Seatte :: Day Two :: OR :: When The Girl Really Starts Eating

Hello Pikes Market...also known as one of the longest running farmers markets in our fabulous country!

Only one of the many interesting facts I learned on our 2 hour culinary tour of the Marketplace.  I mean, let's all collectively ask ourselves what could be better than strolling around a fantastic gourmet, fresh, and amazing food market for 2 hours learning and sampling the whole time?

Yeah.

I thought so.

This is where I learned of Beechers Cheese and the hands down the best macaroni and cheese I've ever had.  They're into the slow food movement, but I have a feeling they've always been into it as it takes time and dedication to make a superior cheese.

Thanks a lot Beechers, because now I'm dreaming constantly of your cheese.

And I'm lactose intolerant...

Yes, that's a dungeness Crab sandwich...which we went back and sampled later.

We tasted smoked salmon from the flying fish portion of the market...which I would have jumped at the chance to bring home, but it was a little pricey to ship.

The Piroshkys from Piroshky-Piroshky were divine.

Not to mention the mini donuts, 2 kinds of chowders, Chukar Cherries, all the fresh organic fruits, and the crab cakes (which is where we learned about the coconut cream pie.  More on that later...), the herbal tea, and the shots of espresso.

I seriously recommend this tour whenever you're in Seattle.

We then hopped right on the monorail and rode over to The Space Needle.  I tell you, if a city has a monorail, one should ride it...

They're very fun.

We then spent the afternoon visiting the Music Experience Museum...which had a pretty awesome instrument tower.  Not to mention the great interactive guitar exhibits, music exhibits, radio exhibits...The Jimmy Hendrix Experiene:

Complete with a smashed up guitar.

And a whole costume exhibit featuring the costumes designed and worn by The Supremes.  I have one thing to say:  These gals were Tiny.

And sparkly.

OK

That's two things...but both of them are very true.  It was awesome to see these fabulous garments up close and personal.

And inspiring.

In case I get a bedazzler in the future.

You can bet I have a lot of ideas swimming around in my head now!

Next to the Music was The Science Fiction Museum.

I love me some Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Claudine wandered around not really recognizing much...but it was still great fun to see all the exhibits that started out with the Pulp Science Fiction and ran through to the most recent goodies.

And they had some great Planet of the Apes memorabilia which I usually find lacking in most museums I visit.

Then it was outside to find the Science Museum...via a stop at the directory to laugh hysterically at the Space Needle arrow pointing to the Space Needle...which was within spitting distance

(although, I don't think they encourage you to do that when you're on the observation deck)

But, I suppose it's nice to have arrows so you don't get lost.

While on vacation.

Or you have no observational powers whatsoever.

(this is coming from a woman who was once in downtown SanAntonio looking for The Alamo and stopped at the most beautiful garden and remarked on it's loveliness and the historical building sitting behind it.  Which happened to be, on closer inspection...The Alamo.)

(she could probably have used an arrow or two)

(ahem)

The Science Museum was hands on...and a bit grimy due to this fact, but interesting nevertheless.

We toured the butterfly room, which was wonderful.  Especially after you walked through the other insect exhibit trying to avoid the people who wanted you to hold the cockroaches.

Um, ick.

And we also saw a laser show that was choreographed to Bob Marley music...not my favorite due to a stuck tape in a tape player in Kim's car when we were younger, but it was still nice to sit and take a breather at this point.

Then it was back to the Space Needle.  Which I spectacularly chickened out of going to the top of the minute we stood under it.

I'm fine with this.

I have a heights thing...and it's easier for me to do things like this in the dark because my depth perception is then so thrown off by the dark I can't tell how high up I am.

Then it was on to Serious Pie for dinner.

Serious Pie is one of a series of restaurants owned by Iron Chef Tom Douglas.  We happened to read about it on our Taste of Seattle Tour brochure, and we were given a discount card to use at thier affiliates...so I absolutely insisted that it would be totally irresponsible if we did not run down and try it.

And by insist I mean, I asked nicely with almost no whining involved.

Almost.

It was packed busy when we got there, so we left our cell number and walked down to Lolas, another of his fine dining establishments and partook of the grape drink (which was an insanely tasty mixture of reds) with Bacchus whom sits atop the lovely bar.  It was a fantastic wait...made better by already seeing Serious Pie's menu, so I could anticipate.

When we were called back, we sat at a long communal table (much like those in Europe) and I ordered a lovely Italian red (since I was kind of on a red kick at this point)  I also ordered my pizza right then and there

I had a Chantalle mushroom pizza with truffle cheese.

Oh yes I did.

Gladly.

And mostly with my eyes closed...savoring every moment.

*drool*

We had also heard that it would be most likely a crime if we were to leave Seattle without having some of his Coconut Creme Pie...which was not actually on the menu, but I ordered it and they assured me that they would have someone run down around the corner to The Dahlia Bakery just for me.

Cause' that's how they roll at their restaurants.

Lola's is right on the corner down there, and those are Dhalias red awnings.  The bakery is right next door.

I also savored this insane desert concoction with mostly closed eyes.  Cream pies, I have found, are not that easy to create so light and fluffy.  Also?  I've noticed that most people flavor them far too much...and other than the banana creme pie that they used to make for a restaurant that was once right down the street from Snap! Snap! I honestly haven't had a creme pie that has been this good.

Which was sadly, years ago.

So.

I have decided that I will most likely be adding creme pies to my pie making repertoire.

Which may mean that I either need to double my visits to the gym or buy pants with elastic waists.

Maybe this is why stretch pants are back in style?

To Be Continued...

Seattle :: Start

I am warning you now.  This is going to be a photo-heavy post.  I am also warning you that I am having a hard time grasping all the language about this trip so that I can tell it to you straight.  Now, this could either be due to the fact that I am having a hard time processing all the ridiculous fun we had.  Or it's left over from my pre-trip I'mHavingAHardTimeUsingMyWords situation (cause' if we've ever met in person, I'm thinking you would have a hard time believing that I couldn't find a million words to express myself)

(ie:  I talk a lot)

Whatever it is, I'll just wing it and hope it comes back to me.

Here we go:

Claudine and I got up early early and were off on a Wednesday morning...this was after the night before when I leaned over to look in my suitcase at Claudine's house and smacked my left eye into the wooden back of a kitchen chair.  Right on the corner?  Yeah.  This made my eye totally swell up and form a rather large cut under the skin.  Thank heavens I closed my eye...or we would have been much worse off.

So...I was off to the airport mostly resembling Popeye, had time to grab a Chai and board the plane for a lovely flight to Seattle.  I love flying, so usually no matter what's happening, I find that I'm having a lovely flight.

After landing and navigating our way to both the rental car company and our hotel The Red Lion in Bellevue (which prompted a growl from me every time we said the name for the rest of the trip) we balked a bit at the ghetto outside, but were pleasantly surprised by the niceness of the interior.

Whatever.
When are you ever in your hotel room on a vacation?
Plus? They use Bath and Bodyworks soaps so I was all Squeee!!

We then ran up the coast, or down the coast, or followed some sort of water way to Kirkland...a fantastic little town on some sort of water for Thai lunch.  We first stopped in a residential neighborhood for a sandwich because that's where the phone directed us.  Claudine has an uber fancy Droid that has GPS which helped out.  Mostly.  When we weren't lost.

Also?

The road signs up there can be a bit confusing to figure out...and we're old, so I figure we've had a lot of time to practice...so there were more than a few times we were both muttering and cursing and laughing in between simultaneously trying to listen to the monotonacity of the Droid's voice and reading a map.

Being from Arizona I tend to jump up and down and take lots of pictures of water whenever I luck out enough to see it...because it seems so unusual and fantastic to me.  Plus?  I absolutely adore the ocean.

They happened to be having their farmers market that day...which we strolled around (after visiting a resale shop and me nabbing a new LeSportsac shoulder bag) and strolling around all the fresh organic (cheap) veggies and fruits made me a bit jealous.

Those berries were something like $1 a pint or some craziness like that.

Also?

The cut flowers are off the hook up there.

All those bouquets up there were $5 and I saw none over $12.

Seriously.

I almost bought myself some because I thought thought the idea of romancing myself was so very lovely.  And then Claudine and I discussed the fact that we didn't have a vase.  So I took some pictures and recited some romantic poetry to myself instead.

And by poetry, I mean I sang a Cure song under my breath.

We then decided to head to Seattle proper for one of our tours we'd planned for the trip, since it was such a beautiful day (see:  Not one cloud in the frequently overcast skies) we decided to boat around the harbor.

This is one of the floating bridges Claudine is so fond of.  I think it will help to mention at this point that I was able to really keep in touch with everyone via facebook.  It was a blast to let people know where I was and what I was doing.  That way I could take all of my friends on vacation!  So, I was often texting as much as taking pictures and enjoying myself.

I'm such a multitasker.

Can you tell we made it to the city?

Starbucks everywhere, and while I do not usually like their brewed coffee and mostly go for a fancy drink or Chai, it is also worth mentioning that they make a fantastic cuppa in Seattle...so don't be nervous while you're there that it's going to taste like the cup you get in your local grocery.  I also had coffee at Seattles Best (which was the perfect blend of flavor and temperature) and about a million other places, as one could treat Seattle like Italy and go for coffee as much as one goes for gellato.

Now.  Would you just look at that skyline?  Oh Seattle and the Pacific Northwest...you truly capture a part of my heart every time I am around you.

Seattle honestly reminds me of SanFrancisco only way way way more mellow.  Seriously.  You could cause car accidents by honking at people on the freeway.  No one honks.  Seeing as Seattle battles Portland for some of the highest suicide rates in our fair nation (it's all the sunless days) maybe it's because everyone is depressed and has given up?  Or it could be the simple fact that it's so beautiful and diverse and exciting, and there's no reason to freak out, just sit back and enjoy.

On board our little harbor ship we hopped...and that's where we ran into this guy:

Yeah.

Dude wandering around without his shirt on...in front of a boatload of people.  This made Claudine and I have to laugh and raise our eyebrows a bit...especially as he paraded around with his white shorts practically hanging off his body and a very dramatic and stricken look on his face and his over-sized sunglasses obscuring his eyes.

A lot.

I'm not sure what his wife and son though about his shenanigans, but we were not the only people sitting there with our mouths hanging open.

Maybe he was a famous model.

He was, by far...too sexy for this boat.

When we weren't staring in shock at that guy...there was a whole lot of interesting other things to look at.

We also heard a lot of interesting facts and figures on this trip (our tour guide was young and mentioned things were "very very cool" quite a lot.  I agree with her)

...and saw some birds.

And That Guy...who had now taken to propping himself up on the railing of the boat, sunning himself with large sighs...and generally getting into people's family photos.

Yes, he did put his shirt back on...and oddly enough we did see him the next day at Pikes Market...again fully clothed and sadly, not near as dramatic.

And we saw Mt. Rainier...which popped up in the craziest places.  First of all, it's a huge mountain with a ton of snow on it...and mostly the base or where you'd expect to see the base was often obscured by clouds making it look like it was floating instead of attached to anything.

This is about as close as we got to it...give or take.

Which is good seeing as That Guy was so hot, he could have melted it, and then we would all be in for some serious trouble.

After having our fill of looking at a half naked man cruising around the bay, it was off the boat and back to walking around.

We were on the hunt for fresh seafood on the water and settled on Ivars.  Now, I used to plan the heck out of vacations, and knowing that Claudine is a great planner and I was happy to leave it in her hands...But, the one thing I really wanted to do was eat fish and drink beer on the dock.

This was the view from our window.  Other than sitting on that black floating dock down there, I think we did a great job getting close to the water.

We also made it for happy hour...which happens from 3 on every day (so it wasn't that hard) and got some great drinks and fabulous food.

Fish and chips and clam chowder.

I'm warning you now, I ate a lot on this trip.

OK.

I didn't eat a lot at once, I just ate a whole lot of fantastically amazingly good food.

Quite a few times.

It's not that Prescott lacks this.  But, Prescott lacks this, like this.  So, it was my extreme pleasure to really indulge my taste-buds and treat myself...I mean, who knows when I will be around so much good and diverse food again?

Ahem.

And then we walked all over the downtown...popping into used book stores and coffee houses, up and down the streets at dusk...truly lovely.

We got into the car and drove around The Queen Anne district, after only getting hideously lost once (crazy monotone GPS)  It is a lovely neighborhood that made me wish I had a craftsman style house...except that I already do.  It's just not big like these ones are...it's all that wood up in the Pacific Northwest that the Southwest desert is lacking.

It was around dark when we decided to pop over to The Space Needle and try a quick run up.  Alas, there was no parking anywhere...but there was quite a lovely rotating Elephant Car Wash sign...so that was totally worth it.

To Be Continued...

She's Off...With No Forwarding Address...

photo credit

Have you ever gotten into the car at the start of a day and thought that it would be amazingly fun to just keep driving?

Instead of doing the right thing, and showing up at all the places one would normally look for someone like yourself?

Who would notice you were gone?

Would anyone miss you?

Well...I washed Honey all up this morning and vacuumed her all out...shined her up and filled her up with gas.  My bags are packed.  Ms. Mena, Foolsewoode,  and Snap! Snap! are being lovingly looked after.  It's time for me to flee the mountain for a bit.  Change up my perspective...look for new inspiration...dance in the ocean, eat some fish, chocolate, drink coffee and wine, and relax...I board a jet plane early tomorrow with my good friend Claudine to fly away from here.

I will not be posting in this space until Monday...but you can follow my further adventures on Facebook if you wish.

I will miss you all madly...

But.  I need this break.

The Eighties Called...And She Wants Her Shoes Back.

But really not so much, because as far as crazy sandals go...I happen to look marginally good in what is known as The Gladiator Style.

(plus I'll have something to wear when I go back to Rome!)

(Only I didn't really appreciate Rome as much as other parts of Italy and I've been dying to go to The Amalfi Coast...and really, all roads lead to Rome...so I can probably get by with wearing these anywhere in Italy.)

(One would think)

Saturday amidst running errands, like replacing sunglasses and eating my weight in Saturday junk foods...DaNece and I ran by a store here in town and ran jumped muscled our way  got sucked into the shoe section.  I wasn't even shopping for shoes (I really need socks).

I was just looking.

Just looking I tell you.

I mean, we don't even wear the same size...so I wasn't even in the right section.  Which means that the right section was just on the other side of the wrong section...which means that they have open shoe shelves...which means on can just reach right through if they see something that catches their eye.  Which totally happened when I spied these gold gladiator shoes.

Although, to be completely fair, I had already seen them once when I was there with Dina...who fell in love with them the minute I placed them on my feet and tried to talk me into buying them then.

Since I have very narrow feet and teeny tiny ankles, I have to admit that Gladiators do look quite sweet on my feetsies.  But, I wasn't about to justify the $40+ price tag on them...so back on their shelf they went.

Until I spied them again this weekend at a $20+ discount...

DaNece wrinkled her nose at first (we have different shoe taste) that is until I put them on my feet.  Then she was cheering me on.

I need little encouragement when buying designer shoes this cheaply...I mean, it was the same price as going out to dinner and a movie.

So.

They're on my little toesies as we speak...and I adore them.  From the little bit of UGG shearling they have in the heels of their ridiculously comfortable cork foot-bed...all the way up to the little UGG grommets that hold their delicate gold leather straps together.

I mean.  I seriously adore them.

Like the kind of adoration where I'm gonna wear the heck out of these $20 babies until the snow falls...well that and in the back of my mind I'm terrified they'll go out of style before I get my fill of them.

But.

There's always Italy.

(and I could totally use an excuse to go back there)

Hey Pumpkin Head...

Look who happened to pop into the shop this week!

(with the help of my mother)

(she was his acting chauffeur)

I know it might be a little early for Halloween (I don't care what you saw in your favorite mass market big box store the last time you went shopping) But, I never think it's too early for being a Pumpkin Head.  I think they have a year-round charm personally...and one I keep threatening to try to replicate in my own way.  Until then, I can look fondly upon my sweet Pumpkin Headed little men that abound at Foolsewoode...they don't often get packed away with the regular holiday stuff you see...

They need breathing room...

And year-round adoration.

Kind of like my sweet shifty-eyed little snowman candy container

(complete with his stash of vintage candy)

(whom was also delivered to me by MamaClaus)

(she's a great chauffeur)

(and a great Mother!)

Mostly Wordless Wednesday...

Another of my favorite shots from Saturday's photo shoot.

Who doesn't love shoe shots?

(especially when they're of the Dr. Seuss nature?)

Luckily Monika feels the same way I do about the shoe shot...So there were quite a few that day, which is fine by me.

There's nothing like capturing a moment in time via shoe styles.

Flying Along By The Seat Of My Pants...

Usually while going through life transitions (see:  Rough Waters Ahead) while in the throws of life's little fun dramas (see:  Growing Pains) I've noticed that if I take a second to notice (see:  Sucked Up In My Own Drama) things in nature are usually trying to get my attention.

In this case lately it's been humming birds and skunks.

Lately.

A lot.

Like, the kind of a lot where I'm sitting outside enjoying the time at home and hummingbirds are flying all around and landing on the trees right next to me (see:  I Don't Even Have Feeders For Them, So It's Not That) and I sit there and talk to them (see:  "Hey There!"  Nothing Too Deep)  and they sit and look at me, cocking their little heads and hopping from branch to branch.

So, I've taken to carrying my camera around with me, because it's kind of bizarre...so I can snap a picture of them.

Which I did up there.

Yeah.

I was sneaking around in my front yard and snapped this little guy totally clear.

Except I defy you to find it in the picture.

I'll help you out:

Better?

No.  I didn't think so.

Trust me, he's there...hanging out letting me know all sorts of things according to Ted Andrews book that is (and one that I happen to keep handy to look up animals on the fly...get it?)

(Hummingbird?)

(Fly?!)

(No.  I didn't think so.)

And there is a very young skunk living on the property of Foolsewoode...who is so cute I might add, that I want to pick it up and give it a big squeeze.

Almost.

(we all know what happens if I try that)

So...both things are very interesting symbols and just a little reminder that usually we all have more help than we are even aware of...which is comforting.  Even if I just happen to read about it and then almost immediately forget exactly what they mean, so that I can't possibly enlighten you (see:  Sigh)

And even if these symbols of extra help are not showing up in pictures as well as they could...At least I know they're still there.

My Closeup Mr. Demille...

Saturday morning I met my wonderful friend Monika for coffee and chit-chats.  We love our chit-chats and we do this whenever she comes in to visit Snap! Snap!  Of course, me being at work never makes me feel like I really sit and chit.

Or chat.

(for that matter)

Somewhere in the middle of all the coffee drinking and scone consuming (that would be on my part, ahem) Monika looked at me and exclaimed that while she always enjoyes talking to me she was dying to photograph me.

She's a photographer you know.

Which made me slightly cringe (on the inside) because I'm not usually one for having pictures of myself taken (mostly because I'm totally horrified at the results.)  But Monika is an amazing portrait photographer...

Truly.

Which I totally knew going in to this madcap photographic adventure.

Which means we slurped up finished up packed up and ran up to Foolsewoode to find a more colorful appropriate outfit and one that Monika thought could capture my quirkiness (which I always thought my face did um, rather well...)

And would you believe we could find nothing?

Yeah.

Right.

If you've ever had the pleasure of visiting Foolsewoode, you'd know that is just plain untrue.  There are tons of lovely frocks lying around waiting for their moment to shine...shoes, jewels, handbags, hats...you name it, it's all there.

Monika dug around in my closet and in my armoire and came up with this outfit, and I'd say that it works rather well.

One of my friends on facebook said she loved the way the photos turned out...there were some happy, laughing, and pensive and dramatic.

Just like me.

And my character laden face.

Seriously though?

After taking about 200 pictures...squinting in the sun, trying not to crinkle up my eyes, sweat off my make-up, sucking it in, tilting my chin up, shoulders back, and fixing my bra straps...I am absolutely amazed by the results.  I have never. in. my. life. liked this many pictures of myself.

Not ever.

 It makes me wish I would have had Monika take my High School Senior Pictures...only I think we were in high school together at the time.

Or something else more monumental than just some random day...

But this day?

This one random day?

Turned into so much more...

I feel monumental.

I feel beautiful...

I feel amazing...

I feel happy...

And she captured my quirky just perfectly.

Totally perfectly.

And the one random day was full of magic.

*If you are in need of a photographer for a monumental event or the capture of an ordinary day...Please feel free to contact me and I will put you in touch with Monika.  Even if you cringe when you think about having photos taken (and yes, even it it's on the inside) I want to tell you...having a photographer who is happy, fun, and trustworthy makes all the difference...and heck yes, it's worth traveling up to Prescott to play with Monika for a few hours.

You most certainly won't be disappointed.

Burnin' Down the House...

OK.

But not really.

(thankfully)

This is what happens when one accidentally knocks a knob on the stove to Med Hi while they're cooking on a totally different set of burners and then walks out of the house to work...thus leaving the burner on without knowing it.

All day as a matter of fact.

And say someone does this and on the particular burner in question, one has a Kitchen Aid ceramic teapot on it...that was bought because it was red and matched all the other Kitchen Aid things in the kitchen...cause' heaven knows at this point, it can't just be a burner with nothing on it.

Luckily my dear sweet roommate walked into the kitchen and noticed the entire situation when she got home from work.  By that time the kitchen was rather hot, and the teapot was black and more melted to the burner than not (no great loss there though, it never ever whistled or worked right since I acquired it.)  She handled the whole thing with a calm cool head...

(And, Not to mention the fumes that now permeate the house)

(Let's not mention that, shall we?)

(I should probably mention here that now I'm more than a little nervous about lighting candles and incense to get rid of that smell)

It's been a hard week in the kitchen at Foolsewoode...as far as burning goes.

The other day DaNece was making a pie in the oven and it decided to boil over and through its crust...all over the bottom of the oven.  And now me bumping the knob?  Yeah.  We'd already gone through this once not too long ago...and ever since I bought this stove I've accidentally turned on this burner when I meant to turn on the front one.

Seriously.

I was in shock when I came home, and I'm still not feeling panicked about it.  I do feel insanely grateful that nothing worse happened.  What if it had been the glass Pyrex teapot sitting there instead?  What if one of the potholders that hang above the stove tried to get into the action?  What if something would have happened to my Kitchen Aid Mixer...or worse?  What if something had happened to the cat because of this?

What if...?

Kitchens are precarious at best.  Especially lately.

It makes me close my eyes very slowly and take a deep breath and let it out rather slowly and shakily.

But, I've fixed the problem...

I took the knob off the stove, and set it on top of the stove instead.

(at this point I'm not sure if I'm punishing myself or the stove?)

I honestly don't think this burner is useable as I can't get the charred burnt enamel off (although to be fair, I haven't tried all that hard yet...I'm too scared)  But for now?  The knob is off and sitting in the teabag holder Rozz painted for me.

Seriously.

What a week.

Just Peachy...

This is what I was up to this morning.

Peach grilling.

To make the grilled peach salad with balsamic bacon vinaigrette reduction that I made not too long ago...only this was for a wedding shower pot-luck I was attending before work.  It turned out lovely.  Peaches become even more juicy, soft, and sweet after grilling.

It got rave reviews again.

Although I am going on record right now as saying that I do not like cooking bacon.  I do love this particular salad but I'm not a huge porcine fan per se...and cooking bacon is a greasy splattery popping hot mess.  My whole kitchen is now seemingly entirely covered in bacon grease...and besides?  When I was cooking these strips, a hot large drop of bacon grease popped out of the pan and into my left eye.

It had to go completely behind my glasses to do so.

Rude.

At least with all that bacon grease hanging around the dust will have somewhere to stick.

It's dusty in Arizona.

And if you've never cooked a balsamic reduction you must go to your kitchen and do so immediately.  It is a fun process by where you usually dump a lovely balsamic mixture into some sort of hot oil and the hot cloud (somewhat like mustard gas I would imagine) and smell of the vinegar then burns off all your nose hairs.  Word to the wise?  Don't stand over the pan when you're doing this or you will have a very hairy reduction to deal with.  And while last time everything went so smoothly and impressively (luring me into the idea that I am indeed a master chef) this time my reduction seemed to separate.  I'm not sure if this was from the amount of time I cooked it or the heat on which I cooked it?  I just used my intuition and took it off the burner and dumped a bit more vinegar into the pan before it cooled and that made it congeal right back up....that's what you're looking for in a reduction a thick congealing mass.

Sounds appetizing doesn't it?

Yeah.

Whatever.

My kitchen is greasy.

So is my eye.

Mostly Wordless Wednesday...

HA!  Just when I get back into the blog-groove I decide to go mostly wordless.

(I know that's what you're thinking...)

(Maybe it's only what I'm thinking)

Lest you think I be a huge ginormous slacker...I present to you, the official tattoo photos:

The owl...and his sweet little face (he's definitely a male.  Don't ask me why, I just know.)  And a somewhat bizarre circular scar that doesn't seem to want to hold the color right there close to his body under the second set of wings.  I'm sure Tony would be more than happy to touch that up for me, but I'm honestly not sure if it will hold color?

The Celtic knot made from tree branches with apples arm band.  Which as I am staring at it I notice it's upside-down...but if I rotate the photo it doesn't look as good.  Deb (my photographer and editor for this project) certainly got it right the first time.

I especially love the little whips of ink that Tony was able to bring right off the end of the branches...and I'd like to go on record as saying that I was envisioning more of a blocky tree-branch design and he's the one that came up with this...which I love.

It reminds me very much of Snow White as well for some reason, and I think it's more feminine which balances out the male in the owl.

The other side of the owl who is perched on a tree branch and something Tony and I came up with on the fly as neither of us had thought about it...but it works very well.  Also immediately to the right (and going out of this shot) is a lovely knot he made from all the branches.

The detail on this tattoo is exquisite and I actually get stopped constantly by people who want to see it closer or talk to me about it...I can only take credit for the idea, Tony is the true artist here...

This shows the underneath part of my arm.

I know what you're thinking.

Ouch!

Not as much as you would think though...The owl in its entirety too about 3 hours from start to finish.  Tony and I got up only once to stretch.  I'm not a GetUpAndStretch kind of gal when I'm getting a tattoo, I'd rather sit and get it over with...Tony was a bit amazed at how well I did.  But he does have a very nice and light touch...The arm band which was completed 6 weeks later took about 2 and a half hours...and he did the bulk of the outlining around my arm as far as he could reach without me moving it...which was honestly not as bad as I thought it would be.  It was much quicker than the owl...and honestly, for me?

It's the healing.

I have a harder time healing from a tattoo I discovered with this one.  It's kind of worrisome and exhausting to me...and itchy.  And the under arm and arm band was very different from the owl...the owl being on the outside of my arm where it didn't rub against anything.

You use your arms a lot in a day.

(who knew, right?) 

(or at least I do...since I gesticulate a lot.)

(like a Muppet)

The whole thing healed beautifully for me though eventually, the color is still very vivid (because sometimes red looses a bit after healing) and I just adore it.

Which is good, it being permanent and all.

My special thanks and undying admiration for Debra Duncan...my very talented photographer for this project.