NIKKI MALFITANO

Renaissance Tattoo • Englewood, NJ

- Dan Lorenzo

Dan Lorenzo: Tell me the story about your first tattoo.

Nikki Malfitano: Oh boy. My first tattoo was when I was at the old and wise age of 16, when I was definitely not allowed to get one... naturally, that just made me pick a place my parents would never see, which narrowed down to the inside of my mouth. So I set sail for this sketchy shop in NYC, and somehow my fake ID passed, or the person just didn't look at it, but I was on my way to getting 'Bite Me' inside my lip. Looking in the mirror afterwards, it was completely crooked and shaky, but I didn't know the difference, so I was super pumped about this awful tattoo. From that point on I fell IN LOVE with the feeling and whole experience. Oh and my parents still found out about it, so as you can imagine, that didn't go over so great...

I'm horrible at stretching and I find it impossible to turn off my mind which makes it difficult for me to sleep. You told me you're into yoga and mediation. What should I start with?