Philadelphia Tattoo Convention 2009

The DeGrace fam went to the Philly Tattoo Convention today. It was at the Sheraton in Philly, right around the corner from the Convention Center. It took us a couple trips around the block to find the entrance to the parking garage across the street from the Sheraton - but it was worth the trips because the whole day of parking was only $5! This was the first convention for both myself and Asher; Mike has been to three before, in Reading, Philly and Columbus OH. We walked into the hotel past the 'smoking area', about 50 or so people outside in the cold air shivering, laughing, smoking and sporting a variety of piercings and hairstyles and tattoos.


It cost $20 each to get in but Asher was free. We arrived at about 2:30pm and the festivities were going on from about noon to midnight, I believe. Mike had Asher in the carrier the whole day and he was quite an attraction to the convention-goers. We had so many people tell us that he was the most adorable kid they ever saw. Of course we agreed because they were telling the truth. There were also several people that commented that his carrier was definitely the way to go and they wished they had one as well. Asher started waving in the past two weeks or so and he was enjoying waving to everyone all day long. It didn't matter what they looked like, how old they were or whether they were male or female. He was just happy to wave and get a response. He was also trying to touch everyone around him and Mike had to hold his hands pretty much the entire time so he didn't sneak out and pull someone's hair. He is our happy little handful. We were there until 5:30pm and he did great. I fed him once and even with me sitting on the ground with him on my lap to give him a bottle and everyone walking all around us he wasn't startled or scared at all. What an amazing boy!


I got to see Rod from Dexterity Tattoo on Manor Street in Lancaster. It was good to see him again, I haven't seen him since right after me and Mike got back from our honeymoon. Rod started my sleeve and I'm really looking forward to going back to him again. I completed the portion of what I have now right before we got married and planned on getting started right away once we got back but then I found out I was pregnant so had to wait. Since I stopped breastfeeding about 3 months ago I'm in the clear to start getting ink again and I'm really jonesing for it now, especially after going to the convention. Anyway, I plan on having Rod work on my arm some more. I also saw Kim Saigh and Guy Aitchison; they were both set up on a dais along with two other artists. They were all working on oil paintings. Kim's canvas had a very detailed set of dragons hatching and Guy was doing an organic piece that had amazing depth. I love watching artists do their thing. Mike wants to have Guy do a half suit on him and start off with one of the 3D ultrasound shots of Asher and build around it in his style. That should turn out great, I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out and he hasn't even tried making any appointment yet.


Later in the evening they were doing suspension which we were both really interested in seeing but it was too late and we needed to get home with the doodles. I definitely would have enjoyed that though. Must be the sadist in me. We saw our friends Brittany and Travis while we were there, it was good to see them again. I don't think I've seen them since Asher was maybe a month old. It's pretty strange when you live so close to people and then run into each other in Philly. A couple of our other friends were planning on going to the convention, Switz and Jess, but they actually got there right when we were leaving.


Now. We are home. And exhausted. We've both got comfy clothes on now, are posted up in front of the TV, Asher is in bed and Mike's just waiting on me to finish up this blog so he can hit 'play' on RockandRolla. Time for a relaxing Saturday night.