cloud 9 at the moment :)

[VS Fan]

Anyone who read my "struggling..." thread, knows that I came out to my nail/massage tech, which went well, then added to that my facial/tanning/waxing tech and my stylist (ok, girl that cuts what's left of my hair LOL), which went even better. My facial/tanning/waxing tech (guess I should just call her my aesthetician) has been super cool, wanted to see pictures of my makeup skills progress (limited at this point) and even helped me pick out an outfit for tomorrow night's meetup, which will be my first actual "outing" (where I interact with other live beings)... she's super excited for me and can't wait for me to tell her all about it.

Then today, she helped me come out to another aesthetician at the spa, who's a make-up wizardess... and she's going to give me make-up lessons!!! They've been so amazingly cool about this with me that the last few weeks have been mega-emotional for me (for the acceptance, the friendships, the emotions that come with unburdening your soul about this stuff). I'm so happy about how this is all panning out... and I can't wait to see what happens next!

Even picked a name for myself finally: Kelly (hat tip to the other Kelly's around here, was always a favorite girl's name of mine.)

Anyway couldn't have done any of this without the sage advice from all of you here on the forum... I've been largely a sparse contributor over the years (mostly because everything is already said so eloquently by others by the time I get to a thread LOL)... but I've read as much as I could, and learned a LOT over the last 9 years. so THANK YOU ALL!

Cheers!

Kelly

[KatrinaK]

Congrats Kelly! This is all very outstanding! Have a great time at your meetup!

[Aunt Kelly]

Happy to hear that things are going so well for you now. It feels kinda good, doesn't it?

[phili]

Normal acceptance by shop folks is a huge plus in validating and stabilizing our more correct gender identities, in my book! Glad to hear it is a wave of acceptance tossing you up to the clouds!

[bridget thronton]

Well done Kelly

[Wiccle]

Well I was on cloud 9 this morning, but it now feels like cloud 8. Out to a nearby town & just off the bus some man standing nearby makes a bowbowbow sound, so god knows what that was supposed to be. Then in the park in the apartments behind the trees there is a domestic argument - as I'm walking by I hear "wtf u looking at - keep walking bitch". I'll take that as a compliment ! Not only was he mad he was fooled! Looks like we've got a bunch of mardy arses about this morning.

Keep walking Davina!

Stay safe all x

[Helen_Highwater]

Kelly,

Sounds like you're making real progress, much more than baby steps. Looking forward to reading about your meet up.

[Krea]

Congratulations Kelly, it sounds as though everything is going well for you, and your confidence has been given a boost. Best wishes

[Connie D50]

Wow Kelly great post soooo happy for you. Have fun fun fun keep us posted.

[VS Fan]

Thanks so much ladies! I’ve got a hotel for tonight and can’t wait to check in and start getting ready! But first Saturday drab chores Hahahah!

[CONSUELO]

It is good to see you gaining so much confidence. Enjoy it.
As to "coming out" to your facial/tanning/waxing tech I find that people in that business are mostly very open and tolerant as they have seen so much during their work.
The lovely lady who does my whole body waxing several times a year has become my unofficial therapist and we talk about so much that is going on in each others lives. It is very therapeutic to just have someone to talk to very openly. In return I listen to her tell me of her domestic challenges and we discuss ways of dealing with it all. She tells me she really enjoys our wax/chat sessions and I do also.

[VS Fan]

Consuelo - I agree completely on the "unofficial therapist" thing... it's funny since many times, folks like us just need someone to talk to and not necessarily full blow "analysis".... I mean half the time I think we all know the answers, we just want someone else to tell us what we already know, so we're not alone in the decision making process. (At least that has been true for me in the past, anyway.) But yeah, I LOVE my spa girls!!

[IleneD]

...I came out to my nail/massage tech, which went well, then added to that my facial/tanning/waxing tech and my stylist, ..... My facial/tanning/waxing tech

Kelley,
I'm kind of thinking that if you are already using the services of a nail tech, facial, waxing, etc.; they already have Kelley figured out. Nice of you to come out to them "officially" and make them feel equally comfortable.
When I've used fashion and makeover services like ULTA or a MAC, the artists and techs are always friendly and respectful. In many ways the fawn all over TGs (in my experience), and eager to please. They're also interested in your story, and that always makes for a great personal relationship with those delivering personal services.
You're not struggling at all. Just go for it now. I'm sure you are feeling Pink Fog beautiful. You will need to share some photographs with the forum.

[VS Fan]

Ilene - they did tell me that my esthetician was “less surprised” than my massage gal, but they claim they didn’t really suspect anything! Lol

[Jenny22]

Kelly, are you going to change your name in your profile?

[VS Fan]

Didn’t know I could! Hahha I’ll check that out

[Beverley Sims]

Kelly, there are many people out there who are happy to help.

I am glad you found some of them.