Marlena Dahlstrom
01-24-2006, 01:51 AM
Like Rachel, I also attended the Transgender San Francisco Cotillion and decided to splurge and make a weekend out of it.
Friday it was kind of one thing after another, so I didn't get a chance to pack until late. I'll never complain again about women having so many suitcases -- although admittedly I overpacked because I wasn't sure how formal/casual things would be. So didn't leave the house until around 8 and traffic was horrendous, which meant I didn't get checked in until about 9:30. There was an opening night reception in the hotel bar that went until 10 (although as I suspected people hung out afterwards), but I was so beat that I didn't feel like getting dressed -- plus I wanted to make sure I stayed healthy for the Cotillion on Saturday. So a bit of a let down.
Got up about 8:30 on Saturday, had breakfast en homme, although I ended running into one of the girls I know from the Carla's dinners and ate with her. Got dressed en femme (the black sequined top in my avatar, chocolate-brown striped colored paints, chocolate-brown brown boots and leather jackets) and dropped by the Hospitality Suite to see if anyone was there to go out with during the day. Unfortunately, it was pretty dead and in retrospect it would've been a good idea to drop in to the Friday night event to see what people were planning for Saturday. So ended up going off to play by myself.
Fortunately, my boots are pretty comfortable so I decided to hoof it over to Union Square, since I could use the exercise. It was cold, gray and foggy -- the equivalent a nice summer day in San Francisco and great tranny weather. :p Got a few glances along the way and while sitting in Union Square having a coffee at the cafe there, but honestly I don't really notice them anymore. (I look at it as doing my bit to provide the tourists with local color.) Then I went window shopping. I don't really need to buy anything, so it was really more killing time. Although in retrospect I wish I'd gotten to Nordstrom's earlier, since I do need some shoes -- I've realized most of the ones I've got are a bit too big. Ah well, another day....
I did cross another milestone -- using the women's restroom at Macy's. Actually, at a CD dinner last week I used one for the first time, but it turned out to be a bit anti-climatic, since it was empty. Anyway, I really needed to go, and thanks to Windy's telling me she had no problems, I just plucked up the courage, went in and made a bee-line for the nearest stall, did my business, washed my hands and made a quick exit. No one screamed, in fact no one took obvious notice of me, which was surprising. (I did have my "speech" ready -- that I didn't mean to intrude, but I really needed to pee and it's not safe for me to use the men's.)
Had lunch at the food court in the basement of Macy's. One of the things I've always envied about women is the easy way they seem to strike up conversation with other women, so I tried my hand at it. Ended up having a nice chat with the women sitting next to me. Talked about what they'd bought, how they were enjoying their visit to San Francisco, etc. No deeper than guys talking about sports, but it was fun and they seemed fine with treating me as an honorary woman. (I've got no illusions about being mistaken for a GG in up-close interaction.)
Took a cab back to the hotel and got ready for the Cotillion. Took the elevator down to the parking garage with some tourists, who didn't bat an eye -- although a 6'1" (in heels) "woman" in formal evening gown isn't exactly a typical sight. Ended up driving myself there, since I figured I probably shouldn't got out afterwards. Got to the theater around 6. The doors opened at 5, but I was still on the early side -- yes, everyone was on tranny time. :bs: But I didn't count on the long walk from the front door to the theater itself -- about a city block -- especially in some 3-1/2-inch heels that I'd never worn for any length of time before. Oooooowwwww...... While waiting for the show to begin I had hors d'oeuvres and a bar and a few glasses of wine to kill the pain. And I got to catch up with friends I hadn't seen in awhile. (Unfortunately, Rachel and I missed each other, although it turns out I was sitting two rows behind her.)
The crowd was a mix of CDs, TSs and drag queens so it was interesting to see the different interpretations of femininity. I must say, I do admire the sass that DQs have -- us CDs could learn of thing or two from them about holding your head high, being out, being proud and not taking sh*t from anyone. :thumbsup: There were also a sprinkling of FTMs (who served as escorts to the MTF contestants during the show). It is impressive what testosterone does to the body -- aside from their short stature, you'd never guess they were FTM.
The Cotillion itself is beauty pagent for Ms. and Mr. TGSF with entertainment by fellow members of the local TG community interspersed between the various rounds for the contestants. As Rachel mentioned, after the intermission they held the "Debutante and Guy Walk" for first-time attendees. As Rachel said, it was a moving experience to see some folks spreading their wings.
Afterwards, back at the hotel, as I came in from the parking garage the elevator door was just closing but someone caught for me. It turned out to be a half-dozen teen/college-age kids. Great.... Especially since my make-up was looking a bit worse for wear at that point thanks to my oily skin. But since they'd caught the door for me, I couldn't very well say I was taking the next elevator. However, they were perfectly sweet. For some reason my room key wouldn't activate the elevator buttons (in order to get to the guest floors), so they were really just focused on trying to help me get it working.
Got up around 9 the next morning. Almost didn't want to get dressed -- yeah, if I had to do make-up every morning, I'm sure I'd grow tired of it. But put on my "weekend casual" outfit (boots, jeans and a navy V-neck sweater) and went down for the final brunch before checking out. There were two exhibits of photos of the 1906 quake that just opened at MOMA and the Palace of the Legion of Honor (another art museum), so I went to see both. Again, it was surprising to me how little attention I attracted (at least to my face). Chatted briefly with a woman standing next to me about the exhibit. Again there was no particular reaction to me being in drag. Used the women's restroom again at the Palace without incident.
I'd meant to catch the 4:15 showing of "Transamerica" but I dawdled too long at the museum, so I had to kill some time until the 7 p.m. show. So since it was such a gorgeous clear day, I drove up to Twin Peaks for the view. Interacted with a couple people there, helping figure out where landmarks were. One college girl ask me to take her picture. Unfortunately, I'd left my camera in the luggage, otherwise I would've ask her to take one of me. Again my appearance didn't seem to attract much notice.
Had dinner -- the wait staff were perfectly charming -- and miracles of miracles actually found a parking space within three blocks of the theater. Went to use the restroom at the theater -- I think the elastic in the hip pads must press on the bladder :rolleyes: -- but unfortunately this time both stalls were occupied and I had to wait in the vestibule, which was a little nerve-wracking. Although considering the movie, I didn't think it would be a problem. Fortunately, no one came and I could scoop past the other woman while she was washing her hands.
As far as "Transamerica," Fecility Huffman was amazing, although the movie itself is one of those cliched "road movies" young indie directors love making. Here's my review (http://www.crossdressers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=317313#post317313) of it.
Drove home and the street was quiet, so I kept the wig and breastforms on, took my purse and went into the house. Took my wig off to go back out to get the luggage out of the trunk (since that's more visible from the street) but it was only when I got back inside that I realized I'd forgotten to take the breastforms out. Granted with the unzipped coat on, they weren't that obvious at a distance and had anyone been on the street I would've been more careful, but I thought it was funny that after wearing them all day, I just sort of forgot they were there.
(Sorry no photos -- flash photography doesn't mix well with my oily skin, so I look like a shiny-faced fat cow. :mad: )
Friday it was kind of one thing after another, so I didn't get a chance to pack until late. I'll never complain again about women having so many suitcases -- although admittedly I overpacked because I wasn't sure how formal/casual things would be. So didn't leave the house until around 8 and traffic was horrendous, which meant I didn't get checked in until about 9:30. There was an opening night reception in the hotel bar that went until 10 (although as I suspected people hung out afterwards), but I was so beat that I didn't feel like getting dressed -- plus I wanted to make sure I stayed healthy for the Cotillion on Saturday. So a bit of a let down.
Got up about 8:30 on Saturday, had breakfast en homme, although I ended running into one of the girls I know from the Carla's dinners and ate with her. Got dressed en femme (the black sequined top in my avatar, chocolate-brown striped colored paints, chocolate-brown brown boots and leather jackets) and dropped by the Hospitality Suite to see if anyone was there to go out with during the day. Unfortunately, it was pretty dead and in retrospect it would've been a good idea to drop in to the Friday night event to see what people were planning for Saturday. So ended up going off to play by myself.
Fortunately, my boots are pretty comfortable so I decided to hoof it over to Union Square, since I could use the exercise. It was cold, gray and foggy -- the equivalent a nice summer day in San Francisco and great tranny weather. :p Got a few glances along the way and while sitting in Union Square having a coffee at the cafe there, but honestly I don't really notice them anymore. (I look at it as doing my bit to provide the tourists with local color.) Then I went window shopping. I don't really need to buy anything, so it was really more killing time. Although in retrospect I wish I'd gotten to Nordstrom's earlier, since I do need some shoes -- I've realized most of the ones I've got are a bit too big. Ah well, another day....
I did cross another milestone -- using the women's restroom at Macy's. Actually, at a CD dinner last week I used one for the first time, but it turned out to be a bit anti-climatic, since it was empty. Anyway, I really needed to go, and thanks to Windy's telling me she had no problems, I just plucked up the courage, went in and made a bee-line for the nearest stall, did my business, washed my hands and made a quick exit. No one screamed, in fact no one took obvious notice of me, which was surprising. (I did have my "speech" ready -- that I didn't mean to intrude, but I really needed to pee and it's not safe for me to use the men's.)
Had lunch at the food court in the basement of Macy's. One of the things I've always envied about women is the easy way they seem to strike up conversation with other women, so I tried my hand at it. Ended up having a nice chat with the women sitting next to me. Talked about what they'd bought, how they were enjoying their visit to San Francisco, etc. No deeper than guys talking about sports, but it was fun and they seemed fine with treating me as an honorary woman. (I've got no illusions about being mistaken for a GG in up-close interaction.)
Took a cab back to the hotel and got ready for the Cotillion. Took the elevator down to the parking garage with some tourists, who didn't bat an eye -- although a 6'1" (in heels) "woman" in formal evening gown isn't exactly a typical sight. Ended up driving myself there, since I figured I probably shouldn't got out afterwards. Got to the theater around 6. The doors opened at 5, but I was still on the early side -- yes, everyone was on tranny time. :bs: But I didn't count on the long walk from the front door to the theater itself -- about a city block -- especially in some 3-1/2-inch heels that I'd never worn for any length of time before. Oooooowwwww...... While waiting for the show to begin I had hors d'oeuvres and a bar and a few glasses of wine to kill the pain. And I got to catch up with friends I hadn't seen in awhile. (Unfortunately, Rachel and I missed each other, although it turns out I was sitting two rows behind her.)
The crowd was a mix of CDs, TSs and drag queens so it was interesting to see the different interpretations of femininity. I must say, I do admire the sass that DQs have -- us CDs could learn of thing or two from them about holding your head high, being out, being proud and not taking sh*t from anyone. :thumbsup: There were also a sprinkling of FTMs (who served as escorts to the MTF contestants during the show). It is impressive what testosterone does to the body -- aside from their short stature, you'd never guess they were FTM.
The Cotillion itself is beauty pagent for Ms. and Mr. TGSF with entertainment by fellow members of the local TG community interspersed between the various rounds for the contestants. As Rachel mentioned, after the intermission they held the "Debutante and Guy Walk" for first-time attendees. As Rachel said, it was a moving experience to see some folks spreading their wings.
Afterwards, back at the hotel, as I came in from the parking garage the elevator door was just closing but someone caught for me. It turned out to be a half-dozen teen/college-age kids. Great.... Especially since my make-up was looking a bit worse for wear at that point thanks to my oily skin. But since they'd caught the door for me, I couldn't very well say I was taking the next elevator. However, they were perfectly sweet. For some reason my room key wouldn't activate the elevator buttons (in order to get to the guest floors), so they were really just focused on trying to help me get it working.
Got up around 9 the next morning. Almost didn't want to get dressed -- yeah, if I had to do make-up every morning, I'm sure I'd grow tired of it. But put on my "weekend casual" outfit (boots, jeans and a navy V-neck sweater) and went down for the final brunch before checking out. There were two exhibits of photos of the 1906 quake that just opened at MOMA and the Palace of the Legion of Honor (another art museum), so I went to see both. Again, it was surprising to me how little attention I attracted (at least to my face). Chatted briefly with a woman standing next to me about the exhibit. Again there was no particular reaction to me being in drag. Used the women's restroom again at the Palace without incident.
I'd meant to catch the 4:15 showing of "Transamerica" but I dawdled too long at the museum, so I had to kill some time until the 7 p.m. show. So since it was such a gorgeous clear day, I drove up to Twin Peaks for the view. Interacted with a couple people there, helping figure out where landmarks were. One college girl ask me to take her picture. Unfortunately, I'd left my camera in the luggage, otherwise I would've ask her to take one of me. Again my appearance didn't seem to attract much notice.
Had dinner -- the wait staff were perfectly charming -- and miracles of miracles actually found a parking space within three blocks of the theater. Went to use the restroom at the theater -- I think the elastic in the hip pads must press on the bladder :rolleyes: -- but unfortunately this time both stalls were occupied and I had to wait in the vestibule, which was a little nerve-wracking. Although considering the movie, I didn't think it would be a problem. Fortunately, no one came and I could scoop past the other woman while she was washing her hands.
As far as "Transamerica," Fecility Huffman was amazing, although the movie itself is one of those cliched "road movies" young indie directors love making. Here's my review (http://www.crossdressers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=317313#post317313) of it.
Drove home and the street was quiet, so I kept the wig and breastforms on, took my purse and went into the house. Took my wig off to go back out to get the luggage out of the trunk (since that's more visible from the street) but it was only when I got back inside that I realized I'd forgotten to take the breastforms out. Granted with the unzipped coat on, they weren't that obvious at a distance and had anyone been on the street I would've been more careful, but I thought it was funny that after wearing them all day, I just sort of forgot they were there.
(Sorry no photos -- flash photography doesn't mix well with my oily skin, so I look like a shiny-faced fat cow. :mad: )