A friend of mine wanted to get her nose pierced for a long time. Finally one Friday night we decided to head down to Jade Dragon in Chicago to get her nose pierced. Now I had toyed around with the idea of getting my navel pierced but never seriously thought I would do it. On the way down there, I joked around about maybe getting it done that night. My friend needed a little "liquid courage" before getting her nose done so we went to a local tavern for a few drinks first.
At A Glance Author Lisa When A year ago Artist George Studio Jade Dragon Location Chicago Several drinks later, we were both quite relaxed so we walked down the street to Jade Dragon. She told them what she wanted to do and picked out the jewelry she wanted for her nose. We were led into a room in back where a girl was getting her navel pierced. While we waited for them to finish with her, I watched the procedure. The girl didn't flinch or anything when the needle went through and it didn't seem to hurt her that much. I was intrigued but still not biting.
So my friend gets her nose pierced and after she's done, they're both trying to convince me to get my navel pierced and I just keep telling them no and they finally give up. My friend and I leave and head up the street to the Beat Kitchen to celebrate her piercing. At about one in the morning, we have done quite a bit of celebrating and I say somewhat jokingly "I should've gotten my navel pierced." Well, that was all it took. We were back in her car and heading back to Jade Dragon!
We get there and I'm looking at all the jewelry they have to offer. So many choices! I pick a silver barbell with a purple crystal at the top and bottom, since purple is my favorite color. I show them what I want and they lead me back to George's room. I'm looking around at all the pictures of tattoos that he has done hanging all over his walls. I ask him if he's ever tattooed anyone famous and he just kind of laughs at me. Hey, I'm just making small talk! But don't get me wrong, he was very nice. So I lay down on the chair and he marks where he's going to pierce me. He tells me to stand up and look in the mirror to make sure it's straight and I like where it's at. It looks good to me so I lay back down and he clamps the skin. He puts the needle through and it is surprisingly not that painful at all! Maybe at that point it was the alcohol that had numbed me but it only hurt for a second when the needle went through and that was it. I stand up and feel a bit wooz y so I sit back down for a minute. I am handed my "care package", which consists of a Jade Dragon coffee mug filled with a bottle of Betadine, a few small packets of Neosporin, and the care instructions for my new piercing. We head out and I start to feel lightheaded again so we sit down for five minutes or so and then I'm alright so we head home. I don't know why I got dizzy like that. Maybe it was just the shock to my body from the piercing or the alcohol or all of the above but after that I was fine. I remember sleeping on my back that night and for a while after too. The area around the piercing was tender for a few weeks. It wasn't painful all the time but definitely sensitive to the touch. Thank God for low rider jeans!
So needless to say, I love my navel piercing! My husband was somewhat surprised the next day to see that I had gotten my navel pierced but said he kind of expected I would get it done and he thought it was cool. I still haven't changed the jewelry but I love my little purple crystal barbell so I'm fine with that for now. I don't think I'll be getting any more piercings in the future but you never know! My husband and I are going to Hawaii soon and I think we're going to get "souvenir tattoos" while we're out there. I have thought about getting a tattoo for a long time but I could never think of anything that I liked enough to put it permanently on my body. Then my brother was talking about when he was in Hawaii a few years ago and how he almost got a tattoo out there. There it was, like a flash of lightning—my tattoo inspiration! Hawaii is my dream destination and I love hibiscus flowers so I would like to get a lavender hibiscus flower with some vines scrolling out from it on my lower back. I can't wait!