Last Day of TB Festivities-Mini Meet up @ the Tattoo Shop and Dick's Last Resort

Yikes....the day was finally here!! Melanie and I had made tattoo appointments back in July now that Living Dead was open!!! I'd been waiting for Nickhole to open the new shop as I had a cover up piece I wanted her to do and ironically, Melanie had the same tattoo artist in mind - talk about great minds think alike!!!  We went in back in July to visit her and make sure she could do a cover up on my leg easily before I started planning and got my hopes up.  Well, Nickhole had said there wouldn't be any problem doing it and we discussed doing a Jack and Sally / Nightmare Before Xmas scene which is something I've been wanting for years.  In talking with her today that I wanted to incorporate more of the Haunted Mansion Holiday / ride in it.

.......we talked about changing the piece for my leg and doing the Jack/Sally piece elsewhere.  Nickhole asked if I liked the Hitch Hiking Ghosts from Haunted Mansion.....OMG - HECK YEAH!!! Mel knows what my house looks like with all the ghosts and Haunted Mansion memoribilia!!!  The ghosts are one of the main things I wanted to incorporate in my leg piece.  After a little discussion, Nickhole was off running with ideas and my small cover up now turned into 3/4 of my lower leg being done!!! Eeeeeeeek. 

Nickhole is one of the coolest and most awesome tattoo artists ever.  Mel and I had such a blast hanging out with her when we looked up and in walks Joe (vimessir) from Australia!!! He wanted to come watch us get our work done and Louise wanted to swing by too.

  OMG, a TB meet up at the tattoo parlor.....probably not what Eric and David envisioned for the site but hey, what a way for TB's to bond!!! LOL.

There were so many hilarious moments of the day, I am not sure I can remember them all.  Nickhole warned me if I got her sick I'd have hitchhiking porn stars on my leg instead of ghosts.  Some analogy of saran wrap and condoms.  And then it was time for me to hop on the chair.  Yikes...I really haven't had much work done in the last few years...other that the color retouch on my Pooh Bear the last time I was in the shop in July which wasn't that much.  This would be my biggest and most detailed tattoo yet.  I am a trooper, it won't faze me, right??? WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG.

...over 3 hours later, Nickhole only finished the line work since the piece was so detailed.  My leg was so swollen and just agonizing to touch.  I didn't flinch on the tattoo much although it hurt like a son of a &*$@) but when she tried to massage my leg to get the circulation going and the swelling down, it took Mel and Joe to practically hold me down.  I was about to jump off the chair, turned bright red, and wanted to curse very very loudly!!!

Uuuugh, it was time for a break and for Melanie to hop on up!!! She had been so indecisive on what she was going to get for sure and where.....typical Melanie! LOL.  She finally decided on Pon from her favorite cartoon - Pon and Zi.  In this particular cartoon, he's holding a cookie.

..I told Melanie she should switch it up for a cupcake.....how fitting, eh??? :D  We decided it was probably best Mel did her ankle as it's fairly low on the pain scale versus getting a big piece on her back to start!! Nickhole started a couple dots just so Mel could be used to the needle and how it feels and she said 'no big deal, it didn't hurt, and she was ready to go'.  Uh yeah, just as I figured, Mel about leaped off the table when the first long line was done.  She was not handling it all that well and her leg was even trembling at one point.  Joe and I talked her through the breathing and *poof* just like that, an hour later she was done!! :D Now, in true Mel fashion and for most who've had tattoos done, she's already planning her next one!!! In fact, when Nickhole made my follow up appointment for the color and retouch, she automatically added Mel to the appt slot and booked some extra time for her next one because she knew Mel would be back!! HA HA HA.  

Next, Mel wanted a cupcake instead of Grey Goose to nurse the pain of her ankle.  My leg at this point was swollen like the size of a house and it hurt to even walk. Joe was laughing at us moaning and groaning as we made our way into Cupcake Lane Bakery.  Priorities baby!!! We then went back to Mel's house to kill a little time before picking up Louise for our last night hanging together.  We decided to take Joe and Louise to Dick's Last Resort for a little last minute embarrassment before sending them off!!  My friend Qiana from work ended up being able to join us which was awesome since I haven't seen her since my last trip out in July. 

Uhhh, Dick's Last Resort was interesting to say the least.  Louise figured out where we were going and was a great sport about it.

  Apparenlty we arrived too late in the evening for one of Taco's speciality lap dances...but our waitresss made up for it with Joe! LOL.  We got our hats which all had hilarious sayings:

Me: I use these for flotation devices (Two Arrows pointing down)

Qiana: I've swallowed more seaman than the Titanic

Louise: I've slid down more poles than a Las Vegas stripper

Melanie: I've been tea bagged so much my name is Lipton

Joe:  Joe's was great...he had a checklist!!! Eat at Dick's (Check)  Get a lap dance (check) See Tom Jones ; Buy a wig from a hooker store

These were great and we tried to get Louise and Joe to continue wearing them outside of Dick's but I think they wanted to kill Melanie and I both!! LOL.

  Mel and I were good sports for a bit but we did get a lot of interesting comments on the walk back to NY NY Hotel. 

We got back to NY NY and Louise decided to call it a night as she was tired and had an early flight.  Joe hung out with us for a bit at the piano bar because we wanted to get him in on the embarrassment a bit.  I knew Kevin who was peforming there that night and Al ended up being on too (Al was playing at Harrah's on Sunday night when we took Louise and the gang).  We knew we weren't going to stay long as Joe had an early morning drive and I was headed back to Cali with Michelle as well to start my whirlwind tourguide stint for the weekend!

Can't thank all the TB's enough for a wonderful week and looking forward to crossing paths with everyone again - some I will be seeing sooner than later and can't wait!!!