Dress up for Miss night

I wish I was young enough to wear something like this out in public! 

But I'm happy to dress all fun and crazy for our time together.

Miss really enjoyed this outfit, especially the seamed stockings :-P

 

Girls Night Out! 80's Drag Show!

WoooHooooo!

We made our first outing to the bar/nightclub scene with me en-femme!

It was a complete blast!

I've been dying to find places to go out, and there has been one place that I've had my eye on for a while that we finally made it to. We actually don't have much interest in the club scene, at least with me in drab, en-homme mode. We do love to go to concerts, and have been able to make 2 or 3 per year lately.

The club is in Long Beach California, fully catering to the LGBT community. It's a little bit of a drive, but it was soooo worth it!

But before I get to the events of the evening, here is the prologue :-)

The first part of the day I spent running my usual weekend shopping and errands, trying to get those done as quick as I could so I'd have plenty of time to get ready, and to make dinner before heading out.

When I was done I got started on getting myself all Fem'd up.

Thanks to Mandy Sherman, I am totally hooked on epilating, and I pretty much do it from head to toe now, once a week. The results are incredible! As far as my body goes, I feel very little discomfort now that I'm used to it. I take a shower and shave afterward to get what it doesn't get, and I have never felt so smooth! No issues with ingrown hair - yay! And I no longer have to shave my legs every day in the shower, which saves a lot of time getting ready for work.

I also epilate my face. I do not recommend that, nor do others. I find doing my face, at a minimum, *painful*, and usually/often - *very painful*. My upper lip is pretty much the only place I experience any bleeding (but it's minor). I tried it first as an experiment, in the hopes that it would reduce the visibility of any stubble. Guess what? It works GREAT! To me, it is worth the pain and discomfort. My complexion is so much better now that I'm doing it, and that gives me a big confidence boost to my passability. Electrolysis for sure needs to come eventually. But for now this works so well!

Ok, so next I need to pick out what I'm going to wear. Up 'till now I had it in my head that I would be in a skirt and blouse of some kind. I started to put all my girl clothes in piles on the bed to make it easier to see what would be a good outfit. But as I was trying things on and asking Miss what she thought looked good or not, she mentioned that she looked at pictures taken at the club and it seemed more casual dress. So I ended up going with skinny jeans, boots, and a nice top; an outfit I posted pictures of a while back (I need more tops!):

So I put my makeup on, and got dressed. Miss was already ready, and she does complain about how long it takes for me to get ready ;-) What a reversal of our gender rolls - LOL!!! Unfortunately at this point we realized that we weren't going to have time to make dinner at home, but Miss had looked at the clubs menu online, and we figured we'd be able to order something reasonable for dinner when we got there.

I still needed my nails done, so Miss started on that. Our plan was for Miss to do my nails as I described in this post  Possible shopping outfits, and new French Manicure technique. 

Unfortunately my nails didn't go as planned. We bought what we thought were clear nail tips that are for larger sized hands online from Sally Beauty, but they were full nails. Miss had painted them white in preparation for putting them on me, but I wasn't feeling like full white nails were going to be right for me this night. So she painted them red... but they were not drying! She tried Out-The-Door, and that didn't help either. We were both worried that I'd be wearing off the polish it was so bad. In the end they did dry enough and she put them on. Now we were just worried about them popping off (one did come off at the club, but thankfully not a thumb nail!)

Anyway, we were finally ready and headed out.

I of course had been plenty nervous about how this was going to go. Despite the fact that this was an LGBT club, and we were going to an 80's Drag Show.

We found the club, and had to park across the street in a pay-parking lot. We had little trouble figuring out how to use the self-service credit card payment machine. Several groups of people passed by us and I wondered if they read me or not, but they didn't seem to notice.

We start walking to the club, and have to wait for a pretty slow light to change before we could cross the street. Again, I'm feeling awkward and insecure, wondering if how I'm standing is feminine enough, and trying to think of what little motions and mannerisms a woman would make in this situation. The light changes and we cross. 

This is a pretty busy part of town for nightlife, and there are people walking around us, behind us, coming towards us. All the while I am wondering how well I'm pulling this off, are people reading me, etc. I make occasional eye contact with these passers by, and wonder if they can "see it in my eyes." All this time I'm totally thrilled at being out. Indescribably happy at being out! But equally petrified at being detected. Crazy awesome mess I am inside, but I just love it so!!!

We get to the club, and we have to show ID - awesome scary! The demeanor of the gal asking for it seemed like it was more of a formality, and she was actually small talking with someone as we approached her and she wasn't really focused on us. As we got closer to her she turned to us to ask "ID?" as if she was just saying a casual hello. I got my ID out of my purse and as I handed it to her I said "I'm having a much better hair day today!" I think it was only then that she realized I was not a genetic girl :-)  Anyway, she puts  wristbands on us and we go in. We are greeted again, and asked if we have reservations (which we did).

We were escorted to our seats, which were totally awesome front row almost center! The place was packed already, and I was amazed that we had what must have been "reserved" seats thanks to the reservation. We arrived at 8 pm, which was showtime, but the show started about 20-30 minutes late which was good for us.

We were both worried that we would be "fish out of water" - not because of me, but because we are both in the 2nd half of our 40's and thought this might be a very young crowd. Thankfully that was not the case. All ages were represented. There were plenty of folks that looked to be in their 40's, 50's, 60's, and a lady that must have been somewhere in her 70s. Whew! No concerns with this. 

Sitting next to us were 2 ladies about our age. And they were right next to us, elbows / arms occasionally accidentally brushing each other. They were finishing up dinner, which was a relief as we wouldn't feel awkward ordering our dinner. 

Throughout the evening I small talked on and off with the lady right next to me as we all enjoyed the show. This was their first time there, and they were local. The lady next to me said that she heard of this club from her daughter, so I assume her daughter might be gay? I don't think she read me initially, even after we had brief conversation, but Miss is pretty sure that her friend eventually did, and was sure that at some point early in the evening she pointed me out to the lady next to me and told her - "That's a guy!"  

The drag show starts (Queens and a King!), our food gets there, we've got our margaritas, we're having a great time. We both notice at least one other trans lady up on a balcony at a table alone, there are trans men, a trans couple or two at least. One couple close by us were a genetic girl and trans male. Upon noticing the wonderful variety of people, Miss said "I'm not butch enough!" Well next time around let's get you really butch Miss - I have ideas! :-P

After the drag show there was 80's dance music and people were getting their dance on. The lady next to me invited us to come out and dance with her and her friend which we did for a while, so they obviously had no issue with me. And the lady next to me and I were talking on and off the whole time, so all was wonderful. I should note that I was sitting between Miss and the 2 ladies, and it was too loud for Miss to have much conversation with them, but Miss did get in on some of the conversation as the night went on.

So not a single bad thing happened, it was as perfect a night out as it could have been. Miss declared LGBT "her kind of people." I think this was her first time to a LGBT centered event and she said she's never felt so comfortable in a "straight" club/bar setting. I'm really glad that LGBT are her people, as that's pretty much us now (I'm kidding her here!)

I'm really looking forward to more outings, and I hope we can make some new friends-like-us too.

Take care everyone!

Love,

jen

Quest for average clothing!

Miss and I were shopping a few weeks ago at our favorite 'low price leader' retailer, and they already had swim suits on sale! I was very surprised at this, even for this particular store.

I noticed a ladies skirted swim bottom where the skirt was made of a lace like material, which struck me as being PERFECT to help obscure any unexpected, inappropriate, and embarrassing protrusions of my en-homme bits... if you know what I mean ;-)

Probably the only reason that it caught my eye was that I had bought a top some months ago, thinking it was a regular piece of clothing. But when I went to try it on at home I discovered it was actually a swim top. Rather than taking it back, I kept it in hopes of finding a bottom to go with it. And it looks like maybe I did!

Please ignore the shoes in the photos, I was rushing a bit as I think I needed to get dinner started and they were what I wore with another outfit I was trying on that I'll post next.

So I think with this swim suit combo, Miss and I will be able to hit the beach this summer!

The top works great with my breast enhancers, so I should be able to get in the water without worrying about things shifting around, as long as the waves aren't too rough.

Miss has changed her diet over the last 4 or 5 months and is looking even more sexy than usual, so we will need to pick her up a new swim suit too. And that's another reason why my coverup swim bottom is a MUST HAVE! - LOL!

And no, we are not in a rush for summer to get here. But it will be a fun time.

Below is another little casual outfit with a black skirt and red checked top. It looks kind of sporty and fun looking to me for whatever reason. But I'm no fashion expert, and probably most can tell that from some of the outfits I've posted pictures of.

And one more outfit I think would work well to go out in. I love the plaid skirt, and we found some very pretty patterned tights to go along with it.

 

I hope everyone is having a good start to the new year- take care!

jen

Back from holiday

I feel so disappointed in myself for not posting for so long!

The end of year is very busy for me between work and friend and family time, and that's where my priorities unfortunately need to be most of the time. Such is life! I'm sure many can relate.

I was not able to get out en-femme much at all either, which is the most disappointing thing. Miss and I did make it out for one trip to a mostly outside shopping mall a few days before Christmas. We ended up going out in the evening, and luckily in California the weather is usually very mild so we didn't need to wear anything over our blouses while there.

The selection of shops at this mall wasn't that great of a match for the few gifts I still needed, so it ended up being a mostly window shopping experience.

Miss was keeping here eyes on others to see if they were taking any notice to me, and she said she didn't see anyone looking our way with any curiosity.

Here are a couple of pictures of me after we got back home. Miss and I have actually shared clothes a few times in the past, and this top she has worn also - we both like it a lot! We get such a kick being able to share clothes and love that we are able to. I think this is a really good casual look, which is something I have wanted to try out. Skinny jeans (yummy!) and flat healed boots. I was testing the wardrobe in public I guess :-)

Oh, Miss did my nails again for this trip out. She puts on white tips at the end of my nails, and then glue with a powder coating. They look really good this way and extend the length of my nails nicely.

 

 Miss didn't make any romantic gestures or conversation while we were out, she just wanted this to be a platonic girls out shopping together kind of night. I felt a little emotionally denied when I realized that, but we wanted this to be a low key trip. So we said our occasional random "I love you"'s out of ear shot of other shoppers.

The highlight of the trip was walking into Bath and Body Works and being greeted as we entered with a "Hi ladies!" from one of the clerks. Awesome! We spent quite a while checking out the different lotions and fragrances.

I of course was totally paranoid that people were going to notice me and stare. The store was very well lit and pretty crowded.

I did make eye contact with other shoppers, but pretty much just stood there looking at things on the display's, in a lot of apprehension and fear, as Miss was leisurely testing out the sampler products. At that point I was assuming that people were noticing me (but apparently they weren't!)

I know I need to gain confidence being out in public more! I don't do New Years resolutions, but if I did the top of the list would be getting out en-femme more! (Duh, isn't that universal for girls like us?)

We considered eating at one of the restaurants there as we finished shopping, but they were all a bit pricey or not the kind of food we wanted for dinner. We did have plans to go to lunch on New Years Eve, but life got in the way of us being together that day and it didn't happen. I was really working up my nerve (and really looking forward) to going to lunch en-femme too! We will get to that in time.

I hope everyone had a great end of year and holiday season!

Take care all and Happy New Year!

jen

US House of Representatives has one Republican Congresswoman with a transgender child!

Sorry to let a bit of my political bias out, but how ironic that the only known Congressperson with a transgender child is a Republican?

And before I go on, Cheers to Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen for what she is saying in support of her child and to other parents! (See excerpt farther below.)

Of course there have been plenty of Republican politicians that we have learned over the years have gay, or at least bisexual sexual orientations. And of course Republicans are targeted and outed in the press for their hypocrisies with respect to LGBT concerns much more than Democrats, but I'd love to know what number or percent of Democrats are identified or known to be a part of the LGBT community vs. what that might be for Republicans (that we've learned about over the years). It would be hilarious if the numbers were more for the GOP :-)

From the article Politician on Transgender Son: 'We're Proud of Him':

The Republican Rep. — and only member of Congress with a transgender child — took to TV on Nov. 17, during Transgender Awareness Week, in a public show of support for her 28-year-old, born Amanda. She urged other parents of transgender kids to have as much pride in their sons and daughters as she has in the eldest of her four children and stepchildren. “We know Rigo as our child, whether it’s Amanda or now as Rodgrigo, he’s our son and we’re proud of him"

...

Ros-Lehtinen is the first House Republican to support gay marriage and the only Republican on the 112-member Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus. And she’s supported her son throughout his journey, which began when he came out to his parents as a lesbian in high school and then as transgender during college in 2007. “As parents, we wanted Rodrigo to understand that we’re totally fine with it,” the congresswoman explained. “He’s our son, we’re proud of him.”

Now the mom is asking other parents to stand behind their transgender kids, too. “Don’t freak out,” she advised. “Stay calm and don’t be afraid. And love your child because that person is your child whether it’s the person you wanted him or her to be or not. That’s my advice to parents. Never, never reject your child. That’s unconditional love, no matter what.”

A third of Fortune 500 companies now cover transgender health care

Great to hear about progress in mainstream America for transgender issues!

A third of Fortune 500 companies now cover transgender health care

From the article:

The number of Fortune 500 companies willing pay for sex reassignment surgeries and other transgender-related healthcare has gone from zero in 2002 to 169 this year, according to a new report from the Human Rights Campaign.

The report, which ranks corporations on their treatment of gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans employees, also found that more than half of corporations with more than 500 employees that participated in the survey now cover the procedures. That’s 418 firms.

Some of the biggest names in corporate America are among those who have signed up to cover the procedures, at up to $75,000 per employee. Facebook Inc., Visa, Starbucks Corp., CVS Health Corp. and Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. are just some of the firms that decided this year to begin covering the procedures for their workers for the first time.

“The jump in terms of employers adopting transgender benefits has been the most dramatic of any single aspect of the Corporate Equality Index in its entire history,” said Deena Fidas, the director of the Human Rights Campaign’s Workplace Equality Program, which has been producing the report for more than a decade.

Ratings in the Corporate Equality Index are derived from a look at five major areas, including: recruiting efforts, whether firms have explicit gender identity and sexual orientation anti-discrimination protections, and if they have extended health care and other benefits to same-sex partners.

While the vast majority of Fortune 500 companies now have nondiscrimination policies that explicitly protect employees from being fired for their gender identity or orientation, companies have moved much more slowly when it comes to covering transgender health care.

Possible shopping outfits, and new French Manicure technique.

Well there hasn't been too much excitement lately. The day-to-day demands of life are in the forefront for me right now, keeping my free time less than usual.

I've been getting in one dress up night a week, so here are a few photos. I'm trying to figure out good combo's that I can wear out in public, as a lot of my clothes are summery, or a little too racy.

I need to do a little more shopping for outfits to, well...., to go shopping in! ;-)

Floral print with Empire waist

I really like dresses with an Empire waist. With my bit of spare tire, I think they work great with that to give me the appearance that I have some kind of hips and 'figure.'  

With our typical mildly cool California "winter", I would probably need a light sweater to go with this? Going out I'd wear pantyhose instead of thigh-highs.

Pleated skirt

Here I'm wearing  a really light pink pleated skirt (I love it - it's so pretty!), with just the sweater and a lacy pink bra underneath. Nude stockings. I'd like to find some peep toe flats to go with this. Miss gave me a French Manicure which you can almost make out. 

New nail technique

And here is little old me with *not my best looking facial expression*. I have on a see-through lacy black top and pink bra. 

Miss picked up a new nail technique that she tried out on me. We bought white nail tips from Sally Beauty, and she glued them on just at the tip of my natural nails. Then she clipped them to a nice medium length. She finished me up by applying a coat of glue to the top of each nail, which I dipped in a soft white nail powder, and then covered with out-the-door top coat. The look was really great!

Sorry that I don't have a better picture. What was really nice was they weren't too bad to get off the next morning when I had to return to boy mode. So I hope I get a lot more time in nails, especially when we go out!