The Butterfly
My sister is 3 years younger than I and is the complete opposite of me.
She is the first and only Filipina woman who is a member of the United States Parachute Association (USPA) - so yes, she jumps out of planes solo with a chute and a pink helmet, she is licensed to fly small planes, she has travelled around the world as a stewardess for Philippine Airlines and prefers to live in a real house (rooms, deck, view) in the mountains of Washington state.
I, of course am the one who can't even step out onto the third floor fire escape landing of my apartment (which she uses as a balcony when my sister is staying with me) or enjoy the view from my 24th floor office. I hate planes and it is that part of travelling that is my pet peeve...and airports. Well, eventually I would love to have a real house also but I can't imagine giving up my city life. I think I am the perpetual city girl.
And so when I brought up the idea of getting a tattoo, she had given me the final nudge that had sent me off the cliff!
My friend at work and I began discussing body art about two months ago. I have always wanted to get a real tattoo. For the past two summers I have had henna painting done on my wrist of a chain of flowers or any other design that my friend might feel like painting on me. The drawings stayed on my skin for a week and a half at most.
By mid September, my friend have had his tattoo done - a tribal design encircling his bicep. He had just returned from London and was expecting that I would get mine done by my birthday so when he returned and I had no tattoo to show off he had began to joke that I have chickened out.
So when my sister came to visit me, aside from enjoying a weekend of indulging in a culinary orgy - splurging to enjoy only the best restaurants in the city, we decided to have me get my tattoo.
"Do I really want to do this?" I asked her as we were walking toward Bowery in the lower East Side.
"It's my birthday gift to you so when you begin to regret it you can always say it was because I made you do it," was her cheerful reply. Typical her.
So we walked in and were shown the many varied designs that we could have drawn on our skin. I had picked my design already - something I had found online and had always wanted on my right shoulder. What surprised me was, while we were confirming my appointment for my tattoo, Gigi also picked a design which she wanted on her left shoulder - a sanskrit phrase which read: thunder, lightning and hurricane.
After 20 minutes for mine to get done and a half hour for hers, we walked out in the New York evening painted and proud.
I have more recently read that butterflies are the most common tattoos. Mine has no special meaning. It wasn't about freedom or being the social butterfly that everyone tends to call me. I just wanted a tattoo and I wanted one that was nice, clean, simple with a hint of my favorite tinge of blue. Voila! While researching for the right one, I found it online!
Two weeks later, my butterfly with the blue wings has healed and it sits proudly on my right shoulder blade. I still adore it and I know it is sexy. I have showed it off at work and has even inspired a co-worker to get one!
This is soooo cool!
My birthday gift from Gigi
She is the first and only Filipina woman who is a member of the United States Parachute Association (USPA) - so yes, she jumps out of planes solo with a chute and a pink helmet, she is licensed to fly small planes, she has travelled around the world as a stewardess for Philippine Airlines and prefers to live in a real house (rooms, deck, view) in the mountains of Washington state.
I, of course am the one who can't even step out onto the third floor fire escape landing of my apartment (which she uses as a balcony when my sister is staying with me) or enjoy the view from my 24th floor office. I hate planes and it is that part of travelling that is my pet peeve...and airports. Well, eventually I would love to have a real house also but I can't imagine giving up my city life. I think I am the perpetual city girl.
And so when I brought up the idea of getting a tattoo, she had given me the final nudge that had sent me off the cliff!
My friend at work and I began discussing body art about two months ago. I have always wanted to get a real tattoo. For the past two summers I have had henna painting done on my wrist of a chain of flowers or any other design that my friend might feel like painting on me. The drawings stayed on my skin for a week and a half at most.
By mid September, my friend have had his tattoo done - a tribal design encircling his bicep. He had just returned from London and was expecting that I would get mine done by my birthday so when he returned and I had no tattoo to show off he had began to joke that I have chickened out.
So when my sister came to visit me, aside from enjoying a weekend of indulging in a culinary orgy - splurging to enjoy only the best restaurants in the city, we decided to have me get my tattoo.
"Do I really want to do this?" I asked her as we were walking toward Bowery in the lower East Side.
"It's my birthday gift to you so when you begin to regret it you can always say it was because I made you do it," was her cheerful reply. Typical her.
So we walked in and were shown the many varied designs that we could have drawn on our skin. I had picked my design already - something I had found online and had always wanted on my right shoulder. What surprised me was, while we were confirming my appointment for my tattoo, Gigi also picked a design which she wanted on her left shoulder - a sanskrit phrase which read: thunder, lightning and hurricane.
After 20 minutes for mine to get done and a half hour for hers, we walked out in the New York evening painted and proud.
I have more recently read that butterflies are the most common tattoos. Mine has no special meaning. It wasn't about freedom or being the social butterfly that everyone tends to call me. I just wanted a tattoo and I wanted one that was nice, clean, simple with a hint of my favorite tinge of blue. Voila! While researching for the right one, I found it online!
Two weeks later, my butterfly with the blue wings has healed and it sits proudly on my right shoulder blade. I still adore it and I know it is sexy. I have showed it off at work and has even inspired a co-worker to get one!
This is soooo cool!
My birthday gift from Gigi