Blog Archives
If my body’s a temple…then I painted a wall?
I got a tattoo.
Sh*t, I planned on having some big build up to reveal that fact, but I got excited typing and skipped right to the good part.
Anyway, it’s not really wedding-related so I don’t know if I should even be posting it here, but damn if it doesn’t fit under the category “Fine, Change”.
I get asked about the “7” tattoo on my shoulder all the time so I thought I’d take to the blog to explain my ink a bit. Mostly because the next 20 times I’m asked, I can just forward an easy link 🙂
It's just my number.
I got the 7 a few years ago. All I can say about it is that 7 is just my number. It seems to follow me around every where I go. My birthday’s March 7th, every significant date in my life has been on 7th (or 17th, etc). If I’m going to win money in roulette, it’s going to be on a 7. It felt like it was on my shoulder long before it was there. There are a lot of symbolic, spiritual, meaningful associations with 7’s, like:
-The number of notes in a major scale
-The number of days of Creation
-The number of stellar objects in our Solar System visible to the naked eye
-The number of colors in the rainbow
-The number of chakras
-The number of spots on a ladybug
But none of those we’re responsible for the ink. It’s just…my number.
SO, when I decided to tat up again it had to be something that was equally meaningful. I’ve been thinking about writing something on my wrist for a while now. I wanted something that was powerful to me, something that would put my head in the right mental space, something that would inspire me every time I saw it. I think the wrist is particularly intense tattoo real estate; it’s literally a pulsating life point on your body. So I wanted a phrase that was aligned with my philosophical way of life.
I started understanding Law of Attraction (more specifically, Abraham-Hicks) a few years ago & it’s changed just about every part of my life. I’ve learned that happiness is a conscious choice. Rather than just observe life and let the good and bad things I see dictate my mood, I choose each thought with care and make a conscious effort to focus on the positive in a situation. I try to see the beauty in every person & focus on things I appreciate every day.
We all need reminders, and I can have just as effed up a day as the next guy, so writing something on my wrist that reminds me to stay focused on the positive is legitimately helpful.
Come to me this thing I want
The phrase “Come to me, this thing I want” is so beautiful to me. It comes from an Esther Hicks quote in which she says something to the effect of:
It’s a Universe of inclusion. Come to me, this thing I want or come to me, this thing I don’t want. In other words, whatever you think about, you get.
I don’t want to waste my time worrying or…energetically pre-planning negative events. Seeing these words every day helps me reframe. When I know what I don’t want, I more clearly know what I DO want.
What is it you want?
Focusing on that, versus the LACK of that is so much more effective. Sounds new age-y (and I get that that freaks some people out), but it’s just science. Ask Einstein.
Smart guy.
And for the law of attraction skeptics out there, let’s say this is all a bunch of crap. Worst case scenario from consciously focusing on the positive? You feel better! Thinking about stuff that makes you happy…makes you happy. So even if you can’t wrap your head around the whole “manifest destiny” concept, finding a little better thought than the one you currently hold on a subject will lift your overall mood. And that joy can lift the spirits of people around you. And THAT joy can rub off on the people around them. And (CUE SWELLING MUSIC!) suddenly the world’s a better place 🙂
Side note- if you’re into this stuff, I highly recommend my friend, Scott Raposa’s music. He takes Abraham quotes & mixes it into really amazing ambient electronica tracks. Check it out: http://music.scottraposa.com/album/law-of-attraction-directly-from-source
Big thanks to the beautiful and talented Miss D’Jo at Lark Tattoo (http://www.larktattoo.com/index.php/artists/missdjo/0 )
Rach
Hot Up Boot Camp.
I want to be HOT on my wedding day. Not every day hot, exceptional hot. I want to look back at those pictures when I’m old & wrinkly and be all “DAMMMMNNNN!”. I don’t even use phrases like “I’ll be all ‘DAMMMNNNN!'”, but that’s seriously the level of hot I’m looking for. I intend to put a Kardashian to shame, that’s all I’m saying.
So I’m trying to figure out what goes into that hotting up process.
Let’s start with the obvious. My dream weight is a buck 17 (perhaps you’ve noticed my obsession with sevens…and yup, it’s pretty much that arbitrary). I can’t break 122 to save my life. And frankly, that’s working hard for it- I rest comfortably at 124. I know there are people who would roll their eyes at my quest to drop 5 lbs, but let me tell you, I’ve come a long way to get to the point where 5 lbs matters. I look at working out as my job (and a caloric penance of sorts for eating total and complete sh*t all day). 117 is the lowest healthy BMI for my height and I think being a healthy weight is more important than being Kate Moss. Besides, I’m built too naturally Jessica Rabbit-esque to risk looking emaciated (I’ve gotta have at least 10 lbs in knockers alone?!). My goal may sound crazy, but I have yet to meet a girl who is 100% satisfied with her weight as it stands. And while I think I look fine in person- I’m a size 2 and I don’t have “problem areas” to defensively dress- I recognize (and am thankful) that my world is often on camera & that cameras completely suck balls, as far as the whole adding 5 lbs thing goes. Point being, I want to be 117.
(I'm way more the one on the right)
So there’s that.
Also on the hot up list- I’m doing laser hair removal. Ok, that wont necessarily show up on wedding pictures, but come on! Who doesn’t want baby smooth legs all the time?? Plus, there was a groupon. So a couple months before the wedding, I’ll be relatively hairless.
Annnnd while I’m at it- I’m getting a tattoo removed. Don’t you worry- I’d never touch my “7”. This one’s a smidge south- the ‘ol “tramp stamp” was such an awesome idea in college but much like Crystal Pepsi, it just doesn’t pass the test of time. There should be a law that you have to take some emotional maturity exam before they can start inking you. Or maybe move the age limit to 25. I’m just saying you need to know what it is you truly stand for before you permanently declare it on your skin. I kick around ideas for new tattoos all the time- I don’t think I’m done with the ink. But I feel more settled into who I am at this point in my life & I don’t think any new work would be the result of a drunken stumble into a shady parlor. Side note on removal: I’m fairly certain having a limb amputated is less painful. You’ve been warned.
I’m willing to say that I know all of this is a little screwy. I get that the Utopian version of me would look lovingly in a mirror and find peace & self-acceptance & unicorns & rainbows & valium. I was inspired and slightly horrified by http://www.ayearwithoutmirrors.com , Kjerstin Gruys self-imposed mirror ban for the year leading up to her wedding- have you heard about this? How the eff she’s avoiding mirrors for a year is beyond me (although in fairness, she doesn’t get picked apart on “fan” sites, so you gotta give me a little room for neurosis). I give the girl props. And would offer the girl xanax.
But I digress.
Here’s my favorite part of the story- Richie’s jumped in my hot up for the wedding boat! We have a dentist (periodontist, actually) that we adore here in NYC, Nicholas Toscano, DDS ( http://www.manhattanperiodontist.com ). He does all our dental work- we both did deep cleanings over the summer & I have a whitening hobby (slash mild obsession) that Dr. Toscano assists with. He’s just a good dude, does a great job, really cares about his patients & pretty much treats our teeth like they were gold capped gangsta gems 🙂
Although Richie had braces twice as a kid, they never really “took”. So he sat down with Dr. Toscano (follow http://twitter.com/DrToscanoDDS !) to see if there was anything he could do to permanently fix his teeth. And while you’d never know it to look at OR talk to Richie…he now has braces! Dr. Toscano did Richie’s Invisalign. So in about 6 months, Richie’s teeth will look amazing. I didn’t know anything about Invisalign, but I’m completely blown away. You don’t see them! You can take them out! I’m not sure why anyone would get the old school metal train tracks with this technology readily available.
Richie looks fantastic in that lipstick shade, no?
Oh- and here’s the coolest part. Richie trains in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu almost every night. And Dr. Toscano didn’t want Richie to have all that time training with a mouthguard in his mouth instead of his Invisalign. So he’s creating CUSTOM INVISALIGN MOUTHGUARDS for Richie!! How cool is that?!
So that’s the plan. Don’t get me wrong, I would marry Richie with imperfect teeth as quickly as he’d marry me with stubbly legs and an outdated tattoo. But the wedding is kind of a natural hot up deadline. It’s nice to set some life goals that we can accomplish over the next twelve months, three weeks and one day.
xoxo,
R
Fine, change. 