Sore all over, but happy!

We just got back from a weekend in San Francisco last night, which means I'll be feeling the effects of walking miles up and down hills for a few days. It was a great time, we met up with old friends, and had some amazing food. If anyone reading this is ever in SF, I highly recommend eating at Pesce. Some of the best food I've had at a restaurant in a long time. I could eat their swordfish until I pop!

While walking on Pier 39, we saw a tattoo parlor with big picture windows where you could watch the artists at work. I have an 11-year-old rose on my right foot that is badly faded and in need of a touch up. It looked like this...

 
So we stopped in. They had a digital portfolio for each artist, and I began flipping through, and wound up lingering on one artist, Chris's page. He'd done a couple of pieces with dew drops that looked startlingly 3D. As though if you touched them you'd get your finger wet. I mentioned to my husband that if I decided to have anything done, that was the guy I wanted.

Well, as it turned out, he happened to be standing right there when I said it. He introduced himself and said that he specializes in photo realism, and asked what I wanted done. I showed him my tattoo and he grimaced and said with something so faded, he would just cover it instead of touching it up. That's when he said, "We could do another rose, a different flower, or you could choose something else." That really piqued my interest! I had never considered getting something else over the old tattoo. Because, let's be honest, I got it when I was 18 years old and had no real personalty or interest in anything, so I got a flower because it was pretty. Nowadays, I don't really resonate with red roses anymore. So I told him, "I want a gecko!"

We flipped through photos online until we found a few that I liked, and then worked on the stencil to combine features here and there until we had the perfect tattoo. I have to say, I am thrilled with the result. It's so pretty!

Eeeeeee! I LOVE IT!

And I have to throw an additional photo in, because while I love reptiles, my mother hates snakes. HI MOM!

Me with Pascal, a ball python in the reptile collection at my husband's museum.