So, Kristi over at Life, Love, Stress & Set-Backs came up with th e fabulous idea of a twitter tattoo tour- the good- the bad-the regretful. Welcome to my corner of this fabulous blog hop!

I’ll start with- I hate most of my tattoos. Some, I even feel SHAME about but whatever. Others? Yeah I love them to pieces.

I got my first tattoo when I was 18. Not on my birthday- a few months later when I had had time to think about what I wanted. It’s actually pretty cool because A. I collected pin-up girl shit in high school/ into my early twenties. and B. It’s the perfect tramp stamp! lol. But the down side? There are many. It’s too small- only about 6 inches high. I sprouted a sweet (and Dr. says benign) mole RIGHT where her nipple would be. HAWT. But, it is pretty OK for a first tattoo. I went to a random- Brian something or other at Cold Steel Haight Street. Yess, I got my first tat on Haight Street. I want to cry with lameness. I think Brian now tattoos on Hayes at Braindrops.

Silly me, I still didn’t know any better to find a Tattoo GUY” by the time I was 19 & returned for these SWEET (super sarcastic) NorCal nautical stars on the backs of my ankles. Again, done by Brian @ Cold Steel who is now, I think of Braindrops. Which, in case you care is my piercing PLACE. We used to go to this place on Telegraph and 66th in Oakland called Gottsi & saw Paul & William for YEARS until the place shut down & Paul moved over to Braindrops on Hayes in SF. I think now only the Haight store does piercing though. And the Hayes store tattoo? I’m not sure but they are only a few blocks from eachother- anyways.

Yup. They are so cheesy it kills me. I am from the Bay Area. I say “hella” and I have Norcal Nautical stars. Shoot me. NOW.

Then, I started to find my tattoo footing and was recommended Godspeed Tattoo in San Mateo by a friend’s older brother. They were decent but the guy was a touch on the scary side. No joke. My first tattoo with him was my crown on the back of my neck. The story with that one is that I wanted a crown because I am a princess. lol. I’m lying about being a princess. I was just lame. & I searched and searched for the perfect crown but could not find one. Then one day I got the Pottery Barn kids catalog in the mail & inside a cute little pink room was a framed picture of THIS CROWN with the name EMILY written in cursive under it. I was 21 and saw THAT as a sign to make it permanent. Sweetsauce.

I hate that tattoo. So far you are yet to actually see a tattoo I like! I went back to Godspeed once more and got matching hearts & bones on my hips with Krust. This was the year Chanel had them all over their collection & before high fashion has trickled down to the nearest Hot Topic. I love them only because they remind me of my fabulous wonderful amazing sister-in-law & BFF Krust. They were the ones who had to get effed up due to my sweet pregnancies. The lines got a little jacked but whatever. I have three kids and they aren’t THAT bad.

At this point I found the guy for me. lol. Hudge at FU tattoo in Santa Cruz tattoos me, my hubs, my sis-in-laws, cousins, aunt & uncle, & best friends. My arch ENEMY even goes there. He’s the shizzzz. No joke. But finding the GUY doesn’t mean I had grown out of getting special-ass tattoos. Nope! There is more coming friends!!

Yup, friends. I have not one BUT TWO Chanel logos on my wrists. The story behind the insects & colors was because my first Chanel item I ever bought for myself was a necklace that was all spring colors and had insect charms hanging from it. I love the necklace to this day- but can’t imagine what was going through my head when I decided to go for it. #fail. Also? I moved the next day and they got all fucked from carrying boxes so they lost some color due to a sweet infection. I haven’t gotten them fixed yet. Sue me.

Also pictured in the above picture is my FAVORITE tattoo that I got last summer in honor of my husband & son. It says “I will be grateful for this day” which is a Bright Eyes song quote & has both my wedding anniversary & my son’s birthday underneath. Love Love Love that tattoo. The font is my own handwriting. I wrote it out and all he did was copy that shit onto me.

Prior to being known as Emmie Bee, I fancied my moniker to be Dollface Killah. Like “ghostface killah” only a girl and hotter. lol. So, I tattooed it. I got the hearts at another time but also by Hudge. I am sometimes embarrassed that people must think I am really full of myself for having “dollface” on me- but I LOVE these tats. Even if they are a bit narcissistic.

& here is my 2+2=5 tattoo. I love it. It’s from the book 1984 & also a Radiohead song. I heart Radiohead- but it’s meaning is more congruent with the book. Double speak. I got it to remind me that the truth is not the truth unless you believe it. Find your OWN truths in life, kids. Don’t believe everything you read, hear or even see. Look at me- all existential & shit. I love that tat. It makes me smile.

Here are two more of my very favorite tattoos. The diamond is a tattoo I got with one of my very best friends Lisa. She has a pink one & I have a blue one. Her’s is behind her left ear & mine? My right. I love it because even though we are sooooo different- we are such good friends & in many ways- the same. I love remembering what a great friend she is everytime I see it in the mirror. Right next to that, I also have a tattoo that says “Rare Bird” the story behind that is my uncle Roy calls people he thinks are strange or weird or whatever “rare bird”. A lot of times he applies that to tattooed folk. My other Uncle Darryl being completely awesome thought it would be awesome to get it tattooed. So he did. Then? Myself, my cousin Laura, her Husband, my brother & I think my cousin Clayton all followed suit. It’s our family tattoo. Because we are wacky as eff. Holler!!

My last tattoo is gorgeous. I love it. It covers most of the top of my foot & took three sessions to complete. I do not think tattoos hurt at all guys- except this one. This one kinda sucked. But, it came out wonderful.

Anyhow- there you go. Emmie Bee’s Tattoo tour. Three artists. 9 years. 13 sessions. 17 separate tattoos.

Thanks for visiting! ♥