Casper the Friendly Ghost, swimming in a sea of sparkling pink on Eddie & Sharyn’s dock. 

I bought this 40’s-style Staerk one-piece (it has a mesh back and is surprisingly comfortable for a strapless suit) for FIVE DOLLARS at the sample sale store on Madison Avenue between 28th and 29th. 

Should we talk about my bicep tattoo? I got it when I was 21, right after I drove cross-country to Los Angeles after I graduated from college. It’s a mix between a dreamcatcher, a star, and a compass, and I decided on it because it was a design that I found myself constantly doodling that first summer that I lived in all alone in an entirely new city.

I have a few tattoos in addition to this one (three on my lower back – yeah, I know – and one on my foot), and I frequently get asked how I chose a design that I knew I wouldn’t get sick of. To me, that’s totally besides the point: I’ve always gotten tattoos because they’ve symbolized a moment in time. It’s not about the design; it’s about how I felt. I’m not saying that this is how it is for everyone, or even how it should be…but my tattoos are important to me, and I don’t regret a single one.