I Got A New Tattoo!

Hello everyone! 

I am now going to start greeting you at the beginning of every post because it just feels really weird that I don't. I only never did because after looking at other bloggers most of them don't greet their readers or talk to them on a one-on-one bases, so I thought was the thing to do, but now I am saying screw it! We are all friends here so I am going to treat you like a friend.

So how is everyone doing? OK? Great? Bad? If that is the case I hope you feel better soon! I am doing fairly well for someone who just had all four of there wisdom teeth removed yesterday (Friday). However, that is not what I am here to talk about, today I am going to tell you all about my newest tattoo I got about a month ago. If you watch my youtube videos or follow me on any social media website (which you can now follow me on Bloglovin by clicking here) then you may know that I took my last trip to Stockholm, Sweden before I move there in the next year, depends on if there government allows me, still waiting for the paper work to go through. Anyways (get back on track Makenna!), I was in Stockholm for two weeks before I had to go back to school and on the last week I got a new tattoo. I did know before traveling that I wanted to get my second tattoo done while I was there to make it even more meaning full, it will make more since after I explain what it is. (If you are interested in reading about my first tattoo then you can click here to be taken to that post.) The first week I went in Stockholm Classic Tattoos and asked them if I could get the three Swedish Crowns on my right pointer finger. This is what they look like if you didn't know, two crowns centered above one crown under them:

The tattoo artist who's name I don't remember at the moment told me that the crowns would not fit and at the most he could only do one crown. This was the second time I was turned down for this tattoo and was a bit pissed about it. The first was because I wasn't heavily tattooed, and then now this. "Well thats just great, I am never going to get this tattoo" I thought, but there was another design I had been thinking about getting. I had not though about it as long as I had about the crowns, but there was one reason shouting out in the back of my mind that just wouldn't let me say no. I was turned down when I walked in to get my first tattoo, which was supposed to be the crowns and ended up with the one I have now. As I stood in the shop arguing with myself weather or not to even get a tattoo after my idea had been turned down I made the rash decision to do so, and I pick one the one I have now, even though I had only though about getting it for about a month. For me when I make rash decisions like that they always have turned out to be the best decisions I make, so I did it again. 

For a second time I was standing in a tattoo shop with a rejected idea, so I picked my next best one. My second tattoo is three birds sitting on a tree branch, but not just any branch, the branch of my family on my family tree. Two of the  birds are larger, and are on either side of the small third bird. This is supposed to represent me with each parent on one side of me. The branch is also just as important; it has 10 leaves on two separated arms extending from the branch. There are 6 leaves on one and 4 on the other. The 6 stand for one person each in my immediate family: my grandmother (MawMaw), grandfather (PawPaw), uncle (David), aunt (Tammy), cousin (Sam), and my sister (Breanna). The 4 leave represent the pets that have been most important in my life: Zana, Noella, Sadie, and Dexter. Zana and Noella have both passed, Noella just this past Auguest while I was on my trip. She is the reason I got the leaves, at first I wanted the branch to be naked because my favorite time of year is fall/winter, but that all changed when I got the email about here passing. 

I spent a lot of time going back and forth between two different places on my body: my forearm right beneath the bend in my arm or on my back under my shoulder blade, but towards my side/rib area a bit more. I chose my forearm because I wanted to be able to see my family everyday, since I will be moving over 5000 miles away from home, I want to know that my family is always there no matter where I am. It is not just a symbol for me, but them as well. That I am not forgetting about them or trading them in for a new family, but that my life is taking me on the path less traveled by and I will never forget them or stop loving them.  

Here is a picture of the fantastic artist tattooing me: 

The whole process took less time than I thought it would. It took about a total of 40-45 minutes from the time I walked in to the door and out again. The tattoo part took only about 30 minutes compared to an hour and half to two hours for my first tattoo. My very lovely friend Nellie, who not only took time out of her day to take me to the shop, filmed/took photos the whole time. So now you can not only read about my experience, but you can also see it from start to finish if you would like. If not then you can skip the video and keep reading. 

It did hurt, but not as much as my foot. One thing that was different was I bled a lot more than my first tattoo not just during, but even after I was done and went home. This tattoo also hurt for a few days after, which was something I didn't experience the first time or even this time when I touched it up. It felt like my arm had been dangling off the bumper of a car and skid on the asphalt for a few miles. I could not unbend my arm due to the pain, and when the scabs grew I couldn't unbend my arm do to the fear of them ripping off. As gross as that sounds it is true; when you bend and unbend your arm your skin stretches and pulls, so when you have skin still healing it is not good to move it as much. The good news was I only had to deal with one week of discomfort before it healed, while even today my foot is still on its last leg of healing. This tattoo did also cost more ($220) than my first ($100), but it was well worth it. I am very happy with the final result and love it every more each day. Even my family has given me their blessing. I told no one in my family that I had got a new tattoo, nor that it was front and center on my arm. My mom was the first to know. I showed her in the car on our way home from the airport, although she wasn't to happy she understood why it was so important to me as have my other family members. I never really got the "your never going to get a job again!" lecture, until I brought it up with my grandparents. Lucky for me the industry I want to work in doesn't really care what ink you have on your skin, but the ink you can put on a page. I am 100% happy with my tattoo and love to show it off whenever I get the chance, which is a lot around here in Houston since it is STILL 90 something degrees everyday! Anyways, as much as I don't want to say it I must: this is probably going to be my last tattoo *awwws and booos*. I know, but I made a deal with Daniel that I would only get two since not only do I have to live with them the rest of my life, but so does he. This is what you do in relationships my friends, and it is called compromise. I do not hold anything against him for it either, I completely understand where he comes from and how much he had to give to be ok with the two I have now. 

Now the moment you have all been waiting for while I droned on, the final product! (without the redness of course)  

While I was there I also got my first tattoo fixed. As you may have read in my blog post about the first letter of the quote being not up to par. It was nothing that was done by the artist, but by my body: the ink was rejected on the bottom of the "L".  Here are before and after photos:
Before:

After: 

I would like to thank you so much for reading and watching, whether it is one person or a thousand it means the world to me. Thanks again and I will talk to you all again soon! 

xoxo, Gossip Girl 

Just Kidding! I just had to. I really do mean everything that I said though and if you have made it this far then THANK YOU so much again!! I know my post are long and I am sorry, but I can write what I feel/think better then I can speak them out loud. 

Talk to you soon,    

Makenna

Big Clothing Haul: Forever 21, Target, Buffalo Exchange, and more!

It has definitely been awhile since I have posted on here, so I thought I would start back up with a clothing haul! The past two weekends I have been shopping for new clothes so I can get rid of a lot of my old ones. I will say that I have bought more than I had planned, (and spent more money) but my closet needed updating. So over the past two weekends I have been to Target, Marshalls, Blackbird Trading Company, Forever 21, and Buffalo Exchange.

So lets start with the items I got from Target. The first thing that I purchased was a gray short-sleeved t-shirt dress. I have seen a lot of these lately and have really wanted to try the trend, it was also a plus that it was on sale. I must say I do like how casual it is, but yet you can make it dressy at the same time. I plan on pairing this with a pair of combat style boots with knee high socks sticking out or scrunched down. You could add a belt to make your form more defined and even add a dark colored cardigan for a more fall look. The next thing I bought from target was a charcoal gray cardigan. I only have one other cardigan and it is white, so I really wanted a gray or black one to go with outfits the white one would not work with. This was more of a standard than an impulse buy. The last thing I bought from Target was a pair of dark green jeggings I have never had dark green pants, but I have always wanted to buy a pair since I already have many items to pair with them. I also couldn't pass up the fact that they were jeggings, since I bought my first pair I no longer wear real jeans. All of my jeans now are stretchy denim or just plain jegging material. 

The next store I went to was Buffalo Exchange. It is actually a thrift store that has gently worn clothes and a lot of name brand items. I walked around the whole store before I really started looking in the racks of clothes. The first item I bought stuck out at me as unusual, but I felt like I had to have it. It was screaming from me to pick it up and take it home with me. The item was a black and white knit animal print cardigan. I am not much of an animal print person, but for some reason this just felt like something I would wear. I do have a rule when it comes to shopping: No matter how weird or unusual an item is if I liked it enough to pick it up and wonder if I should buy it, then I will buy it. I don't want to be scared of trying something new because of the fear of what other people will think, so if I liked it then I will buy it. The second item I bought was actually a pair of shoes for my boyfriend, Daniel. I know how much he hates shopping, but how much he actually needs new clothes and shoes so I decided to help him out. I had a choice of baby blue vans with laces or these gray levis shoes. I decided that the gay ones were a better choice since he isn't very fashion conscious and he could wear these with anything. I put a ? on how much the shoes were if I bought them retail because even after looking online I could not find these shoes, but I am sure they would rang anywhere from $30-$50. The fact that I only paid $17.00 for them seems like a deal to me. 

 The next store where I bought the most was Forever21. The first thing I grabbed was four tank tops for $1.90 each. I choose black, gray, cream, and maroon. I know in the picture it looks red but it is actually a maroon color in person. Over the past year I have some how lost all of my tank tops/undershirts so it was easy to pick these up and the price wasn't to bad either. The next item I got was a black floral dress with courter sleeves and a crisscrossing back/cut out. I love how this dress looks on and the sleeves are very important to me since I got a new tattoo on my arm. It is completely covered by the sleeves and will be great to wear to job interview. The next two items I got wear two paris of jeans, one being just plan black and the other camo. I have not had camo pants since I was around six. I have always wanted to get a pair but never thought I could pull them off. Once I  saw these I felt like I just had to go for it, and with the blessing of my friends I decided to buy them. I must say I am glad I did and can't wait to wear these when it starts to get cooler.

 The next item I got from Forever 21 was also a big leap for me. I bright red sweater. I am not a bright color kind of person. I like to stick to darker shades and colors so when I saw that the dark teal sweater I picked up came in bright red I had a big decision to make. Should I stick to a color I know and love? or go a bit more bold? Well as you can see I went for bold. I have always envied people who wore bright colors in the fall and winter and this time I thought I would be one of them. I asked my friends how I should wear the sweater knowing that I would have to accessorize, which is something I haven't done in almost five years. So this brings me to the next item I bought, a black and gold statement necklace. This necklace goes with more than just the sweater, it goes with almost any outfit. I love the way it looks and will be pairing it with a lot of outfits I will be wearing from now until winter. The next item I purchased was a cream colored shirt with a black front pocket with zipper detail. You can't really see the zipper on the pocket, but I promise it is there. I love how simple this shirt is and how easy it is to wear.

I also wen to Marshalls and bought just a couple of things. The first was a black sheer boho styled shirt with a beautiful patter around the neck and bottom of the shirt. I thought this was another good selection for job interviews, since I have quite my last job and am looking for a new one it has been a priority to find clothes that hide my new tattoo that is at the top of my forearm. The last thing I got from Mashalls was a new pair of shoes. I picked these slip on snakeskin printed shoes. I have been looking for patterned shoes for a while and love how these look. I am sure these will now be second in line for best shoes, while my black converse will alway be in first place no matter how ratty they get. 

 The next store I went to was another thrift store called Blackbird Trading Company. It took me a while to find some things I liked, as in all thrift stores, but I did find a few things. I also continued to be a good girlfriend and bought Daniel a new button down shirt. I am not sure how much it originally cost, but after looking online at other J.Crew shirts I found that they range from $70-$80. Now, I bought this one for $11.95 and it looks almost brand new. This is yet another reason why thrift shopping is always better. The next item I bought was a pair of gray joggers. I am still not sure how I feel about these pants, they are very comfortable and make my butt look like it belongs to one of the Kardashian sisters, but I am just not sure how to wear them or what to pair them with. It will probably take a few hours going though my other clothes and trying everything on to find out. The last item I bought its probably one of my favorites. It is a sunflower tank top with a cut out back. I love sunflowers and when I say this I just knew I needed to have it even though in about a month or two I won't be able to wear it when it starts to get cold, but I am sure I will try. 
So if you have made it this far thank you so much for reading and actually making it to the end! I would like to end this post by announcing you can now follow my blog on Bloglovin, and if you don't know about Bloglovin it is a website/app that allows you to follow any blog on the internet and it will update you when a new post is added and it is completely free! It keeps all the blogs you follow in one place and makes it so much easier to read. If you would like you can follow my blog my clicking the link on the right side of the page, or you can click the Bloglovin tab/page at the top of this page, or you can also click here to be taken to the page. Thank you for reading and I promise I will be posting a lot more this month!