Nick Colella

hes a monster and i was setup by Rodin!

Since Mario and I travel to do shows together for the most part we pack pretty similarly, but one thing ive noticed if you carry on your supplies, ie. needles tubes and inks, keep your cards on you, im not sure about other countries but TSA workers love tattoos and as soon as you throw out a card and talk tattoos they are all about letting you through carrying on all your equipment. At least in my experience.

uh -oh Bonnys here..look out

im gonna second julio on his post. i try to learn as much as i can from the ones i respect most in this business. i try to really listen to what they say and not what my customers say.

im not sure of other spots but Chicago I know pretty well, my wife and are try to get out for an amazing meal well it used to be once a month then it was onc in a while and now since we have a family its once a year or whenever we can fit it. So here is a list of my favorite spots that we have been to the first ones are the heavy hitters and then ill go into the local spots. Alinea-Head Chef Grant Achatz www.alinea-restaurant.com it just retarded 29 course 5 hour amazement! Spiagia-Head Chef Tony Mantuana http://www.spiaggiarestaurant.com/ amazing tasting menu from a 4 star non mom and pop italian restaurant Schwa-Head Chef Michael Carlson http://schwarestaurant.com/ its like punk rock meets fine dining intense David Burke Steakhouse-Head Chef David Burke http://www.davidburke.com/ old style steakhouse with steaks aged in a room lined with Himalayan rock salt harvested once a year Craftsteak - Head Chef Tom Choliccio http://www.mgmgrand.com/restaurants/craftsteak-steak-house.aspx we where amazed at the food had a feast with 6 of us and it was some of the best cut and cooked steak we have ever had Joel Robuchon-Head Chef Joel Robuchon http://www.joel-robuchon.net/ voted Chef of the Century and he lived up to it Hot Chocolate- Head Chef Mindy Segal http://www.hotchocolatechicago.com/ a good friend and a 4 time James Beard Award pastry chef nominee L2O - Head Chef Laurent Gras http://www.l2orestaurant.com/ amazing food with a great room, the service was awesome so heres some local spots there are always Chicago spots that ive been going to for years that have great food whether it be a hotdog or a beef sandwich (you can ask the guys at Blackheart about my love of those two things) so these are a few of my favorite spots for Chicago food this spot is number one for a reason its a great place and the owner is an amazing guy who just gets it, my wife and I had our rehearsal dinner here, there is a line no matter when to get his food he is open from 10:30 to 4pm Monday through Saturday there are no other spots than the one and wen he goes on vacation he closes the doors Hot Dougs- Owner Doug Sohn http://www.hotdougs.com/ Hands down the best hotdogs and gourmet sausages in the city if not the country, he is listed on Anthony Bourdains top 13 places to eat before you die! Johnnie Beef-Owner Johnnie http://www.yelp.com/biz/johnnies-beef-elmwood-park as the review says "some people do to church on sundays i go for the italian beef combo at johnnies Pita Inn http://pita-inn.com/ amazing Mediterranean food Bari http://www.yelp.com/biz/bari-chicago a perfect Italian deli with fantastic sandwiches made to order Sabatinos http://www.sabatinoschicago.com/ the pasta is ridiculous and the breaded clams are nuts plus you get the guys playing the guitar and violin coming to your table and it looks like a mob hit can happen at any time Los Napales http://www.losnopalesrestaurant.com/ The spot for legit authentic Mexican food in Chicago Gale Street Inn http://www.galestreet.com Best rib spot around and the have amazing jambalaya Bongo Room http://www.thebongoroom.com/ an OG boutique breakfast spot with retarded specialty pancakes Longman and Eagle http://www.longmanandeagle.com/ a new gastro pub that opened not to long ago the sweatbreads and Pork belly are intense Pizza D.O.C. http://www.mypizzadoc.com/ Brick oven pizza and amazing food Emiliano Libertori used to love this place when he lived in Chicago Pizza Metro http://www.pizzametro.com/ Everything here is so good super small sit at the bar and wait for a square! ok and now for the Pizza so theres always this debate on the pizza and as far as i see it Chicago has three different types and and all beat out NY and i dont care what anyone says, so the 3 styles are Thin Crust Dagastinos http://www.dagsdelivers.com/zgrid/themes/753/portal/index.jsp;jsessionid=a-pSGbUxXw34 Deep Dish Art of Pizza http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-art-of-pizza-chicago Bakery Style D'amato's http://www.yelp.com/biz/d-amatos-bakery-chicago im sure i missed a ton but thats all i got for you tonight

It seems like there is never enough time to do it all, I take 2 days off a week and I try to switch days shift for night whenever I can but I mostly work 4-midnight so putting Josie to bed 2 or 3 nights a week is awesome, but I feel like I should be there more. When I am home at night Sarah and I can decompress from our days and just be in the same room with each other, not even having to talk is fine just to know we are around is cool. It was hard before kids spending time and doing things together because tattooing takes up everything, I don’t mean that in a bad way but like you said we work when everyone else is off. Its hard for us to say no to appointments because if we aren’t at the shop or tattooing there is no income. Its hard not being at a place that you really love. I told Sarah that she is my second marriage cuz I married a tattoo shop when I was 19… But I think that the designated date nights or date days are a must, and family time we do in the mornings as well sarah gets up with josie most of the time but on my nights off I get up, I think supporting each other is the main objective no matter what

yeah its up by the Great Lakes Naval Base, I used to go up there in the late 90s every other weekend when the sailors got paid. they would get slammed and we would crank em out

Ive talked to Scott and to Chad about this a bunch but I would like to hear how others find ways to handle family time, kid time, wife/husband time, and do all the things needed to try to keep up on painting and doing decent tattoos and handling shop BS all the while not losing your shit. It’s a rough go and with our families and careers are not getting any smaller I would like to know what others do to balance it all out.

yeah so Chad started with the one up!!!! Chicago Tattoo Co, Chicago BlackHeart Tattoo, SF Aloha Monkey, Burnsville MN Tattoo Paradise, DC Luck Seven Tattoo Libertyville Il (navy pay weekends) Living Art Tattoo Linkoping Sweden