Llandudno

ello, me again.
Typical me, I had things going on and have been working on this on and off when I could. Not that I’m losing interest in blogging. Far from it actually. As you can see, this is a huge post, probably the longest to date. So grab yourselves several cups of coffee and cast your minds back to the 10th-13th of June.

Well, what a weekend I just had. But, more on that later. much more. I mainly want to talk about that, but I want to write quickly about a couple of other things that went on and I will keep this bit brief I promise.

On the sunday following my jaunt to manchester with John to check out the iPad, I went to the lakes with Claire and her Hubby. Our friend Taz was on holiday with Louise (a friend of her’s), so we met up for the day. we all had a ball in their apartment in Ambleside and Lou made us all pasta tortalini which was lovely. They are both wonderful women and I’m looking forward to seeing them again.
⁃ as before, I was dressed in my male stuff but was still one of the girls.

Then I went to torquay for a few days. My best friend lives there. He was the first non-trans person I told about all of this and he has been supportive right from the start. He is in fact the catalyst as it were for everything that has happened since the third of april, which you can read about in these hear pages in case you’re a new reader. He gave me that little push I needed to make me live my dream and for that I’m eternally grateful.

In a nutshell, we went for a curry in what I think is the best Indian restaurant in the country, shared a bottle of Chardonnay in a rather nice local Inn and generally had a good time and talked openly about life, the universe and everything.

Now, we come to Thursday and this is where the story really starts folks.

Just to recap briefly, the Unique TG Group for North Wales and Cheshire were running their summer weekend get-together in Llandudno as they have done for a few years now. Jay had told me about it a while ago and I decided to put my name down after a bit of umming and ahing.
It felt as though everything I had been doing over the last few months had been leading up to this.

The plan was that I’d get the train to where Jay and her wife Gwen live, then we’d all drive down to Llandudno, stopping off at cheshire oaks on the way to do a spot of retail therapy.

My dear old mother had packed my hold-all for the weekend with far too much stuff. Little did she know that it was mainly a decoy and I wouldn’t be wearing any of it’s contents.

The train was absolutely vile. Imagine a bus on rails and you’ve cracked it. Actually the manchester bus is a lot better than this train as it has comfy leather seats. They announced each station the train came too, but I have heard clearer megaphones. There should be a law against trains having crappy PA systemS. I was sat in front of these two girls who were deep in conversation about their plans for their holiday together. They kept making me laugh with what they were saying. Luckily for me, they were getting off at the same stop so I had no trouble there. I spent the journey doing the usual facebooking and whatnot.

Jay met me at the station then we walked the short distance to her house. It was lovely and warm – a perfect start for an epic adventure.

When we arrived, Gwen was finishing the packing which they had just started a few hours earlier and what a load of stuff there was. By the look of it, they had packed everything bar the kitchen sink. I sat in the car while everything including my portable wardrobe was piled in. We very nearly left without my wig which had been living on the end of their bed after jay had gave it the TLC it much needed.

Before long, we were on our way with the air con cooling the car down and us chatting about all sorts of stuff. Jay decided to show off her :unusual” music taste a bit later on by playing an album by Me First and the Gimme Gimme – a punk band that do renditions of songs such as My favourite Things, Somewhere Over The Rainbow and other such classics from the musicals. They had me in stitches. I never thought I’d hear anything quite like that although with Jay you can expect anything. “Come to the cabaret old chum”.

We spent a good few hours in Cheshire oaks mooching around the many shops. I had it in mind to buy some jewellery, perfume, a jacket and anything else that took my fancy.
At first, we didn’t find much to our liking but we finally struck gold. I bought a load of jewellery from Claire’s Accessories which I’ll do my best to describe.
⁃ I bought 2 necklaces. One is a chain with a gorgeous pendant that consists of 2 fairly chunky hearts, one bigger than the other. It Fastens at the front with a really easy t-bar thingy that sits in a whoop. I believe it’s gold coloured. The other is half beads, half chain. The beads are plastic and are arranged smallest to largest, with the largest being in the centre, then going back to the smallest again. Looks very pretty in my opinion. It has one of those fiddly clasps which at the time of writing I still haven’t got the hang of.

I also bought 2 pairs of clip-on earrings. One pair are dangly with about 3 inches worth of thin metal things that look like leaves that jangle as I walk. The other pair are little whoops. Very understated and the beauty of them is that they don’t look like clip-ons at all.

I also bought a set of beaded bracelets. Most of them are wood and have quite small beads but a couple of them have larger ones. All of them are spherical.

Jay and Gwen also bought some jewellery, including a necklace and dangly earrings made from zips.
We were all like kids in a sweetshop. Jewellery is definitely one of my favourite Things and I enjoyed browsing around.
I felt great walking out of that store clutching a little plastic bag containing the first of many bits of jewellery that I could actually call my own.

⁃ Neither Jay or myself bought anything else, but Gwen added some more pairs of shoes to her collection, one of them being some light-up trainers she found in the kid’s section of one shop. she can only just fit into them but she didn’t care. It was like as though she had found heaven on earth as she stamped around the shop, making them flash.

We had lunch (or dinner as I usually call it) at a noodle bar. I had a Thai red curry and noodles. It was really spicy.

We popped into M&S briefly. however dew to me looking a little different in my male clothes, I don’t think any of the staff would have been able to recognise me from last time.
I have to say that I much prefer shopping for girly stuff when looking like a girl.

I couldn’t find the perfume I liked, which was a shame, but they’d be plenty of time to shop in Llandudno and they have a Boots.

It didn’t take too long to reach Llandudno and before long we were checking in.
At first, the receptionist couldn’t find my name on the list. A good start to my holiday I don’t think. However, She eventually found me as she didn’t notice that I was in fact sharing a room with irene, a kind, good natured lady. It felt wonderful when the receptionist read my full female name out (by the way my middle name is Ann).

Jenny-Anne andElen came through the reception and welcomed us all. It was lovely to see them both as always.

Our room was on the ground floor. Irene was already in and getting ready for the evening so Jay took me and my sizeable amount of stuff there first.

I spent a happy while unpacking my girly clothes and talking to Irene. My blokey stuff lay in my hold-all, wherever I left it, only being disturbed when I needed to take things out like toiletries, my netbook and chargers.

I have so much stuff in that case, so I unpacked what I thought I’d need – most of my skirts, tops, a dress, lingerie and all my shoes – I took up nearly the entire floor of our wardrobe with my shoes alone.

I then gladly stripped off and changed into something more me, throwing the bloke’s stuff I was wearing into my hold-all before putting my trainers under my bed where they would never see the light of day again. Well, for the next few days at least. That evening I wore my pleated skirt, my lemon coloured top, tights and my new heels that I bought before Jay’s birthday. They are black patent courts with fairly high chunky stiletto heels, round toes with bows on them.

by the time I had unpacked, it was fast approaching dinner so Jay gave me a hand with my bra and tights on one of her frequent visits to check on how I was doing. My wig still gives me some problems to.
For the finishing touches, I wore my new heart pendent necklace, dangly earrings and bracelets.

We went to the bar and got drinks for the meal first. Quite a few of the girls were in there also and Debby had got the party started with her laptop pumping out tunes through her Bose System. The barman mistook my wig for real hair. that was one hell of a confidence booster.

The meal that night was a buffet with the usual things on like jacket potatoes, chicken legs, cold beef, hotdog sausages and the like. No cheese and pineapple on sticks or volovants though. Not fair! ah well, it was good buffet food and the jacket potatoes were especially delicious. I hadn’t had one in ages. I Shared a table with Jay and Gwen.

It was a lively atmosphere and I especially liked listening to the couple who were doing Boycie impressions.

I bumped into a couple of the other girls after the meal. Katie – who is a right little sweetie (well she is something like 5 foot 4) and Jasmine. Jasmine is, well, unique.
She’s well over 6 feet tall in her stockinged feet and likes to dress in outlandish costumes. I can’t remember what she was wearing when I first met her since she has so many and changes them often. She has loads of dolls and cuddly toys also. She’ll choose one to go with whatever outfit she’s wearing at the time and carry it with her wherever she goes. At that time she had a giant plush microbe that had a little label on it announcing to the world that it was “chlamydia”. Well she enjoyed giving it to anyone she came across. I was no exception and I haven’t been the same since. lol seriously it was very cute and hugable.

Jay had informed me about Jasmine a few months previous and I wasn’t sure what to expect to be honest. However, she is such fun to be around and doesn’t take life seriously at all. I love her to bits. I think those who don’t like her just need to get a sense of humour.

The party was now in full swing. Jay, Gwen and I found a table and a few minutes later, Jenny-anne asked me to dance with her. I jumped at the chance as I’d had wanted to dance with her every since she’d told me she was quite a party animal back in the day.

I started off quite reserved, holding her hands and moving to the beat. Then something happened. It was like something in my brain went “sod this I don’t care anymore” and I was then leaping in the air and skipping around, well, like a girl. To my surprise, I found I could do all this in time, without falling over and this was while wearing 3 inch heels that made a satisfying crash on impact. Jenny-Anne was doing the same. I felt so free and was in some sort of euphoria. I even found myself singing quietly to myself on occasion which is something I hardly ever do. Jenny-anne was happily singing badly to herself and I just thought well, so can I.
I soon tired myself out with all this new found love for dancing so I left the floor and finished off my drink, still in a state of elation. I was not at all drunk in case you were wondering.

I then went and sat with Debby who was talking to Katie. Katie is another girl who’s reputation has gone before her, so we decided to go somewhere quieter and talk. Loud music is all well and good but not conducive to a good natter.
I won’t say too much about her since this is obviously public, but suffice it to say that she came to the summer Weekend a couple of years ago. Back then she was part time. When she went back home, she immediately decided to go full-time and has never looked back since.

More dancing and merriment ensued well into Friday morning. I also nipped outside for some fresh air and had a good natter with Irene and her friends.

At one point, the man from Torquay rang me up. I was sat next to Jenny-Anne at the time so I asked her if she’d like to have a quick word with him as he had heard about her before from reading this blog and talking to me.
She said she would be happy to do so, and I’m extremely grateful for her for doing that as it has kind of joined everything together some how.

I went to bed at half 1 ish, still buzzing. It was a truly wonderful day and that was just the start.
I wanted to be me through the entirety of that weekend, even when sleeping. So as I said in a previous entry, I had bought myself a nighty so I slipped that on before I went to bed. Unfortunately it was a little uncomfortable, probably dew to it having built-in breast support and me lacking in boobs. I wasn’t going to sleep in them in case they rolled around or got damaged. One of these days I think I will try sticking them to me.

I was in zombie mode when I woke up. I’m most definitely not a morning gal, and when I finally got up, I didn’t have enough time for a shower and whatnot. so I quickly put some clothes on and left for breakfast with jay when she came down to visit. I wore my favourite skirt which has a pattern of beeds round it, my purpley top and kitten heeled courts – to see if they would be comfy enough for shopping in.

The little things like choosing what to wear in the morning felt so special, but normal at the same time.
]For brecky, I had rice chrispies, toast and a sausage. Like you really needed to know that but there ya go.

After I had had a quick wash, I hit the shops in Llandudno with Jay and Gwen.

I hadn’t had any plan in mind, so I had a good time browsing around. I added a few more accessories to my collection, namely a bracelet made from turquoise stones. Turquoise is my birthstone by the way. I bought my first ring too. it has a little flower and a stone adorning it. I bought both from a newage type shop. I also bought a couple more bracelets later on from a chinese shop. These are again beaded, but the beads are made from hematite which is magnetic. one looks very much like an amethyst bracelet of Jays that I’ve wanted ever since I first saw it. It’s just a load of round stones but it looks really nice. The other one is similar but it alternates between small and large ones. If I remember rightly, they’re different colours.

I finally bought a nicer looking purse. It’s a lot smaller than the one I had and is leather, or at least synthetic leather anyway. It has enough room for cash and cards and has a traditional purse bit for change that clicks shut with one of those clasps.
Speaking of cards, I did an absolutely stupid thing and forgot to swap my card over from my wallet to my purse. What a prat. Luckally Jay came to the rescue and I paid her back later.

I finally found the perfume I had been after as well. It was the one that Emma had gave me a tester of that time. It’s a boots brand one called Amour Amour and is one of my absolute favourites. Noone else I know wears it, so it’s like I’ve found my signature sent.

We had cheese paninis in a little cafe, then made our way back to the hotel as I had a makeup lesson with Penny at half 1.
By this time, my theory about my shoes had been proven very wrong as my feet were killing me. My heels were fine as they were practically flat but sounded like I had on higher heels. But the toes? They were pointy and were rubbing like hell and by the time I got back to the hotel, I certainly knew about it.

On the way, we popped into dorothy Perkins to see if the had any shoes with rounded toes. I found a couple of nice pairs, but my feet weren’t having any of it. The lady who helped us couldn’t have been more helpful. She patiently found me shoes in my size that she thought would suit me, and not once did she seemed phased by me being what I am. So full marks to Dotty P’s.

Back in the hotel, I couldn’t wait to change my shoes. I wore my pink dolly shoes and my feet thanked me for it.

The makeup lesson I had was like the one at tREC where Penny applied it for me while explaining what she was doing, then on Saturday I was to have a go myself. I also Booked for a manicure and polish, a hair styling session to sort out my unruly mop that my real hair had become and then to have my legs shaved.

A while later, Jasmine walked in dressed as a daisy. She had on this massive hat that she had made herself, which had huge foam petals on that must have been half a foot tall at the highest point.
I was sat with her and a couple other of the girls talking about things and the conversation turned round to her having a “magic carpet”. I was under the impression that she meant she had something she’d tie to the back of her car as she were talking about a trailer. So I was most surprised when a few minutes later, she disappeared, then I heard something powered by an electric motor drive into the room. It sounded like a mobility scooter.. But, it was jasmine riding in style on this magic carpet thing she had made.

It’s basically the guts of an electric wheelchair shoved in a wooden box with a bit of carpet on the top. It runs around on casters and even beeps when you put it in reverse. It also has a battery level indicator.
I absolutely love it. it’s the best thing I’ve seen in ages. I had a quick ride around on it with Jasmine directing me, narrowly missing chairs and whatnot. You steer it as you would an electric wheelchair with a little joystick.
It was most definitely a star in its own right and I’d love one myself.

Jasmine took me and KAtie to the cashpoint, still dressed as a daisy. After I had reprieved my card from my room, She popped into her’s to get another teddy – this one a little flower.
I didn’t feel at all daunted by the fact that I was trusting a 6 foot daisy to help me with the cash machine, although we all would have loved to know what the locals thought. Also, as Jasmine pointed out, whether they thought I was really blind or was I just carrying my white stick as part of my costume.
We had a right laugh and I loved it when jasmine noticed how stupid she looked when she saw her reflection in a shop window. Not that any of us were bothered

Back in the hotel, Debby was running a voice coaching workshop. I missed most of it unfortunately as I forgot when it was going ahead. However, I caught the last few minutes of it. Another girl, who like me had never attempted to do a female voice before, was giving it her best shot and for her first try, she did a fantastic job.
Then Debby sat me down and talked me through the basics, most of it I had picked up already when listening to how women speak. It’s not all about pitch, there’s other factors involved like resonance, how and what you say etc. Then it was my turn to have a go. Well, I clammed up. It was like being faced with a huge wall that I couldn’t climb over and my attempt sounded no different to my usual voice. I’ve always been extremely self-conscious about my voice For some reason, even when I’m alone I’m still like that, hence me not being much of a singer.

After my measly efforts, I joined a few of the girls sitting outside on the decking which didn’t want to eat my heels. Perhaps it had already had enough.

Elen informed Jasmine that the management had gotten a little bit funny about her riding her magic carpet inside the hotel, bless them. Well I guess you do have to consider health and safety I suppose.

One of the girls had brought her little daughter with her, which I thought was really sweet. She seemed to be enjoying herself.

Something else I bought that weekend was a new pair of breastforms. I overheard Penny talking about these ones she was selling so I asked her to show me too. Unlike the ones I had already, they are more boob shaped rather than just little round things so they would give me a better figure. They also wouldn’t get all gooey as they have a plastic skin on them. I tried them on for a while and as they weren’t irritating my skin, I said I’d take them and pay her the next day which I did. It took a bit to get used to how heavy they are compared to my old ones but that didn’t take long.

I wanted to give myself plenty of time to get ready for the evening meal so I left for my room. That even it was going to be a 1940s themed chippy tea so I wore the dress I wore for Jay’s birthday as it was apparently 1940s enough. I do love that dress also.
, I was going to team it up with some brown pointy toed stiletto heels that emma had gave me, but as soon as I had slipped them on I new it would be a bad idea. Shame really as I do like the look of them. So I wore the same shoes I wore the night before.

Getting ready, I had a couple of blond moments. I very nearly went for the meal without a bra or boobs, and then without my hair. I donned my dangly earrings and one of my hematite bracelets, squirted a little Amour Amour on my neck and I was good to go. I also wore my ring which I had been doing all day.

Before we could go into the restaurant, we were each given a ration book, without which we couldn’t get served.
I was on a table with Jay, Gwen and a few others.
The first course was beef broth which was surprisingly nice. As with all the courses we had to cue up and get it so it was kind of like a soup kitchen.
The fish and chips were also very good and we even had mushy pees. What luxury. I don’t like them much myself though.
It was apple pie and evaporated milk – no custard as there was a war on and the local spiv hadn’t called round yet.

It was a good meal with a lovely atmosphere. The music in the background was appropriately 1940s which made it feel quite grand. it was wonderful eating my meal with the rest of them in my finery.

After the meal, penny brought the whole room to a halt and made a speech – about me. Well, what can I say. It was the nicest thing anyone has every said about me. It was all about me still being keen to learn everything despite my disability and what a wonderful person I am. Oh,and she calls me her adopted daughter.

I was so overcome by emotion because of it all, so I burst into tears. Here I was sitting with some of the best people you could wish for, in the clothes I like to wear, having all this stuff said about me. it was truely wonderful. A really special moment.

I was chosen to do the raffle. Fighting back the tears, I was lead over to the bucket. I didn’t win though.

Then it was time for the disco and debby’s cabaret. she was excellent and kept the party going til the early hours. I was still very emotional about the speech. I only had to think about it and I’d be off crying again. When i went out for some fresh air, I saw penny and ended up sobbing my heart out in her arms.
More dancing followed and several more trips outside but the tears had finally stopped.

Jasmine was now resplendent in an ancient Greek type outfit and was itching to play with her magic carpet again. So was I. Her and Jay went for a spin up the road on it where they drove past a pub which was just chucking out for the night. I bet the pundits were wondering if they’re drinks had been spiked when they saw what was approaching them. Jay was looking quite gothy.

I had another go when they’d got back. Jay shouted out directions this time. My echo location came in quite handy as well. It was fun.
. Jenny-anne apparently nearly had a heart attack when she heard i’d been rinding around on it, bless her. lol.

Me, Jasmine and Penny’s friend Ailsa sat out talking till early saturday morning. We kept taking the mic out of how small Ailsa’s room was. It got quite loud, to the point where the manager came out and gave us a telling off for making too muchnoise.

Saturday – woke up, did the now familiar thing of choosing a skirt and top to wear before going for breakfast. I wore a long skirt with a belt on. I think the last time I wore that one was after I went shopping with emma. I also wore my pink dolly shoes to give my feet a bit of a break and the purple top.

After brecky, I hit the town again with Jay while Gwen went off to do her own thing. There’s a retail park at the other end of town so we went there, having seen most of what the rest of town offered the day before. I bought some wedge-heeled Mary-Janes from New Look (I think they came from there) and I found a pretty nice leather jacket but I didn’t like the hood.
For dinner I had a triple chocolate bun which was very nice.
On the way back, we had another look in Dotty P’s in search for another top as I don’t have that Many. We didn’t come away empty handed as I bought a lovely pinky one with quite a frilly neckline.

⁃ We then had a quick look in Peacocks but didn’t find much of interest. I unfortunately managed to rip my skirt while going upstairs. I was accidentally wearing it a bit lower than it should have been, so the hem was nicely positioned for my heel to go right through it and bloody awful it sounded too.
⁃ I picked up some makeup brushes from boots in preparation for my lesson, having bought the makeup from penny the day before.
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⁃ Back at the hotel, and time for my hair appointment. It really needed seeing too as it was a right mess. Penny layered and cut it in a style that is feminine but not overtly so. My parents wouldn’t then go barmy. She also put moose and hair spray in it to give it more volume and to set it.
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⁃ Ailsahad agreed to shave my legs for me later on. Meanwhile, I just chilled out in the bar and on the decking and got talking to a girl who is a female crossdresser. I.E. she was born as a woman but likes to dress as a man on occasions.
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⁃ They were also running a bring and buy sale. I couldn’t resist having a gander to see if they had any shoes going. They did, but they were either a little too big or too small. It was a shame as I saw some lovely pairs. I did buy something though. Of all things, a shortish leather skirt.
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⁃ As Promised, Ailsa shaved my legs later on. It took her nearly two hours to do because of the shear amount of the horrible stuff, but my god was it worth it. I absolutely love my legs now. I had wanted to have all that nasty hair removed ever since it had started growing in ernest.

I had booked for a manicure which had to be put forward because of it taking so long to do my legs. However it was well worth the wait as Vikki was great. She Massaged my hands, had me put them into big heated gloves to help soften my cuticles before she shaped and polished my nails bright red..

Unfortunately because of one thing and another, I had completely forgot about penny showing me how to do my own makeup which was a shame.
I had been looking forward to that. ah well there’s always other times.

Time was marching on and I had only had a few minutes to get ready for the gala meal.
I was going to wear a red ball gown that Penny had lent me. I had seen it the day before and had fallen in love with it. it’s floor length, backless, strappy and made from satin.
It looked like as though you needed to have an instruction manual to get into it proper, so it was lucky that penny had managed to get hold of jay and asked her to give me a hand. , As we were rushing, the air was quite blue as we both tried to get this dress on me but, unfortunately, it wasn’t looking like it was going to happen. It seemed to be way too tight as well as being overly complicated

Jay also needed to get ready too. . After she had a mega quick look through my stuff, I quickly shoved on the dress I wore the night before and went off for the meal. I wore my new shoes though.

It seemed like most people had rushed to get ready too, but still I felt a little disgruntled as I had been looking forward to wearing that dress and apparently it would have suited me down to the ground.

I sat with Jay and Gwen, Irene, Penny and Kay. I had been speaking to kay on facebook for a few weeks but had never met in person. She is lovely and has a wonderful south Wales accent.
If I were to say the food was fantastic, I’d be lying. my starter was fine. Prawns in Marie Rose sauce – can’t grumble at that, but the plaice… Well it was half cooked. lOads of people said it was dodgy. Wen Penny complained, they took it away and brought the same piece back. After all the complaints, they said they were going to cook the plaice again.

Meanwhile, I went outside with penny and a few of the girls. It was a bit chilly so penny lent me her coat. a lusciously thick imitation fir coat. It was gorgeous and I had forgotten how much I had wanted one like that until I wore it. I felt very privileged as noone else apart from Penny has borrowed it before.

Back in the restaurant, they had brought fresh portions to the table, along with the vedge which they had forgot to fetch through the first time round. My place was cooked through this time, but was slimy as owt. The roast potatoes were disgusting too. Like they had been roasting for a day and a half. They were greasy as all hell. The carrots were ok. The best bit of the hole meal was the pudding. I had by accident ordered strawberry gateaux when I meant to order the chocolate sponge and chocolate sauce. Jay and I swapped. It was delicious but there was a load of it so I ate as much as I could, which was a fair amount. I bet the reason it was so good was because they probably just had to warm it up in the microwave.

During the meal there was another raffle. This time for the usual stuff like chocolates, wine and DVDs. One of my number’s came up and I chose some Belgian chocolate shells. They were the best. Debby was running the show and was making us all laugh as usual.
When I went to claim my prize, I had to draw the next number. Just by chance, I pulled out a pink one which debby had asked for, but it wasn’t one of her numbers.
One of the DVDs on offer was guru which inspired Jasmine to make the magic carpet.

Jay had told penny about the fiasco over the dress. Penny was still determined that I would get in it somehow. so, after the meal, I went with her and Kay to my room to see what could be done.

⁃ The reason me and Jay had problems earlier is that the dress isn’t designed to be worn with a bra. No wonder it was so tight when I was trying to squeeze my boobs into it. So off with said bra and boobs and on with the dress. It fitted me perfectly and lucky for me, it has breast inhansors sewn in. I wore the red heels I wore to jay’s party – the ones with the very spiky heels that end in metal tips. Penny quickly did my makeup for me and I was good to go, For jewellery I wore my heart necklace which looked like it had been made for the dress. The )pendant rested nicely in the cut of the neckline.
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⁃ Now it was Penny’s turn to go all emotional as she saw me standing there. According to penny I looked so beautiful. She felt like she was taking her own daughter for her first prom debut and she was so proud of me. I was just stunned, couldn’t believe what was happening and trying my best to get used to how tight the dress was round my chest

Several hugs later, we all left the room, me and Penny leading the way arm in arm with Kay behind us. It felt magical. This was how the proms at college I attended should have been like. Not me turning up, without a care in the world,in whatever crud I had been wearing during the day. But that was then. I was now getting the experience I had been craving for, I think even without realising it sometimes and I was the envy of all who set eyes on me. I was apparently the best looking girl in the place. The bell of the ball. I was now starting to get all emotional again myself. Not a good time when what seemed like everyone else in the hotel wanted to see me and take my picture. It was only cause of Penny telling me firmly “don’t start” or something like that, that I was able to keep myself together.

In the bar, I sat next to JEnny-anne while a girl who Debby knew was doing a spot of Cabaret. Her rendition of “I will always love you” and Abba’s “Chiquitita” were especially memorable. I don’t like Abba all that much but that song never fails to bring a tear to my eye.

After she had finished, Me and Jenny-Anne hit the floor again and more lively dancing and skipping happened. I amazingly managed pretty well even in those heels.

Then Gwen did a spot of belly dancing to a great arabic modern dance soundtrack. She them wanted volunteers. I wasn’t going to miss this opportunity so Jenny-anne lead me on to the floor where Gwen tied a skirt type thingy with loads of jingly metal disks on round my waste. I was then her partner as we both went through the same dance again with Gwen instructing me. Jenny-Anne also joined in. I think we were the only ones to have a do but I didn’t feel shy at all. I loved every minute of it.

The rest of the evening was a complete blast. Plenty of dancing, drinking, nipping out to a quieter room to have a chat with penny and the rest of the girls followed by sitting outside chatting till the early hours of sunday morning in penny’s fir coat.

Jasmine was dressed as a little girl and carrying a very odd doll that made all sorts of strange noises when you put various magnetic things to it’s mouth. It was cute in a strange kind of way.

The magic carpet was out again but I had missed it. Jay and Jasmine had gone out for a spin on it, trailer attached and by the time they had got back, the battery was deaded.

After the bar had shut, Me, Penny, another Jenny who I had met,Jasmine and a few others went to the garden room. They had ordered some wine so we had our own private party there. I just didn’t want the night to end. I got talking to Gillian who has recently been diagnosed as visually impaired and Alana who had been promoting lip ink. Penny had been so psyched up about this after hours party, but not long after we had all made it to the garden room, she left to go to bed. She had been doing things non-stop since the early hours so who could blame her. I reluctantly called it a night at around 3 ish and Jasmine took me back to my room and helped me off with my dress. I didn’t want to end up sleeping in it or to reck it, but it was surprisingly easy.
Irene was hard and fast asleep.

I woke up on sunday feeling a little delicate. As this was our last day, I got dressed in my male clothes as we would be setting off back home not too long after packing up. I was in full on zombie mode. it took me ages to work out why the shower was on cold and how to switch it to hot. I managed in the end.

I didn’t have a massive breakfast. I’m not usually a breakfast gal anyway but I was even less so that morning. After that, I went to pack with Jay’s help. I’m loaning the red dress until Penny needs it and will be wearing it one night at sparkle.
Even with Jay making sure I didn’t leave anything behind, I think I left my sunhat in Llandudno, even though I never wore it. Ah well never mind. lol.

All too soon, both cases were packed and I was saying goodbye to Irene, Jenny-anne, Elen, Ailsa, Fearn, Amelia and the rest. Penny was still in bed bless her.

Then Jay and gwen fitted everything into the boot and we headed back to where this all began. My train wasn’t dew in for a few minutes yet so I fussed their cats for a while then Jay saw me safely onto the train – another bus on rails. It felt kind of like I was waking up from an extremely good dream. One of those that you wish would go on for ever.

That holiday really was something special and I don’t think I’m the same person now that I was before. I’m definitely going to the next one which is in December. I really can’t wait.

Well, that’s it folks. I hope you had fun reading and I’ll see you next time.

xx