The RochesterNYGrrlz held their monthly Girls Night Out event last night and I attended for the first time! It was a completely unique experience.
I spent part of Friday night trying to decide what to wear. This was complicated by plans to have a Naughty or Nice contest for those in attendance. I put a fair amount of thought into this as I didn't want to appear unsuitably dressed. I seriously considered wearing a bandaid skirt that I have that is all of 12"-13". However, the weather forced my choice of a knee-length black/white print dress as the weather forecast was for below freezing temperatures all day. Discretion IS the better part of valor!
As some may know, I own a MINI; a particularly bad-ass one as it is. My closest dealer is the one in Rochester. I received an invitation to their introduction to the new Clubman variant (I have a 2009 model) and decided to made of day of it. For a moment, I entertained the notion of going to the dealership dressed, but those folks know and have done business with Don and not DeeAnn. Anyway, I didn't think it would be particularly useful for DeeAnn to show up. But, the downside was that I had to pack all my clothes, undergarments, shoes and makeup. As Rochester is about an hour and a half drive from my home, either I had to remember everything that I needed or go without.
So, after the dealership trip and a nice lunch, I did a brief errand and then it was time to meet a few of the RochesterNYGrrlz girls and get dressed. If you've never had the pleasure of getting dressed in a restroom, try to avoid that if you have a choice. Many don't have much in the way of counter space and beware of the toilets with no lid! Drop anything in there and you probably won't get it back. But, t least there was a chair. All totalled, it took close to an hour and a half for shaving, makeup, dressing and repacking.
When we left the building to drive over to the club, the first think that I noticed was the brisk air. The second thing was the brisk air going UP my dress. It occurred to me that I had never been out in cold weather, so that was a bit of a shock. The club was not far. After I parked, I got my shoulder bag and walked to the building. Once again, there was a serious breeze up my dress, but there was another sensation also. I realized that I had never felt so feminine; ever. There I was, walking down the sidewalk in a nice dress, tights, jewelry, makeup, wig and heels. The only thing missing was that I didn't have enough time to do my nails. Couldn't help but smile...
I thought I woould stay about 3 hours and wound up staying for over 6. It was a most eclectic group. While all were dressed, some were crossdressers and others were somewhere along the path of transitioning. There was talk of jewelry, thrift stores and hormone medications. While I'm not looking transition, it was interesting to hear about people's struggles and triumphs. Although our plans and end games may be different, there are a number of common threads such as who to tell and when to tell them, reactions among family and friends and implications for significant others and children. I don't liike to use the word Inspirational, but you do get a sense of what is possible.
3 Highlights for the Evening:
- Meeting a number of unforgettable people
- As a guy walked in front of me, he said: "Pardon me, honey.".
- The other week I posted an Introduction message to the site of the RochesterNYGrrlz. Basically I wrote about how I came to this place, physically and intellectually. Several people thanked me for writing it and that they could see a lot of their personal issues in what I said. It reminds me, that whether we're talking about here or there, it is about shared struggle and our support for each oher.