Raven 13 part 3 - finale...finally

Raven 13 part 1
Raven 13 part 2
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Thanks to that full bottle of wine I didn't need any other liquid courage all night. We danced a bit. Met a couple of other GG/TV couples I hadn't seen there previously. Also saw a couple I had met there before. Had a brief chat with Maureen, whom I met at a previous Raven event, also had a chat with a couple where their family all know about his crossdressing for the past 6 years!!! I think that’s pretty awesome!  There were a good deal of people attending for the first time and having such a great time. I didn't have my friend there this time to take pictures so I have less than I’d like to have had. Ah well. Got to be 2am, everyone either went home or to their rooms to either sleep or party more.

The next morning we went to meet up for breakfast at the nearby Eagle Diner. There were a few people from the Raven event, at least 2 rather large tables and several smaller tables had faces I recognized from the night before. Some of the gurls were in girl mode and a few were in guy mode. Paula and I sat at one of the rather large tables surrounded by people we knew either by face or name. I sat next to an older woman I had met a few times before named Jackie. I thought Jackie was a GG supporter of T-Girls, like myself. But as I was chatting with her she mentioned herself being ‘dad’. I was floored!!! I HAD No Idea! I didn't (or at least tried) not to express my shock, in a good way. She is totally passing!!! She is also very sweet & a wiz in the kitchen. I LOVE to hear other people’s stories and she had many. Stories were told of the ex-wife (who didn't cook very well), kids and even grandkids. The grandkids know her as Aunt Jackie, which I think is cute. When they get much older and start asking questions I guess they’ll get the answers then, but for now Aunt Jackie will do. Also at our table was the Dancing Queen Linda, a few men… men…er… Men who don’t dress…I guess. Also at our table was our wonderful event host Jen!!! But…not dressed as Jen. She was in guy mode. Ok, so Paula and I were wondering what Jen looked like in guy mode. Neither of us could imagine. Actually, for a while I thought she’d already went under the knife and was full time girl but I was told that she went to work male. So my mind was kinda blown seeing her w/o boobs, wig & make-up I guess. She was still Jen. Same voice, same attitude, same zeal for life. She just looked a bit different. I saw a few others out of their girl clothes at breakfast. It was a nice time. We talked about maybe having a flag football game at another Raven weekend. That would totally be a fun thing to do, maybe a Friday afternoon in the spring or summer. We all had out meal and had a good time eating and laughing together. Then it was time to go.

The thing I like is that there are girls who go to the Raven who are at every stage of…T-Girl-ness. You have the girls Dressing and going out for the first time, girls who just like to dress up and go out who have no interest in transitioning, girls who would like to transition but because of their significant other are not. There are girls who have transitioned who are still with their spouse who are working on seeing if this life will work out for them. There are girls fully transitioned and looking for a significant other of their own, be their preference male or female…or another t-girl. I love that, though not everyone necessarily knows where everyone else is on the spectrum of things, everyone respects one another enough that no one is ever put down for being one way or another or having a gender preference etc. …Though I did hear that one girl’s spouse was disrespected by being inappropriately touched by a couple of the gurls… that totally was not cool. From what I hear this was an isolated event, I’d never been harassed in that way but I, being a natural born GG don’t go around grabbing other girls bums. It’s not cool to do to someone you hardly know.

That being said, the weekend was fun. I met new people and hope to talk to them more in the future. Next time I think I’ll see if I can gather email addys and get a conversation going that way. Maybe have a few more interviews under my belt and on to my page. It seems my 1 ‘interview with a straight crossdresser’ is the most popular post on my blog. I plan on doing a year in review for 2012 blog posting soon.

Laterz!

Raven 13 part 2

Raven 13 part 1
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I got very little sleep that night. Got up early to greet my sis when she arrived at my house. Hang out with her for a bit then we went to an early lunch (brunch) at RiverWinds in NJ. Awesome food, service & atmosphere there. I always enjoy meals there. Try the calamari, they make the absolute best!!! 

After Brunch with the sis, Paula and I stopped by a JCPennys and got a few things we needed…I think stockings were the major needed item. We also looked at the clearance jewelry. can’t remember if we got anything else. Back into the car to drive up to New Hope.

We got there…maybe around 2 or 3pm and started to get Paula ready first (as usual). I did similar makeup as the previous day but used lighter grey on the eyelids. Because of the way Paula’s dress was cut and the corset being cut the way it was, Paula’s faux boobs couldn't fit in the dress without showing through. I decided we’d try to create cleavage using make-up. I didn't have the right kind of make-up so I improvised. It didn't come out as good as expected but, looking at the pictures, it did have a bit of the desired effect. On went the corset and then the hair. Paula really like everything about the hair on the previous day so I duplicated it in a more secure way than the day before (I couldn't fine more than 2 bobby-pins on Friday). I got the hair pinned up securely with many pins. While Paula finished getting herself ready, I worked on me. I had to iron my Lehenga Choli cause…well…I didn't have it properly hanging so it was very wrinkled. I decided on wearing false eyelashes that had rhinestones on it. I said, out loud, “If these don’t stick the first time I’m not wearing them”. They must have wanted to be worn cause they went on quite easily. I used this gold make-up…stick thing (that I got from the dollar store a few months ago) on my eyes and lips. It’s the type where you can use it wet or dry. I usually use it wet. It’s more opaque when used wet, it’s more of a shimmer when dry. I didn't do much with my make-up. I bobby pinned my tikka into my hair. Pinned my hair up a bit got dressed and we got out and to the Red Carpet before it was over!!! Red carpet is from 4:30pm until 7:30pm. I think we got there around 6:45pm. We met our friend Jen and she was quite surprised to see that we actually made it out to the red carpet. We had our pictures taken on the red carpet with our friends. I…forgot to get a red carpet shot alone. Ah well. There are pictures of me sharing the spotlight with others.

I met a lovely lady there…whose name I have forgotten (Maybe Jennifer…why am I so bad w/ names???) She was tall and passing! She wondered why I was there. I told her cause I like crossdressers. She seemed quite pleased with my answer. She said she had previously believed herself to be a straight crossdresser but was recently also interested in males. She was quite interesting. She told me about how she used to wear wigs and how once the wig is on she is ‘Jennifer’. Then she decided to grow her hair out. Once there is no wig/you’re always in the wig where does ‘guy type’ stop and ‘girl type’ begin? It’s kind of perplexing. I’d love to talk to her more about her views on herself etc. I told her about my blog and wrote down my blog address…maybe I should have gotten her email? Ah well, hopefully I’ll see her again at another event and we can chat more. I ran into some other friends there. Allie came in wearing this awesome black dress with red shoes; she looked as fashionable as ever. I met another GG there who is dating a crossdresser. Her Gurl couldn’t make it that night but she still came with another friend. She made her complete outfit. The dress, which looked awesome & awesome on her, her hair accessories, the works and for the life of me…I can’t remember her name either *sigh*. I also met Lisa’s lovely lovely spouse. She was very sweet. I got to chat with her a little bit; hopefully I can chat with her more some other time. Lisa was so much happier at this Raven than the last one I saw her at. I think maybe having the love of her life there was the reason. Sometimes it’s lonely not having the one you love nearby. I can’t say for sure why she didn’t seem very happy at the last one, I didn't feel it was my place to ask, I was just glad to see her so happy at this one. After a few more pictures it was time to head over to the Raven for dinner.

We had our dinner reservations set for 7:45pm I believe. We arrived there about 7:25pm and asked if we could be seated early and we were able to. The Host there was looking awesome as usual. This evening he was wearing all white with diamond-esque embellishments on his tall white hat (kinda like the nutcracker styled only with white faux fur) and was wearing a big diamond-esque rhinestone necklace. It turns out he was a creator of costumes (awesome!). I like being crafty as well. Maybe at some point I’ll make something from scratch to wear to a Raven event. We were seated and I decided on having wine…a whole bottle of wine. When I thought about it, it was cheaper than getting several separate glasses of wine and I usually don’t change wines glass to glass. Whereas Paula…is not a drinker so…More wine for me, Whoot! After we ordered we mingled a bit with some of the girls there. Went to a few tables, made some new acquaintances, talked to a few people we had met earlier that night and the night before. At the table behind ours was a girl who was attending their first Raven event. She had a makeover by a make-up artist who often comes to make over girls who request the service. She does great work. Nikki looked great. She seemed to be enjoying herself very much. As I looked around the room I spotted a couple I had seen before who I’d only seen for dinner, usually they were leaving just after I got there (we were always running late) I wanted to talk to them… they were wearing the cutest dresses J I mentioned in my previous post about this encounter (here) finished up dinner and headed to the dance floor.
(cont. Raven 13 part 3)

Raven 13 Part 1

Ok, so I've been reallllly wordy with this post so I figured i'd break it up into bitesized chunks...you know...if you take really big bites. Also, I would have had this up days ago, but for some reason Blogspot wasn't working on Chrome (my usual browser), then I tried on FireFox and it seemed like it'd work...but no, it didn't. I'm currently using (dare I say) Internet Explorer *shudder*
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I went to the Raven 13 party on the weekend of Jan 12-14 and had fun as usual. It’s a free event and all T-girls & admirers are invited. This time I made all of the events!!! A first for me, yay!

Here is how the schedule of events usually goes: Friday is the Meet & Greet. Starts about 7:45pm and goes till 2am. Most don’t stay till 2. It’s at a bar& grill, near the Raven. Then around midnight, whoever is up for it goes over to the Raven for some dancing. On Saturday some of the girls meet up in New Hope for Shopping early in the day then get ready for the Red carpet shoot, across the street from the Raven. That starts at 4:30pm and goes till about 7:30pm. Starting at 7pm at the Raven is Dinner. Dinner is optional (not free where as the rest of the events are free) goes till about 9pm. Then the much awaited Dance Party starts at 9 at the Raven on their dance floor. That goes till 2am. The next morning about 10-20 of the attendees go to breakfast at the nearby Eagle Diner as a nice end to a nice weekend. Here is how the weekend got going for me.

On Friday I spent a couple hours honing my make-up artistry skills on Paula’s face. I am getting quite good, if I do say so myself. I applied most of the make-up. (click here for details of what I did on Paula's face)**Then I had Paula apply the Mascara. A bit of blush, some red lipstick & Paula’s face is ready. Next into the brand New Corset Paula got from Corset Story, pulled in nice and tight so Paula had a very nice Hourglass figure. Then on with the rest of Paula’s shirts…I think Paula was triple layered that day. Corset, Shirt, Sweater/jacket-y…thing with a belt around that. Next on with the wig. A while ago, I think for the Raven 12 party, Paula got a curly ponytail to attach to the wig. It looked really cute to the side as it was. This time we did something different with the ponytail. We made the wig & ponytail look kinda like a bumped up hair style. I put the ponytail just a little behind the bangs. Pulled some hair around it and pinned it into place. A while ago Paula was talking about wanting the hair up and we figured that’s be a bit time consuming and couldn’t do it in time for this raven event. Well, once Paula saw how her hair looked like that, she was sooooo happy!! It was exactly how she’d imagined it!!!. Awesome again! I put a lil black tiara in her hair around the bump and Paula looked like a princess!

We were running a bit late for the Friday Meet & Greet (as usual) So I did about 5 minutes worth of make-up on myself, pretty much just liner, mascara, concealer. Put on my dress, found a pair of shoes& out of the house we went. I didn’t even do my lips till be were outside the meet & greet. We got there after 8pm...maybe 8:30-ish. Went in saw a few friends we had met previous times. Jen (the party planner that made it all happen) Chelle & Reena was there. Plus many others we’d met previously (not all whose names I remember…yeah…I’m horrible with names, sorry girls) I ordered a drink, Amaretto Sour, one of my fav’s. …They…did not make it correctly…at all…it was horrible. I took 2 sips and had to take it back and had them make me something else. I don’t know what she made, but it was good. J I ordered food cause I didn't have time to feed myself before leaving my house. I can’t even remember what I ate, but it was good J. Meanwhile Paula went around meeting some new people. I also went around after a few minutes…it took me forever to decide what to eat. I met some girls who were at the Raven for the first time, (this was my 3^rd time) They all seemed really excited. I met another lady who sells Avon as well. She’s been doing it for a year where as I have only been for a few months. I remember one person I met is named Destiny…cause I have a lil cousin with that name so it was easy to remember that one. There is a girl there that is always dancing. She is a dancing diva!!! Every time I see her dancing I swear she must have been a cheerleader in a former life. I believe her name is Linda. I talked to her about it; she says she feels like she’s performing when she dances. She certainly looks like she’s performing; she gets my stamp of approval. J I took a few pictures and was in a few as well. We headed over to the Raven for a little bit but left early. In a few hours my sister would be touching down at the Philly airport from California. So off we went back to my house so I could await my sister’s arrival. Unfortunately, Paula started feeling ill. I think we stopped for some Dayquil on the way back which Paula started consuming.

photobucket.com/raven13party

(cont. Part 2 & Part 3)

Paula's Make-up for Raven 13

**Since I’ve been selling Avon, I’ve been using more and more Avon make-up on her face. After a good shave I used an Avon stick style concealer over the area that may later house a 5’o clock shadow. Over that I put the Avon Liquid Foundation over the area that I just put the concealer over. That way it’s double concealed. Over that and all over the face I put the bare minerals foundation etc to blend everything in. The mineral make-up makes the whole face look like it has light make-up on. You can’t tell that the beard area is heavily concealed. Awesome!!! Next I used this ‘warm’ powder mineral make-up on the contour areas. Cheeks, under chin & forehead area. I decided to kinda wing it with the eye make-up. Used some more Avon make-up. I got this huge kit of eyeshadows, blushes & lip color from avon when it was on sale for $19 now it’s back to $30-ish bucks..if its even available anymore. It has so many shades and stuff…totally worth it! I used some tips I got from watching Manila Luzon’s NYE smokey eye make-up tutorial (which I used for Paula when we went to Diamonds Karaoke the week before) but I didn’t go through the whole tutorial again. We haven’t done anything to Paula’s eyebrows (shaving, plucking etc) ever. I kinda re-shape them a bit using make-up. I use a white shimmery shadow that I got from Sephora (for free a couple of years ago) on top of the eyebrows at the outer corners to make them look thinner there. I use brown makeup on a eyebrow brush to fill in the brows a bit and make an arch with the color on the outside edge of the upper natural brow area. If that makes any sense to anyone but me. Next I used this dark shimmery grey in the crease area and a lighter grey on the eyelid. Liquid liner on the eyes with a bit of a wing tip. Paula finished up with the mascara & lipstick. Paula's face was  FINALLY done! Took us maybe 1.5 hours. We're getting better. Way down from 4 hours at the begining. Next is to get Paula to be able to do this all herself!

Musing over Raven 13 dinner

At The Raven's dinner last night were 2 adult babies sitting at a table. I really liked their outfits. I wanted to go over and talk to them, but i was at another table chatting with some other girls. They got up to leave before i had a chance to get to them but they were about to pass me. I told one of them that i loved their outfit. She thanked me and told me she was 8. I told her she was quite a tall 8 yr old. She then directed me to her partner, even taller than her, and told me she was 5. I was like, "wow! You must have been drinking a lot of milk to grow so tall!" They seemed happy and finished leaving. After they left, one of the girls i was talking to told me that they often come to the dinners and that she was the first person to talk to them. I was shocked. It seems...the adult babies are kinda ill treated in the community. I'm learning that...every community of 'peoples' are kinda clique-y. A lot of times TV's stick together and kinda look down upon the CD's. The 'adult  styled' CD's seem to look down upon the 'adult baby' CD's. Then there are others that don't quite fit the mold that others have imposed are there. It's so odd that the 'T' of the LGBT community is so divided being that they as a whole are so misunderstood.

CD Karaoke at Diamonz

This past Friday I went to a Karaoke in the Allentown area at a place called Diamonz where I met some people from the T-Girls United meet-up group. (Before we went I looked up Manila Luzon's NYE Smoky eye make-up tutorial and made up Paula's face) Every 1st friday of the month there is a meet for the gurls up there (though every friday they have karaoke). Paula & I went up there and...well...sat around for a while till Karaoke began. We did have a few drinks first. They had a special on this shot called blue lollypop...or something like that. It was really good. I think i had 2-3 shots. After that I did order a Rum & Ginger ale (something i usually order at the bar I host karaoke at) ...it was one of the worst tasting Rums ever. Whatever brand their well Rum is (bottle looked way generic)...I hate it. I took 2 small sips, separated by a few minutes and could not stand it. I took it back to the counter and asked for just ginger ale. I didn't wanna risk another bad tasting drink. So, yeah, i guess if you go there for mixed drinks, make sure you order name-brand booze.
One thing that i wish i'd have known in advance is that its a bar that allows cigarettes. I am allergic to the smoke and I hadn't taken my allergy medicine that day but, I wasn't gonna leave. It took us 1.5 hours to get there. I figure, i'll deal with sneezing, itchy throat & congestion, whatevs. ...Ok, i thing i didn't think about was how stinky my clothes would be after i left...ah well as well.
Anywho, when karaoke started I pretty much blew them away with my karaoke prowess. (ok, i've been going to karaoke 1-3 times a week for the past 3 years now, so...yeah) I did some of my standard songs that I do well cause...well...ok, when you're at a new joint you need to put your best foot...er...vocal stylings...forward. I sang: Virtual Insanity, She (The Monkees), Hey Ya, Spiderwebs & Just a Girl. I had a lot of other songs in but, from what i heard, karaoke was unusually full that night. Not only was i singing, i was doing my lil semi-coordinated dance-like steps as well. Most everyone else who went up there were quite stiff and did nothing to try to stir up the crowd. Come on people, when you're at karaoke pretend you're a performer, its way more fun that way. Because I performed like I meant it I was well received and got a bit of cheering when they'd call me back up. Paula sang...nothing. Cause Paula doesn't feel comfortable singing in girl mode. I have no pics of me singing. I have no pix from my camera cause I was a lazy bum and didn't feel like taking my camera out. But the girl who is...the host of the event, (not the karaoke host, mind you, the KJ was Paulie. Nice guy) Antoinette, had her camera and took some pix. They're a bit grainy but the're pics. I'll post one of Paula & I at the end of this post. There were other local girls that I had seen on the Meet-Up page at the Bar who I thought were going to be at karaoke so i didn't bug them at the bar...they didn't come to karaoke, so i'll meet them some other time. I did make 2 new friends there though. Antoinette & Eadie (whose name i remember cause it sounds like my favorite ice cream brand Edy's) I wrote down the web address for this blog as well as Jessica Whos for them to peruse. They are both planning on going to the next Raven event which is coming up this Saturday, January 12th 2013. I will post more details about it...maybe tomorrow. The location etc are in earlier posts about Raven if you decide to look back at older posts. I'm tired & ready to sleep.
All in all, I had a fun time. Diamonz is a LGBT establishment. If you don't mind cigarette smoke, this is a nice place to hang out. Their karaoke book is Huge! It says their book is online but you can't access it with a smart phone. The only disadvantage to their book is that it is by song title only, not artist, but my karaoke is by artist not song title. I guess each way has its advantages & disadvantages. I was invited to 'Please come back', so I will go back. Next time I will be prepared, I will take my allergy medicine. I will probably pre-game a bit (Paula doesn't drink, Designated Driver FTW!) and I will wear clothing that I plan on washing the next day...also Coat will stay in the car.

I look forward to seeing some of you next weekend. Bye for Now :)

Pebbles, your Friendly Neighborhood Pirate

Happy New Year 2013!

I hope as 2012 leaves we can leave behind all of the bad feelings and thoughts that may have brought you down over the past year and 2013 will be a new beginning of good thoughts & good feelings. I hope you will be able to dress how you like and be proud of who you are inside and out. I hope acceptance of how you like to dress will be embraced. I have high hopes for 2013. I hope you all have a really great and prosperous new year!

Love,

Pirate Pebbs