Tattoo Tuesday V.82

Name/blog name: Mia Wäppling- mariakalinka.blogspot.com

Age: 37

Occupation: I live in a town in the middle of Sweden, Örebro. I am a youth worker and work with kids and teenagers in after school activities and with something called “Open pre-school”. Open pre-school is a place where the parents and their children can come to play, sing, paint, and meet other kids and their parents. It’s a very creative job, I often play theatre, sing and paint with the kids at work.. I get to use all my creativity and get paid for it at the same time. I`m an artist and paint as much as possible in my spare time.  I also make things in wood and concrete, wooden boxes for kitchen herbs, cabinets, frames and signs. I mould plates and pots in concrete and I love doing ceramics.  Recently I’ve had the opportunity to work a little extra with taking pictures at concerts which is fantastic as I get to combine my interest in metal music with photographic art. 

Age of first tattoo: 35

Favorite tattoo: It’s a friendship tattoo. One of my best friends gave me a tattoo for my birthday. We have talked for a long time about getting matching tattoos. I drew two tattoos and we got them done. Mine is a portrait of myself coming out of a rose. Hers is the same but with her own face.

Featured tattoo: chest piece

Artist/shop of feature tattoo: All my tattoos (except my Babushka) are made by Lisa Engberg at Everlasting and Traditional Tattoo Parlor in Orebro, Sweden. They have a facebook group for anyone interested. My Babushka is made by Lisa´s apprentice Anna Lernvik.

1) Tell us about your featured tattoo- is there a background story or special meaning? Why did you choose this particular piece of art? 

My chestpiece. It's two swallows with the words “My loved ones”. The two sparrows are my two kids. The sparrows symbolize my kids being free and independent people. First I wanted to have my kids’ names but then I started thinking of all people that I have close to my heart. Some have passed away, like my dad, and some lives far away so I decided that my loved ones was better, it includes ALL people I hold dear in my life.

2) Do you have any other tattoos?  If so, what do you have and where? 

Yes I have a sleeve. It has a seven roses (including the rose girl). The text, “this fire burn always” is from a Killswitch Engage song, “This fire”. It stands for the people and things in my life I feel deep love and passion for……my kids, painting, music etc. On my other arm I’m going to tattoo the first sentence of the lyric, “ Even through the darkest days”. The lyrics symbolize how my love and passion carries me through even the darkest days when challenges and sorrows throws a spanner in the wheel of life. 

I also have a feather pen tattoo with a little bottle of ink on the side.  It’s a feather of a peacock.  The pen symbolize my art and peacocks symbolize immortality. I have painted my whole life and creative expression is life for me. 

The two butterflies on my arm symbolize resurrection. I really like the symbolic in butterflies, the three different stages. The caterpillar stands for the earthly life, the chrysalis stands for death and the butterfly stands for the resurrection. I have a key with a four leaved clover on it. My last name means clover in Swedish. I also have two violets, a hibiscus and some other Hawaiian themed flowers. On my other arm I have a Babushka doll. It is not completely finished yet but it is there to symbolize all the layers a person have to their persona, most people will just see the outer shell but only a few will be let in to see the inner core and maybe the smallest, most vulnerable part of me.

 

3) Do you plan on getting more?  

OF COURSE! I have plans for a sleeve on my other arm and both my legs needs colour and I have nothing on my back yet….

4) How do your family and friends feel about your tattoo(s)?  Have you run into any adversity or negativity because of them? 

I have wanted to get tattoos since I was young but after thinking about it for fifteen years I decided that life is short and you should do the things you really want. You only have a lifetime to live so stop thinking so much and do it! I made them for myself so I don´t really care if anybody else like them or not it is something I want to do for myself! Actually, I think the more tattoos I get, the more girly I feel. 

I have two kids and they like my tattoos. My mother is not a fan of them. But she accepts them. Almost all my friends like them. The most people I meet don’t have a problem with my tattoos but sometimes people say -what are you going to do with them when you get old and wrinkly? Well, by that time most old people will have ink all over so that’s no problem for me. It is art, it is a way to tell people things about you and most of all it is a way to express for yourself important events and people in your life. All my tattoos have a special meaning for me. 

5) Any advice for those interested in getting tattooed but haven't gotten one yet? 

Choose your tattoo carefully. Don´t go for cool  and fashionable tattoos. Fashion and what is cool changes over time so the tattoo should be meaningful to you, as your personal expression. And don't forget to look at your tattoo artist work BEFORE you let them put their ink on you. 

Henry: 8 months

This update is a couple of weeks behind schedule due to being gone, (his monthly birthday is on the 22nd), but better late than never, right? This month has been the most fun as far as his growth and change, and it's like we watch him grow up a little more everyday. With all of this growing comes so many new, fun stages but also less of little baby Henry too. Bittersweet for sure.  As far as actual size, Henry has gotten so much bigger! Right now he's just getting out of 9 month clothing and into 12 month. He's tall and on the slim side, like another Henry I happen to know quite well!  I'm curious to see how long he is at his 9-month check up which is right around the corner.

As far as foods, Henry is a really, really good eater. He's still breastfeeding and going strong. Here's how our day usually goes:

6:45am: wake up, BF
7:30am: breakfast - usually a fruit and oatmeal concoction although this week we'll be venturing into the world of organic yogurt too.
11am: BF upon waking up from his nap
noon: a small lunch or snack - lately it's been a mashed up avocado or other veggie
2pm: BF before his nap.
5pm: BF a upon waking/before dinner
5:15pm (or so): dinner - some sort of pureed veggies
7pm: BF before bed.

Henry also has a sippy cup of water available to him and will drink whenever he's thirsty. We only do water and he's been doing the sippy cup thing since he was about 6.5 months old. He really got the hang out it around 7 months and knows how to hold it, tilt it, etc.  He never really used a bottle, so now if I have to be gone during a regular feeding he'll just drink my milk from the sippy. We use the Nuk Orthodontic Sippy and love them. I also make all of Henry's food, but while on vacation I couldn't do much outside of mashing up avocados and bananas, so to mix it up he also enjoyed some of the Earth's Best jarred food and a couple other types of organic baby food in pouches.

It's crazy what a difference a month makes- you can even see it in the 7 month to this month's photos. 8 months is the most fun yet (told you I'd say that everytime!).  But really, everyday is something new. A new sound, a new "trick," something else to make Hank and I just die from cuteness overload, laughter, or both.

This month Henry:

will wave hello and goodbye
says "mama" (his first word!)
still doesn't have any teeth
tries to stand with no hands - doesn't quite have the balance down yet
bounces and dances to music
laughs a lot
all smiles, all day
loves to be carried on my hip all the time
knows what "up" means and will raise his arms when he wants to be picked up
lots of squealing and funny noises
lots of babbling and "talking"
good at playing independently
loves Madeline so much
sleeps through the night every night

This upcoming weekend I'm leaving to go to California for a friend's bachelorette party and I'm a little nervous about being away from Henry for two nights, but I know Hank will do just fine.  I am so, so excited for some true "me" time though but I can't imagine how it is going to feel not seeing Henry everyday. My heart already hurts a little but I'm also really excited! I'm sure some of you mamas know what I mean. I've been pumping like crazy, getting Hank prepped on what to do, and I feel ready. So come Friday, this mama is getting on a plane and heading off to a fabulous girl's weekend in Manhattan Beach. Wish us luck!

So, happy 8 months sweet Henry. We love you so much. We're already halfway to 9, and I can't wait to see what it has in store for us.

p.s. note to self: for our next baby, take monthly photos SITTING UP. Even if I have to prop the baby up, it will much easier than trying to keep a rambunctious 8 month old on his back. Talk about baby-wrangling- I should film one of our photoshoots, I'm sure you'd get a laugh!

This video makes my heart so happy.

With two of my dearest friends getting married in the next two months, when I stumbled upon this video I knew I had to share it.  I dare you to remain dry eyed- it's an amazing and touching look at this couple and the love they share on their most magical day. It's beautiful, and so much more than "just" a wedding video. I hope you enjoy it. Things like this remind me of how lucky I am to have found and married my best friend, too. Happiest Monday.


nick+maria • england wedding from Paperback Weddings on Vimeo.

Flagstaff day trip

This weekend was great and exactly what I needed to feel a little more in the groove of our regular life after being gone for so long.  Saturday morning we headed up to Flagstaff to the Cardinals Training Camp (yes, I married a sports fanatic), and although football isn't typically my thing, it was a lot of fun and the weather was beautiful.  I attended college in Flag at NAU, so whenever I'm up there I'm flooded with nostalgia as I look around at all the places I used to go during some of my most favorite years ever. This time Hank and I went to Crystal Creek for sandwiches to bring on the field, then headed up and parked by the dome. We watched the new quarterback and just enjoyed being in the fresh air and shady pines. It was beyond crowded though, so that was the only drawback.  After camp we headed downtown and explored for awhile; ate some gelato, visited some shops, and ended our afternoon at Dara Thai.

Oh, and while we're on the subject of football I also have to mention that this season I am actually going to attempt to get into it and partake in our tradition of Sunday football parties.  I grew up playing sports very competitively and really enjoyed watching too, but after I tore my ACL at the end of HS and didn't end up playing collegiate soccer, I think I avoided sports related things because at the time I felt too upset that my "future" didn't end up as I had pictured it all those years. (Funny how now I am SO thankful for how it did work out!).  But after staying away from sports for so long my avoidance turned into total disinterest.  Even now though if I'm in the right mood, I'll catch myself getting totally engrossed in games if I happen to sneak a peek while Hank is watching. I can't deny that I love it!  So this football season I'm all in - I'm even playing in a fantasy league with Hank. Those who know me will find this VERY laughable and I'm laughing too, but I'm attempting to have fun with it so we'll see how it goes!

Today was a good day too. We did a lot of grocery shopping to prepare for our cooking this week. Before vacation we were getting into such a food rut- we'd been eating and cooking the same things week after week.  We'd maybe tweak a recipe here and there, but ultimately we found ourselves eating the same thing over and over. Yesterday while wandering through the cutest culinary store ever we decided to just put our love for food to good use and branch out a bit. So last night we planned out recipes for each night and today got the fresh ingredients for the next few days.  I'm really excited!

Here are just a few photos from yesterday- have a great start to your week.

Friday links to love!

{on the Jersey Shore last week}

Happy Friday! I am still getting back into the swing of things as far as our routine and being home, so today will be a lot of errands and a little food shopping. Right now I have a napping baby in the bedroom and a quiche in the oven, so I thought I would take a quick ten minutes to share some links that caught my eye as I was going through my Google Reader late last night!

-----

I'm the one guest-posting now! Check me out over on the Paper Mama today.

I love love love this DIY chalkboard banner and you can bet I will be making one of these in the near future will all the events I have coming up.

I adore Michelle and her words always have a way of being totally relevant and just what I need to read.

Carly's "Ruminations on the Allure of Zooey Deschanel" made me giggle.

I love the look of this oversized chalkboard. I would love one of our own to jot down to-dos, to-gets, or just hellos!

Oh my lord. Next baby, we are definitely getting these announcements. Way too cute.

I may be biased, but I love everything Adie posts.

Cascade Ice generously sent me a case of their water, and I LOVED it. My favorite was the organic lemon zest. And best part about it? All natural and zero calories. Yep, zero.  Oh, and for those of you who like to indulge in alcoholic beverages they also have a zero-calorie sparkling Cosmopolitan cocktail mixer.  

Krystin's list of Simple Pleasures has inspired me to do one of my own lists next week. Her is so sweet.

The current landscape of social media. Ha! Have you gotten on the Google+ train yet?

And speaking of, if G+ confuses you (like it did me at first), check out this helpful link.

If you need to smile, just click this. Trust me.

And finally, here are a few blogs I've been enjoying catching up on: one, two, and three.

Have a great weekend!

I'm back: An update & our vacation via Instagram! (super image-heavy)

Hiii, I'm back! Did you miss me? ;) I have to admit that it was so incredibly nice to take a full three weeks off from blogging, and I need to send a huge thank you out one more time to all of my fabulous guest posters. I really appreciate all of them, and I also appreciate all of you who made them feel right at home.

I took a million photos over the past few weeks, and sorting through them will take a bit, so I thought I would quickly post an overview of our East Coast vacation via Instagram!  As much as I loved bringing our Nikon out and about, there's something about these quick little snapshots that make me smile. I'm definitely going to be utilizing Blurb's Instagram book option to make a fun keepsake from our trip.

Overall it was a great time, and I have so many things I'm looking forward to sharing! From what I learned flying and traveling with an 8 month old to my new favorite beauty product discovered on this trip, I feel like I have a huge list of upcoming posts. I'm feeling really inspired, which I'm thankful for, because to be honest I actually really loved being free of all things computer on my trip, and I was curious how I would feel when I got home. I enjoyed not blogging so much that I was actually thinking I wouldn't want to do it in the same capacity when I got home. But now that I'm here, typing away in this little box, any thoughts of being disinterested in this space has totally gone away. I'm beyond happy to be here sharing my words and day to day, and if I learned anything not blogging, it's that I need to continue to keep this blog true to me. What that means is less of the things I don't really enjoy and more of what I do. Having this space enhance my life rather than play too large of a role. Exactly what I've been thinking anyway, but I was only reminded of it during my break. Awesome.

And to give you some quick background on our trip, my parents, sister, Henry and I flew into Boston where we spent a short time (Salem, Rockport, etc.), then headed up to our family's house on Lake Champlain. From there we picked up my brother in law Abe and Hank, and headed to the Jersey Shore for beach time, then up north for a family wedding. It was a whirlwind, but so much fun and went by far too quickly.  So with that said, here is our vacation via Instagram!  Actual photos from my camera to follow in the next week or so, and I'll be breaking them up so the posts aren't as image-heavy as this one! ;)