my tattoos • part one: bella.

I got my first tattoo when I was in college. I turned 18 and thought, "It is time." Yea, like Rafiki. I knew what I wanted and where I wanted it, but I wanted to be one hundred percent certain. I wanted the word "Bella" in white ink on my left arm. Kinda typical, I know, but I don't care. I chose "bella," which means "beautiful" in Italian, because I appreciate the beautiful things in life and because my mom's side of the family is Italian so I thought I'd give my grandparents a little shout-out. I used Sharpies and gel pens and drew the word on my arm every single day until I was positive that I was happy with it. Then I took the ferry from Staten Island to Manhattan and got it done. The fancy place I went to charged a whopping $75 which was their "minimum," but I didn't care. I had my tattoo.



They told me the ink would fade and the tattoo wouldn't be visible after a few months, but here we are, almost seven years later, and she's still alive and kickin'. People go crazy over this tattoo. "WHITE INK? Reeeeally? Let me see! No WAY!" I like to tell strangers that I got it for Bella Swan from "Twilight" and gauge their reactions. Ha!



Stay tuned for more tattoo stories very soon!