Sometimes I believe in magic.

When I was debating my next tattoo I was torn between two options: a Russian nesting doll, or a piece of flash. (My artist Cambria has designed all of my tattoos based on my ideas, but she also has her own ideas and designs, “flash.” As someone who basically wants to become a walking art gallery, I am very drawn to showcasing a few pieces imagined by the artist herself.)

While I was waffling, I asked Cambria to send me a few of her recent designs that were up for grabs. The very first one she sent me:

…A Matroyoshka doll.

Well. That settles that.

Why a nesting doll? While it’s simply an image I love, it is also a great metaphor for all the different versions of me I carry around every day. I am a poet who loves CrossFit. I am full of joy, I struggle with mental illness. I live in Colorado but it is clear I am made of Ohio. I contain multitudes.

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)
—Walt Whitman

I also thought the doll would be a fitting neighbor for my cuckoo clock. Even though the clocks are German and the dolls are Russian, I always tend to find them together. Kitsch loves kitsch, I suppose.

You might notice that I requested one adjustment to Cambria’s original design: I changed the hair to a braid crown, a nod to the way I wore my hair when I married Dan.

Other than that, the design and all of the colors were Cambria’s choices. I am charmed beyond belief.

This is my second time I’ve spent my birthday at Magnetic with Cambria!

Last year’s birthday (lavender and key)
Cuckoo clock line work
Cuckoo clock color
Finch and satellite

P.S. A few other wonderful memories from my 36th birthday:

Being celebrated at the gym by all of my friends there…

…and cider flights with friends at Acreage in Lafayette.

Thank you to everyone who made my birthday memorable!