From Makeup Brushes to Paint Brushes!

This weekend was the monthly event for the MN T-Girls and it was something we’ve never done before as a group… we took a painting class!

A small group of us spent a rainy Saturday afternoon with Terri Berg who teaches painting for groups and parties. She was very patient and just super fun to spend time with.

The life of a girl like us is all about stepping out of your comfort zone and this weekend was no different. It was fun trying something new and I reallllly want to do this again soon!

Love, Hannah

Prom Queens

I didn’t get to go to prom but daydreams of it came flooding back to me this weekend. The MN T-Girls were invited to a performance of the musical “The Prom” at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre and we had the time of our lives.

We dressed to the nines and had a delicious meal and watched a very topical story play out by fabulously talented actors. The music was fun and the dresses were gorgeous.

This was my second visit to the Chanhassen and I can’t wait to go again. Thank you to the Chanhassen for the invitation and the incredibly welcoming experience.

Love, Hannah

Save the Date!

Hi!

So, the MN T-Girls are marking our ten year anniversary this November. I’ve been wanting to plan something fun and big and glamourous and I know many of you who don’t live in Minnesota said they would be interested in booking a trip to celebrate with us.

The event is scheduled for Saturday, November 18th. I have rented a private space that is adjacent to a nightclub in Minneapolis. Food and drinks will be available for purchase.

I am also trying to raise donations to help offset the rental cost of the space. More on that to come!

So! If you’d like to fly in for the event, please email me at hannahgotta@gmail.com.

Please bear in mind that all travel expenses/arrangements/transportation aren’t anything I can assist with. This is not a convention or anything like that and I am not going to be able to reserve a block of hotel rooms, for example. This is just a fun evening of glam and an excuse to visit Minnesota in November, lol. I MIGHT also arrange for a second event, such as meeting up for shopping or coffee the day before or the day after…

Hope you can come!

Love, Hannah

Makeovers and Shopping!

This past weekend was the monthly MN T-Girls event and it was a return to one of the more popular events… makeup lessons and personal shopping!

We were treated like queens at Cos Bar in Edina, Minnesota. This was our second visit to Cos Bar and it was absolutely a treat to be back. Makeup is one of the most intimidating and, well, effective aspects of femme presentation and moments like these are simply amazing for the group.

Part of the intimidation is the shopping itself. We were lucky to have a private, after-hours event so we could shop in a comfortable environment. Just t-girls… how amazing is that??

The evening was a mixture of makeup techniques and shopping with talented and super fun makeup artists to find the right foundations and lipstick shades.

I was so happy to spend the evening with friends and makeup artists. Is there a better way to enjoy a Saturday night?

Thank you to the lovely ladies at Cos. If you need a makeover or need help shopping, please pay them a visit.

Love, Hannah

Man, It’s So Loud In Here

Yesterday was the monthly MN T-Girls event and we went to Lush for drag bingo.

And it was super fun!

Drag bingo is exactly what you think it is. Well, maybe. I can’t read your mind. Essentially it’s bingo with a fabulous queen calling out the numbers. Our host was Nikki Vixxen and she was amazing.

I am not much of a nightclub girl and I had forgotten how loud they can be. I suppose I am getting older, lol.

Although none of us won at bingo, we all won at looking super cute.

Love, Hannah

Keg and Case and Stilettos

This past Saturday was the first MN T-Girls event of the year! This November we will be celebrating our ten year anniversary and my goal for 2023 is to have as many new events for the group as possible. I mean, we’ll still have many of our normal adventures like attending Pride and our holiday parties but I am hoping to strut around new locations and have new experiences.

For our January event we met up at Keg and Case Market a food hall/indoor market in Saint Paul. It’s a little hard to explain but there are small pop-up retailers and a coffee ship and a brewery and tiny restaurants.

We got together for girl talk and coffees and cocktails and just enjoyed a quiet afternoon after the chaos of the recent holidays.

It was a fun day and we all looked amazing.

Love, Hannah

Merry and Bright and Fabulous

This weekend was the final MN T-Girl event of the year. And! It was the return to how we normally celebrate the holidays since the last two years were impacted by COVID.

When I say normal, what I mean is the night was filled with pretty girls, beautiful dresses, and lots of girl talk. We chatted about clothes and the upcoming year.

The holiday party is a wonderful way to end a year of friends and beauty. I can’t wait for 2023 to celebrate our ten year anniversary with each other.

Until then, enjoy a few photos from the party. Thank you to every t-girl who made the party bright.

Love, Hannah

Nine Years and Counting

The MN T-Girls have our final event of 2022 this weekend.

I am in the beginning stages of planning events for the upcoming year and it’s not always easy. Some monthly events are a given, such as the annual Halloween party in October (obviously) and Pride in June. We have an annual photo shoot and a holiday party in December (also obviously), too. That covers four out of the twelve monthly adventures.

It’s a balancing act planning events, to be honest. I have let go of trying to make sure sure EVERY event is appealing to EVERY t-girl. That’s not to say that I ever want or intend to exclude ANYONE. What I mean is that every girl in the group has a different degree of what they are comfortable in doing, and what sounds fun.

For some girls they are only ready to go to an LGBTQ+ café or nightclub. For some the bar scene is not for them and would rather spend the day shopping. Knowing this I try to plan events throughout the year that offer both extremes.

Cost is also a factor. The photo shoot we did last month is out of the price range for many since there is the fee for the studio rental as well as for our photographer’s time and talent. I know that money makes some events prohibitive which is why we also will meet up for for coffee and girl talk.

Some events are super memorable such as private makeup lessons or going to a play. Some were a lot of fun, like the yoga class we did earlier this year, but weren’t really appealing to many in the group. The girls who went really enjoyed it, however.

I encourage feedback from the group about events as it helps me plan future adventures. Sometimes I am told that an event isn’t for them, whether it’s because of cost or it’s not something they are comfortable doing en femme. I appreciate hearing this. If we have something planned and it’s not for them, hopefully a future event is perfect for them.

That being said, November of 2023 will mark ten years of the MN T-Girls.

TEN YEARS.

Honestly I never thought I’d still be doing this for this long.

Our community is something to celebrate, and it would feel like a missed opportunity to not acknowledge this milestone.

To be clear this is not an acknowledgment of something I DID that is worth celebrating. It’s a celebration for every t-girl in the group. Whether it’s a girl who comes to almost every event or someone who joined but isn’t ready to attend, the group exists for t-girls looking for support and friends. I plan on continuing the group as long as girls keep showing up.

Although I can come across as shallow, please believe me that I am so excited and I am sincere in my enthusiasm whenever a t-girl joins us for their first event. Many times it’s their first time out en femme. How amazing is that?? If that’s not something to celebrate I don’t know what is.

Even though I have no plans to stop the group, I also know that nothing lasts forever. Life happens. I could move out of state for a job. I could develop a medical condition. Presenting as a gender that is different than the one you were assigned to at birth could be made illegal.

As of right now I have no plans to move, I (think) I am healthy, and I am not aware of any laws the state of Minnesota is considering that could make me illegal, although who knows what may happen in the next week or within the next year?

Knowing this, I want to really celebrate our ten year anniversary.

I have a few ideas and I have gotten a lot of great suggestions from the girls in the group, but I thought it would be fun to open it up to ya’ll.

Honestly one idea is to invite EVERYONE. A HUGE weekend celebration at a hotel or event center. Live in Illinois? Come on up. Live in Canada? Come on down. I would love to book an event space at a hotel and we all dress up in beautiful gowns and celebrate all of us.

Another idea is an all day event at the Mall of America. An entire day of girl talk and shopping and dining and roller coasters. The mall is a very short Uber ride from the airport after all…

Like… for at least a day everyone could be a MN T-Girl.

I don’t know how feasible any of this would be and would take a lot of money and planning but if any celebration is worth putting in this effort it’s one that honors the courage and beauty of every t-girl in the world.

Love, Hannah

Set Your Phasers to Stun…

…because yesterday’s MN T-Girl photo shoot will leave you speechless!

I recently wrote how the professional photo shoot we do each year is one of my favorite events because it’s a peek inside someone’s soul… and their closet. Yesterday absolutely proved that as the girls were princesses and beauty queens. It was wonderful.

Five t-girls spent a few hours getting glammed up and dolled up and wearing absolutely amazing dresses and outfits. It was inspiring and a little humbling to see so many beautiful t-girls.

I can’t wait to see what the photos look like and I’ll post them as soon as I can for you. In the meantime, here is a little peek at the fun we had.

Love, Hannah

Lights and Cameras and T-Girls!

Tomorrow the MN T-Girls have our monthly outing which will be our annual photo shoot.

I do several photo shoots throughout the year but the yearly shoot our little group does is always my favorite one.

The MN T-Girls are celebrating our ninth anniversary this month and I’ve been reflecting on what we have done while also thinking about the future. Some events have been a lot of fun and some have been very unique and some, well, weren’t as popular or as fun as I thought they would be.

No matter what we do, each month usually has “a first” for at least one girl attending. For some outings it’s a girl’s first time out en femme. When we go out to dinner there’s a good chance it’s someone’s first time dining in a dress. These milestones are significant and I am always so happy and proud of my new friends.

The photo shoots are, in a way, a glimpse into someone’s heart and their closet. What I wear for a shoot I feel is a reflection as to how I feel about my myself. Lingerie can project confidence, leather suggests fearlessness, a gown reveals that undeniable desire to be as beautiful as I can.

I absolutely love seeing what the girls choose to model for these shoots. It might be a costume, it might be a sundress, or a wedding gown. I think a lot of what is hanging in our closets has a story behind it. There’s a reason we bought it. Some of us have a gorgeous floor-length gown because we’ve always wanted to be a princess. A short and tight mini-dress radiates a confidence that the rest of the world might not see from their male life (if they have one).

My point is that our hearts have secrets and desires. We have yearnings and pangs of emotion. What we wear shows what we wish for. We may not be a princess in real life but for a few hours each year we can pretend.

Love, Hannah