Sadly my birthWEEK celebrations have come to an end, but that means I have some down time now to share what we were up to these past 5 days. Before I get into that, I wanted to start with what we did a whole week ago: two consultations in Fredericksburg!
We got into town pretty early to see a friend of mine that I’ve known for YEARS to talk about an idea for my first two tattoos. He’s an apprentice tattoo artist working under our high school art teacher who runs her own art studio/tattoo parlor. I’m really excited to see what he comes up with and have an even better idea of what it’ll look like when it’s all done. The basic thought is that I’ll have my parents’ zodiac signs constellations on each of my shoulder caps. They’ll be grayscale and very simple, but I wanted to incorporate flowers in place of the major stars of the clusters. I’m still waiting on his sketches, but we got to talk more about what I wanted and details like placement and sizing. The owner said she’s probably gonna collab with him on the tattooing itself because even though what I’m getting will be simple in a way, the placement and curve of my shoulder might prove difficult for him. I’m more excited knowing I’ll be working with both of them (:
After that, we went for lunch at Castiglia’s which is one of my all time favorite Italian places in my hometown. I decided to pair my plum colored shirt with a matching lipstick: “cyber” by MAC is one of my favorites. It was a beautiful day to walk downtown and our meal was delicious! I got scallops and Justin got pizza. Isn’t he handsome? Wow…
Lunch was yummy, but we needed something sweet to follow it. A short drive down the road was Sugar Shack- the best donut place in whatever town you’re in that has one! They now serve bubble tea and Justin & I were super hype to try the cool boba drink. We got the classic milk and it was strange (cause it was new), but so scrumptious. It was like a tea milkshake and the tapioca pearls were perfectly chewy and sweet. I would totally love to swing by our Richmond location to see if they’re selling it now too!
We took our drinks to the gastroenterologist office for my second consultation of the day. Since going gluten-free back in March of this year, a lot of the issues and symptoms I had been suffering through stopped almost immediately and overall I just felt BETTER. I even tested my theory once by having a soft pretzel at the movies about a month or two after cutting out gluten, and I ended up having an attack that very night. I didn’t try anything like that again, but occasionally would have things like a burger (which has some amount of gluten in the bun) and I would be fine. I had two attacks recently that frustrated me: one, because I didn’t know why they were happening and two, because the second time it went away for about 15 minutes and came back! I had never had that happen with an attack before, so I knew I needed to talk to someone about checking off that last box- endoscopy. They said I’d have to come in for a consult with the doctor before they could schedule the procedure for me, so there I was. I talked to a nurse and then the doctor who suggested I go ahead and have the endoscopy. I was somewhat disappointed that a specialist couldn’t tell from my symptoms and my story what exactly my issue was. I wish I could’ve had them put a name or label on what’s happening to me, but I’ll settle for the last thing I can do to figure it out. I’ve had all the blood, urine, and other imaging tests done on me countless times in the past year and a half since I first experienced these problems, so I’m ready to be completely done with everything and either know what it is or just keep doing what I’m doing in hopes that I won’t have an attack while driving or at work…
Sorry if that was a ton of information at once in sort of a rant paragraph. I’m going in for the procedure mid-November, so you’ll be filled in with the results whenever I receive them after that. I’m doing well as of late still being mostly gluten-free!
Stick around for lots of birthday related posts coming up in the next few days/week (:
Nice
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Thank you (:
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Those tattoos sound beautiful, I’d love to read more after you get them!
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Oh absolutely! I’m sure I’ll have a lot to post about it once things are further along in the process (: thanks so much for your kind words xoxo
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😘
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Happy belated birthday! 🎊🎉 You should try going to a Homeopathic, or a Naturopathic doctor to do the testing. I know it may sound odd, but my friends have benefited from the natural treatment. Good luck!
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Thank you! That’s something I hadn’t thought of before- I’ll have to see who in my area specializes in those practices (: I’d totally try anything if the attacks continue. Thanks for letting me know xoxo
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Im really excited to see how your tattoos are going to turn out! (: and I hope your health will improve soon, its must be so frustrating to go through all these hoops! Hold on sweetie. ❤ Be waiting for you to upload your birthday posts!
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Thank you so much for the support! I really appreciate it (: I’m looking forward to see the designs he comes up with too, stay tuned xoxo
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Hiya! First of all, I love the sound of your tattoo ideas – as I’ve turned 18 quite recently I’ve been thinking about getting some myself but I am just not sure what to get, because I want them to be quite small and meaningful.. Also, you look lovely as usual (I have that lipstick myself but never wear it because it, for some reason, doesn’t suit my face) and I definitely hope you feel better soon and manage to find a solution for your stomach issues! It is always frustrating when you cannot find the exact cause of your problem:(
Enjoy the rest of your week! xx
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Hellu, thank you so much for this comment! I’ve been thinking about this tattoo for years, so I get where you’re coming from with wanting to be SURE it’s what you want. Thank you for the compliment too- I also level with you on that point. There’s been a shade or two I’ve bought that just haven’t panned out with my face, don’t sweat it (: I’m really hoping the procedure goes well too, thanks so much again xoxo
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It’s good that you’re working with the artist to try to get a tattoo that you are really going to like. Too many people just jump into it and get something that they end up regretting later down the road. I just love that purple colored lipstick you were wearing! It’s suits you perfectly.
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Thank you! I’m glad too, cause I’ve seen my sisters get some that maybe they “like” but I don’t think the tattoos came out too well. Thanks again for your kind words (: it’s one of my favorite colors on myself xoxo
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First of all, Belated Happy Birthday Shannon! ☺☺You look so good in dark lipstick!!👌💕 And all your pictures are such fun!😍😍
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Thank you so much 🎉 this is such a sweet comment xoxo
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💕💕😍🙂☺
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Love how you matched your lipstick with the top. I hope you’ll get better soon!
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Thank you and thank you again! Very nice of you, thanks for the comment (:
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I can’t wait to hear more on the tattoos and the procedure. You looked lovely in your photos and the food looks so good too. Hope you enjoy your birthweek!!
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Thank you so much (: I’m crossing my fingers everything turns out alright on both fronts! Keep your eye out for my posts about what we were up to these past few days xoxo
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Happy belated birthday!!!!! ☺ May all your dreams come true!!!! ☺🎂🎂🎉🎉🎉
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Thank you!!!
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Good luck with your procedure! Hopefully it’ll help you start feeling better all the time. Very excited to see what you decide for your tattoos!
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Thank you! I’m nervous, but ready to get it over with haha keep an eye out for that post (:
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Can’t wait to the see the sketches of your tattoo, sounds so awesome!! & I love your purple top–so cute!!
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Thank you (: I’m really excited to see what he creates for me!
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Did I just miss your birthday?! Happy belated birthday omg. I’m sending cheesecakes to make up for it 😂 Love the tattoo idea. Now I’m craving pizza! I’ve never been to sugar shack before- I don’t think they have it in my city. But it looks so good! I need to get cyber by MAC too because it looks amazing! I’m using too many exclamations marks wow. Wait are you allergic to Gluten? I hope everything works out.
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Thank you 💝 you should totally get Cyber! I think I have a sensitivity to it, but I don’t have celiac disease- so that’s a plus haha
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