SCC — One Girl’s Adventure: Part 2

The Southern Comfort Conference: Fix Your Hair, Enjoy What You Wear, and Be Yourself When You’re There

Linda: I hope my recording device has enough memory to get all this down. So what happened in Atlanta? I haven’t heard anything from anyone.

Leah: I had a blast! I usually arrive on Tuesdays to give me time to recuperate from the long ride. The following day Lisa arrived from California and Pee Dee from New York and our gang of four was complete. We got together at the bar and headed to Fleming’s Steak House, wow what a meal!

Linda: That’s the same group you were with in Chicago? Neat but focus girl. I’m a crossdresser. I want to know what you were wearing. What were you wearing?

Leah: I wore a black top with white skirt with matching shoes and handbag and belt, I received so many complements with this outfit that I decided not to change it and go to dinner in it.

Linda: White after Labor Day? I guess that old rule is gone the way of the dodo bird.

Leah: Nowadays I feel very confident stepping up to request a table and be seated. The place was marvelous, and the hostess was smiling at us and being very accommodating. We ordered wine, laughed, enjoyed, reunited and enjoyed an excellent dinner. What a steak!

The maître d’ came to our table and chatted with us for a while welcoming us to the restaurant. Needless to say we were in our glory with the attention that we were getting. We finished dinner, returned to the hotel and proceeded to the bar again. Who wants to go to bed? We are there to socialize and have fun, so sleep deprivation begins immediately. I don’t drink as much as I used to, but that doesn’t stop me from having fun, being boisterous and letting that feminine girl out!

Linda: Did you stay together, just the four of you?

Leah: That evening, yes. Well of course we did talk to others but Southern Comfort is so big and there are so many people there that trying to meet too many can be overwhelming. It is nice to have a little island of friends within a sea of strange faces. I think most girls find little friendship groups at the big gatherings like Chicago and Atlanta. I was very lucky that my three friends included me in their activity many years ago and now we plan our TG holidays together. We know we are going to meet again in March in Vegas.

Linda: I envy your outgoing personality. I always found it tough to meet someone for the first time, to strike up a conversation and get over that initial awkwardness because in many ways to know if you are going to like someone you have to get inside the walls that many of us have up to guard our personal information.

Leah: That’s so true but it is a bit of a hit and miss process. The more people you approach the better chance you have on making a connection. One thing I can tell you — if you don’t approach someone and she doesn’t approach you the two of you will never become friends

Linda: I guess if you reach out to enough people it is like they say: ‘even the blind squirrel can find the occasional nut.’

Leah: Yeah sure. The following day, I spent a lot of my time putting the final touches on my presentation. I went to our friend Denise’s presentation, but I arrived late; she had finished ahead of schedule. We took some photographs and went to lunch.

There is something about the way I dress that calls a lot of attention, I like the fitted look, coupled with my girlie height, it makes for a very flamboyant presentation, but in reality I am just following my vision of the woman I would like to be. Classic and elegant; and I am having so much fun doing it that would be impossible to go back at this juncture.

Linda: So what were you wearing?

Leah: Thursday I wore an awesome dress, brown and white print, very fitted and tight that showed every part of my body, tan color high heels and bag, I was in my glory with this outfit and again I decided not to change for dinner.

Linda: Well no wonder you got some attention.

Leah: As the others dressed for the evening I just freshened up my makeup. The four of us were going for our Thursday night traditional dinner; the same dinner, where it all began. We still go to the same restaurant, they know us well by now, and our table was ready. One funny scene was that one of the patrons came to our table to have pictures taken with us and his wife. They actually told my friend Pee Dee they remembered us from last year and even remembered where we sat . . . Oh my, now that’s legacy.

Linda: Or infamy.

Leah: However with my presentation the following day I didn’t hang around too long after the group returned to the hotel.

After having my make up done the next day, I had a professional photo shoot, oh wow, what an experience! It was all about learning to look good in lingerie. This is the second time I have done something like that, and I must say I love it! I get to play model for an hour, I learned from my girlfriend Denise to be camera friendly, I get to pose in such ways that one can only dream of for an hour, and my sexy pictures are thrilling to my eyes.

Linda: Is that what they call a ‘boudoir shoot’? Are you going to send me some of those photos?

Leah: Probably not. I changed in to a purple peacock top and green pencil skirt with purple shoes, I went to give my presentation. This year I was relaxed, and I had plenty to say. I went way beyond the scheduled time. Good thing it was the last talk of the day. After finishing, I pondered if I would do a presentation again. It takes a lot of time to put it together, research, preparation, etc. and I am increasingly getting busier with life and girlie days! We shall see.

Linda: They have close to a hundred different seminars to choose from at SCC. What was your topic? Did you have an interested group of attendees?

Leah: The title of my presentation was “Transgender Journey and the Pursuit of Happiness.” It’s about general information about the complexity of transgender people and steps for them to achieve happiness, not everything is roses and flowers, there is a high incidence rate of suicide pre-transition, I would say that was attended by about 15-20 people, and I think they were pretty interested.

Linda: I know that after a couple of days of a TG conference I’m pretty exhausted to say nothing of my gaffe starting to cause unwanted pressure in a certain area. You must have done well to hold their attention. Did you have a quiet evening to recover?

Leah: No way! The gang of four were going out again and I invited our friend Amy to join us. I wore a sequined bronze dress and matching shoes and handbag to go out for dinner. That night we decided to get together with a group of girls headed by my girlfriend Danielle from LA. But as usual when the group gets too big the charm kind of disappears, it becomes just another girls night out. We went to The Palm, and the prices for the meal we encountered were a disappointment. Upon our return, I put a very revealing outfit on,a one shoulder red mini dress with black lace leggings and slip on black shoes to go to a night club. My girlfriends do not dance, so I was waiting for the bus when my friend Monica asked me if I wanted to go in her car, so we went to the night club, and had a great time; Dance, you don’t have to ask this Latin girl twice!.

Linda: I know that! You go girl!

Leah: Saturday, the final full day, I slept late trying to recuperate, I arrived late to lunch, and there was no food left at the buffet , so I had a salad. I wore a black top with a grey denim skirt with black lace, grey shoes and handbag. We proceeded to have such good laugh listening to a ventriloquist. It was a great break from primping around. I went to Holly Boswell’s spiritual circle, something that I always enjoy, probably if I have the time I will spend few days at her retreat in the North Carolina Mountains, should be very inspirational and I plan to do this soon.

So as usual, to get ready for the big dinner my friend Gina hosted us to a champagne toast in her room; the four girlfriends had some pictures taken and we made our promises of meeting again in Vegas. That will be something for the ages, crazy girls like us!

We went downstairs to the reception area where the whole group of beautiful looking girls was assembled, hugs, and kisses and pleasantries flying high, everybody smiling showing the happiness they share. Gowns galore, what a show! I wore a royal blue fitted dress with silver heels and handbag, silver color shawl.

I think the economy is doing much better by just looking at what other girls are wearing, great makeup and hairdos. I am as guilty as they come, but I was mentally thanking David my hairdresser for putting up with me. It paid off in a big way, now many of my

girlfriends are coming to Orlando to have their wigs done by him.

The night went so fast, we had such a good time, I got separated from my friends, but we hooked up again at the bar, where the night went forever, or so it seemed. My high heels were killing me after dancing in them, so I went upstairs to put on jeans and flip flops to continue until the late hours of the night.

Sunday was our customary sad good bye with breakfast. Most of the girls are already back to drab but this year I was driving home in fem mode. We didn’t finish breakfast until about 11 am. I

finished packing; the hotel lobby was a zoo with people checking out. (Leah paused her conversation to take a breath)

Linda: I’m still here. How did it feel with you still as Leah but a lot of the people around you in drab?

Leah: I don’t know what to say when other people are in drab mode, I think it doesn’t bother me because I dress up so much lately that it is becoming sort of natural for me to be in mixed company..

Linda: For me I often found it hard to relate their male image to the female one I’d probably seen the night before. Even though the guys are still clean shaven and have definite signs of moisturizer and even traces of make up on their face it often took me a while to compute especially when some strange guy would come up to chat and I would be thinking, ‘who are you?’ and then a light bulb would go on ‘oh, that’s Suzanne. I slept with her two nights ago.

Leah: Well I won’t go there.

Linda: So obviously you got home alright.

Leah: I couldn’t wait any longer for a bellman, so I went and loaded the car myself, leaving Atlanta in the early afternoon, and arriving home very late, tired and happy!

As the days have passed since my return, I think about the friendships that I have made over the years, how the time goes by so fast and how I am filled with such fond and fun memories. I don’t know how long this joy will last, but for sure I have plenty of stories to tell of the adventures and laughs I had with these girls. These will stay with me for the rest of my life!

Linda: Leah, that’s so great you had a wonderful time. I’m really interested in what you said about an island of friends within a larger gathering and about your talk on the pursuit of happiness. I’m going to have to learn more but right now I have to let you go. I’ll transcribe our conversation and send it to you. Bye love.

Leah: Bye.

There you have it: One girl’s account of what happened to her in Atlanta. The next time you get to the Southern Comfort Conference you will probably encounter a tall, flamboyant Hispanic accented girl. Just tell her Linda says hello.

Tags: conference, featured

Category: Transgender Body & Soul, Transgender Fun & Entertainment