Wonderful Weekend, Part 1

Wow! I don't even know where to begin in explaining that wonderfulness that was my very busy weekend. I suppose I'll start on Thursday, since I worked a half day and then Hank and I headed down to Mesa. Amber rearranged her moving-home plans so she could spend the weekend with me (what a great friend), so she and her Dad arrived around 8pm, after driving straight from San Francisco to my parents' in Mesa! Talk about a long drive! After we got settled, Hank had the bright idea to go to Filiberto's late night for some greasy Mexican, mmm! Filiberto's is a Mesa tradition- both Laur and I have spent many a drunken high school late, late night there with our friends, so it's always funny to go there and grab a bite to eat. I had a little of Lauren's carne asada burrito and it was so delicious. I knew I could have eaten one of my own, but I also knew I wouldn't feel too hot or happy if I did, so I chose to just have a little piece, which was enough! After Filiberto's we headed home and all of us pretty much just went to sleep.

Friday morning I got in a great workout, but unfortunately did a heavy leg workout without even thinking about the fact that I had a three hour rollerskating party to attend that evening...but more on that later. Amber and I decided to spend the day shopping so we ran around to a million different places and we both ended up getting a few cute summer dresses. I love shopping with Amber, we have such different styles and I always enjoy seeing what she puts together. So we shopped, went to the bookstore, ate lunch, ate more frozen yogurt, then headed home to start getting ready for my birthday party! My birthday isn't actually for two weeks, but since we are going to be out of town, my sister thought she'd do an early celebration, and I'm so glad she did.

Lauren invited all of my close friends for dinner before the actual party started. It was so nice to have all of the people I love at one table- minus Autumn, Em, Suki and Meli though. If they would have been there I don't even know what I would have done! Too much love in one place! Ha! But it was so nice. We decided to do dinner at Caffe Boa on Mill Ave. If I could have done it again I may have chose a different place, as the menu was a bit pricey for what we got, but it was great ambiance and in a fun area. I got a salad, but after trying Amber and Laur's ravioli I really wished I would have gotten their dish. I forgot what exactly was in it, but it was so delicious. Hank got a caprese type salad that he loved a lot too. So dinner was awesome, I received such wonderful gifts from my friends and I am so thankful for all of their generosity. Here are some photos from dinner (you can find a million more on my flickr if you click on any of the photos).

leaving my parents' house, en route to dinner


pretty girls in the car


Alana, Erin, and Shirl - some of my college girlfriends/best friends


Shirley and Lauren


one of my amazing presents from Erin- I didn't get photos of my other presents, but I love them all :)


the whole group, plus John's middle finger. THANKS JOHN.


zee lovebirds


Jonathan and me - friends since 1996!


Ha, I love them.


After dinner some people walked down to Mojo for frozen yogurt and some of us headed to Skateland to get squared away, bring the cupcakes in, etc. I hadn't been rollerskating in years and years so I was actually feeling a little nervous about skating. I am not much of a risk taker, especially risks where I can break bones, so I did have little butterflies in my stomach as we pulled up. They went away pretty quickly though, and I remembered how much I loved rollerskating! Some of my friends were so, so good on skates and it was super adorable. The entire night was perfect to me. A huge empty roller rink, with the people I love all skating and having fun. Nothing could have been better. Hour of the Wolf played a little set, we all skated to fun music, and the night ended around 2:30am.

It meant a lot to me that my friends came out and spent the night celebrating my birthday. I have the best friends in the world and I was yet again reminded of that.

Here are a lot of photos from Skateland- there are so many so I just picked a random bunch!

Lance


Shirley and skeeball


girls!


Elisa, Ambs, and me


Suki (Sarah), me, and Erin doing who knows what. I love this photo!


my skate partner for life!


O'Hagans!


silly me


the lovely Erin


my Sarah and me!


Shawna and Holly- Shawna is one of my oldest and dearest friends, she was one of my best friend in high school and we still keep in touch, which is awesome. I love having that history!


This is my favorite photo of Zoe from that night- she is the best rollerskater!


the Peters!


Lance and me being weird.


Janay and Danny!


Hour of the Wolf playing a little set- I was skating by and accidentally cut out Hank! Oops!


The night was just wonderful and I also love the fact that my real birthday isn't for two weeks! That means I get to celebrate a few more times. I love it. One thing I didn't love though was waking up so, so sore on Saturday morning! The combination of squats, lunges, machines, etc and then skating nonstop for three hours really did a number on me but today I am feeling a lot better and I love that my birthday incorporated so much exercise! :)

I will end this by saying again, thank you to all of my amazing friends for celebrating with me, I love all of you more than you'll ever know! I appreciate all you do for me.

Good morning!

Amber Joy is here, and we slept upstairs in my old bedroom (we're at my parents'), so Hank graciously took the couch. I walked downstairs on my way to the gym this morning and found poor Hank asleep with Martine, my sister's chihuahua, sitting on his head! It was too cute.



Here's my view from the elliptical this morning!



And I came home to a delicious breakfast- Trader Joe's almond butter and organic blueberry spread on Ezekial cinna-raisin toast. This is the first time I've tried the blueberry (I usually do the rasberry or cherry), and it was truly delicious! This spread is particularly good because it's only 30 cal per tablespoon, with no added sugar or ingredients. It's super chock full of fruit and so so good. Go get some! I also love the orange/apricot flavor.

Anniversary cake!

We are going to be traveling during our actual wedding anniversary (1 year on May 31st!), so our cakeshop made us our anniversary cake early. This is a remake of our cupcake tower topper, except the flavor is different. The original flavor was banana cake with banana pudding (Hank picked it haha- and none of the cupcakes were this flavor), but I didn't really love it, so we decided to have them make it with marble cake, chocolate pudding inside and vanilla buttercream on top. All of the wedding cupcakes were different flavors, we had everything from lemon poppyseed with lemon custard to red velvet with cream cheese. My talented friend Cas also made vegan cupcakes for our vegan friends to enjoy (soo good!). All of the cupcakes were amazing and our little remake cake was just as good! Our anniversary isn't for two weeks, but it was so fun to sit and eat our cake, and reflect on this past year.

Here are some photos of our actual wedding cupcake setup!

Tonight

Tonight, all is well in my little world, here at my parents' house in Phoenix. My best friend Amber Joy is upstairs, so tired and asleep in my bed, after driving all the way from San Francisco. Hank is next to me, typing away on his Macbook and making me smile in his sweet way. My sister Lauren is up in her room, packing for her Saturday evening trip to Vegas with her friends, Nanny is in her room knitting and listening to music, and my parents are tucked away in their bedroom, sleeping peacefully. So many of the people I love are sharing in this quiet contentment with me, and I am so full of happiness in my heart.

Amber arrived around 7pm and we all sat around and talked for awhile before Laur, Amber, Hank and myself left to get a quick dinner at a Mesa classic- Filiberto's. I have spent so many nights at this place in high school it's insane, and whenever I go there it totally takes me back!



Now everyone is doing their thing, and I am thinking of going to sleep- I'm exhausted! I am really looking forward to tomorrow. Amber and I have a shopping day planned and I am so excited to just have a nice relaxing time. Then tomorrow night is my birthday party. Can't wait! As for now, sleep time. Goodnight blogger friends!

Rodrigo Carvalho, Desenhos Realistas

Olá pessoal.
Me chamo Rodrigo Carvalho, sou mais conhecido como Chacra! Tenho 28 anos e moro em Salvador-BA. Sou formado em Administração de Empresas por força das circunstâncias, pois tive que abandonar a Faculdade Federal de Belas Artes há 8 anos atrás para começar a correr atrás de grana! Me tornei analista financeiro e consultor de empresas nesse tempo. Fazia porque precisava, mas no fundo odiava ser escravo do sistema!

Eu sempre me perguntava: Será mesmo que vale a pena abrirmos mão dos nossos sonhos para nos tornarmos aquilo que a sociade acha que é certo para nós? Não durou muito e resolvi jogar tudo pelos ares! Aí eu gritei "Vou ser Tatuador". Muita gente até hoje não entende a minha escolha. A família e alguns amigos sempre retrucam: Um futuro promissor numa multi-nacional e largou tudo para ser desenhista e tatuador? Mas a verdade é que muita gente não sabe o quanto eu me senti melhor depois de ter tomado essa atitude. Eu só quero ser reconhecido pelas coisas que eu gosto de fazer. Não quero me preocupar com que as pessoas pensem ou deixem de pensar ao meu respeito. Eu resolvi ser feliz.

Estou aprimorando as técnicas com um grande amigo, Miguel Tattoo. Seu studio fica nas adjacências do bairro do cabula. O cara é mesmo fera! Penso que até o fim do ano estarei com o meu studio montado. Começarei a desenvolver o meu trabalho da forma que eu sempre sonhei! Quero ser reconhecido pela minha arte, pelo meu traço, pelos meus valores. Quero mostrar para o mundo o quanto é importante sermos nós mesmos e acreditar nos nossos sonhos. O começo pode parecer desmotivador, mas depois tudo se encaixa harmonicamente!

Agradeço desde já a galera do "A Tattoo" pelo espaço e pela oportunidade de podermos mostrar o nosso talento! Valeu a todos os internautas e "que a força esteja com todos vocês" hoje e sempre!!!

Rodrigo Carvalho
Tattoo and Art's
9136-8396

Por Bárbara, Os primeiros "tocos"

Os primeiros "tocos"

Eu me chamo Bárbara Sylvia, tenho vinte e poucos anos – os detalhes da idade eu considero desnecessários – e estou a mais ou menos, 7 meses tentando ingressar na profissão de tatuadora por influência de meu irmão, minha cunhada e outros tatuadores que me incentivaram. Já comecei a fazer alguns “riscos” e ainda divido o meu tempo entre um trabalho de carteira assinada em uma recepção de um albergue pra lá de estressante e divertido em Copacabana, uma faculdade que já não me motiva tanto quanto antes para eu poder tatuar. Não fiz muitos trabalhos ainda, mas, o pouco que já fiz deu pra sentir o que é a vida de um tatuador. Como todo bom iniciante, fico empolgadíssima com os trabalhos que faço. Essa empolgação se dá antes, durante e depois, e eu adoro mais ainda quando os meus amigos e conhecidos falam: "Caramba, ficou muito bom, eu quero uma também!" ou " Você pode fazer a minha quando?” Ai ferrou. Me sinto um pavão. Afinal, existem vários artistas muitos bons e experientes que eles podem recorrer para fazer uma boa tattoo. Ai ferrou. Um pavão querendo ser um polvo para poder conseguir tatuar dois ao mesmo tempo já que o meu tempo é escasso. Mas me conformo com minhas limitações de ser humano destro e mexo e remexo nos meus horários para coincidir com os das pessoas e finalmente marco o trabalho. "Porra que máximo! Vou tatuar dois essa semana. Um na quinta e outro no sábado." Espalho a notícia, afinal tenho que mostrar que eu realmente estou me dedicando a isso. E além do mais, gosto de ter trabalho pra fazer. Daí desmarcando e remarcando os meus compromissos para dar tudo certo com as tattoos, recebo a 1ª notícia pelo orkut: "Aborta a missão irmã, não vou poder no sábado. Depois explico." Meu corpo broxou. Mas tudo bem, bola pra frente. Tenho ainda mais uma pessoa para tatuar no dia seguinte.

Dia seguinte, fico o dia todo tentando ligar para a pessoa na tentativa de CONFIRMAR a tattoo. Não queria mais uma missão abortada, senão eu iria ter um aborto. E olha que eu nem to grávida. Tento ligar o dia todo do meu trabalho. Não consigo. Saio do trabalho batida pro estúdio. Quando chego lá, continuo tentando ligar, e nada. Surge a primeira pergunta: "E ai Bárbara, vai tatuar hoje?" "É estava marcado, estou tentando confirmar." E nada de eu conseguir confirmar. Tento matar o tempo pintando um desenho que tinha feito. Até que percebi que eu realmente não iria tatuar naquele dia.

Como todas as mulheres, ou pelo menos a maioria que "tomam um toco", desejei boa noite a todos, comprei quatro barras de chocolates e fui comendo pelo caminho de volta pra casa.

E foi assim que aconteceu comigo. Os primeiros "tocos" no mundo da tattoo que só fizeram almentar a minha vontade de tatuar.

Agora é esperar a próxima!

Bárbara Sylvia - Mega Wartz

Bárbara Sylvia - barbara.sylvia@yahoo.com.br
Mega Wartz Tattoo - R. Joaquim Silva, 24 Lapa / R. do Riachuelo, 224, B. de Fátima / (21) 2509-4401 e 2221-9656

Easy and Delicious

yummy pasta salad i made today, originally uploaded by daniellehampton.

I have gotten a couple of comments on this photo of pasta salad I made for Mother's Day so I thought I would just share the recipe. It's the easiest thing in the world to make, and so delicious.

2 boxes organic whole wheat pasta
1 large green bell pepper
1 large red bell pepper
1 large yellow bell pepper
1 nice sized head broccoli
Amy's low-fat Italian dressing

Simply boil pasta, drain and cool.
Add chopped up veggies.
Add Italian dressing to taste.

Mix.

Serve cold- it's so refreshing on a hot summer day and full of vitamins and good for you stuff!