When NOT to wear pretty shoes - an advice, shopping, and flying thread.

[Kathi Lake]

. . . where are the "Freakn" pics WOMAN?

Pics of me at CES? Not sure I'm gonna do that. Maybe Sunday, when the crowds are diminished. For other pictures, scroll up to post #18.

Gender has nothing to do with it you are just simply you.

I don't know how to be anything/anyone else, and I'm kinda good at it, so why change?

Gender is irrelevant. Sex is irrelevant. What is relevant is, as Sara wonderfully put it, that moment of "being." No matter how my feet hurt. No matter how self-conscious I was, being out among the people dressed exactly as I wanted to be (and it was a double-whammy - not only was I flying dressed as a woman, but I was in a skirt as well! ). How could I be anything but happy. Was it fulfilling my destiny or something else quite so earth-shattering? No. But those "normal" little moments of being, where you are doing what you feel you were meant to do, are enough for me. Thank you for the 'radiant' comment as well, as one woman told me once after I downplayed my appearance, "You may not feel beautiful on the outside, but you radiate beauty and grace and happiness from deep inside of you. I'm glad the camera captured a little bit of that.

I wish I had the confidence to just get out there in public and express my femme self like you do.

Jamie, you most certainly do! Everyone has the confidence inside of them, you just need to let go of what is holding you back - doubt, fear, worry, and more. Once you realize that the world will not end if someone snickers at you, and the pressure to be who you are is more than the pressure to conform, you can and will get out there.

[SIZE="4"]. . . or have you been stuck at the convention center too much to find time to gamble.[/SIZE]

Oh. My. Gosh! What a strenuous few days this has been! To bed at one or two, up at six, on your feet all day, and then do it again. Sigh.

[SIZE="4"]The smiles say it all ... [/SIZE]

As I've said before, what's not to smile about?

I'm looking forward to the next installment

We'll see when I have time for a next installment. Right now, it's time for this girl to get to bed. I will relate one thing, though. Last year, we had some professional presenters in our booth. Thinking that I would never see them again, I showed them pictures of me, and told them of how much fun I had dressing. Well, sure enough, they are both here this year as well. The main presenter greeted me with a "Hello, beautiful!" when she saw me (luckily, out of earshot of the rest of my people). The other presenter and I didn't have much time to talk today until the show was winding down. I remarked to her about our "booth babes' attire this year - slinky cocktail dresses and cute high heels. I guess I had forgotten how much I had told her about Kathi last year, and I mentioned how much pain they must be in at the end of a day in killer heels. She said, "Well, most men wouldn't know, but if I remember right, you are pretty well acquainted with heels, right? I remember your gorgeous pictures from last year. Do you still dress up?" I told her that yes, I certainly did, and in fact I flew to Vegas dressed this time. Her eyes brightened and she seemed incredulous. She asked me how the experience was, and I told her that it was fun, but painful, and related my feelings that even if an outfit is really, really cute with the 4-inch stilettos, it may not be the best travel outfit. She told me next time to just pack some flats in my carryon, so I'll be ready, and that when traveling to a place that is paying her to be glamorous, she was more prone to wearing a hoody and jeans on the flight than anything. I told her that sounded more comfortable, but not nearly as much fun. She said that I was such a princess - which is what she and her friends called a woman that likes dressing up for the sake of being frilly and girly. Heh. Guilty!

She asked a few more questions about what I do when I go out - do I go out by myself? With other guys? With other girls? What did I do? I told her that I mostly went shopping. Her eyes got real big and she said, "Oh my gosh - I never realized it - you have to spend twice as much money as other women ("you don't mind me calling you a woman, do you" she said, with a touch on my arm. Mind? Ha! ). You have to buy men's and women's clothes! I agreed that it was a bit more expensive, but that the extra shopping I got to do made it totally worth it. She laughed at that and said, Wow, you really are a woman."

Later, I showed her a picture that was on my Facebook account (the closeup above of me sitting and smiling). I just showed it to her for a few seconds, and tried to change the website before anyone else saw it. She said, "Wait a minute! I want to see it better." After studying it for awhile, she said that I really looked pretty (I think a show attendee heard it, because he looked at her and then at me with a funny expression) and that I looked really, really happy. We talked a bit more, and it was time for me to close up the booth.

So, I will post more as I get the time. I hope this has been a fun post for you. It sure has been a fun time so far for me!



Kathi