Kristen's Trilogy of Knots

The 34th Street Platform for the A Train has been very kind to us here at Tattoosday, even more so this summer than in years' past.

Take Kristen, for example. She generously offered up this small portion of her corporeal canvas:

Estimating that she is at least a quarter covered by ink, this "trilogy of knots" was the artist's response to Kristen's request to attach the cobwebs on her elbow to the end of her wrist.

The artist, identified only as "Batman" near Canal and Broadway, was also asked to incorporate a Celtic pattern, as well.

The final result was to Kristen's liking and we here at Tattoosday thank her for sharing the tattoo with all of our readers!

Hank's Coconut Curry

Fortunately not only do I love to cook, but Hank does too. When he gets into chef mode he's the most adorable thing in the world and he almost always makes up his recipes as he goes. In fact, when he and his friends get together, they most often "cook it up," as they call it, and make some amazing dishes. This one in particular is adapted from his friend Matt's curry that he made at our house a couple of weeks ago. Hank went off memory so I don't have much of a formal recipe to share as far as amounts of spice, etc, but it turned out absolutely delicious and I thought I would include the process he used (thank you Hank!).

For this recipe, you'll need the following:

1 can of coconut milk (I insisted that Hank use light coconut milk, but regular would be SO much better for a curry, since it thickens up a lot more)
veggies of your choice- we used broccoli, onions, and carrots
minced garlic
curry powder
generic "Thai" spice blend
chili paste
sea salt
1 block of extra firm tofu
brown rice (or quinoa)

1) Add the entire can of coconut milk to a wok.
2) Add about 2 tbsp minced garlic to the milk (we LOVE garlic so we go overboard, but do this to your liking).
3) Add about half of a chopped onion (also add amount according to taste).
4) Bring to a boil.
5) Add everything else (chopped broccoli, carrots, other veggies, and drained/cubed tofu, spices- all amounts of spice are to your taste, we add tons).
6) Boil it for awhile until veggies become tender- the longer you do this, the longer the tofu will have a chance to soak up the flavor.
7) While this is cooking make some brown rice.
8) Curry should thicken up during cooking time- light coconut milk will be more watery.

And done! You have a quick, healthy meal. I really enjoyed it and I hope you do too!

Happy Bloggiversary to Me!

Three years ago today, Tattoosday was born.

On July 31, 2007, I put up a post on BillyBlog, featuring a tattoo on a co-worker named Sephora.

The idea was to post a weekly tattoo on Tuesday, and use this is a vehicle to expand my horizons a bit; meet interesting people and learn about tattoos.

There was one problem. I enjoyed it too much. There weren't enough Tuesdays in the week. I was impatient and wanted to post right away, not wait until Tuesday. And so, as Kurt Vonnegut would say, it goes....

So a month later I threw the previous months post up on the stand-alone blog, Tattoosday. And BillyBlog faded.

It's still there, but Tattoosday is my passion and I couldn't have even imagined, back in 2007, how easy it would become for me to talk to strangers about their ink.

The once-a-week project produced forty-five separate interactions in July, we have a 30-day backlog of material, and this past week we registered our 650,000th hit. Not too shabby.

Go see the original post here to see how far we've come.

And a hearty thanks to all our contributors, all our fans, and all the tattooists out there creating wonderful, interesting, portable art. Without all of you, Tattoosday would have been a blip of an idea, and nothing more.

Nick Remembers Billy, I Remember Siki

My first tattoo was modified from a piece of flash at Body Art Studios by an artist who goes by the moniker "Siki". Shortly thereafter, Siki left the shop and went on his way.

My friend Pete knows who he is but, until recently, I hadn't met anyone with ink from Siki, other than myself.

Then, I met Nick on the R train one day after work and, while discussing his many tattoos (he "lost count after 45," they've all connected) , I heard him talking about Siki.

So today's tattoo is by Siki and was, like my lynx, modified from an old piece of flash. Although he adapted it a lot more fully and developed a more unique tattoo.

Siki and Nick had a mutual friend named Billy, who Nick would often go with to get tattooed. When he passed away, they added Billy's name to the bottom of the tattoo as a tribute to their departed friend.

Thanks to Nick for sharing his tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Austin, Texas!

image via weheartit.com

So, today is a big day for a little lady by the name of Amber Joy! Obviously if you read my blog you know her, and maybe you even read her blog (http://amberjoyh.blogspot.com/), but today is MOVING DAY for her! The reason I'm posting this, is to ask if any of you have any recommendations of things she absolutely must do, must try, should experience in her new home of Austin, Texas! Feel free to comment in the space below, I know she'll love reading any Austin-related tidbits you may want to share. Thanks in advance, and love all of you!

Wednesday, today

This week has been a good one. The weather's been a dream- thunder and lightning almost every night, some rain, and every evening sky has been one of those weird gray-yellow colors that just screams that monsoon season is here. I've been trying to really slow down a bit and enjoy this last week of summer, before I head back to work next Tuesday. We've been taking walks, and sucking in every last bit of this amazing weather up here in the mountains. This week's been full of appointments for me- Madeline went to the doggie spa, I headed to the dentist, and I have a hair appointment this Saturday. I'm truly looking forward to freshening up my color and getting a little trim. I went through a phase a few weeks ago where I wanted to cut my hair...but now that phase is OVER and I am back to loving it, in all it's long length glory! The only thing I'd like would be for it to be more of a rich chocolate brown with some more depth to it. My hair feels so dull and Saturday can't come soon enough. Other than that, I'm just winding down the summer and getting ready to enter my third trimester next month. Can you believe time has gone by so quickly? Today while at the dentist (no cavities yet again, yeah!), I had to make my next cleaning appointment for February. I was looking through my planner trying to pick a day that would work with my work schedule until it hit me that I could come anytime, since my job will be taking care of Henry...who will BE HERE then! It was kind of weird to have that realization, and think about that life change, so I went ahead and made my appointment for 10am on a weekday...since that time will work out just fine for my stay-at-home-mom self! :) So, so neat and it made me really excited, as silly as it sounds.

So, for the rest of the day today I'll be doing little things around the house- laundry, organizing, etc. and then getting a GOOD night's sleep. Last night I went to bed incredibly late, and I had to be up at 7am. It's imperative I get back into a good schedule for school because otherwise I'll be a disaster. Last night was fun though, I met up with Amber and Adie at the Raven to enjoy some dessert. Our original plan was to get pie, but we decided to do the Raven instead and enjoyed the most delicious root beer floats. I totally treated myself and it was so tasty. I can't wait to take Hank there on a little date night! I had a great time, even though it was a little bittersweet, since in the morning I knew Amber would be heading off to her new home in Texas. I'm so excited for her though, and it was great to have "one last night" before she left. So after a long night of root beer float sipping, girl-talking and downtown walking, I headed over to my friend Robyn's house for a little visit and got home way past twelve, and didn't get to bed until well past 2am. Not the best choice. I'm still feeling good though, so maybe it's what I needed in order for me to get to sleep early tonight. Let's hope!

Well, signing off now, but I hope all of you enjoy your Thursday, and have a great day!

Jessica's Feather for her Mother

I met Jessica on the express platform at 34th Street earlier this month.

She shared this gorgeous peacock feather tattooed on the upper right section of her back:

The piece is an homage to her mother, who loves everything peacock, and has countless items, like bracelets and other jewelery, that emulate the vivid colors of these beautiful birds.

She credits this tattoo to an artist known only as Allison.

Thanks to Jessica for sharing this wonderful tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Michelle's Tattoo Takes Your Breath Away

Michelle has a lot of ink, twenty-one tattoos, all told, but when I stopped her in Penn Station, she chose to share this one with us:

Boldly planted on her upper right arm, Michelle explained that she paraphrased and pared down a longer quotation to read, more simply, "Live for the moments that take your breath away". I believe she was referring to the saying, "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

The flowers in the photo are cherry blossoms that were done in blue, rather than the traditional pink because, as Michelle tells it, she's "not really a pink kind of girl".

This tattoo was inked by Fat Tony at Hobo's Tattoo Shop in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Thanks to Michelle for sharing this tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Tattoo Tuesday V.28

So this week I'm doing something a little different for the first time. I have a bunch of new ladies (and guys too!) lined up to show you over the next couple of months, but I really wanted to share my sister Lauren's new tattoos. Lauren was first featured on one of the very first Tattoo Tuesdays but since then she's gotten some new work done. If I wanted to, I swear I could do a T.T. post every month showing you something new on her body- she's always getting really awesome, beautiful things. At first, I was going to have her just share the photos with us, but since it's almost been a year since I last featured her I figured I would have her answer the questions again. In the future, I won't have my repeated girls/guys answer the same questions when they share new work, but since it's been so long since Lauren's been featured I'm going to do that this time!

Be sure to click here to visit her previous feature, as I'm not including ANY photos of her million other tattoos. Once you head over that way I think you will just fall in love with all of the beautiful art on her body, including a thigh-piece sister tattoo with me and her huge back piece- shoulders to butt. For those who don't know Lauren or read her blog (that she needs to update!), you should know that she's my best friend and the coolest gal I know. She's actually also a teacher, and will be getting married this upcoming March. Lauren is one of those people who infuses fun into any situation and I feel incredibly fortunate to have her not just as a sister but as my closest friend. Love her. So, without further adieu, here's my lovely and gorgeous little sister (again)!

Name and blog name: Lauren http://monsterxlove.blogspot.com/

Age: 25

Occupation: Teacher (6th grade Science)

Age of first tattoo: 18

Favorite tattoo: Girl head in rose on the back of my neck (see previous feature for a photo)

Featured tattoo/location: Girl on upper right arm and haunted house on left thigh.

Artist/shop/location of feature tattoo: Cory Lenherr tattooed the girl on my arm at his shop in Phoenix. My haunted house was done by Lex at 5th Estate Tattoo in 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?

I love pretty tattoos and I have wanted a portrait type tattoo of a girl for a long time now. Most of my tattoos from Cory are more traditional style tattoos but this one we chose to make a little more portrait style. The girl doesn't represent anyone or anything.

Halloween has always been a special holiday for me. My sister and I used to have so much fun trick or treating every year and decorating our house with our family. Every year I can't wait to start putting up spooky Halloween decorations. I have always loved haunted houses even though I hate anything that is too scary! I knew that I wanted the tattoo to me spooky and creepy, and kind of Tim Burton-esque. I decided to go to my fiancé's tattoo guy because that is more his type of tattoo style. I absolutely LOVE the way it turned out! We have only done the outline so far, so we still need to shade and add color.

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

Yes, I have many other tattoos. I was featured in Tattoo Tuesday V.2 and talked about my other tattoos there. But, I have roses on the tops of my feet, a lighthouse on my right shin with mom and dad banner, an umbrella with "when it rains it pours" banner, teacups with "two for tea" sister tattoo on right thigh, small star on inner right foot, heart on hip, geisha back piece, "love" on right wrist, "life" on left wrist, girl head in a rose on the back of my neck, "to thine own self be true" on my chest.

(here are just a few photos that weren't shared last time, again click HERE to check out all of her others)

3) Do you plan on getting more?

Yes, definitely. I plan on being pretty much covered.

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

My parents are not too happy about me having so many tattoos, especially the visible ones. I'm sure they think I shouldn't be spending money on something that they think is unnecessary. But, tattoos make me happy and they are a part of me. My parents seem to not notice them much anymore, unless I get a new one-then they definitely notice! It helps that my sister is also heavily tattooed. People constantly are looking at my tattoos when I am in public and I don't mind, unless they have a look of disgust on their face. I don't like when people point and whisper things to others, but I try to not let it bother me. Sometimes it can be quite embarrassing, though. For example, my sister and I were at the mall the other day on a Saturday and it was pretty crowded. A worker lady was pushing a big cart thing when she stopped in the middle of the mall, got down on her knees so she could be closer to my shin tattoos, and loudly announced, "Oh my god! Look at those tattoos!" It was quite strange and embarrassing. People were staring at us. I just kind of smiled and walked by. People definitely think that because you have tattoos that they can touch them, grab them, tell you their life story, etc. I have had men actually reach out and touch my tattoo on my chest. Yuck! I also find myself put into situations, fairly often, where I have to defend my decision of being tattooed. People find it necessary to repeatedly tell me how bad my tattoos will look 10 years from now, how I have ruined my skin, how I will hate my tattoos years from now. I don't know why people feel the need to express their negative opinions to me, it's not like it is magically going to change my outlook on life and tattoos or make me run to the laser clinic to remove my tattoos. I really just try to stay away from those types of people. People are also usually very surprised that I am a teacher. Just because I choose to be tattooed doesn't mean that I can't have a "normal" job. Yes I do cover my tattoos at work, and yes it does get hot and annoying at times having to always be covered up. But, for me it is well worth it.

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

Take your time choosing what you want to get tattooed and who you want to tattoo it. I have made some silly choices when I was younger in regard to my tattoos. My first tattoo was 3 stars on my lower back. I also had a black butterfly tattooed on my upper back. Not good! I ended up having them covered when I got my geisha back piece. After those poor choices you think I would have learned but then I got my chest tattooed. I went to a random shop and he typed up what I wanted tattooed, printed it out, and then traced it! He didn't even draw it up himself. I was silly and young and didn't know any better. The tattoo ended up okay, but one side is darker than the other, some parts are shaky, and parts are thicker than other parts. I was pretty bummed about it, especially since it is super visible. Looking back on it, I don't know what I was thinking. However, I am getting it covered up in just a few weeks and I couldn't be happier! I am getting married in 8 months or so and it will be so nice to feel confident and happy about my tattoo. Hopefully my bad tattoo experience will help someone not to make the same stupid choices that I made. Thankfully that is the only tattoo that I have that I don't like. Now I make sure to take the time to talk with whoever is tattooing me about my ideas, what they think would look good, and I always make sure to go in a week or so before my appointment to check out the drawing and make any necessary changes. Choose a tattoo that makes you happy and that is special to you, no matter if it has a significant story behind it or not.

Timmy's Sophisticated Owl

Earlier this month, Melanie and I took advantage of having my sister's car while she was out of the country and we made an unusual shopping trip to the Fairway Market in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn.

There was a gentleman in the produce section with a lot of tattoos, and Melanie pointed out one to me that she thought was cool, this owl on his calf:

Turns out that the guy was Timmy from Timmy Tattoo, an artist whose name rang a distant bell. Work by Timmy appeared in one of Tattoosday's earliest posts, when I met Jackie,an FIT student whose tattoos appeared here.

Timmy's owl was inked by Garrett Ostrowski of Garrett's Tattoos.

Thanks to Timmy for sharing one of his many tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Saturday and Sunday

clockwise: morning photo in our hotel room, working out in the 1980s hotel gym, lunch at Loving Hut in San Diego, lemongrass "chicken," tofu and veggie spring rolls, "beef" with broccoli, delicious red velvet cupcake courtesy of Alex, Hank organizing his new toys from Comic Con, finishing the first Harry Potter book on a lazy Sunday

(you can click the collage to enlarge it via the "all sizes" option on Flickr)

Niki's Memorial for Elizabeth

Last week I was down in Chelsea when I spotted Niki from a distance. She appeared to have a colorful Madonna-like tattoo on her right shoulder, so I changed course and caught up to her only to discover this lovely tattoo instead:

This lovely photo was supplied to me by Niki, as my own camera's battery had run out of power and my BlackBerry photo seemed inadequate:

Niki explained that, after her beloved cat Elizabeth passed away, she wanted a memorial tattoo to honor the friend she had for fourteen years.

She went to artist John Reardon, then at Saved Tattoo, and told him she wanted a memorial in the style of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and the look of Mexican shrines and altars.

One can see Reardon hit the ball out of the park, as proven by my mistaking the piece from a distance as a religious icon.

John Reardon is no stranger to Tattoosday. His work has appeared previously here and here.He now works out of his private studio in Brooklyn.

Thanks to Niki for sharing her beautiful tattoo with us on Tattoosday!

Giveaway time!

As you guys know, I don't do ton of giveaways on this blog, but when I do, you can bet that they're super special. Today I am really excited to host a giveaway from my sweet friend Sarah's shop, Duds and Rags. It's a resale shop based out of Los Angeles, California where Sarah resides. Sarah offers all sorts of great items; from adorable accessories ranging from hair pieces to handbags, from fabulous vintage dresses to new designer resale. She even has an apothecary section where she's included soy candles and elixirs. Additionally, there's an "under $40" section that I am loving! If you're anything like me, you love to support small-businesses, and Duds and Rags is definitely in that category. Sarah's put her heart and soul into starting this up and is truly enjoying being an entrepreneur. In the wake of her shop's success, we discussed doing a giveaway, and I was more than happy to host it here on Sometimes Sweet.

So, here's what you will win:

1 initial charm necklace (letter of your choosing- you can do your own initial or the initial of your sweetie, child, or favorite pet!)


1 Elodee hair piece (there are different versions at the Duds and Rags site)


1 LilacAve candle



AND...a sundress! The dress will be of Sarah's choosing (not listed on site) and will be sent to you as a surprise once she gets your size. This is super exciting because she has absolutely the best taste and to get a fun dress from her without knowing what it looks like is definitely something to look forward to!





Here's what you have to do to enter to win ALL of these items (totaling over $100 in value):

1) Visit the Duds and Rags shop by clicking here.

2) List your favorite item from the shop in a comment, along with your name and email address!

That's it!

For an additional entry and to up your chances of winning, you can tweet or blog about the giveaway and include a link to that tweet or blog in an additional comment (also include your name and email).

So to recap, you'll be winning:

1 initial charm necklace
1 Elodee hair piece
1 LilacAve candle
1 sundress

The giveaway winner will be chosen via random.org on the evening of Sunday, August 1st.

Good luck!

23 week update

Here we are...heading right towards the 6th month mark this week and we are so ready! We got back from San Diego Comic Con early this morning around 2am, and for the entire 6 hour ride home Hank and I talked and talked and talked about baby Henry and all of the upcoming life changes we'll be experiencing. It's the most romantic, amazing thing to see Hank so excited about welcoming our son into the world. I never had any doubts he would be excited, but to actually see the man you love, the father of your child, swooning the little baby in your belly, pondering all of the possible futures for him...that's enough to make me cry happy tears every single day. I can't wait to see Hank as a Dad. I know he's my husband so of course I think this, but to me, he is THE ideal man. He's kind and sensitive- but not a push over, open to sharing emotions and feelings, he makes me feel safe, he's a hard, hard worker but plays just as hard, he has a childlike heart, he's incredibly smart and so, so fun. To envision our children having HIM as a Dad, Henry having Hank to look up to as the father/man in his life...wow. What a lucky child. Now that we are zooming into the final few months of this pregnancy, it's starting to hit me that life is about to change in such an amazing way. I anticipate that this will be the hardest thing we will ever do, but also the most rewarding. Today we have approximately 115 days to go until our little guy gets here. Amazing!







I need to do a bit of real-talking here about this past week. I'd say that this week was probably the week where I finally felt pregnant, physically (and not in a good way!).

- I've definitely started in with some sciatic nerve pain. I started experiencing this last weekend and it's come and gone, with some days being excruciating at time and others feeling nothing. It's very uncomfortable and if it's a preview of what's to come I'm definitely dreading it a bit.

- Even though I work out everyday, I am still getting fat in strange places. I thought I would say this so other pregnant women know that even though I have been really good about staying active throughout this entire time, my body is doing what it wants to do, regardless! My back is a place I've noticed some weird back fat going on and also my thighs. Jeez Louise. I'm actually not bothered by this, but more so just really intrigued that no matter what I do, there is it! It's definitely a great exercise in surrender. :) I do my doctor-recommended squats every other day (using an exercise ball to support my back on the wall), and yet my upper legs don't look it. Like I said, it's all par for the course and I'm incredibly proud of myself for being in a place of acceptance, but it's so interesting to note that in pregnancy, my body is not really mine in a way.

- This week for some reason my skin went haywire! It's hard for me because for the most part I'm used to having skin I love, and throughout this pregnancy I've dealt with breakouts...but this week was the worst. Now it's clearing up a bit but it made me really depressed. When I'm already feeling a little "off" and not so good in my own skin, adding acne to the mix is just not a good thing at all. It's bizarre looking at myself in the mirror. I'm not sure if it's the hormones or if I actually look different, but NOTHING looks good- my hair, my face, clothing. It's almost laughable how cliche it is that I can plop myself on the bed and just cry and cry to Hank about how gross and unattractive I feel. It's funny because since I've been pregnant I swear Hank is somehow 10x MORE attracted to me, but I think that's the way it is for a lot of partners. I just don't feel very attractive. I tweeted about this last week, but I envy those women who feel glowing and beautiful throughout their pregnancy! I definitely have my days, but even those days are more like, "eh, you don't look TOO bad today." haha. I'm usually confident about my looks so it's a whole new world feeling uncomfortable in my own skin. But again, I do feel it's a huge exercise in surrender and personal growth, so in a weird way I welcome these hard times.

So other than those things, I'm just trucking along and getting ready to start a new school year in about two weeks. Mixed feelings about that, but I'm staying positive about it and I'm excited to see my teacher friends again for a bit. My next doctor's appointment is in a couple more weeks and I have a feeling that time will start to speed up a bit and before we know it, Henry will be here! We still have EVERYTHING to do. All we have are a million cute baby clothes but nothing else. My baby shower is going to be in October, and I figure after that we can do everything we need to do and hopefully (!!!) we will be in a house then.

This week, Baby H is the weight of a large mango (photo and info via babycenter.com) and has made some leaps and bounds in the development area.



Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound, you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.

A couple of things I'm looking forward to in the next couple of months:

-baby CPR class
-baby massage class! We'll be taking one class before Henry arrives and then a second with him.
-birthing center tour
-birthing classes
-lactation classes

I'll be back later this evening with a pretty amazing (and quite generous) non-baby related giveaway from a good friend, so I will see you tonight.

xoxo

(dress is vintage maternity, taken yesterday in our icky hotel room)

Jim Commemorates a Trip To Greece with His Brothers

I mentioned yesterday that I had gone up to Woodstock on the 4th of July weekend, where I spotted some upstate ink.

At a flea market, I met Jim, who had this amazing tattoo on the back of his calf:

And a wider, three-paneled view:

Jim had gone on vacation to Greece for thirty days with his brothers and he wanted to commemorate the experience.

They had stayed on the island of Ios, and Jim took several photos he had into Jake Parrington at Lowell Ink in Lowell, Massachusetts.

The end result was this amazing tattoo that captures the scene of their vacation. One of Jim's other brothers got the same tattoo. Note the three figures hiking are meant to represent Jim and his two brothers.

Thanks to Jim for sharing this great tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Larry's Tattoo Burns at Both Ends

Occasionally, but not too often, I do venture out of the city to places far, and not so far, away.

Fourth of July weekend, I was up visiting friends in Woodstock, New York.

On July 3, we found ourselves at an outdoor flea market and I met a couple of inked folk, including Larry who has "a lot" of tattoos.

When asked to choose one, he offered up this piece on his forearm:

The image, of a candle burning at both ends, reminds him that life goes by quickly. The "No Tomorrow" is a spin on the carpe diem, or "seize the day" philosophy.

The tattoo was done by JR Maloney at Vanguard Tattoo in Nyack, New York.

Thanks to Larry for sharing his tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Lil' Miss Sunshine

I spotted Christina on a subway platform and she let me take a photo of this tattoo above her outer right ankle once we got on the train:

Our time to chat was limited, so all I learned from Christina was that this was a self-drawn self-portrait that a friend tattooed on her four years ago.

"Lil' Miss Sunshine" is her nickname.And yes, the sun refers to her as "That Crazy Ass Bitch".

Thanks to Christina for sharing this tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Sometimes Sweet on Facebook!

I've had a page for this blog over on Facebook for a long time now (since I made my personal page private), but never publicized it. I've had two wonderful "fans" over there for the longest time but after a couple of my friends (namely Lindsay and Melissa- and click on each of their names to visit THEIR blogs' facebook!) got going on their blog fb pages recently, it's inspired me to actually finish mine and put it up!

I hope all of you will go ahead and "like" Sometimes Sweet over there! It's a great place to get updates about posts, giveaways, and special things that are happening. And speaking of giveaways, I'm hosting a pretty amazing one on Sunday, via a friend of mine. I'm excited, so be sure to check back.

So, all you have to do to visit me on Facebook is click this link HERE to be transported over to the Sometimes Sweet page!

Oh, and if you're feeling click-happy, feel free to click the banner below. I've met some of the coolest mamas on that site and would love to stay up towards the top. All you have to do is click once and then again to vote for me. Thanks so much in advance. xoxo

Date nights are the best nights!

Whenever Hank and I are on vacation, although we spend most of our time together, we still always try to carve out a night or two specifically for "date night." Today was really busy, so once the convention was over today we headed over to one of our favorite restaurants in San Diego, Jyoti-Bihanga. You can click here to visit the restaurant's website. It's a vegetarian restaurant that our friends Ben and Kati originally turned us on to a few years ago. One of their most popular dishes is also one of my favorite things to order there...the vegetarian meatloaf (neatloaf as they call it) dinner. It comes with a super-tasty slice of the loaf, with a side of mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy. True comfort food at it's finest. We've been there numerous times and we've never been disappointed. After we had to run by Pinkberry to get some cones, which topped off a great evening spent together.



Although we've been really busy I've still managed to fit in something quite exciting and new to me...HARRY POTTER! Yes, it's taken me this long to finally begin the series and I have to say, I'm about halfway through book one and so in love with it. It's great to know that I have all the books to read straight through. I think it would be the same kind of satisfaction you'd get from just starting LOST now, and being able to watch every episode in a row. Yesterday I asked via twitter if I should read each book and then watch each movie, or read all then view all (once they come out with the rest). I got a lot of feedback, and based on the responses I've decided to read them in a row, then enjoy the films in a row. It's exciting to me to have SO much to read and so many books to enjoy. Talk about a time filler! So, I'm on this Harry Potter journey and I'll be here for awhile. I'll be sure to update on how I'm liking the books as I read through them.

Other than that, tomorrow I will again be spending the day with a long-time (since birth!) family friend! I'm so excited to finally meet her husband and spend some time together. Then we will be heading home and I go back to work in just about ten days...and the kids arrive on August 9th. By that time I will just finishing up my second trimester which is just wild to me to think that we'll have less than 100 days to go.

I know I am due for a pregnancy/belly update but I'm going to wait until Sunday to do that, since there isn't a good backdrop for a belly pic here. I'll be back then!

xoxo

Pete's Tribute to a Magical Grandfather

Last month, as I wandered despondently down my street, mourning the loss of my camera, I saw Pete standing on his stoop in the afternoon heat, without a shirt. He had a really cool tattoo and I talked to him about it, taking a picture with my BlackBerry.

Alas, the image quality wasn't good enough, I thought, to post here, so I waited until I saw Pete again, almost a month later, when I had my new camera in hand.

So here, without further delay, is Pete's tattoo:

Pete explained that this tattoo is a tribute to his grandfather, a magician who went by the name "The Great Merlini". The tattoo was designed by Kiki at Tattoos by Lou in the South Beach section of Miami, Florida. Pete went to him and explained what he wanted and Kiki drew it up and inked it.

On a sidebar, the Great Merlini wasn't just your run-of-the-mill magician. The man behind the persona was Clayton Rawson (click name for full biography). Rawson wrote four mystery novels that featured the character also known as The Great Merlini. And as this YouTube clip shows, Merlini also was a noted illusionist:



Thanks to Pete for sharing this magical tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

San Diego Comic Con 2010

This weekend Hank and I are enjoying some time in San Diego at Comic Convention! Neither Hank or I are into comics, and in fact I'm not really into anything that's at the convention per say, but it's still fun to go walk around, check out the booths, and people watch! Plus, Hank is so, so happy to be here so it makes me ecstatic to see him so happy. He's a big vinyl toy collector (see super7store.com and click on toys if you're curious) so this is a fun week for him, and I think it's the 4th year we've been here. Regardless of the convention, it's nice to catch up with friends we don't usually get to see, like Scott and Alex, and it's always a really, really good time.

Photos can tell a better story than I can at this point (I'm EXHAUSTED), so I'll let them do the talking. If you're curious about what exactly Comic Con is all about from Hank's point of view, you can always check out his extensively and continuously updated Flickr account by clicking here. I'll be back tomorrow with my weekly pregnancy update...this belly is growing by the day!

First things first! We had to make a Trader Joe's run to stock our room up with healthy snacks for the week. This is SUCH a good thing to do when traveling and definitely a habit for us. Rather than starting our day off in a bad way with a quick, unhealthy breakfast somewhere I/we just grab a bar or fiber cake and some fruit on our way out the door. Saves money and gives you a great beginning to your day! It's also nice to have things to munch on during downtime.


en route to the convention via the shuttle (this year we got screwed with the SDCC hotel reservation system and didn't get our normal downtown, fabulous hotel...ugh).


inside SDCC












delicious lunch with my handsome (tired) date- I forget the name of the restaurant but Hank got the most delicious caprese panini!


Pinkberry is my FAVORITE frozen yogurt ever.


For dinner Hank, Alex and I went to Sipz (veg restaurant) and it was great! Alex surprised us with some delicious macaroons. So, so good. Here's the strawberry cheesecake one.