I had been saying I'd make it to the shop after Deb (our graphic designer) told me that her husband, Matt, was opening it - but that was FOREVER ago. Okay, maybe more like over 2 years ago...
Matt is the kind gentleman who tattooed my Godparent stars on me 4+ years ago and just so you know, I WILL be back next year to get matching stars on the other side when my Goddaughter turns 10.
ANYWAYS - in the grand tradition of Friday the 13th, some tattoo shops offer up a Friday the 13th special: you pick from the specific flash sheet (it changes every Friday the 13th) and you pay $13 for the tattoo + $7 lucky tip. I had always wanted to do it but I don't know what had been holding me back. So on my crazy out-of-character momentum of last week, I just went and did it.
At first, I was a little nervous because it had been pouring down rain so much that I was a little nervous to leave my area but it cleared up after the old man and I went to dinner. Then, I was a little nervous about the parking situation. I know the general area where the shop is and parking is quite limited but I pulled into the precarious lot and luckily for me, a girl was just leaving. Her spot? Right outside the shop door! Is that an awesome sign or what?! After some inner celebration and much gratitude to the Universe, I went inside and signed in. I thought about specifying Matt for my tattoo but as I glanced over the list, I saw that quite a few folks had already done that, so I decided I wouldn't be picky about who I got because if they're at Matt's shop, they've got to be awesome.
After about an hour of waiting and debating where my new tattoo would go, it was my turn. I was being called back by Charles Chatov. I follow quite a few tattoo artists on Instagram and he's one of them so I was very excited.
After I got all stenciled up, it was time to get drilled. Matt was setting up his station so we chatted about work and Deb and stuff. The whole time I was hoping he didn't get mad at me for not asking for him but everyone else was asking for him so...you know. I also think they stopped doing tattooer preferences after a certain time just for the sake of getting everyone done by midnight - which was the cut off. Either way, I told Matt I would try to bring a special guest by the shop on Tuesday and I'm hoping that last week's momentum will carry through to this week. Maybe I'll schedule my consult with Matt for Tuesday so I can get started talking about my chest piece. That's another story.
I kindly asked Charles if I could take some action shots - to which he said, "You better hurry up - I'm almost done!" I think these came out okay. Taking these also helped distract me from the nagging pain of the needle. And despite his very serious look, he was quite smiley!
So what did I pick? The boat, of course!
Small and simple but I like it! And even though I didn't sit for hours and hours, my experience was very enjoyable. I think I should make it a point to get work done by each member of the Only You Tattoo crew since they are all amazingly talented artists. Check out their work here!
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