First Event

There are so many people who made this year's First Event amazing and memorable for me, far more than I can name here.  It was my fourth First Event I've attended, and even though it was the more hectic and more work than the other three I've been to, it was also the most fun. 

Special thanks needs to go out to John at Glamour Boutique for including me again this year, and for making the Friday night Fashion Show a huge success.  Anyone who wishes to get a DVD of the Fashion Show should contact John at jwarrener@aol.com.  DVD's should be ready sometime this week.

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone's 2011 is off to a great start!  I know January has brought snow to most of the US, so hopefully lots of snow now will mean an early spring (hey, a girl can hope, can't she?)

My new year celebration was very low-key.  I stayed at my sister's with her, her S/O, my spouse, and of course Dick Clark.  Quiet but fun ringing in the new year with just the four of us.  I know there were a lot of great options for everyone to go out, but it just wasn't in the cards for me this year.

The next big excitement is, of course, First Event.  Put on by the Tiffany Club of New England, First Event draws several hundred transgendered individuals and supporter from all over.  It's held at the Marriott in Peabody, MA and between the workshops, vendor area, and evening activities there's definitely something for everyone.  It also makes for a very friendly and supportive first time out for those that may currently be closeted. 

This will be my 4th year attending First Event, and every year it just seems to sneak up on me.  But now it's right around the corner, less than a week away, and I have to get myself in gear and decide what to bring with me.  I will be with the Glamour Boutique booth again and have all my makeup with me ready to do makeovers on anyone who needs one.  Makeovers are discounted for the event, and I hope that many of you will stop by and say hi even if you're not looking for makeup help. 

Lake Erie Gala

I arrived in Erie, PA last night to attend the lovely Lake Erie Gala.  It's a much smaller group than SCC or First Event; there's about 120 girls that come from mainly the Great Lakes region and Canada, but there are a few other New Englanders.  This event is unique in that there aren't any seminars and few discussions set up.  The main idea is to get girls, especially newbies, out in public to do fun stuff on the town.  There's vineyard tours, chocolate factory visits, museums, and historical sites to visit.  Since the girls spend much of the day during the week out on the town, it's pretty quiet in the vendor room.  Tomorrow, however, is Saturday, the day of the big Glitter Ball.  There is no organized trip out into Erie, so most of the girls will be in the hotel gabbing and hanging out, recovering from a very busy week.  I'm looking forward to getting to know more girls tomorrow.  Full review coming after I recover next week.

Southern Comfort

This year was my first time to Southern Comfort in Atlanta.  Being at SCC with Glamour Boutique meant seeing fellow New Englanders as they came by to say hello.  I honestly didn't expect so many familiar faces.  Being in the vendor area in general meant running into many old friends, several whom I hadn't seen for a year or more.  I had a great time catching up with people and by the time I left Atlanta my cheeks hurt from smiling and laughing so much.  When I first got down to SCC, someone offered that "sleep was optional for the weekend".  Thanks to karaoke and some really fun people, I got very little sleep but had the time of my life. 

Not lost

Even though I haven't been updating as frequently as I should the last few months, I'm still around.  In September I went to Southern Comfort for the first time, and between then and now has been a whirlwind of activity.  Over the next two weeks I'll be posting about what I've been up to the last couple months and posting more pictures in the gallery. 

I promise I am much more vigilant about my email inbox, so please feel free to send me email if there's anything not on the site yet.

Updates to the site

The lovely Ashley came up this month for a makeover and a quite photo shoot at the Auburn mall!  See some of the best pictures now posted in the gallery. 

The August 2010 calendar is now posted.  If you know of other events in the New England area that are open to all, please shoot me and email and let me know.  I'd be happy to post information to share with others. 

Also new on the site, the Stories page has turned into an actual Guestbook!  I'm pretty pleased with this change, and I hope to receive feedback through it.  There is now a links page as well, and if you have a link you'd like to add, send me an email and I will gladly add it if appropriate.

RCC

Tomorrow night is the monthly gathering of girls at Randolph Country Club in Randolph MA.  Before that, the Tiffany Club will be holding a fundraiser BBQ (see tcne.org for more details).  I can't make it to the BBQ, but will hopefully get to meet many girls at RCC!

I have also added some pictures of the lovely Cha Cha to the gallery.

Updated Events

I have finally updated the upcoming events to reflect July's happenings!  I don't think I've missed anything, but please let me know in the comments if I have. 

I will be at Club Femme in Westborough this Saturday, so please stop in if you're in the area.  It's a fun crowd and a great location (the Indian Meadows Country Club). 

New feature!

At the request of several people, I have added a list of events.  There are two parts to this list.  The bottom section is of weekly gatherings I know of in eastern Massachusetts.  The top section will change monthly with upcoming events/gatherings as I hear of them.  June is currently posted, and I will update with July's happenings toward the end of June.  If anyone has events in Massachusetts, Connecticut, or Rhode Island that they would like posted, just shoot me an email so I can add it.  As always, I'll update in the blog too if there's something coming up that I think you all would like to hear about or possibly attend.  The events are listed under the "news" heading.

As a side note, I've recently discovered the wide world of yahoo groups.  It's a fantastic resource to explore, if you haven't already.

A very busy week

I was in Westborough last Friday, and the turnout was much better than last month.  This is going to be a monthly event, with the next one being on June 11th.  I had two very happy clients who had a fantastic time meeting new people.

Saturday brought some changes in plans where I couldn't make it to Triangles.  I was very disappointed, but sometimes life just gets in the way of prior plans.

A welcome surprise was the opportunity to go to the Empire Conference in Albany, NY, sponsored by TransEvent.  This was the first year for the Empire Conference, but overall it seemed to be well run.  It went Wednesday to Sunday, but unfortunately I could only get there on Saturday.  I saw some old friends, met some new ones, and was able to help several girls out with makeup needs for the big Ball on Saturday night.  One of my girls was Willinda, a very sweet person I've had the pleasure of meeting before.  She has let me post pictures not only of how fantastic she looked afterwards!  Go check her out in the gallery when you can!