New tattoo

Photo taken immediately after it was finished.

I recently got another tattoo. It's a portrait of Maleficent and I couldn't be happier with it! It was done by Brandie Popps at Famous Tattoos in Dartmouth, MA. Since the studio was so far away from my house (about 2 hours) I got it done all in one almost 5 hour session. It was one of my more painful tattoos simply because it took so long but I feel that it was completely worth it.

MAC x Lorde

I was excited about the Lorde MAC collection since it was announced. I had been looking for a dark purple lipstick for some time and Pure Heroine seemed absolutely perfect. My order was placed as soon as it went on sale on MAC's website, even before the email saying it was out arrived in my inbox. It came in the mail a few days later and oh my goodness it was beautiful. I almost didn't want to use it but I finally wore it last night and this color makes me feel so fierce! The inner goth in me loves dark lipstick and I feel this is a little more fashionable and socially accepted than black. I'm going to be sad when I use it all, so much so that I might order one more to have for the future, like the saying "one to rock, one to stock." Have any of you bought Pure Heroine? If so, how do you like it? xo

Mascara queen

It's quite obvious that I love mascara. I'm always trying new and different brands and types, but these are the ones I am currently using;

• Diorshow Black Out
• Benefit Bad Gal Lash
• Tarte Lights, Camera, Flashes!
• E.L.F. Lengthening & Defining
• Laura Geller GLAMlash
• Bare Minerals Lash Domination

I'd like to say I have certain reason for wearing a specific one but it really just kind of depends on which one I grab first! I will say that I do tend to go for the Lash Domination more often than not because I really like the how it separates my lashes and gives them a lot of length with very little clumping. What are your favorite mascaras? xo

Tattoo Stories

I’m going to try and make an appointment to get tattooed on Saturday. I’m going to get the anxiety leech from TAFWVG on the side of my calf. I really don’t want to go far from home and luckily there’s an artist I really like at Lowell Ink so I’m going to try to email him today. It’s times like this when I hate having social anxiety because I usually have to make a phone call and ugh. But if I must make a call, I will. It’s been far too long since I’ve been tattooed. But in honor of me hopefully getting more ink, I thought I'd share the stories behind my current tattoos.

My largest piece right now is my diving helmet. I got it because my father was a diver and sailor. It's the stereotypical thing for sailors to have tattoos (usually anchors or things of that nautical nature) and I always thought it was odd that my dad didn't have any. I was told that part of that was that my mom didn't like tattoos, and he loved and respected her. But I remember asking him that if he were to get a tattoo, what would it be. He responded with an old school Mark V diving helmet. After he passed away I thought it would be neat to get what he would have gotten in his honor, along with the added red flower. The red flower resembles the faux flower I got in a dirt pudding at a restaurant when I was young. I thought it was pretty so I gave it to my dad, he put it in his car. He had it in every car he had, including the one he totaled in his near fatal car accident. When he went to the junkyard to save a few items before the car was compacted, the flower was one of the items he salvaged. I loved that it meant so much to him.

Next is my most painful piece, my stormtrooper. I decided to get a stormtrooper on my foot to show my undying love for Star Wars. Star Wars has been a part of my life since 1995 when my dad bought the box set of the VHSs. I'm a Galactic Empire girl haha. When I had a blanket or towel tied around my neck when I was little, instead of pretending to be a superhero, I would walk around the house humming the Imperial March pretending to be Darth Vader (who will be going on my other foot once I forget how much this one hurt lol.) For those not obessed with Star Wars, TK421 was a stormtrooper stationed on the first Death Star and was the only stormtrooper who was mentioned by name in the original trilogy. The designation was included in a design that my piece was based on, I just thought it was cool so I made sure it was kept in my tattoo.

The lyrics on my forearm was my first tattoo. I got it when I was 17, how you ask? I went all the way to CT to get it done. The lyrics are from a song called "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" from the musical The Phantom of the Opera. The character Christine sings the song at her father's grave, and even though I've loved Phantom for a long time before my father passed away, the song really hit home after the fact. I thought it was a perfect way to start my tattoo journey.

The smallest tattoo I have is my little f/1.4 aperture on my shoulder. There's not too much story behind this one, I got it just because f/1.4 is my favorite lens aperture. Photography means a lot to me, it made me a lot of friends and helped boost my confidence. Even if I don't continue to pursue it as a career, I will never give it up. I'll always keep shooting.

Lastly is my least favorite tattoo, my teacup. I got this done on a Friday the 13th because a decent shop was having a special, $31 for a piece chosen from 3 posters full of flash. I had been wanting a teacup for some time before this and when I saw that a teacup was an option I immediately got it. I kind of regret this. It's not that it's a terrible tattoo, I just didn't think about placement too much and I got it in kind of a stupid place. The saucer is also kind of wonky, but that's probably due to the fact I got it put in a weird place. I wanted a teacup to honor my mother. When I was little, the first ride I went on in Disneyland was the Mad Hatter's Tea Party and it was a special moment for my mom, dad, and me. Fast forward many years, my mother took my sister and me to Disney World and even though she has vertigo and hates spinning, she went on the ride with me again. I thought that was something special. I'm currently in the process of planning to get this covered up by another important piece, but I will definitely get another teacup in the future.
I don't have many tattoos yet but the ones I do have hold a special place in my heart. You may have heard tattoos are addictive in a way, that is 100% true! I can't wait to keep getting them and filling up my body canvas with art and reminders of special people and times. xo

Alex and Ani

I'm currently obsessed with Alex and Ani bracelets! My mom got me the lighthouse one for Xmas and I instantly became obsessed with them. There's so many of them that I want and hopefully will eventually own. I just the other day got the skeleton key bracelet that I've been wanting for a while. I can't wait for my collection to keep growing!

Davey and Kiki's Wedding

In July I had the opportunity to help photograph Davey and Kiki's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding and they are the cutest couple ever!

Bananas foster coffee and my current read

I worked at a donut and coffee shop for a week a couple of weeks ago. I had to quit unfortunately due to my anxiety. But, one thing I gained from those few days was a love for a bananas foster coffee they serve. I loved it so much that I ordered 5 lbs. of it from the internet (I feel far too awkward going in the shop to order it since I quit.) I made my first cup of it at home this morning and it's so delicious! The only issue I have with it is I have a Keurig coffee maker so I use the my K-cup thing and it can only make one cup at a time, then I have to wait for that cup to cool off enough to put ice in it since I drink this as iced coffee. I'm a little of an impatient person so it's difficult for me to wait for the coffee to cool off but it's just something I'll have to deal with for the deliciousness that is this coffee in the morning or anytime really, especially since it's getting to be summer soon. 

I also recently started reading a book, which I haven't done in far too long. It's called The Asylum For

Wayward Victorian Girls, written by one of my favorite musicians, Emilie Autumn. It's part autobiographical and part fiction. So far I'm loving it so much. Emilie can convey so much personality and feeling through her writing, she is truly talented at everything she does it seems. At the moment I'm only on page 50 out of about 270 pages, partly due to the fact I'm reading it on my phone and computer which is a little more difficult than a physical book. I would have loved to get an actual physical copy of the book but alas, I don't have $60 currently to spend on it. So, I bought the ebook because it was on sale for $20 and I just couldn't resist buying it since I've been dying to read it for a while now. When I bought it, it came with multiple downloads so my good friend Dave, who also loves Emilie, is able to read it too. I read 50 pages in 1.5 nights. I was having a probable manic episode the other day so I was up until about 4:30 am, so I kept my mind from racing by getting wrapped up in this story. That helped so much.

Well, it's already after 8:30 so I should probably start my day of fun-filled cleaning around the house now. xo