I took a fun trip to KC on Friday to visit Joel and get my tattoo added onto.
I had never taken Wilson so long in the car but he did great! We stopped twice for him to pee on the way there but he slept the entire way home. Joel and I walked him with us to a nearby coffee shop and Wilson greeted everyone there like he does at Brothers. We ordered a yummy latte called an Onyx (honey, vanilla, cinnamon), a breakfast burrito and quiche and a homemade pop tart from a coffee shop called Vested (because its in the garment district). I talked shop with the owner for a bit.
After our yummy meal and a good chat, I left Wilson with Joel. Having Wilson at Joel’s is a challenge as he eats Joel’s house plants ad to use the restroom, it is a 7 floor elevator ride. Wilson barked in the elevator every time. Of course, Wilson made friends with the few residents we saw in the elevator. Joel said he took Wilson for another walk and then sat in a part and people watched for half an hour.
I drove to West Bottoms to a tattoo shop where my Manhattan artist now works. She used to be Freyja at Mash Up and now she’s Emily (her real name) at Timewalker Tattoo.
West Bottoms is interesting. We looked at the outside of a loft apartment building when we were looking for Joel and kept driving. The outside of the buildings look completely drab and non interesting. Friday, the GPS took me on a loop all the way through the shop district of West Bottoms. There were tons of people floating in and out of shops with interesting names. A friend told me that the insides of the shops and loft apartments are fantastic. After seeing the tattoo shop I agree.
I entered a plan looking building on a boring street. Emily came in at the same time and led me up a very long wooden stairway. At the top, we entered a giant floor with brick and broken plaster walls with ornate and creative decor, high ceilings, and so much to look at. We walked around the corner and saw bed after bed with fascinating people getting tattooed by fascinating looking tattoo artists. There was antique furniture, taxidermy animals and reptiles, giant mirrors, and artful objects creatively displayed, everywhere one looked.
Emily and I had a great time chatting as she explored and created the tattoo extension and fitted it to my body. She expanded my arm vine and prairie flower tattoo over my shoulder, crossing over my collar bone in the front, a winter rose on the ball of my shoulder, and eucalyptus across the top of my shoulder in the back, all Leah’s art. I can’t wait to see it without the bloody bandaid and irritation. (I’ll add pics later).
The tattoo hurt. Lying in the chair on my side for 3 1/2 hours was grueling. I tried hard to dissociate but distraction through conversation was the only thing that worked. The gal next to us stayed awhile and chatted after her client left and then Emily and I chatted. I tried using my calm app and took several breaks but the rest of the time, I laid there and did my best to get through it. My stomach was in an uproar of course and my leg had spontaneous spasms on and off no matter what I did.
We finished at 6pm. Joel and I made dinner plans, skipping BBQ as it was going to be a drive to get it and take too long and had Italian ordered in. (I had Parmesan cream linguini and Joel had lasagna and we shared bread, yum).
Joel said Wilson had chilled but he was a bit of a mess while I was there, destroying Joel’s broom and he broke off one of Joel’s plant stems. He had eaten all the food I brought and got bored of looking for scattered treats and doing obedience training to show off for Joel. Joel made him some rice which he didn’t love.
I listened to Mindful Self Compassion training sessions both ways and old time rock and roll to sing when I got bored.
I love Joel’s area and loft and of course I love Joel. Visiting him is fun, fun, fun.
dianegclark 