I am sighing explosively right now. I tell you this just so you know my frame of mind.
What a day!!
First off, for those of you expecting a shopping thread, this may not be your cup of caffeinated-beverage-of-choice. Yes, there was shopping involved, but with a flight to catch, it was a bit hard to do my normal "try on clothes until my eyes bleed" kind of day. Ah well, I'll get there as 2011 sure looks filled with promise so far!
My day started by finishing my packing for Vegas, kissing my wife goodbye, and dropping my daughter off at school (am I the only one relieved that school is back in session?! Phew! Between family-time out the wazoo (about as painful as it sounds) and my wife's ever-increasing honey-do list due to our recent move, I'm looking forward to going back to work to relax. ).
Anyway, I then went to Ulta to see a friend. I had helped her last week with recording, editing, and production of a DVD audition for The Amazing Race. She was sweet. She knew I was looking at a Too Faced product, and had brought it to me in a little gift bag as a bonus for helping her. I asked her if she would mind doing my makeup since my wife was at home the morning I was leaving, and her pendulum has swung back to not tolerating me as well. Pity, but I can certainly understand her point of view and will do whatever it takes to follow her guidelines of "keeping it out of her face."
Anyway, I walked in right after opening, and said my hellos to the ladies there. I asked her if I should change first, and she asked me what I was wearing. When I mentioned my white top, she crinkled her nose and said, "Maybe you'd better change after. I'm not having much luck with white today" and showed me her white top under her sweater - with a blob of foundation down the front.
So, after asking me what look I was going for today (my reply? ". . . this is probably not what you hear from most guys - make me pretty!" ). We found some eyeshadow colors she had been waiting to try on me, and a new blush from Stila. We used my normal Smashbox Camera-Ready foundation, with a new primer - Smashbox's Photo Finish Targeted Pore & Line Primer. It, along with my recent laser work, had the girls there "ooohing" and "ahhhing" at my newly-pretty smooth skin.
As always, it was fun watching the various people come into the store (of course, for the best light, I was in the chair by and facing the front door) and talking with customers and the employees there. Other than a few slight smiles/snickers from a few older ladies, everyone treated me with respect and courtesy. One lady kept circling me like a shark. My friend asked her at various times if she needed any help, but the lady refused. Finally, during one of her laps, I mentioned that I loved her boots. That seemed to break the ice with her and she then started in on "The Questions" You know the ones - "Is this for a bet?" "So, you actually like dressing as a woman?" "How long have you been doing this?" "Does your wife help you?" and more. She said I had gorgeous eyes, was jealous of my lashes, and was amazed at how beautiful I was when the makeover was finished (I told her that my friend was the one to thank - not me).
Finished with the makeup, I went into the bathroom to change. I attached my forms, put on all my clothes, and brushed my wig out (It looks much better after taking it to my wig lady and asking her to save it if she could. She truly does do magic!). I slipped on my shoes, applied a coat of gloss, packed up all of my boring guy clothes, and clicked on out to show the world.
My first stop was the salon area, because my wig was driving me crazy! One group of hair just didn't want to play nicely with others. Where the rest of my wig was one gorgeous fall of well-behaved hair, this errant strand wanted to be right between my eyes. I asked the salon manager if she could, "help a girl out." She smiled and directed me to a chair. As usual for her, she had it looking "showroom-perfect" in a matter of moments. She asked me if I was in my new house, where I was going looking so pretty, and told me that, to her, it seemed that I got prettier and more feminine each time I stopped in. Awwwwww. aren't friends - especially the little white lie-telling ones - great?!
I walked up to the front where one of them said, "That's it! Get this girl a name tag. She's hired!" I'm sure it was more due to the fact that I was wearing their colors (black and white) than anything else. We chatted and giggled a bit more, and my friend blurted out, "Oh yeah! You can't go out there just looking like a pretty girl. You have to smell like a pretty girl, too!" That started a firestorm of smelling each one's favorites. We settled on Pure by DKNY. It's a light, but unmistakably feminine fragrance. Hey, kinda like me! Well, the "light" part, anyway.
After the usual good-hearted insults on my appearance ("Look at you in that tiny skirt! Those legs! You do realize that you suck and that we all hate you, right?) I then left to go to Salt Lake, and my biggest adventure yet - flying pretty, as our hero Kimberly calls it. Of course, I stopped by my bank, as I love the tellers there. One of them, Summer, is a gorgeous early twentysomething with a sense of style that I wish I could pull off. Imagine someone with cheerleader-level good looks - and a fauxhawk! Her clothes are always hip, fresh, and unreachably young - for me, at least. I happened to get the new teller, who had only heard about me. Since she didn't know me well, she asked for ID. She smiled at me, and said that she really liked the difference, and said that if I had the choice, I should dress this way much more often as it "really suited me." I thanked them, and hurried to my next stop - my optometrist. It was time for Kathi to get a pair of glasses. I already have some prescription women's sunglasses that I bought there a few months ago, but needed a pair for when it wasn't so bright.
I walked in (almost falling in the door as the UPS man yanked the handle to open it from the inside for me) and the girl (I say girl because she is around 22 or so) said, "Hello, how can I, . . . heyyyyyyyy!! You look awesome!!" (She was the one that had helped me with my girly sunglasses, and had seen pictures of me). We chatted a bit while she fixed the missing screw on my sunglasses, and I said that I needed a pair of regular glasses. She said, "Women's, right?" and seemed pleased when I said yes. We tried on about two dozen, and finally settled on a pair that looked cute on me as a woman, but could do double-duty when I was in male mode.
We chatted for a bit, and another worker joined us. I could tell that she didn't know quite what to make of me sitting there in a skirt and stilettos, with my makeup and padding and everything just so. Pity, because she looked the type that I would love to get to know better - at least to borrow clothes from, as she looked like she was also a size 0.
I then drove to White House | Black Market for their 60% off sale. I'll leave that and more for a later post, as I don't know how many more words I can fit into this post. Plus, I'm not just tired (hence the explosive sighs), but I'm hungry! I only had a bowl of Corn Chex this morning, and a pack of peanuts and a Coke later in the day. This freaky body needs food!!
Kathi