Headed to Nirvana in a Honda

[Jenny J]

Day One

I can’t really say why but I have a hunch. Wednesday night prior to traveling to the Keystone Conference was a restless night for me; the anticipation was so great I just couldn’t sleep. Too much racing through my head all night long and I’m checking the clock hoping it has moved more than just five minutes.

Get to Sleep Jen! You aren’t going to get much at the conference.

I’m a giddy as a school girl.

The adrenaline is pumping through my body and I want to go NOW. Finally, the alarm goes off and I have to get up and ready. I’ve spent the better part of two weeks planning and re-planning this trip. I have everything packed and then I see a shirt, skirt or shoes that I think I must take and it goes in a suitcase or I have to start a a new one because there isn't any more space in the ones already packed.

On my way now, I’m off to meet up with Sophie one of my best TG Friends and I’m to be her captain and guide on the road to Harrisburg for the TranscentralPA Keystone Conference.

I get to the rendezvous ahead of schedule but no Sophie; maybe traffic has her tied up. I stop for a cup of coffee and sure enough, there’s her call. Yep, she’s in traffic. Heavier than usual today, evil forces must know we want to be on the road early are preventing our ‘on time departure’.

Sophie makes it and the transfer of all here most valuable goods is accomplished and we are on the road. Headed to Nirvana with a Honda crammed full of pretty things.


Jen

[Babette]

It's too bad there wasn't a film crew documenting the epic adventure. This would have been perfect material for a reality television series.

Too Jenny J crossing Pennsylvania,

Babette

[sherri52]

Just curious; how many pretty outfits can you get into a honda and do they have shoes to match

[TxKimberly]

Have a good time for all of us. Oh, and watch that Sophie 'cause I think she just might be a bad influence!

[TNRobin]

I was wondering when that was taking place. I knew that it was sometime soon.

Have a great time and try not to overload the suspension on the Honda...it's even worse coming back.

[Michelle-Leigh]

Just curious; how many pretty outfits can you get into a honda and do they have shoes to match

[SIZE="3"]If I fold the back seat down in my Prelude, I can get my entire wardrobe (12 dresses, 12 blouses, 8 skirts, 4 pairs of pants, 10 pairs of shoes, 11 sexy nightgowns + hosiery and underclothes) with room to spare for much more ![/SIZE]

[Jenny J]

Just curious; how many pretty outfits can you get into a honda and do they have shoes to match

Not enough. Took the spare tire, jack, tire iron, emergency kit, everything in the glove box and side panels out. Thought about the seats and cushions but wanted to be comfortable.

Still left stuff behind.

Sophie got in with a shoe horn.

Jen

[NathalieX66]

So wanted to go.
It would have been great seeing you there, but with my parents visiting at my house & other circumstances....just couldn'd do it.
Hope to see you soon!
Hugs,
Nathalie

[Lilia]

Sophie got in with a shoe horn.

I personnally witnessed this vehicle leaving Nirvana. It was, shall we say, "taxing the shocks."

I (and my SO) had a great time there (again) and I think just about everyone else did too. Met some new friends and caught up with some old ones. There was an 8 piece band http://www.burninghouse.com/ for the Saturday Night Gala and they rocked the house. Plenty of dancing with the dance floor full of dancers.

If you have any thoughts of going next year, Don't hesitate. This is sure to be a fun event again next year.

[Jenny J]

Nirvana Part Deux

The ride over is uneventful but behind schedule. It means we will have to make our nail appointment in Drab in order to catch up. Sophie and I are getting Pedicures, I could have used one everyday but today will have to do. I decide I’m going to get a set of Acrylic Nails. Heck with these fake press ons, I’m going for the real deal.

Well, all the time we made up doing nails in Drab is lost by getting the Acrylics. Well worth it though!

There I am sitting at the nail table talking to a Ha from Da Nang, Viet Nam getting pretty nails thinking; boy I hope I didn’t try to kill her father.

She does a great job and is meticulous in her work. I am amazed at the transformation my hand makes with just and ¼ inch more of painted nail. As she is finishing, up one of her many customers stops by and starts chatting with her. I think to myself, Does she not know there’s a guy here getting pretty pink long fingernails? I guess not. So, I decide I have to do something about this, I look at her and lift my free hand, put in to her face and say, “pretty cool don’t you think?” She says, “Yes, nice color” and finishes up her conversation with Ha and heads out the door. Gee, I thought it would have more impact than that!


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Ha's Handiwork

I’ve been to Harrisburg for two hours now and I’m still in boy clothes. What’s wrong with me, get going girlfriend, times a wasting. Time to get femme Jen!
I guess I took too long because now my phone is ringing with calls from everyone wanting to know where I am. I miss the quick drink with Sophie, Lunch with Amy and barely make it to the first session on ‘How to Walk like a Lady’ with Lady Ellen. This session is great because it just goes to show I walk like a Neanderthal in boy mode and have to improve my demeanor and soften things up to present a proper lady.

Heading back to the room before the reception and bus ride to the Casino I can over hear the goings on in the rooms just across the hall from mine, some kind of Insurance Representative Conference going on at the hotel at the same time.

“Oh My God”, comes a statement out of one of the rooms, “Did you see the Crossdressers in the hall a little while ago?” “What’s going on here?” another asks. “I hope we don’t bump into anymore” is a third comment.
Well, I think they’re going to have their eyes really opened wide when they hit the bar in a little while. They’ll be seeing a whole lot more real soon!
Walking down to the lobby bar for a quick drink and smooze with some girls, the first think that I notice is the large number of children running around. I soon learn that there is a State Wrestling Tournament going on and this is tournament central for friends and families of the tourney participants.

Oh Boy, this is going to be interesting!

But I can worry about that later, right now it’s time to get on the bus and head to the Hollywood Casino & Penn National Race Track. Not much of a gambler I think I’m off to this event more as a challenge than a moment to enjoy some gambling. I’m convinced by my girlfriends to go have dinner and walk around. First thing that happens is the bus driver is very respectful, says “Ladies, if I can have your attention” and proceeds to give us the safety instructions as required by PA law and then safely and swiftly transports us to the Casino.

The Casino was fantastic; a representative met us at the drop off point and told us they were giving all of us a $15.00 credit if we registered at the reception desk. Now there are 50-60 t-girls marching through the Casino to the center of the building just to get that 15 bucks.

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Time for some Fun

Credits in hand, everyone decides it’s about time to get a bite to eat. The group has different ideas as to what they want so we split up. My little group decides it steak, over to the Final Cut Steak House and our own private room. Our waitress was incredible, very attentive and helpful, respectful in every way. Explained a great deal our many questions and threw out a few recommendations. Fabulous food and great company couldn’t have asked for more.

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Dinner for Nine

Most of the night goes along without incidents and there wasn’t a single stare or Oh My God uttered. The worse thing that happened was I went through my $15 pretty quick so out to the bus and a quiet ride back to the hotel and restaurant. Everyone said it was fun and nice without problems.

What a night!

But the night was not over just yet.

[Jenny J]

Part Trois

Back at the hotel, interesting dynamics were developing.

Visiting with a new t-girlfriend outside for a moment after we got off the bus, a car drives up and asks, “Do you know where I can find a trannie”. Turns out it’s a girl that is just arriving for the conference and hasn’t had a chance to dress. We send her to AAMCO.

In we go for more fun and networking and the bar is absolutely jammed packed with people. There’s a State Championship Wrestling Tournament going on as well as a Self Insurer Conference going on at the same time and now everyone is in the tiny hotel bar trying to have a good time.
Well now, this will be fun! I see my friend Amy and Donna plus a few other girls I know so I figure what the heck, in I go to the mouth of the lion. It actually turned out pretty nice

First clue, the TV set no longer has March Madness on every screen and in its place, Wrestling. Next there’s an awful lot of kids hanging out in the bar area (actually the adjoining restaurant area but it was hard to differentiate) and a lot of parental units hovering around. Finally, the obligatory truck driver type, but they turned out to be part of a self insurance conference going on but played the truck driver part well.

Mingling amongst them seems to go rather well and they seemed really friendly and didn’t care one way of the other how we were dressed. One actually comes over to our group and starts chatting us up but we find out he’s smitten over one of the girls, Sharon. She’s a lawyer that works for a really large organization that shall remain nameless but they do help US out. Sharon and he seem to have a good conversation going and being Miss Buttinski I join in and tell him he has a lot of courage to talk to us. I tell him to invite his buddies over but that seems to not go over well. I think they were more afraid of us than we of them. We don’t bite and we like to talk sports is my response but we are going nowhere with it. He’s still eyeing Sharon and I finally say that she’s the bait and that now we have him trapped, we have a Transmogrification machine down the hall and we are going to take him there to make him pretty.

He’s still a bit unsure and I move on to other T-girls to talk with and later notice he’s still around chatting with some of the other girls. I have to point this out to Sharon that her new found boyfriend is now two-timing her.
That ends the night and I have to say that everyone there was very respectful and engaging. We even chatted with some of the wrestling moms and dads to find out how there event was going. Pretty decent people and had kind of “Don’t give a SH*T” attitude.

I’m tired anyway and time for this girl to head to bed. Living on 4 hours sleep and tomorrow night is a big night on the town in Harrisburg, PA with new limits to stretch and new people to meet.

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Jen and Amy Share a Moment

[Miss Rachel]

Sounds like you had a wonderful time and having been in Harrisburg a little over a week ago (during the move near the Athens area) it's still a bit chilly but incredibly gorgeous in PA.
There was still close to a foot of snow on the ground when the misses and I arrived.
I loved the pics and the comentary... especially the part about the "Transmogrification machine" LMAO that was just priceless.
Hopefully I can talk the misses into the two of us attending sometime in the near future since it will be only a few hours away instead of the 12 hours it would have taken from NC (15 in a U-haul).
Thanks so much for sharing your adventures.

[Jenny J]

Part Uh, how do you say four?

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This way Please

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention several of the great speakers and workshops that went on during the conference. My interest included Walking Gracefully and Other Feminine Movements, Transgender Spirituality, Speech/Language Gestural Differences in Males and Females and Fail & Transgender = Oil & Water. Other commitments and a makeover session prevented me from attending others and if you check the TranscentralPA website you can see all the fine speakers and topics that were covered. All were worthwhile and interesting.

I did find it difficult to roll out of bed with about 4-5 hours of sleep but each day offered a new adventure, a chance to wear something different and exciting. I did bring a Honda stuffed with all kinds of goodies and things that just had to be worn after all.

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Amanda's Construction Project

A fabulous makeover session with Amanda Richards from True Colors Make Up Artistry sends me on my way with a bunch of T-girls to Bricco’s restaurant in downtown Harrisburg and a fine dinner with some interesting folks from the local GLBT organization. In fact my table mate was Ted Martin, Board Chairman Central Pennsylvania LGBT Community Center. An incredibly interesting man that was most engaging and full of questions about being transgendered. I had this incredible feeling of being a woman in a conversation with a man discussing topics of the day. An incredibly uplifting experience and stays with me even now.


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Great Dinner Companions

Well, the bus shows up and it’s time to head off to Stallions a downtown gay bar that was catering to us that night. By now the dreary weather has turned to rain and other than a nice coat I was outside getting wet and cold. Couldn’t wait to get indoors, get a drink or two and who knows what else. We were suppose to have our Keystone name tag to get in free but it didn’t match my outfit so I left it in my hotel room. As everyone else flashed their badges, I was without and worried I wouldn’t get in and wander the streets of Harrisburg for hours. I flashed the bouncer a pretty smile and a cute wink and asked what he need from me. “No badge, then its 5 bucks” was the answer and I thought, I’m dressed and there’s 40 trannies going inside, he’s giving me a hassle! Well. I tell him I don’t have it in a cheery way. He says “OK, up against the wall for a frisking.” I tell him it’s going to cost more than 5 bucks for this and we have a nice chuckle but I didn’t turn my back on him.

Inside was great but quiet. A little too early for the rest of the crowd so we settled in, had a few drinks and chatted with more girls. Raining hard now but hot inside; did some dancing, played a little pool and generally just enjoyed the night.

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Shooting Some Stick

Bus back to the hotel was uneventful and we made it in time for last call at the hotel bar. More wrestlers but run into another friend Caitlinann and have a glass of wine with her. She tells me she wanted to have some fun with the wrestling coaches. They are attired in their standard attire, sweatshirts and sweatpants. Caitlinann approaches and in a kind and gentle voice says “I just want you guys to know that I don’t approve of your clothing tonight and feel it’s totally inappropriate. However, I respect your desire to dress differently and I’m OK with it tonight.”

I think she said she left them speechless and befuddled. I was too and even more tired than the night before. So I left the bar on that note.

Tomorrow was the big gala and I needed sleep desperately.

[Jenny J]

The End is Near Girls

The final day of the conference starts of pleasant now real issues. Jen and Sophie next door are up and running early. I’ve got friends Missy Anne and Anne coming in to attend the final day and of course the big gala dinner/ball in the evening. It’s going to be a busy day

I head down to the final set of workshops I want to attend and realize I’ve forgotten my camera in the room. I know, turn in your CD card Jen. No pictures this morning but things are starting to get hectic.

Lunch goes pretty quickly and our key note speaker is Mara Keisling. She gives an interesting talk of where transgendered people stand with Washington, the law and issues that are before us. She discusses forces of evil that stand in our way for equality and respect. Sadly is seems that it revolves around bathroom issues and some pretty nasty rhetoric around bathroom usage. With this issue never go away?

I have one thing on my mind when I visit the ladies room and it ain’t sex. And it ain’t with little girls or big girls for that matter. It seems if you were interested in that there would be plenty of opportunities elsewhere in much less traveled areas. Every ladies room I’ve ever been in has more traffic than the 405 freeway in Los Angeles and scares the sh*t out of me just being in there (hey, isn’t that the purpose of the ladies room?). ARGGGHH!!! It’s aggravating and an uphill battle.

I have an early appointment with Amanda so I leave the luncheon early and get dolled up. By now her is jammed with hangers on, girls that have makeup emergencies and just people that want to talk to her. She’s running late but does a great job getting me dolled up and now it time to put the finishing touches on.

Back to the room it’s a mad house. My friends have arrived and they are getting ready, Vanessa my roommate shows up and starts to prim. Jen and Sophie from next door are in and out chatting with everyone, exchanging experiences. Gee, this is how it must have been on Prom night. Clothes flying everywhere, trying combinations on, looking for the right shoes, the perfect jewelry, minimal mirror space. Frustrating but fun.

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Ready to Go

Everyone’s dressed to the nines now and out the door down to the ballroom. By now everyone in the hotel is use to us and pretty friendly. I was waiting for the elevator a young couple came up and wanted to ride as well. The girl said, “I think there is a GLBT event going on here tonight.” I said yes, “I’m the ‘T’ in GLBT.”

We’re greeted with many “Good evenings and how you ladies doing tonight.” We’re just another hotel guest to them by now.

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Missy Anne

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Anne One Beautiful GG

Dinner was divine and the guest Keynote Speaker, Donna Rose was superb. She’s been a great help to transgendered people for many years and it’s always a pleasure to hear her talk. But now the moment everyone has been waiting for, the grand ball. Time to strut our stuff and show of those gowns and dresses and do some dancing.

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My Merry Gang of Thieves

The band was fantastic; Burning House played great music was loud and had the ladies on their feet most of the night. My feet are just now getting back to normal, dancing in heels isn’t exactly something I do on a regular basis and I truly danced the night away.

On the way back to my room one of the young wrestlers was hanging out by the elevator and in a very respectful way, asked if I had a nice night and included the word ma’am. I said I had an awesome night!

The next morning the let down had begun. Many girls were in the restaurant for breakfast in male mode but I chose to let the pink fog linger a little while. My friends invited me over for lunch and said I could stay as Jen for a little while longer. But the mood in the restaurant was a bit sad. Everyone said they didn’t want the conference to end and wished it could go on forever. We discussed what it meant to each of us and what we got out of it.

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I wasn't the Belle of the Ball but I did win a Major Prize

For me, I’ve discovered that I’m more of a transgendered person that I had originally thought when I started Crossdressing on a regular basis. I had issues within myself that I had to deal with and I think I’ve put some of them to rest. I know now that I can be a better TG person after talking and relating to all the people I met at the Keystone Conference.

The names in this story have not been changed to protect the innocent. They are all guilty of being super friends, helping me be who I am and being there when I need fashion, makeup and mental health help. I couldn’t have asked for a better set of girlfriends.

[TxKimberly]

Awe I'm SO glad you had a good time. I see you met up with a couple of my very favorite people to Missy Anne and wife. They are two of the sweetest folks I've ever met.

[Jenny J]

If it wasn't for them, I'd be wearing my acrylic nails to work.

Now that would require some 'splaining'.

Great company and yummy cook too!

Jen

[renee k]

Hi Jen,

What a fabulous time! Thanks for sharing all the details, with us. Hopefully your caught up on sleep by now. And the Honda isn't in an overload condition. With everything back to normal, dealing with spring breakers flying to Florida. You'll have fond memories of a fun weekend that went by way too fast.

Renee

[Viv]

Jen,

Thank you so much for describing what sounded like a fantastic conference. I grew up in the Harrisburg area and it sounds like the locals have become more accepting of diversity. There is hope after all