accepting ourselves.

Need some NYE inspiration? Look no further than these pretty images.

The Chicago Tribune has named the best books of 2011. Are any of your favorites on there?

Etsy sponsor love: one, two, three!

Have you check out the "Sometimes Sweet" project for Funk Off yet? I think it smells pretty darn good. ;)
Loving Martha's collection of lighter New Year's party food!

One of my friends mentioned that she wanted to be less of a "yes" person in 2012. How perfect is this brooch? ;)

I posted about this two week's ago, but my buddy Jason's new site Passionfruit is launching soon! Check it out.

One of my favorite people is having another baby! I for one cannot wait to follow along. I adore Katie.

I love Carly's 2011 recap! It gets me excited to write one of my own this weekend.

This article about dealing with negative or difficult people is so on point and so what I needed to read. Maybe you'll relate too.

I'm loving Leigh-Ann's outfit here! She's adorable.

And finally, in the mood to discover a new blog? Check this one out! And this one, too! I'm loving both of them.

Happy New Year's weekend everyone!

This Week on Hello Giggles: On Being a High School English Teacher

This week I'm talking about my experience being a high school English teacher, and what I learned during those six years. Head on over to Hello Giggles and check it out!