cute as a button

I got a tattoo today!

     For the past few years, I've really wanted a tattoo of a button, and I figured that with graduation coming up, now was the time to actually do it.  It's tiny, just the size of a penny, and on the outside of my left ankle just behind the ankle bone.  I absolutely love it.  The color is perfect and the shading is beautiful.  It was done by Wendi-- when I saw her portfolio I knew I wanted to work with her because her illustrations and tattoos are both so pretty and charming.  And she is so sweet, she made me feel totally comfortable even though I'd never so much as set foot in a tattoo studio before my consultation last week.

     I was worried about getting a tattoo because I am a notorious chicken when it comes to needles-- shots, getting blood drawn, anesthesia, I get completely terrified.  But this wasn't bad at all-- the feeling of vibration was much stronger than the pain.  And I knew going into it that it would be worth any pain, because not only did I get my button to commemorate graduating from school, but also in remembrance of my dad.  I sketched out a button with four holes to represent the four members of my immediate family (my parents and my brother, Zach), and with a raised edge to signify the sort of-- bubble the four of us traveled in when we were together, no matter where we were.  The music playing while I was getting the tattoo done was pretty great, too.  "The Weight," by The Band, "Like a Rolling Stone," by Bob Dylan, and "Brown-Eyed Girl," by Van Morrison, all played in a row-- three songs that my dad always sang and played on his guitar in our living room and at family gatherings.  It was a wonderful final touch on something that already meant a lot to me.

     And then it was done!  I'm so excited that my little green button will be there every time I look at my ankle for the rest of my life.  How crazy is that!  Now all that's left to do is study French in preparation for tomorrow morning, my last final...ever.  Yay!

I hope it's as sunny and lovely wherever you're reading this as it is here!

♥

bubblegum barbie

One of my projects this semester was a tailored wool coat.

I've been affectionately referring to it as my Bubblegum Barbie coat because it reminds me so much of something a 1960s stewardess Barbie would wear.  I actually shortened mine by nine and a half inches from the pattern our professor gave us-- a straight, below-the-knee coat just isn't something that has a place in my wardrobe.  It would smoosh all of my twirly dresses.  But I love it at this length!  It's hard to tell when it's on the dressform, but the shortened version of the coat has a cute little balmacaan shape, it's much less boxy when it's on a real life person.

As for the 'bubblegum' aspect...

The lining is bubblegum pink!  I'll probably wear it with the sleeves cuffed like this because, being 5'7", long sleeves tend to stop about an inch short of my wrist, which is just really awkward-looking.  So 3/4 sleeves it is.  The whole coat is so comfortable, it's made of a slightly felted wool, so it has a nice spongy feeling.  (Ew, I never noticed what a gross word spongy is.  Spongy.  Sponnnnngy.)  Oh, and then there's my favorite part of all...

Are these not the cutest  buttons ever?  There may have been grabby-hands made when I saw them in M&J.  Luckily I had a very tolerant professor who didn't mind that they are definitely not the kind or size of buttons he told us to get.  I just adjusted the buttonhole size, moved them over an extra eighth of an inch from the end of the lapel, and tah-dah!  Flowery goodness.

♥