This weekend was the mini-sized Pride Festival in Minneapolis. Due to, well, the whole COVID thing, this year’s Pride’s celebrations were a little smaller than in previous years. Usually the MN T-Girls have a booth but we skipped it this year since the festival was only recently announced and there wasn’t much time to plan.
Although we weren’t there in officially this year our little group had our monthly event at Pride. It was a nice little change from previous years as I normally don’t get a chance to wander around and visit other booths but this year we got to see so much. Like always, the people watching was excellent. 🙂
I am looking forward to next year when we are back with a booth but it was a fun day and we were happy just being there.
This weekend was the monthly MN T-Girls event and we celebrated(?) the incredibly hot weather with a backyard barbecue at our friend Marcia’s house. Everyone brought something to share and we spent the evening chatting and snacking and glowing (boys sweat, girls glow).
It was a fun although hot evening and it was a lovely way to spend a summer night.
Saturday was the monthly MN T-Girls outing and we enjoyed a night at Allure, an upscale lingerie store for a private shopping party.
This was our third event at Allure and like the previousevents the girls had an opportunity to get a bra fitting as well as shop for beautiful lingerie in a safe and supportive store.
I heart my new panties and lingerie and I”m sure you’ll find something there that you like, too!
Yesterday was the first MN T-Girls meeting since November. We took a pause due to COVID but now that the weather is warmer (for Minnesota in April, anyway) I felt it was safe(r) to resume our monthly adventures This was our second return as we took our first COVID pause last March and returned (for the first time) in May of last year.
This month wasn’t tooooo elaborate, just coffee and girl talk with the girls but it was good to see my friends again.
It was chilly, but at least I looked cute. Well, I thought I looked cute.
This month the MN T-Girls celebrate our 7th anniversary and we marked the occasion with our annual photo shoot. This was our…fifth? shoot as a group and like the previous shoots it was a day of beauty, smiles, and camera clicks.
The photo shoots are limited to a number of participants so it’s usually our smallest event of the year. Like in past years Shannonlee was there to help us smile and pose as she captured our beautiful selves. This shoot was at Fox Box Studios in NE Minneapolis.
I can’t wait to see the final pictures but until then I hope you enjoy these behind the scenes shots.
Yesterday was the MN T-Girls‘ annual (two years in a row makes it annual, right?) Halloween party. It was a smaller party than last year’s but it was just as fun. I didn’t have much of a costume but it was a fun excuse to wear a really cute dress and a tiara lol. I’ll have to start planning my costume earlier next year I think!
Once I stepped out of the house for the first time and watched the sunrise on a summer morning I felt that I had conquered something impossible. Hannah was real, I was real, we were living in the real world. I felt invincible, I felt powerful, I felt fearless.
I began to think of all the other things I could do. My confidence was through the roof, my potential was endless, nothing could stop me. It was this moment when I started to list all the things she could do. All things I wanted to do.
I felt strong, I felt cute, I felt loved. Well, loved probably isn’t the word, but I was tolerated. What I mean is that I was terrified of being in the real world, I was scared of being harassed, laughed at, or worse. None of these things happened. The city accepted me, tolerated me, ignored me.
As I grew more secure with this side of me, and with how I looked, I fantasized about having professional photos done. An iPhone selfie is fine and my patient wife took countless pictures in those early days. Her love and support did more for me than a color-correcting foundation ever could.
Once the MN T-Girls started to meet, I thought it would be fun to do a professional photo shoot with a photographer. I had no idea how to set something like that up, but my philosophy is that once you commit to something, the universe just kind of gets out of your way and somehow it happens.
And that’s exactly what happened.
Hannah knew someone who knew someone and we got to chatting about my idea and her enthusiasm and support made me feel calm and safe. A few months later a small group of the T-Girls met at a studio in Minneapolis to have our pictures taken by Shannonlee.
This was five years ago and since then the group has had an annual shoot and I have had quite a few shoots with her on my own for modeling gigs and for my own vanity, if I am being honest.
For our first shoot I wore two different dresses. Shannonlee took so many pictures and I had never felt more beautiful. I still love looking at these pictures.
I realized a few months ago that this year marked five years of working with, and five years of friendship with Shannonlee. To mark and celebrate this occasion, I decided to wear one of the dresses I wore at that first photo shoot for our most recent shoot.
This past weekend the MN T-Girls had our monthly social event. A typical summer always has a patio party but I think it’s safe to say that this summer has been anything but typical.
The group took a few months off earlier this year but we started to meet a few months ago and have been keeping our events outside as much as possible. Luckily a member of our group, the always fashionable and fabulous Marcia invited us over for a potluck barbecue.
It was a lovely way to spend an early autumn evening, filled with friends and the smell of yummy food and the warmth of a bonfire.
It’s sometimes sad to see summer go, but this was a wonderful way to say goodbye to it.
Yesterday was a gorgeous, hot summer day. Not the best type of day to wear pads, forms, stockings, a wig, a gaff, and foundation, but this girl is happy to make some sacrifices to look cute. And I’m glad I wasn’t the only one since yesterday was the monthly MN T-Girl outing.
In these days of social distancing, our recent events have been primarily outside where we can…uh, distance ourselves socially. Thankfully it’s been a little easier to meet as a group since the weather has been cooperating.
Our monthly event for August was a visit to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. The Sculpture Garden is one of the most iconic places in the state and it was a beautiful way to spend a summer afternoon.
There were a total of ten of us and we wandered around the garden, looked at some amazing art, had some girl talk, took some great selfies, and just enjoyed being together.
Yesterday was the monthly outing for The MN T-Girls. During the pandemic our events have been pretty small and low-key, and July’s event was very much in that spirit.
A small group of us met up for some ice cream at Nelson’s Ice Cream in Saint Paul because really, what’s better than ice cream on a hot summer night?
It was a lovely night and I am glad we have been finding small ways to stay connected.
