Tattoo Redo

So I’m working on ideas for a tattoo to cover up “the teddybear”.  The tattoo that has been a thorn in my side since I got it.  I loved my first tattoo, which is a horse NOT a unicorn like everyone seems to think.  Unicorns have horns people. Mine does not.  But I digress.  I went to get my second with a cute idea.  An adorable little teddy bear holding two pink roses, one for each of my girls.  The bear I got looked a little bit like a Grateful Dead bear, only uglier.  I have not been happy with it since day one.  With the wedding around the corner, and given that the bear is prominently displayed on my shoulder, I want/need to cover it up soon.  

I reached out to a prominent tattoo artist in the area that has come recommended to me by friends.  He got back to me right away and we started talking about possible solutions.  Right away he dismissed trying to “fix” the ugly little sucker.  Too little with too many issues.  So his next suggestion was to try to tailor it to my girls’ personalities now that they were older.  So we started brainstorming.

Libby’s was easy.  She’s an open book.  No literally, that’s what I’m going to do to represent my Libby.  It covers so many bases.  For the obvious - she loves to read (and write).  I love that it is something we share.  We are always recommending books for each other and even if we sometimes disagree, it’s fun to have someone to debate the merits of a book with.  It also represents her personality in so many ways.  She is a very open person, not afraid to tell you how she feels or what she thinks.  She is also creative.  She surprises me constantly with her thoughts and ideas.  And she inspires me, which is something I love about a good book.

Sophie was a little more difficult.  She’s harder to pin down for one thing.  There is a lot that is Sophie.  My gut reaction was that she’s an athlete so the artist recommended putting her favorite sport, like a basketball or volleyball.  That would represent her NOW, but do I really want a volleyball to represent her when she’s 40?  After talking about it with Sophie - we are leaning more towards a trophy cup.  It would signify the fact that she’s an athlete.  But it would also represent her competitiveness and drive that  makes her such an achiever in so many aspects.  The other suggestion that I got from my best friend, who has known Sassy Sophie since birth, was a butterfly to represent how social she is and how important being a friend is to Sophie (social butterfly). That’s darn good too and is definitely still on the table.  I thought about a symbol to represent how independent and stubborn she is, but don’t really want a donkey on my shoulder for eternity.  (Sorry, not sorry Sophie)

So I have it narrowed down, I have the artist in mind and now… time to work up my nerve and make that appointment.  It’s way past due.