Welp, that was the wildest date night of all date nights.
It started as any other summertime Saturday might. We strolled a local street fair as a fam before dropping off the OG at my parents’ house so that we could have a date night (yay!). In tossing around potential date night ideas, we couldn’t find something that felt 100% yes – which was a bit funny, since we aren’t normally indecisive people. But maybe 5 or 6 ideas in and we still hadn’t settled on one that felt right – and I said you know what? I think I want to get my next tattoo today!
I had been inspired by my girlfriend Laurelle who has a similar musical background + ink. My personal thing with tattoos is that I have to be 100% POSITIVE of the location, meaning, and of course the actual design before going ahead with it. And this one was a definite in my brain – so here we are!
“forte” — in music theory, it means strong…loud…with strength.
As a musician/pianist for 22+ years, felt only fitting to ink this basic command on my skin — a constant reminder of the way I strive to live my life.
Loudly. Strongly. Purposefully. Intentionally. Courageously.
forte. ƒ
I absolutely lovelovelove how it turned out – which is good because at first, the guy told me he couldn’t make it as small as I wanted because of how the black ink would feather our or “bleed” if it was a single line. My fear was that it would end up too thick or too big where it wasn’t dainty anymore, but I think he nailed it and I like this size even better than what was originally in my head!
OK SO.
Fast forward to dinner time – the goal was to grab a bite to eat, then come home and watch In the Heights.
We weren’t really feeling the few ideas we had tossed around at first, until I mentioned one of our favorite local spots. It’s a brewery that had just opened outdoor seating and was having live music that night, and we were into it – and then they had spicy watermelon margaritas on the menu, so clearly it was the right choice. 😉
The restaurant just so happens to be near a local pet store which we’ve popped in before with Liv to play with puppies on a whim. We both looked at each other and said what the heck – wanna stop by?
We were NOT planning on adopting an animal this date night…but we HAD been saying that a.) our next cat would be a male Maine Coon, preferably orange and white. (Male Maine Coons are known for their sweet personalities!)
Now, Maine Coons are apparently a suuuuper popular breed for a variety of reasons; J had had one as a kid and it was the best cat, so he was itching to get another someday. But they’re often not at rescue shelters because of their popularity – when we had curiously researched in the past, you actually have to get your name on a cattery waitlist and then be matched to a cat when litters are born, which we didn’t love the idea of (we’re suckers for rescues and love walking in and falling in love with your new forever fur friend – ha!).
We’re just roaming around when I spot the kittens and see the CUTEST orange and white one in the mix or greys and blacks. I call J over and he’s like OMG CUTE. Then I glance up – a sign reads “Maine Coon kitten, Orange & White.” I gasp – it’s a Maine Coon!
I call over the guy to ask if it’s a boy or a girl and sure enough, IT’S A BOY.
After playing with him for about an hour, we left kittenless because we were awaiting his paperwork (since he’s 100% full bred) – but we went back yesterday and HERE HE IS!
Friends, meet Milo!
It took us all three days and a very long laundry list of names to land on Milo, but once we found it – it stuck. And Liv calling him “Mi-yo!” is just about the cutest thing, so I think it’s a keeper. 😉
He’s SO FREAKING TINY right now (he’s not even three months old), but since he’s 100% Maine Coon, he’ll likely grow to be HUUUUUGE – which is partially evident from him big front paws.
I’ll share the video of Liv meeting him to Instagram later, so stay tuned…! Purrcy is still getting warmed up, but that’s very typical to take some time, so we’re giving him that. Milo is SO BRAVE and curious, already snuggles with all of us, already wants to be friends with Purrc, and already fell in the bathtub. HA. So it’s bound to be adventure ahead. 🙂
New tat, new cat…what’s next? Ha!
