Kick Off Party

Since beginning this blog, Jeanie has been dying to take a look.

I've given him updates on who I'm reading and who is reading me but I've yet to give him permission to take a look for himself. He asked if I would prefer him not to read my blog. I asked the what if's. What if I offend him? What if I hold back because I know he's reading? My Daughter the Scene Girl was listening and said she felt that our blogs should be private. She said that we share everything: our time, our home, our wardrobes and that maybe, we needed a place and space that was strictly our own. Jeanie has a blog on myspace but no more. He opted for a different blog site and found a place that is sacred and all his own.

Last night just before I began getting ready for the party, I got an email from a woman who is quite similar to myself, although more well-versed and comfortable within the LGBTQ community. It's exciting to think that there are others who can identify with my experiences and can share their experiences with me. I hope to get to know her better as well as others I'm growing quite fond of through their blogs.

Jeanie and I have calculated that it takes around four hours for the both of us to get ready for an event from shower to shoes to the last little accessory. I am not complaining! I love transforming Jeanie! Sitting across from him and picking just the right shades for the just the right contures and shadows is like one of my most favorite things to do. Dressing him was not necessary last night. He could dress himself. The assumption I made was that it takes me two hours to do myself and two hours to do Jeanie, but that's not factual. I realized that a large portion of the four hours is spent on me. Getting myself ready is far more tedious though you would think it would be the other way around. A girl into a girl should be easier than a boy into a girl but it's not. Maybe because I'm not so much a girl anymore. I am 36 and there seems to be more work involved in looking good than was needed at 16 or 26 or even 30. Making Jeanie beautiful isn't hard to do at all. He is so sleek and runway and heroin sheek without needing heroin. In a dress he comes closer to being Kate Moss than I ever will.

Jeanie was ready in no time. He hovered around my vanity and was quite enamored by me in hot rollers. He took picture after picture and even did a video I'm sure he'll edit and want to post on youtube. I saw nothing attractive about me in rollers.

I did like the finished look and while I had my doubts on how Jeanie would feel in a suit and tie, I thought we made a lovely couple on the way out. My assumption that it would only take me two hours to get ready, gave us a late start and we didn't leave the house until 7:30.

The party took place at a beautiful place called the Fair Barn. Every company party has a theme and this year's theme was a Hollywood one. When you entered you had to walk down the red carpet while men with cameras mobbed you. The floor was scattered with Hollywood stars and I found my name. Jeanie was sure to pull it up before we left and it's now on my kitchen floor by the coffee maker. By the time we got there the party was in full swing. Large buffet tables and bars lined the sides of the room, couples danced and everything shimmered. Photo booths were set up. The lines were always long and we missed out on having a picture like a magazine cover made but we did get a shutter book made. We danced in front of a video camera and two minutes later a book filled with 30 or so shots that make a silly little film was given to us later. I absolutely love it.

All the employees were asked to go upstairs for this year's gift which were wrist watches by Skagen in cases with our company logo. I picked out a silver steel one that's unbelievable light weight.

I wasn't sure how comfortable Jeanie would be at the party. This was the first time he met my coworkers and people react differently when in the company of strangers but I shouldn't have worried. He was charming and fun and the best date ever. We danced and mingled and had a wonderful time that we didn't want to end.

As so many people face unemployment and financial hardships, I am grateful to have a job I enjoy. I think all of us in attendance felt that way last night. I feel amazingly blessed to work with such wonderful people and that our hard work is taking our company into new exciting directions.

As we were leaving, I made it a point to thank the president of the company for a great party and for the opportunity to be a part of something I really believe in. He is a very quiet and reserved man; a man I rarely approach and one I only speak to when he speaks to me first. I don't know why he makes me so nervous, but he does. Maybe it was the wine but I actually spoke with intelligence to him last night without feeling I was merely babbling. He actually embraced me and gushed with compliments of the wonderful job I do and how he felt I was the most dedicated and hard working employee in his company. I've worked for him for several years now and I was so touched by his words. It just makes me want to do an even better job for him.

The Scene Girl had a party of her own. Her best female friend, her best male gay friend, and her best boy cousin spent the night and I think they finally crashed around 4 am. They got a kick out of my wobbly entrance into the house and when I let them peer into my bedroom to see Jeanie coming out of his boys clothes and seeing he had worn a bra and panty hose underneath !

The After Party wasn't so bad either.....