The Long Island Pride Winter Ball was on this day, which many of us were looking forward to. First of all, coordinating this event was kind of tricky. The money for the tickets had to be sent in by the same person, with a note requesting to be seated at the same table. I had volunteered to be that person. Everyone had to mail me their checks except for Heather, who gave me hers at RS Jones (a tg-friendly restaurant in Nassau County, Long Island), and Vanessa, who was going to pay me back for it at a later date, due to her lack of money at the time. Since she's my best friend, I had no trouble footing the bill for her. What made it even more tricky was that I had to use Vanessa's address. If my parents opened any of the envelopes, there would be a lot of questions.
Somehow it all worked out. I got checks or money orders from Michelle and her girlfriend Cecile (the latter being a genetic girl), Chrissy, Lilly, and Anna. Then, at the last minute (actually, past the last minute!), Karen (founder of FemmeFever) said that her and John (a.k.a. Siandra) were coming! She had to send in for her tickets separately, since I had already sent everyone else's in. Somehow, she managed to get tickets from them at the last minute and get seated at our table. Talk about connections!
Vanessa and I
I went to Pzaz, a popular young women's formal dress store, in male mode. Vanessa came with me. I picked out a beautiful purple dress. I went up to the counter and asked the saleswoman if I could try it on. She looked at me dumbfounded and said, "You...?" I said with a big smile, "Yup!" She kept staring at me in silent shock, until a very pretty young girl told me to go right into any fitting room. So I tried it on, giggling to myself the entire time. I was actually going to step out of the fitting room and show Vanessa (and whoever else nearby) how it looked, but I heard some little kids outside. I didn't want to freak out the kiddies, so I refrained from doing that. Anyway, it was a size 9 and it fit me very nicely. All those Stacker 2 pills and smart eating paid off after all. From 163 pounds down to 130 pounds is pretty decent, I think. I bought the dress, which was a little over $100. A few days later, I went back to get some beautiful silver high heels for about $60, but I didn't feel in the mood to try on this time.
Karen (from FemmeFever) and I
Heather had gotten a room at a nearby hotel since she had traveled from Westchester County, and everyone but Michelle and Cecile were meeting up there. Vanessa and I got ready at her house. Her mother helped me a little, by telling me the bow should go in the back rather than the front. She was right, it did look better. Sometimes I wish her mother was my mom. She's so accepting and supportive.
Vanessa and I
We met them at the hotel room. They had plenty of soda, cookies and crackers to munch on. Heather was doing her nails. Karen was in a beautiful poofy pink princess-type dress (I loved it!), and Anna (a very tall brunette with a heavy Italian accent) needed help getting into her long leather dress. I felt a huge sense of relief when giving them their tickets. It was a big responsibility handling everyone's "keys" as it were. If I had been late or had broken down on the road, it would've ruined everyone's night. After a few minutes hanging out, we departed for the West Lake Inn, ground zero for the Winter Ball. It was fun just walking the halls of the hotel in my pretty dress!
Upon arriving there, we were greeted by valet parking. We checked our coats, and I had to leave Chrissy's ticket at the door since she was late. They messed up on that though, saying they didn't have the ticket. Eventually they found it. Whew!
Back row: (unknown), Karen, Heather, Chrissy, Michelle, Anna, Lilly. Front row: Debbie (staring at Vanessa), Cecile, Vanessa, me, Linda, (unknown).
They started with a cocktail hour, and that's when I started drinking. I sampled some melon slices and crackers with some kind of fishy spread. Salmon, maybe? After some time, we started filing into the ballroom, where the doorlady (doorperson?) took our tickets. They were handed to an announcer, who announced our names as we walked out onto the ballroom floor. That was pretty neat. Next time though, I'll have to pick out a better-sounding "name" for myself. I just put "Amy K." on the ticket. Vanessa was announced as "Lady Vanessa of York," and Heather was "Princess Heather of Westchester."
We sat down at our table, and after a few announcements regarding Long Island Pride and the people running it, they started in with some music and dancing. I decided to pass on dancing for the time being, since it was pretty tame music for me, and I needed a few more drinks to bolster my courage anyway. My gin and tonics were four dollars and change, but soda was free, which is what Vanessa was drinking. I couldn't help but notice that a table of homosexual men kept giving me dirty looks whenever I passed their table on the way to the bar (actually, it wasn't the whole table that was looking at me, more like two or three of the men seated there). Even Vanessa noticed. She said, "Be a little more obvious, will you?" Not quite directed at them, but they could've heard her. Though if they did hear her, they made no indication. I was pretty confused at why they were staring, since there were two whole tables full of crossdressers there, as well as various drag queens. Looking back on it now, I think maybe they were of the opinion that: "Here is this cute guy, covering all that up with a wig, makeup, etc..." I heard from somewhere that some gay men have that opinion. It makes sense, because I sort of feel that way about butchy lesbians. Some of them could be really gorgeous, but they wear no makeup, wear messy clothes, and have short, sometimes unkempt hair. Though I absolutely would not give them dirty looks because of that. They have the right to present themselves however they want.
Linda, Lilly, Chrissy, Karen and me.
Soon they served dinner. They had three or four choices for the main course, and I went the seafood route, as did Vanessa. I love almost all seafood! We had salmon, and with the lemon juice sprinkled on it, it was the most delicious fish I have had in a long time. Soon after dinner, I finally got the courage (via liquid courage) to do some dancing. Vanessa requested a song by Depeche Mode, which they played, to her delight. My favorite tune for the night was Sexual (Li Da Di) by Amber. Unfortunately, those silver heels were killing my feet, so at some point (earlier than I desired), I had to sit down or fall down. I chose the former. I should've just taken my shoes off, but I didn't think of it.
A side note on Jim, Heather's boyfriend. I knew he was coming, and I had seen a photo or two of him on Heather's website (more like an online photo album). I had a dream a few days before the ball that he was coming on to me and saying, "You're even prettier than Heather." While he didn't come on to me or say much to me, I did notice (as well as Vanessa) that he was staring at me a lot whenever Heather wasn't around. Yikes! I wasn't too thrilled at this, because even for a man, he was not at all attractive to me.
Heather and Jim
They had ice cream for dessert, with a choice of many toppings, like hot fudge, m&m's, gummi bears, etc. Delicioso! We took many pictures throughout the evening. Besides being in a few group photos, I had a some pics taken with Vanessa, Karen, and a few solo shots. The funniest pics were two that I took of Vanessa and Debbie, another crossdresser that we met that night. Debbie was kind of enamored with Vanessa, and in one photo, Debbie had her head resting on Vanessa's shoulder, eyes closed as if in ecstacy. LOL! Vanessa later told me that Debbie had invited her for a threesome with Debbie's wife (a lady that I noticed had a sour puss on the entire evening)! And now Vanessa wasn't thrilled!
Vanessa and Debbie
Some of the others decided to go to Honey's afterward, which is a lesbian club in Bayport. It wasn't a far drive at all, but Vanessa and I decided to go home, as we were pretty tired. Vanessa drove us back to her house, and I (reluctantly) got out of my dress and (not so reluctantly) went to sleep. All in all, I had an awesome time!
Post a Comment