Stephanie Brooks
03-06-2005, 03:04 PM
Last night I attended a meeting with the Transgender Education Association, TGEA (http://www.tgea.net/) of which I am now again a member. This was the first time in many months that I have dressed, and the first time in probably 2 or 3 years that I've gone out in public. It's been FAR too long.
In a nutshell, it was a perfect evening.
Normally I work on Saturdays, but I took the day off to prepare. In the morning I packed to go to a local hotel. My wife Tracy doesn't want our 6 yo daughter Alice to see Stephanie, hence the hotel room. I'll accept that. Packing took 2.5 hours.
During the day Tracy and Alice were away doing other things, so I had the house to myself. Once packed, I walked next door to a local Japanese restaurant for lunch. I didn't know how things would go regarding dinner, so I wanted to have a good meal before going out.
At 3PM I left home, and picked up a bottle of bubbly for afterwards, Great Western Brut, a New York state champagne. Then I drove to the hotel.
Once at the hotel, I registered and went to my room. I unpacked and turned on the television, something I don't tend to do. I was more than a tad nervous, anxious, and frustrated. Not everything was as I wanted, but that's life.
At 5PM, I began to get ready. I wanted to be ready by 6PM so that I could get to the meeting on time. The meeting place opens at 6:30 and the meeting begins at 7:00.
Outfit? The dress (http://www.crossdressers.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=3869) was a black cotton/spandex dress I'd recently purchased. Along with the dress I wore black fishnet hose and penny loafers.
Preparations were such that I didn't leave the hotel until something like 6:45, and I arrived shortly after the meeting started. It didn't matter, I did it.
Mostly the meeting was a social event. I'm not a very sociable person, don't mix well at parties, even with friends. I'm far better with one or two people. Nevertheless I mixed and talked with many people, young and old, TG and not. It was wonderful! I stayed until closing at 11PM, helping with cleanup.
The meeting itself began with dinner. They provide a "sandwich bar" - I'd forgotten about that - and soft drinks. While not particularly hungry I made a sandwich and had some chips and a Coke. I sat and chatted with a bunch of people, and visited with one person whom I'd known from before. Later the President of the group conducted the business end of the meeting, and that was followed by 2 hours of a makeup workshop. Well, I only brought my lipstick, not the works, so I just watched and chatted. At 10:30, the meeting was drawing to a close, and that's when cleanup began. I left with the last of the members.
I returned to the hotel and stayed en femme for awhile. I popped open the champagne bottle in celebration. A couple of thoughts I wrote follow:
"I fell in love again with the girl within. I fell in love with myself again."
The final highlight of the night was the fire alarm in the hotel. At 1:35AM the alarm went off, and everyone came out of the hotel. It was probably 40 degrees F (4 degrees C) and clear, so it wasn't horrible. 5 minutes later we were all back inside.
I've included some pics. The first was taken by someone at TGEA w/ the digital camera. It isn't my best pic, but it's certainly the best of the crop from the digital. The others were ones I took in the hotel with the cell phone.
Now I'm back in that "real world", working on my fourth large cup of espresso, buzzing like a bee!!!!!! (Time to make another pot, I'd say.) It was a great night! While there were many elements that weren't perfect, the night itself couldn't have gone better. It was a great night! It was perfect. ^_^
In a nutshell, it was a perfect evening.
Normally I work on Saturdays, but I took the day off to prepare. In the morning I packed to go to a local hotel. My wife Tracy doesn't want our 6 yo daughter Alice to see Stephanie, hence the hotel room. I'll accept that. Packing took 2.5 hours.
During the day Tracy and Alice were away doing other things, so I had the house to myself. Once packed, I walked next door to a local Japanese restaurant for lunch. I didn't know how things would go regarding dinner, so I wanted to have a good meal before going out.
At 3PM I left home, and picked up a bottle of bubbly for afterwards, Great Western Brut, a New York state champagne. Then I drove to the hotel.
Once at the hotel, I registered and went to my room. I unpacked and turned on the television, something I don't tend to do. I was more than a tad nervous, anxious, and frustrated. Not everything was as I wanted, but that's life.
At 5PM, I began to get ready. I wanted to be ready by 6PM so that I could get to the meeting on time. The meeting place opens at 6:30 and the meeting begins at 7:00.
Outfit? The dress (http://www.crossdressers.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=3869) was a black cotton/spandex dress I'd recently purchased. Along with the dress I wore black fishnet hose and penny loafers.
Preparations were such that I didn't leave the hotel until something like 6:45, and I arrived shortly after the meeting started. It didn't matter, I did it.
Mostly the meeting was a social event. I'm not a very sociable person, don't mix well at parties, even with friends. I'm far better with one or two people. Nevertheless I mixed and talked with many people, young and old, TG and not. It was wonderful! I stayed until closing at 11PM, helping with cleanup.
The meeting itself began with dinner. They provide a "sandwich bar" - I'd forgotten about that - and soft drinks. While not particularly hungry I made a sandwich and had some chips and a Coke. I sat and chatted with a bunch of people, and visited with one person whom I'd known from before. Later the President of the group conducted the business end of the meeting, and that was followed by 2 hours of a makeup workshop. Well, I only brought my lipstick, not the works, so I just watched and chatted. At 10:30, the meeting was drawing to a close, and that's when cleanup began. I left with the last of the members.
I returned to the hotel and stayed en femme for awhile. I popped open the champagne bottle in celebration. A couple of thoughts I wrote follow:
"I fell in love again with the girl within. I fell in love with myself again."
The final highlight of the night was the fire alarm in the hotel. At 1:35AM the alarm went off, and everyone came out of the hotel. It was probably 40 degrees F (4 degrees C) and clear, so it wasn't horrible. 5 minutes later we were all back inside.
I've included some pics. The first was taken by someone at TGEA w/ the digital camera. It isn't my best pic, but it's certainly the best of the crop from the digital. The others were ones I took in the hotel with the cell phone.
Now I'm back in that "real world", working on my fourth large cup of espresso, buzzing like a bee!!!!!! (Time to make another pot, I'd say.) It was a great night! While there were many elements that weren't perfect, the night itself couldn't have gone better. It was a great night! It was perfect. ^_^