I saw John’s unique Chicago flag tattoo across the patio at Honey Butter Fried Chicken and when I went over to talk to him, it turned out that his dinner companion Nicki also had a Chicago flag tattoo on her side. She wasn’t wearing clothes that let her show it off that day, but she was nice enough to send me a photo. Nicki’s tattoo was done by Marty BCardy from ILL State Ink. John designed his own tattoo, and Amanda from Top Notch Tattoo in Elgin inked it for him.
CFT: What are your Chicago tattoo stories? Are you both natives?
John: Well, I am, she’s kind of a long-term transplant.
Nicki: Yeah, yeah.
John: I grew up in the burbs, and have lived here for a few years and friends live here, family lives around here and, it’s kind of one of those things where you love it to death, with a lot of pride.
Nicki: This is my ten-year Chicago anniversary so I got that as a gift to myself. I love the seasons here, so I wanted something with the stars, and the seasons, and the skyline, so they managed to put it all together.
John: So I started sketching random crap for a tattoo for Nicki, and I ended up designing this one, and you know, I’m going to actually keep this one for myself.
Nicki: He stole my idea.
