Went to two more 'new places' en-femme!

[Ceera]

On one of my recent outings en-femme, the day of the Austin Pride Festival, I attended the "Women's Pride Party" at a music venue that I had never been to before. Figured that even though the place wasn't specifically a 'gay bar', it should still be fairly safe for me on a night when a huge group of lesbians were hosting a party there. And I was right. I had a blast, and was really comfortable socializing there. While there, I made friends with several lesbian female musicians and their wives, and four of them friended me on Facebook over the next few days. Soon after that, the wife of one of the female performers I saw that night invited me to see her perform as a vocalist with another band, at a mid-week show this week, to be held at a different music venue in the same part of town.

I'd never been to that particular pub before, nor had I ever been out mid-week for an evening as Ceera. But I wanted to see her show. Checked out the venue on their website, and it was a relatively small performing space with a bar, which hosts a wide range of musical talent and has shows virtually every night of the week. Not a 'gay bar' at all, tending to a country / Western feel for the place. But it seemed a friendly place, and from what I could gather, the lady who was lead singer for the band that my friend was going to be singing with was also a lesbian. Apparently that band and my friend have a recurring gig at that pub every Thursday night. The only disheartening thing was that the pub didn't appear to have very good parking. They did note on the pub's web site, however, that the car wash across the street was okay with their patrons parking there in the evenings, once the car wash was closed.

So... As soon as my workday was over, I transformed myself into Ceera, and dressed similarly to my new friends and to the way other ladies in pics from the pub seemed to dress.. Nice women's jeans rather than a skirt, nice blouse with half sleeves, and ladies cowboy boots with 3 inch heels. In short, I was dressed to blend fairly well.

It was raining on and off as I drove over there, going right through downtown at the end of rush hour, but I brought a compact umbrella. Did end up having to park across the street, and had to walk about half a block to get to the nearest crosswalk, wait to cross the busy street, then walk another half a block to get to the pub. Fortunately, it wasn't raining very hard by then, so I didn't get very wet.

Went in, paid my cover, and started looking for a place to sit. Almost all the tables near the stage had 'reserved' signs on them, but the one closest to the stage was where my friend and her group were seated, and she greeted me warmly and invited me to join them. Apparently about half the reserved tables were for a double bachelorette party that was being held for two ladies who were marrying each other, and most of the girls in that group were also friends of my friend in the band! So I'd guess maybe a third of the audience were lesbians that night. At our table were two lesbian ladies from Australia who were also musicians, and touring the area. They were amazed that a lesbian couple could so openly celebrate their upcoming wedding with a batchelorette party held in a straight public bar, and have no one bat an eye at it! Lesbian ladies in Australia can't be that open in the general public yet, apparently.

Had a fine night, and everyone treated me like a Lady. The band was really great! Left at 10 PM, after my friend's performance ended, since I had to work the next day. It had stopped raining by then, thankfully.

On the way home, I decided on the spur of the moment to stop at a grocery store to get a few things I knew I needed. it was only my second time in a grocery store en-femme, and I went to the other main grocery store that my family normally shops at. Spent half an hour or so shopping there, and had no troubles at all. Everyone treated me like just another female customer, including the cashier, who definitely was paying attention to me and talking to me.

All in all, another fine night, and my friend said she hopes I can come back and see them fairly often on their Thursday night shows!

I'm still mildly amused at how well Ceera gets on with Lesbian GG's. I enjoy their company, and they seem to adore me! Maybe that's because even when I'm en-femme, I still largely prefer girls myself, and they can sense that despite my not being a GG, in spirit I'm much like them - a lady who likes other ladies? Not going to complain, if it widens my circle of friends as Ceera. And it seems now that every time I go out I'm making more new friends!

[Shelly Preston]

Successful outing are always a boost to the ego.

I am sure this has given you more confidence in getting out and about.

[Ceera]

Yes, I'm definitely feeling a lot more confident and comfortable about getting out of the house and doing various activities en-femme, even when it's places I have never been to before as a woman. Also I'm not really worrying anymore about anyone among my neighbors seeing me en-femme. When I left the house yesterday, I was more worried about the impending rainstorm than who might see me. Considering that I've only been Dressing publicly for a year and a half, I think I've progressed quite far in such a short time.

[Jaylyn]

Ceera I think if I ever did decide to get out it would have to be in Austin or deep in Dallas. In Texas those two are probably the most accepting. I've been to many of the places in downtown Austin in my younger years. My wife and I would try and have at least one date night in Austin every six months down on sixth street. We've even seen a half nakkidd cowboy play his guitar on the street their once. You go gal as you seem to be letting go of what others think and just being yourself. Good for you.

[heatherdress]

Ceera - Good for you! Thanks for sharing a wonderful story.

[Candice June Lee]

It's great to hear this. As you get more comfy or enfem it's more passable it seems. That's from what I hear and read.

[Ceera]

So... two days later, I had three more 'first times'. :)

This Saturday I hoped to return to the Bout Time II nightclub here in Austin, to get in some more dancing. I had a new casual outfit that I was dying to wear - ladies jeans and cowboy boots with 3 inch heels, a white 3/4 sleeve blouse with an embroidered front, and a long suede fringed vest in black which I had just bought that morning (as well as an identical fringed vest in brown suede). I joked to my daughter that it was a very retro 60's look, and that all I needed was a bouquet of daisies and a "Make love not war!" protest sign. But we both agreed it looked good on me and was stylish with today's trends for people Ceera's apparent age.

On the way there, I stopped at a drive-in restaurant and got a light meal. First time I'd ever done that en-femme. Even though I used my girl voice when ordering, I got called 'sir' by the guy that took my order over the intercom. I didn't bother to correct him. The boy that delivered my food also called me sir at first - probably because the guy inside had told him something like, 'This is for the guy at station 7.'. But he hastily corrected that to 'ma'am' when he got a better look at me. :)

But when I got to the club at about 7:30 PM, it was obvious some sort of special event was being set up, and that there would be no dancing that night. The dance floor was covered by a stage platform and rows of bar stools marked off with a 'reserved area' sign and ribbons. I quickly found out that a nice looking gay male couple was getting married there at 9 PM! However, I didn't know either of the guys, and felt sort of like a party crasher towards the idea of attending the wedding of people I didn't know at all. There were also not many people there, so even if I stayed for the strangers' wedding, it was unlikely that I would get to dance there that night. So I only had one drink and left to go home.

As I left I decided to drop in at a regular restaurant and get myself desert and a coffee. Another 'first time' activity for me! It was pretty empty - just an hour and a half before closing for them - but they treated me like a Lady and I had no problems.

Drove home and told my daughter about what had happened. She commented that it wasn't all that late, so why not pick another place and go out again? I agreed, and sat down at my computer to see what might be good to do.

The other two music/dancing venues that I've been to so far as Ceera both had acts that didn't appeal to me, and one of those doesn't really even have a dance floor. A little more searching turned up another LGBTQ dance club, downtown, which I had heard about at Austin Pride Festival. It's called the Highland Lounge. So okay, it was a little scary contemplating going alone at 9 PM or so to a downtown club that I had never been to, but they did have dancing, and I really wanted to get out and dance! I changed to the brown version of the long suede vest, and headed out again.

Traffic was horrid, and worse than normal because the University had a special event going and had a bunch of streets blocked off. But I finally got to the right part of downtown and found a parking garage just three blocks from that dance club. Lots of people on the street, as there are a lot of cubs in that part of downtown, both gay and straight. Saturday night and the clubs were all humming. Had no issues walking to the club, and found out that if I had approached from one or two blocks further North and driven past the front of club, I would have found out that they had valet parking available, for less than I paid to park in that garage. Oh well. Filed that info away for next time.

The crowd in the club was an eclectic mix, and mostly in their 20's ad 30's. But Ceera passes for fairly young, so I blended in pretty well. Didn't notice any other obvious CD/TG girls there, but no one seemed to mind my joining them.

Had a fun time dancing, with guys and girls as well as just by myself. As midnight approached, a young man who looked to be in his mid 20's started chatting me up. Hard to hear each other over the loud music and to understand him with his accent, but I gathered he was Russian, and a visitor to the city, and that he thought I was very pretty. We danced, getting quite close and doing some sexy moves together. (As quite a few other couples were doing there.) Then we went to a corner area, sat together on a couch, and he wanted to make out a bit. *blush* I had fun kissing and cuddling with him, though he was a little too forward with where he touched me and wanted me to touch him. I was beginning to worry, however, that he might not realize I was probably twice his age, or even that I wasn't a girl. And the noise level was too high to really talk and make sure I wasn't giving him the impression I was something I'm not. I promised myself early on that I wouldn't ever be a 'trap' - a CD that gets intimate with males without them realizing they were not with a GG. Yes, even with the poor lighting and high noise level, he probably knew he was coming on to a cross dresser or Transgender girl. But I still wanted to call it off before he went any further, since I wasn't ready to go home with anyone that night. Besides, I had a lot to do this morning and knew I needed to get home soon if I was going to get enough sleep. So I thanked him and told him that I was sorry, but I had to leave soon, and pointed to my watch - where the time was just after midnight. He looked disappointed, but nodded politely and went back toward the dance floor to find someone else. I finished my drink, and went home.

All told, a very pleasant night. I'll probably go to that club again, as well as some of the others in that area, now that I've checked it out.

[Ceera]

Here's how I looked on Saturday at a Sonic drive in restaurant for dinner, at the Bout Time II nightclub, and at La Madeline's restaurant for desert. Then I changed to a brown version of the black fringed vest shown here, and went to the Highland Lounge dance club, downtown.

Hadn't mentioned it earlier but I also got my eyebrows threaded again Saturday while at the mall in male mode, and had them go for an all-out feminine shape, which you can see in these pics. The thinner brows definitely look better in girl mode, and since I wear glasses, they aren't too terribly noticeable in male mode. If I feel I need to for male mode, I can use a little eyebrow makeup to make them look thicker than they really are now.