Thank you.

(image via weheartit)

Wow. Thank you all so much for all of your amazingly kind, constructive, thoughtful comments on my post regarding this blog. I was incredibly touched to hear from so many of you, and it was comforting to know I am not alone in those thoughts and feelings. I didn't intend for it to turn into a place for all of you to tell me how much you enjoy my writing or this blog, but many of you did just that, and I appreciate your unexpected compliments a lot. It's amazing to me to know I affect peoples' lives who I don't even know- it's humbling and also makes me feel quite responsible. And not in a bad, obligatory way at all.

Thank you. I took each comment to heart.

There is NO way I can imagine stopping blogging. I enjoy it way too much, and I believe it was my friend Jessica who said sometime on her blog about how it was the cheapest form of therapy there is. I have to agree. When I don't blog, when I don't get my thoughts out in some tangible form, I can feel them building up with no where to go. I think that my problem was that I was allowing things that I view as less important to take importance on this blog. And even if you couldn't see this as readers, I could feel it. If you know me personally, you know that I love clothing. I love handbags, shoes, all things girly. But by no means do those things DEFINE me. I began to feel uncomfortable when I felt like I was indeed defining myself by these things on this blog. I love outfit posts as much as the next person, but I feel most proud of this blog when I share stories, personal accounts, and all of the thoughts and feelings going on in my head. When I left Livejournal after almost eight years of documenting my life, I left behind a lot of thoughts, writings, and a huge creative outlet. Moving forward in this blog, I am going to try and focus more on those things. And sure, I will definitely still post photos of outfits or things of that nature, but I just want to be a bit more aware of making sure I am doing this for ME, and not just to put some cute outfit out there for the world to see for whatever reason. And I understand that blogs are inherently narcissistic in a way, but in the end, someone must click on a link to arrive here. Sure it's about me, but it's not like a social networking site where you see my information daily on a news feed. You must seek this place out to arrive here. When I arrived at this thought, it put a lot into perspective for me. I should absolutely continue writing for me, and as always, it doesn't matter what anyone thinks about it. I often fear that blogging is too "me me me," but that's really just worrying what people think, as hard as it is to admit. I'd love to think I don't care about that, and typically I truly feel that I don't, but through my apparent reluctance to appear a certain way, I came to the realization that some part of me felt insecure about how I was perceived. This in itself made me uncomfortable and in a way, I blamed the blog for bringing those negative feelings into my mind. I never think things like that, I go about my business, and my typical attitude is "take me or leave me, but I am me" ...but somewhere along the line I must have conjured up some imaginary jury sitting there saying how ridiculous this all was, how self-centered, etc. And like in real life, we all do have people who judge us and think whatever they please. But I don't have to worry about that, or waste any of my positive energy on those thoughts. Like I said above, someone must arrive here, seek me out, to read what I say. Because of that, if someone wants to read it, it is their choice, I'm not forcing some narcissistic slew of myself on anyone. There is no need to feel insecure. My life is changing at a rapid rate, in an amazing way, and with this change I've been thinking a lot about my life, and I'm sure that's where this initial internal dialogue came from. With that comes the subject of feeling an invasion of privacy through this space on the internet. I realized that that emotion wasn't completely about this blog, but it was my overall accessibility online. I have a public blog, a public Twitter, public Flickr, and a Facebook where I accepted all blog readers' friend requests. Last night I went through and deleted any people from Facebook who weren't my "real life" friends, and I felt immediately better. Because I do make my life public, I need to have some level of privacy, and once I did that, this blog wasn't a worry to me at all. Blogs should be a public thing, but in my opinion, having an open Facebook was too far and made me uncomfortable.

So yes, I am absolutely going to continue blogging here. I would miss it way too much, and I know I would deeply regret not continuing this documentation I began in 1999. I love that my children will one day be able to read this, and I relish being able to skim over years of my life on this screen. I'm sure to the naked eye not much will change as far as overall content, but to me, my thought process has made a world of difference.

Thank you SO much again, each and every one of you for being a part of my life via this blog. And thanks for listening to this long ramble of an entry. Rereading it, it makes sense to me, and I hope it made some sort of sense to you, too.

Have a wonderful night!

All my love. :)Source URL: http://sweettattooforgirls.blogspot.com/2010/04/
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Tattoo Tuesday V.16

This week I am presenting my gorgeous friend Morgan! I've known Morgan for a long time, via internet and a million mutual friends. She's a photographer extraordinaire and is very talented at what she does. Not only is she quite the looker, she also has some amazing tattoos...including a Weakerthans tattoo that I love love love. So yes, I was really excited when this sweetheart of a lady agreed to let me feature her here, and I know you'll be glad you checked out not just this feature, but all of her photography as well.



Name and blog name: Morgan Olivia Newton www.morgannphoto.blogspot.com

Age: 22

Occupation: photographer

Tattoo/location: Pinup baseball girl on left thigh

Artist/shop/location: Shane Jay, Classic Tattoo www.classictattoolv.com, Las Vegas, Nevada



1) Tell us about the tattoo you are sharing with us- is there a background story or special meaning? Why did you choose this particular piece of art?


I got this tattoo for my dad to show my love for him and baseball. I played softball up until graduation and co-ed for a few years with my dad. So fun! My dad was always there to support me. Throughout my childhood, we would always go to baseball games in Las Vegas on Friday "Fireworks" nights. Baseball is still my favorite sport to watch now that I'm older, and I'm very thankful I share a special bond with my dad because of it.

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

flowers on both feet by Chris Cap; script above my left knee "Look Out Below" by Chris Lobes; double woman's face (unfinished) by Marc Nava on front left thigh; 20's woman and rose on back left thigh by Tim Lehi; sugar skull on front right thigh and friendship hands and crown on back of right thigh by Shane Jay; hand with roses "This Could Be Love" on inside right thigh and traditional butterfly by Joey Anderson; "East coast fly" on top right thigh by my best friend Britney Goodman; various traditional butterflies on right thigh by Rachel Skumbag; "How Your Body Still Remembers Things You Told It To Forget" Weakerthans lyrics on side of right thigh by Sean Crowfoot













3) Do you plan on getting more?

Yes. I have lots of ideas brewing in my head.



4) How do your family and friends feel about your tattoo(s)? Have you run into any adversity or negativity because of them?

My family doesn't approve of them, but doesn't judge me for them either. Most of my friends are tattooed, or are artists so it's pretty normal.

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

Get something that has meaning to you and makes you happy.

Source URL: http://sweettattooforgirls.blogspot.com/2010/04/
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(more) thoughts on blogging

When I went to Hawaii I took a small break from regular blogging, and since then it's been hard for me to see the point of all of this. I absolutely love the people I've met, and even the thoughts and emotions I've been able to share in this space, but I truly do not see the point. I feel shallow and ridiculous posting outfit photos, even though I like clothing and fashion. I feel self-centered when I post a run-down of my day and even more so when I post self-photos. It's not that I care what people think, in fact, I believe it's quite the opposite. I don't care, and I think in a weird way I feel silly because it's almost as if posting all of these things I am asking for validation, compliments, and ego-stroking, and it makes me uncomfortable to come across that way, even to myself. There was definitely a point in my life when I was much younger and (unfortunately) attention-seeking, where I would have loved having thousands of readers everyday, all of you lovely people sharing so much with me here...but now I almost feel an invasion of privacy of my own doing. I'm not really sure where this post is going, or what I am trying to say. Half of me loves blogging, but the other half is often weighed down by feeling ridiculous that there is so much ME here. And I know that is the whole idea of a blog, either to share your life or your ideas, or your work or crafts...but I'm just not sure if my life is something I want to keep sharing so publicly. I'm still thinking about it, and at this point I definitely can't see myself stopping all together, but I'm just not sure if I'm still "feeling it," like I have been for the past year and a half. Regardless, I love all of you SO much and I so appreciate all of you coming here so often with your kind words and support. I am going to keep blogging until I truly want to stop, and at this point I guess I'm just thinking it over and hoping for a change of heart one way or another. Right now, I'm just in the middle.

This has been a topic on this blog before, a long time ago. I would really love to hear your thoughts on this though. Do you ever feel weird or silly blogging? Do you share any of the same sentiments I do? I would appreciate it so much if you would share! Love you guys! <333Source URL: http://sweettattooforgirls.blogspot.com/2010/04/
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Summer deliciousness!

I am so addicted to Cuties. They are definitely my favorite warm-weather snack and Hank and I buy them by the boxful. I just snapped this photo, and this is the fifth cutie I'm working on at the moment. SO GOOD. I'm just a huge fruit fan overall and that's basically all I eat in the summer. When the temperature goes up, anything heavy just sounds gross, so fruit is really the best choice!

As far as unhealthier snacks go, I can't get enough of Italian Ice! I was just reminiscing about Rita's Italian Ice back East. I love love love that place, and it's such a bummer that we don't have one in Arizona...or anywhere close! Whenever my family and I take our annual trip to NJ and the East Coast we go there about a million times. I also get the cherry ice and vanilla custard gelati. It's seriously to die for and Hank, my sis, and I are addicted to it.



I also need to mention another favorite summer treat- Kohl's orange and vanilla swirl cone. Unfortunately this is also an East Coast-only treat, and it can be found on the boardwalks of NJ. This photo was shot last summer at Seaside during our time there. Sigh. Why must all my favorite foods be so far away?



I'd love to know what YOUR favorite summertime treat is! Are you an ice cream gal? Italian ice? Fruit? Do tell! :)Source URL: http://sweettattooforgirls.blogspot.com/2010/04/
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These are a few of my favorite things...

Hi there! Tonight I thought I would share some of my favorite things with you! If you guys enjoy this feature, I'll continue to do this every couple of weeks, so let me know what you think. Here's the first 7 groups of my favorite things! I'd love to know which of these you already love too, or if you decide to check any out, which you end up loving!

I also encourage all of you to make your own "favorite things" list on your blog, and link back here in the comments so we can all enjoy what you love, too!

3 movies to add to your Netflix queue:

"An Education"



"City of God"



"The Wrestler"



3 television series to add to your Netflix queue (and watch in their entirety over a span of one weekend):

Pushing Daisies



Freaks and Geeks




My So-Called Life



3 albums to download (with one of my favorite songs from each album):

Modern Life is War's "Witness"



Aesop Rock's "Labor Days"



Coco Rosie's "Beautiful Boyz" EP



3 books to read:

The Handmaid's Tale by: Margaret Atwood



She's Come Undone by: Wally Lamb



The Glass Castle by: Jeannette Walls



3 blogs to visit:

http://dandelionlovely.blogspot.com/



http://thedoeorthedeer.blogspot.com/



http://marandbean.blogspot.com/




3 Etsy shops to check out:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ohxcrap



http://www.etsy.com/shop/LeLapinTriste




http://www.etsy.com/shop/elsita




3 inspiring online articles to read now:

http://galadarling.com/article/negative-people

http://tinybuddha.com/blog/20-ways-to-let-go-of-regrets/

http://www.glassofwin.com/?p=1110Source URL: http://sweettattooforgirls.blogspot.com/2010/04/
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Tattoo Tuesday V.15

I am so fortunate to have so many beautiful friends to feature throughout this series. Over the next few weeks I will be sharing some particularly wonderful tattoos and ladies that I think you all will really enjoy reading about. I received a comment last week about changing up the questions because they were apparently becoming a bit repetitive. I really appreciate your input, but I am going to continue asking the same questions for the time being. This week I will be including age and occupation so you can get a feel for their demographic, but for now, the questions are going to stay the same!

This week I am so, so happy to feature one of my favorite people in the world, Natalie! Natalie is one of my closest friends from high school and I have some of the most wonderful memories with this girl. We've had tons of adventures and she is the sweetest, most darling things in the universe. To know her is to love her, and she's one of those people that changes the room just by being in it- her energy is totally positive and wonderful. I wished we lived closer so we could hang out all the time. She's the wife to a handsome guy named Joey and the mom to an adorable little girl named Coral! She also just started her blog, so be sure to head over and follow her. So without further adieu...Natalie!



Name and blog name: Natalie Maddon, just started my blog:

http://dandelionlovely.blogspot.com/

Age: 27

Occupation: financial advisor

Featured tattoo/location: Wings on left rib panel

Artist/shop/location: Timo Sanders, Fifth Estate Tattoos- Gilbert, AZ




1) Tell us about the tattoo you are sharing with us- is there a background story or special meaning? Why did you choose this particular piece of art?


The tattoo is on my ribs and it is a wing with a rose in it. The words say "When you pass through the waters I will be with you, and the rivers shall not overwhelm you, when you walk through the fire you will not be burned and the flame shall not consume you. Isaiah 43:2." My aunt has the same thing on her opposite side so that together they make a set of wings. We got the tattoos when she got brain cancer so the scripture has special meaning.


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


Yes, I sure do have more. Some of them are: memorial chest piece of a heart and wings, wings on my back (sense a theme?), 3/4 sleeve of the ocean, angel outline on my hand, penguin on my hand that was an anniversary thing my hubby and I did, anatomic heart on my hand, a key on my forearm, and a few other cheesy ones scattered around.










3) Do you plan on getting more?


My left rib panel is being drawn up by Timo. Im pretty sure I will be covered by the time I die. I have already past the limit of being inconspicuous about it so I may as well run with it, right?


4) How do your family and friends feel about your tattoo(s)? Have you run into any adversity or negativity because of them?


My family has warmed up to the tattoos. I have a huge, amazingly accepting family. Most of my family has at least one tattoo. My dad likes to tease me and tell me is going to turn my skin into a lampshade when I die. My grandpa asks me if I had an accident with the crayons. I do get negative comments like, "you could have been such a pretty girl" but I have just learned to accept that as part of having tattoos.


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


I started getting tattoos really young and have a few that I could do without. I wish that I would have waited a bit longer, at least until I was 18. I think that it is a good idea to decide the tattoo that you want and then wait awhile and see if you still want it. Getting tattoos is not something that you should do on a whim just to have one.


Source URL: http://sweettattooforgirls.blogspot.com/2010/04/
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Sunday, on a Monday

This weekend was super relaxing, which was exactly what I needed! Hank and I decided to spend Sunday sleeping in late, and then spending time outdoors in the sun. Both of us need to get sunlight in order to stay happy, we're like plants! But really, vitamin D from the sun does a body good and since both of us are inside at work most of the week it's nice to spend an entire day outside. It's also nice to live almost right on the square and to be able to walk anywhere right downtown. When we buy our home we'd like to be more in the forest, so I am trying to treasure these times while still we live down here.

Hank looking pretty unamused at lunch!


We ate at Mama Edda's, a local pizza place that has vegan meats and pizza options. Really yummy.





the cute details on the back of my dress! Gotta love Anthropologie.


I love Prescott.


outside our house




Hank's beard is shaping up nicely!


photo from later in the day, heading out to do some grocery shopping...mainly excited because I can wear strapless dresses again! Yay for warm weather!


It was hard to wake up this morning after having such a pleasant weekend. I felt so relaxed and I feel like if I just had one more day, it would have been perfect! But I'm sure at the end of that day, I'd want another. These days I feel like I really am "working for the weekend" and it's been hard to have motivation during these last weeks until the summer.

So in the spirit of my non-motivation, here are two videos for your viewing pleasure! :)



And of course my favorite girl in the entire world, Dolly. I should start drinking coffee so I can have a "cup of ambition" every morning! I love this woman so, so much...I listen to her everyday and one day I WILL get a Dolly tattoo.



In other music related news, the new Gaslight album leaked. Even though I'm super excited to have it so early, it's definitely a bummer for them to have it leak two months ahead of time, so I hope that if you got a leaked copy you will join me in buying the album when it actually releases on June 15th! My friends Erin and Scotty both text messaged me the moment they noticed it was out, and when I got home Scotty sent it over my way. Erin had prefaced the album by saying that she thought it seemed a little more "emotional" and so far she's not that into it, and Scotty said it was "less rock, more talk." haha. I listened to it three times in a row this afternoon and I LOVE it. I knew they were going for a different sound, and they definitely achieved it. It's still absolutely Gaslight, but it's a bit more mellow and just a different feel. I've adored the more emotionally charged songs of theirs- I'm all about the lyrics and that really raw quality to Brian's voice, and in this album you definitely get a lot of that. Two thumbs up! If you have it, what do you think of it so far?

If you aren't familiar with The Gaslight Anthem, here's a video of one of my favorite songs off their second full-length "The '59 Sound." Most of my friends like their first album "Sink or Swim" better but I like both pretty evenly, and I especially love the "Señor and the Queen" EP - it has two of my fave songs on it. I talk about them a lot because they're one of my all-time favorite bands...if you don't listen to them you definitely should! Great stuff! :)



Have a wonderful evening!Source URL: http://sweettattooforgirls.blogspot.com/2010/04/
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a snapshot of my feelings, 2005

I've been going through my old livejournal and I've been coming across so, so many interesting posts. I am going to share a few here whenever I remember to do so, and I'm not sure if these will be terribly interesting to you, but they are to me. It's neat that I kept a livejournal for so many years. I have almost everyday of my life documented from 1999-2008 and it's such a gift to be able to look at myself with such clarity. I can read all about my college experience, my time after graduation, every step that led me to Hank, every detail of moving into that relationship, and how it all unfolded. It's amazing. Here's a little something I wrote when I first starting falling in love with Hank, my then-boyfriend, back in 2005. I sound so young, but I was young, and it's crazy to think that at this point I would have had no idea what our life would ended up being like.

i love him so much that it hurts sometimes when i feel like no matter what i do he will never fully grasp the full depth of my feelings. we discuss this often, and he feels the same, and then we agree that that is one beautiful aspect of being so in love, one aspect is that your emotions for this other person are so deep you can never show them the entire span, nor can you even fully grasp the love as a tangible thing. the fumbling dance we do to show love here, there, to hold it between our hands and up to each other in a look look here it is, that is beautiful. every single failure before him now seems only like a step here or there to lead me right to him. every morning when i look look at myself to know how i am feeling on that particular day, i am often able to see myself through his eyes. and when doing so, i can feel warm and soft and beautiful, because through him i am all of these things, and i am everything that i want to be, have been, and will be. when i can crawl up close to his tired body late at night, when i can curl up on his lap in the afternoon, i feel the energy from his body that meets with mine. it is the feeling of waking up at four in the morning, frantically reaching for him, and finding him next to me, curled up with me, tangled up with me. it is the feeling of coming home after a horrible day, and taking one step in the room, into his comfort and love, and he knows. i still want to know all of his dreams and his hopes and his wishes. true love is still alive, it does exist. i feel so lucky to have found the boy i will marry someday, and i feel so fortunate to have found a boy who loves me and every single one of my blindingly obvious flaws, and he holds me and them all up in one bundle, and soothes us to sleep, every night of our life.Source URL: http://sweettattooforgirls.blogspot.com/2010/04/
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Happy birthday, Madeline!

You are my best friend and I couldn't imagine our life without you. You are the constant sunshine in my day, and you are truly the sweetest pup in the entire world. Thank you for being such a darling companion. I will always take care of you, and try to show you as much love as you unconditionally show me every day.

Happy 2nd birthday, little lady!



















Source URL: http://sweettattooforgirls.blogspot.com/2010/04/
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Wednesday!

Tomorrow is my Friday and I couldn't be happier. We have just a little over a month left of school and I am beyond excited to have a great summer. This summer is going to be especially wonderful, and soon we should be back in Hawaii celebrating our two year wedding anniversary! I can't wait.

This week has been a particularly hard one at work, not for any reasons specifically in my classroom, but for the air of sadness that has overcome our school. Arizona is in an educational budget crisis, and today many of our fine arts and any non-core teachers received pink slips. If the one cent tax raise does not pass, it's been said that they will be cutting a lot of our arts and music programs. This is UNACCEPTABLE. These classes are all some kids have, and getting rid of creativity in school is the worst idea I've ever heard. It's incredibly depressing that Hank and I will one day have to send our kids to private school just so they can get a decent, well-rounded education. The state of public education in Arizona (and I'm sure in other places, too) is so depressing and I'm just hoping with all of my heart that this works out in our favor. I'm upset just typing about it.

In other school news, time is just zipping by. Like I mentioned above, summer is coming closer everyday and the best part is that once it's here, Hank will be switching to 3 12-hour shifts, which allows us so much freedom to travel. He's currently working his way through his family's company, learning every step along the way and he is currently in dispatch right now, which is super crazy but it always keeps him really busy. I couldn't imagine doing a lot of what he does, but it's great he will have a feel for every position by the time he is done with this "training" phase.

I am going to sign off now and get to sleep fairly early, but I wanted to share a photo of today's outfit and a playlist before I go!

details (I guess I look sad? oops!)
dress: Lark & Wolff By Steven Alan (wrinkled on the bottom...:/)
shoes: BCBG



and here's a playlist...I hope you enjoy it! Let me know which song you like best.






I'll leave you with a photo of Madeline I posted on my Twitter yesterday (click here to follow me- I hit 5,000 tweets last night, holy cow!). "Snug as a bug in a rug!" Have a good night! xo

Source URL: http://sweettattooforgirls.blogspot.com/2010/04/
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