Lucky for us, there are LOTS of ways to celebrate girlfriends!

Parties, gifts, making memories together are just a few of the simple ways. But, with creative women out there, often we find alternative ways to recognize and remember the wonderful women in our life who we call our girlfriends. The following story of six friends celebrating their 50th birthdays together shows that friendship is more than skin deep!

INDELIBLE FRIENDSHIP — Lifelong pals turn 50, celebrate with tattoos in Boonton

By Tehani Schneider • Daily Record • October 26, 2008

They’ve been the best of friends since grammar school in Wayne, and were dubbed “The First Wives Club” by attendees at their 30th high school reunion when they arrived sans husbands, who stayed home.

So when each reached a personal milestone this year, turning 50, the six women decided to celebrate by bonding their friendship permanently in ink.

That’s what brought them to Electric Lotus Tattoo and Piercing on Saturday afternoon, where the group prepared to get the same tattoo — a shooting star.

The idea was Sue Tobjy’s, who already had six tattoos. Franklin resident Darlene Tremont, who had three, was on board, but coaxing the other four, who had none, took some time, Tobjy said.

“We’ve been talking about it back and forth (for) like a year,” said Tobjy, of the Lake Hiawatha section of Parsippany. “I said, ‘If you can give birth to a kid, you can do this.’ I think it’s worse going to a dentist.”

The other four women — Lori Atieh of Morris Plains, Karen Convery of Fairfield, Donna Dail of Rockaway Township and Kathy Sippie of Toms River — eventually agreed in the name of lifelong friendship.

“We’re all soul mates,” declared Atieh, the group’s proclaimed “crazy” planner. “You come across a lot of people in your life, but when it comes to your friends, who you’ve known your whole life — this is exactly why I’m here.”

The women, all 1977 graduates of Wayne Hills High School, have stuck together through thick and thin over the years, remaining close as they married and formed their own families in New Jersey.

Every year, they take a trip together, venturing to Atlantic City or the Poconos, and they meet once a month at their favorite spot — TGI Friday’s in Parsippany.

Among the six of them, they have 16 children, and as they’ve grown older and wiser, they’ve shared the lessons of motherhood together.

“We can all relate to each other,” said Tobjy. “I know more about these girls, and we know each other’s lives, our families, everything. They’re in my life forever.”

For Tobjy, getting her seventh tattoo was a piece of cake. Tremont and Dail, too, weren’t nervous. But Convery and Atieh admitted to feeling the jitters. Sippie, who had yet to arrive by early afternoon, had been the most cautious, Tremont said.

“Kathy said, ‘Can’t we all get a piece of jewelry?’” Tremont laughed.

“But that could get lost. We wanted something permanent, something that signifies friendship. … To me, the main star signifies all of us as a group, and the shooting stars represent our individualities.”

The women discussed their design with Jae Conner, owner of Electric Lotus, who agreed to modify the shooting star for each of them on a chosen part of their body.

Tobjy went first, taking a seat and calmly removing the shoe and sock on her right foot as if preparing for a pedicure. She rolled up her pant leg, semi-exposing a tattoo on her right calf as Conner mixed ink for the group’s chosen color.

The other women crowded around her, armed with cameras and posing for a group shot as Tobjy relaxed in the chair. Like her other tattoos, her seventh would have meaning, she said.

“I don’t just get ugly skulls,” said Tobjy, who estimates that 10 percent of her body is inked. An angel on her shoulder commemorates her son’s brain surgery. A band of hibiscus blooms around her bicep and represents her favorite flower, while her back boasts a visual of the ocean with a palm tree.

Tobjy even has matching tattoos with her daughter — a daisy with a ladybug — that Conner did for her.

“He’s like the family tattoo artist,” she said, adding that Conner also has tattooed her husband and two sons.

Conner, 33, who co-owns Electric Lotus with his wife, Bridget, said the Main Street parlor frequently sees groups who want matching tattoos.

“I think it’s just the ultimate commitment, you know,” said Conner, who has been tattooing for 15 years. “Most people who come this far usually follow through.”

As Conner worked on Tobjy’s foot, he held his left hand steady, grasping her ankle as he directed the tattoo gun with the precision of a surgeon, tracing a stenciled design.

“It’s a burning, cutting feeling,” said a nonchalant Tobjy. “It hurts for a second.”

The final design was a turquoise and pink shooting star that the women oohed and ahhed over, snapping more photos as Tobjy proudly displayed her foot.

“I like that light turquoise,” said Dail. “It’s beautiful.”

Tehani Schneider can be reached at (973) 428-6631 or tschneider@gannett.com.

INDELIBLE FRIENDSHIP — Lifelong pals turn 50, celebrate with tattoos in Boonton | Daily Record | Daily Record

Image by raveller via Flickr

How do you and your girlfriends celebrate your friendship? What celebrations have you had for your best friends? Share and inspire!

Related articles by Zemanta

• Name That Celebrity Tattoo!

Tags: Arts, celebrating friendship, girlfriend celebrations, Tattoo

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 11th, 2008 at 11:14 am and is filed under Be a Better FRIEND. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.