Three months into my 30’s and I finally got my very first Tattoo! I’ve wanted one for a long time but the fear kept it on the back burner. When I was growing up, I was more into getting piercings, starting with the regular ear piercing, then came the navel, then my nose - the quickness of pain with piercings made them less scary than tattoos - also less permanent.

I’ve been working on fighting through my fears, not letting them stand in my way or make choices for me. It seemed to all sort of fall into place, seeing JR High LA’s Instagram post advertising their special 420 event offering $50 tats, I figured why not? I decided it would be the perfect ~me~ way to get my first one, casual, cheap, & cute. Not too serious, just do it. I chose this super adorable rose with a little heart in its petals. When I got there, I was surprised at the size of the tattoos on the final flash sheets, I probably would’ve liked it smaller even more but it’s far from the end of the world so I was getting it anyway.

The pain was really light, similar to a cat scratch, and I found myself more at peace during the actual Tattoo than I had been anxiously waiting for it to begin. It was a first come, first serve situation so I was waiting around there for a couple hours for the 12 people who signed up before me to finish. My artist was Skyler, (@sickboyworldwide) who was not only very nice and calming, but didn’t give me any hassle about it being my first. I know people can have some really crummy experiences with some Tattoo artists in the community but I’m happy to report I got a good one.

I was confident it was going to be a great time, knowing how amazing and welcoming Junior High LA is, I knew they would have quality artists doing quality work and they didn’t disappoint. I can definitely see how tattoos can be addicting, I’m already looking at other artists and planning new pieces in my head for the near future. I placed the Rose on the outside of my right wrist.

Sadly, it seems my tattoo has “Blown Out”. I thought it was just staining but it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere now that my tattoo is mostly healed. I may need to get my first tattoo covered up with my second, comical. My partner said if it had happened to him, having his first tattoo blow out he would’ve been pissed. For me, I’m just not that upset because it’s just a little blueness, it could be way worse, I still really like the tattoo and it’s on a place that I don’t even see unless I try to, and at this point I’m used to being upset about much more major things than some blueness on my arm. Is it ideal? No. Is it unfair it was on my first go? Yes. I still plan to get more, I want another one right now. Maybe I’ll cover it, maybe I’ll just put some makeup on it and go about my life, it’s just not worth my energy.