So far my vacation this week has been pretty action-packed with stuff to do. So today, my plan was to do nothing. Mentally unplug. Play a video game or two, watch some mindless TV, maybe change the oil in the car.
I haven't dressed in a few months. Summer I'm super busy between work and hobbies and just don't have the time to spare. Plus I tend to have a good amount of body hair and shaving isn't really an option in the summer (don't want funny looks) so I just kinda "hang it up" for the summer season.
Out of nowhere, I just decided to get dressed, and head out for a bit. Now, I've been out of the house TWICE when dressed. First time was for Halloween (so that doesn't really count) and the second was over this past winter, the wife and I decided to send our little one off to grandpa's for the night, get dressed, and go see a drag show. I was a complete bundle of nerves both times.
So I don't know where this extra courage came from. I dressed very conservatively, as "passable" as I can be. Wig, clip-on earrings, women's jeans, a blue-green long-sleeve layered top, and some 3" heels. I figured I'd head out to a local-ish shop that specializes in TG sales (Transformations by Rori for those of you in the Chicago area) and see if I could find a pair of flats in my size. (Rori's stocks just about everything you could want, clothes, wigs, forms, shoes, etc.) Last time I was in there (to buy my wig) they had a pair of flats I liked and in my size, but at the time I didn't want to spend the money (it had already been an expensive shopping day with the wife.) Not to mentin I was more interested in heels than flats. Now that I've really spent some time working on Laura's appearance, being as tall as I am, I realized even 3" heels make me stick out a bit more than usual. Flats are a good idea.
So I got dressed, grabbed my keys, borrowed a simple black purse from my wife's collection, tossed my wallet and phone in, and off I went.
Pulling out of the driveway, my next-door neighbor happened to be pulling out at the exact same time. Minor panic. I quickly tossed a baseball hat on that was on the passenger seat just to kind of disguise it a little (wig is long hair and I'm tall so I won't pass for my wife.) The next few miles left me thinking, "What the hell am I doing????" I took side and back roads to the expressway paranoid I'd run into someone I knew. I was fairly tense until I realized that, now out in the open, no one was paying attention to me. I just looked like a taller girl driving her car somewhere. I turned up the radio to relax myself, and just tried to ease into the drive. I just kept telling myself, "I'm just a taller girl... I'm just a taller girl... nothing to see here... I'm just a taller girl..." (LOL.)
Got to Rori's, chatted with the clerk a bit. They had some cute flats, just not in stock in my size (would you believe they were all TOO BIG?! That NEVER happens to me!!!) But he ordered a pair for me, they'll be here next week. I browsed a bit and was really starting to enjoy myself, it was SO great to be able to look through racks of women's clothing, actually look at, inspect, touch, feel, etc. each article and SHOP! (Typically my wife shops for me, or we go together but I'm too paranoid to really do much more than pretend to be the bored husband standing around while she does her shopping.) It was a little short lived though, as it seems the A/C was broken at the store cuz it was HOT in there. Once I realized I was really starting to sweat I thanked the clerk and left. (Nothing purchased aside from my ordered flats, I'll be back next week to pick them up though.)
Now I'm not as nervous. Half-dared myself to take a walk around the neighborhood that the store was in, but chickened out. Drove down the street a little, realized I needed gas (and probably wouldn't make it back home without making a stop) so I found a fairly big station with a lot of pumps. Parked at one WAAAAAY out in the far reaches of the station. Naturally, as I hop out of the car and walk over to the pump (reveling the entire time in the sound of my heels on the pavement) the gas station attendant walks outside with a broom and dustpan and starts sweeping the pavement. Minor panic again as he heads in my direction... "I'm just a tall girl... I'm just a tall girl... nothing to see here..." and I'll be darned if the guy swept all around me and my car by the time the tank had filled and he didn't give me a 2nd look!
So then I was feeling REALLY confident. Hopped back in the car with a full tank of gas and a smile on my face and started thinking about other places I could go! So I drove around a bit, then the full gravity of what I'd done so far that morning had hit me and I figured I should probably just end it on a high note. Last thing I needed was to push it and have a problem. Headed back home (back roads again), approached my house VERY cautiously to make sure no neighbors were out, and slid back into the garage unnoticed.
Frankly I'm still pretty shocked I did it. And part of me wants to grab my keys and purse (I'm still dressed) and head back out. Maybe I'll see if the wife wants to hang out with her "other" girlfriend tomorrow.
I have to credit a lot of the girls on this board for sharing their similar "first time" experiences. With so many people commenting how other people really didn't pay any attention to them, it gave me enough confidence to try it. As I was out, I noticed the same, and really relaxed. I guess a 6'1 brunette is just not as big of a deal to random strangers as I thought I'd be
I forsee a lot more of this kind of thing in the future. For sure once we get to the winter months.
Thanks for reading
Laura
