Day 1 of 7 days 24/7 or Sparkle d-5

Once again, I had taken a week’s holiday to spend quality time 24/7 as Emma. I chose the week beginning the 4th July culminating in Sparkle.

On the Monday morning I left home as a guy and arriving in Milton Keynes, made my first appointment for eyelash extensions with Sue Winters. The experience was pretty strange, lying on my back as the woman glued bunches of eyelashes to my existing lashes. After 25 minutes, she had finished and they looked pretty awesome. I then stripped off to my gaff and had a full body spray tan applied.

As I had to wear loose clothing afterwards, I quickly dressed as Emma, a black padded bra with fillets and my own flesh up top, gaff, long olive skirt and an orange stretch top completing the picture. With flats on my feet and wig in place, I paid the bill and bid Sue goodbye, leaving her salon as Emma and in the comfort of my car, quickly applied my make up and jewellery before joining the traffic on my way to London.

I had arranged during my last visit with Sue Richmond, to stay with her for a few days before driving North to Manchester and so it was that I arrived at Sue’s house in London, parking up and joining her for lunch just after 1230. Unloading my luggage, we enjoyed a quiet beer accompanied by a pork pie I had brought with me, discussing our plans and whom we had arranged to meet up with, before leaving for our appointment at a local saloon for pedicure and manicure.

Walking through the busy suburban streets on our way to the salon, I quietly savoured the feel of my ¾ length skirt flapping against my bare legs, the tap of my heels on the pavement and the slight breeze moving my earrings and hair against my neck. The sun was not too hot and we enjoyed the pleasant 20 minute stroll arriving for our appointments at 3-30pm.

Sue was having a manicure and her appointment was first so I sat legs crossed in the waiting area reading the magazines waiting for my later appointment. Sue had originally made the appointment for both of us in guy mode and after an initial pause the woman on the desk had booked us in. It was obvious that she was slightly apprehensive initially as we arrived but soon warmed to us and whilst Sue disappeared for her nails to be done, I enjoyed chatting to her whilst sipping a cup of tea and interacting with a number of women customers as they came and went.

In no time at all, the girl was ready for me and I enjoyed an hour of pampering as my feet were given the royal treatment and nails finished in a Revlon red. The girl it transpires was from Poland and had been living in London for 6 years and we got on really well discussing a wide range of topics from girly through travel and work.

After a good 90 minutes, my finger nails had been shape, cleansed and were now resplendid in a matching Revlon red though I was told that it was more fashionable to have them a different colour than my toe nails!

Bidding the ladies of the Salon goodbye we made our way back the scenic route taking in the river bank and some beautiful gardens on our way back to Sue’s, stopping for the obligatory photos.

It was a beautiful feeling, my long skirt wrapping around my bare legs, the occasional breeze caressing me and the warm afternoon sun beating down on my thin top, the taste of lipstick on my lips, the smell of my perfume, the heavy feel of my lash extensions and the weight of my earrings dangling against my neck as we slowly strolled alongside the river chatting away as two girlfriends. We finished our river bank stroll with a glass of cool Pinot Grigio whilst watching the world go by on the terrace of a riverside pub. Finally we joined the increasing number of commuters on their way home as we returned to Sue's.

Back at Sue’s, a beautiful dinner was prepared by my hostess and as we sat down to enjoy, I opened a bottle of grand Cru 2004 St. Emilion that I had brought from my cellar (the garage really) to accompany the meal and to celebrate our first day of the week as Emma and Sue.

The remainder of the evening, we sat sipping wine chatting away, shoes having been kicked off, legs tucked up under us, catching up on our lives since our last meeting in April when we went to see Warhorse at the Theatre. As it got late, time for bed, undressed, make up off, moisturiser on and slipping into bed wearing a Janet Reger chemise, the end of my first day as Emma.

I had originally planned to join some of my fiends for the Friday night in Leeds but due to a shortage of funds, had to cancel. However, I was able to attend Claire’s birthday celebrations for one year since going fulltime. Combined with this, I planned to join friends attending the Walk along Blackpool prom in aid of diversity and in memory of Sophie Lancaster , a goth girl tragically murdered in Bacup in 2007.

The Saturday dawned brightly, small bag packed and dressed as far as I could for leaving he house at 8am. First snag, the youngest who is never seen before midday usually, was up and sitting reading the paper whilst tucking into her breakfast! So off came the girly jeans and top whilst I waited impatiently for her to leave (it seems she was working at 9am - this usually means 10 minutes before – getting out of pit and dashing to work) but no not this time!

Finally she leaves at 9am and I redress, put my bag in the car and leave only to discover I had left my mobile at home and had to return to pick it up after 6 miles.

On the road now 90 minutes later than planned, I ended up behind the slowest cars, horse boxes, tractors and just about everything else you could find on the way to the A50. Stopping off at my usual layby I put my face on, wig and forms and changed shoes in under 15 minutes and continued on my way.

It was obvious that I was now unable to make the meet for the march and so I made as good a time as possible, stopping off at Sandbach services to use the facilities and to phone my friend Michelle in Blackpool. I must have arrived at the services during a busy period as I ended up having to queue to use the toilets but with no problems/comments despite waiting almost 10 minutes.

I finally got into Blackpool an hour late and leaving the car some distance from the shore, proceeded to walk to join the girls I was meeting. On the way, I had a wardrobe malfunction with my bra strap undoing and I spent 10 minutes trying to stop everything hading south before coming across a pub – The Waterloo. Walking in I felt distinctly uncomfortable as 10 pairs of eyes drilled into me from the guys having a lunchtime drink. Purchasing a half of lager, I sat down and after quenching my thirst, paid a visit to the ladies to sort out my bra. The pub I found out from my friends is renown for being pretty rough, however other thn feeling somewhat under close scrutiny as the only woman in there, I escaped unharmed!

Finally hitting the sea front I turned North and joined the throngs of holiday makers as I headed for the Central Pier and the Tower in the distance. Luckily wearing jeans and t shirt and flats on my feet, I was comfortable as I covered the best part of 3 miles from my car before I finally saw the chance to catch a tram.

Crossing the promenade I burst into a girly run and just made the tram. Taking my seat, the conductor asked me where I was going love? It made my day as I asked for the North Pier where the girls I was going to meet were now enjoying a drink after the walk.

I asked a young girl opposite me to take a photo as Emma had never been on a tram before.

Getting off the tram, I asked for directions to Revolution Bar – over there mate! Did not go down well as I said in no uncertain terms I was not his mate!

On entering, I initially was unable to see my friends and wandered around looking. In so doing I attracted the unwanted attention of a group of young guys who wanted me to join them and made certain gestures of a sexual nature, smiling I kindly declined their kind offer, telling them I wasn’t that kind of girl! and taking one more look around I finally found my friends tucked out of site at the other side of the bar, where I joined them.

We spent an hour chatting and enjoying a drink before two of the girls had to leave and the four of us continued to Ma Kellys for another drink before ending up at The Litton Tree. Finding a table outside we enjoyed another drink or two (I was driving so was drinking Blue Becks) and enjoyed chatting about just everything including making plans for another night out and the offer of staying over sometime including a night in for a makeup, perfume and wine party.

Unfortunately, time ran it’s course and despite the invite to stay the night and go out with the girls, I needed to be back in Manchester at The Trafford Centre for 6-30pm for Claire’s meal. And so bidding Joanna and Vicki a fond farewell, I shared a taxi back with Michelle.

Back in the car, I made good time from Blackpool but ended up running on thin air as I had little fuel in the tank before finally pulling up at The Centre with the fuel gauge showing zero!

Grabbing a change of clothes I quickly made my way to Pestos to join the others who had been waiting for me. With the food ordered I quickly made use of the ladies to swap my jeans and t-shirt for a caramel pencil skirt and brown top and my flats for a pair of high heeled brown pumps, make up refreshed I rejoined the other guests and Claire and her husband John for a very nice selection of Italian food.
After the meal we made our way downstairs and found an establishment selling ice cream and finished off the meal with a coffee before we all made our own way home.

Myself, I stopped for diesel outside the Centre and drove over to the village where I parked up and grabbing a change of clothes,popped into Taurus where after a quick Beck’s changed into my LBD and black heels. Assuming that I would find some friends out and about I wandered down Canal Street to the New Union where I had a coke before visiting Eden’s. After sitting on my own for a short while, a woman came over to me and we got chatting and she invited me to join her friends out on the piss from work. Over a few more Blue Becks, I had a great time with these girls, dancing, educating them and chatting away over all sorts of topics from make up, through clothes, shoes relationships and sex. I showed them some photos of me and they were pretty amazed as in their words “I wore clothes that they would wear!” Again their perception of crossdressers was more “drag queen” i.e. over the top and inappropriate clothing.

We ended up having a laugh with a guy from Bristol and then a couple of guys on a stag do where the stag had fallen over and had gone to bed with a cut head! before I called time and made my way back to the car and the long drive home.

Stopping off at Sandbach services to empty the bladder, I changed from my LBD back to my jeans and a woolly top before enjoying a black coffee and muffin at the Café. I then had a blonde moment, on returning back to my car, it wasn’t there! All sorts of things passed through my mind – all of them not good as I double checked the car park and ran over my route in my mind again. I then returned to the shop and asked the woman if the car park was on CCTV as my car had been stolen – she calmly asked me if I was heading North or South , replying South she pointed out that I was in fact on the North side and the bulb came on in my head – yes! Inadvertently I had taken a wrong turn after leaving the café! Sure enough my car was where I had left it some 40 minutes earlier – phew!

Stopping off at my usual layby at just before 5am I reverted back to guy mode, and got home as the dawn was breaking, after a great day out in the real world!

Looking forward to my next day/night out in Blackpool especially a girls night in!

Back to London for the Theatre

Several months ago I managed to secure tickets to see Warhorse in London. It had been my intention with my wife’s agreement to go as Emma.

My good friend Sue agreed to put us up and on Easter Monday drove down to London, meeting Sue for a bite to eat and quick drink before retiring to bed.

Given the uncertainty of the weather, I faced a quandary as to what to wear and in addition as we decided that to return and get changed for the theatre early evening would take too long, what to wear that would be ok for walking around London and be ok for the theatre.

I settled on a cotton drill skirt in salmon pink with a dark pink t-shirt over which I layered a crochet sleeveless top. On my feet I wore my new Jane Norman shoes in taupe which matched my large handbag in which I carried a pair of flats.

We took the overland train into London and made our way by tube to Oxford Street where we had a coffee and some cake in House of Fraser before making our way to meet friends for lunch.

Over a pleasant lunch we put the world to rights and then made our way towards the theatre via Covent Garden, moving onto Trafalgar Square stopping off for a beer on the way at Chandos upstairs in the Opera Room.

For once, we decided that it would be better to arrive early rather than just in time and so we were able to have a quiet drink and order interval drinks in the theatre before taking our seats for the production of Warhorse

The play was very good and as I had chosen not to read the book or anything about the play beforehand, it made a huge impression on me. After leaving the theatre, we made our way to Sarastro’s in Drury Lane where we had reserved a table. The décor for those who have never had the pleasure of eating there is something to behold. The inside is laid out as a turn of the century theatre complete with individual boxes and the whole effect is one of clutter. The murals in the ladies are pretty special and quite risqué. The food was good and we enjoyed the company and ambiance before leaving for the train station and enjoying night time views from Waterloo Bridge.

It was interesting sitting in the station concourse people watching as we waited for our midnight train.

The following day, the temperature was supposed to be lower but I decided that instead of my planned white stretch jeans, to go with a shortish flared beige skirt teamed with brown t-shirt and brown tights, finished off with leopard print pumps, matching sunglasses and a brown leather handbag from River Island.

Once more we joined other commuters on the trip into London, and started the day with a spot of retail therapy. At the Benefit stand in Debenhams, I purchased a new mascara and “browsing”, which is a wax and powder complete with brushes to fill in your brows which my good friend Mandy introduced me to when out in Blackpool recently. The girl on the counter was happy to demonstrate the cosmetics on me including a matting powder and bronzer before I made my purchase. Sue also bought the “browzing” in an appropriate shade again after having the girl demonstrate on Sue.

After enjoying a coffee in the cafe on the ground floor, we continued with the retail therapy and I picked up a flexie waist cincher upstairs in John Lewis’s. My wife was looking for something for her cross stitching but was unsuccessful. I must admit to having a strange and thought provoking moment as I made my way back from the toilet to rejoin my wife whilst walking through the baby section and young childrens clothing, mixing with “new” mums and mums to be.

For lunch we returned to a favourite haunt of Sue’s, the Bistro in Soho where we had a lovely 3 course meal with wine over which we discussed the itinerary for the rest of the day.

We decided to walk towards the Abbey via Regent Street which was very busy and on into The Mall and across to St James Park, where we joined the many tourists enjoying the beautiful weather and the preparations in advance of the Wedding. We made our way across the park stopping for a few photos and then onto Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament passing the Abbey on our way to Westminster Bridge. As we needed to be elsewhere for 8 that evening we decided to walk back to Waterloo Station stopping off for a refreshing fruit cocktail at the Archduke.
Suitably refreshed we just made our train but had to run, having to hold down my skirt in the process. Back at Sue’s, it took me 20 minutes to revert back to “bob” mode and pack our cases in the car for our trip north, reflecting on another two wonderful days in London.

Day out in London with Jackie

Having missed the last planned lunchtime meet in London, I decided that this time, I would endeavour to join in and suggested to my wife that we could go down to London for the day and combine the lunchtime meal with a day wandering around London.

My wife agreed to the proposal and we decided that we would drive down to Hatfield, leave the car there and get the train into Kings Cross.

I left the house dressed wearing a baggy tracksuit jacket over my top and covering the fancy stitching to the top of my stretchy jeans, no wig, shoes or forms and finished getting ready whilst my wife drove. Other than eye make up, it was fairly straight forward applying my make up and finishing off with my glue on nails.

Whilst stopped for fuel at Biggleswade on the A1, I quickly did my eyes.

Leaving the car for £2 for the day, we bought our day tickets and joined other travellers on the platform for our 25 minute ride into London.

Once in London, rather than attempt to keep to our planned touristy itinerary, we decided to make our way to St Katherine’s Dock and have a leisurely breakfast and drink. We were blessed with sunshine and so took a table outside the Café Rouge where we took in the atmosphere, had a good chat over eggs Benedict and a cup of tea – all very civilised, surrounded by other customers. Before leaving I needed to take care of business and purposefully strode through the busy café, the waiter guiding me to the ladies. Washing my hands I exchanged pleasantries with another woman as we juggled for position for the hand dryer – all very normal and wonderful for that very reason.

Moving on, we had a pleasant amble around the dock and then made our way to our rendezvous with Sue Richmond and a number of other girls at Salieri’s an Italian Restaurant opposite The Savoy Hotel.

The lunch was everything I had expected and Jackie and I enjoyed the chance to meet up with old friends and new alike. The food was good and the bottle of wine and a couple of beers certainly hit the spot.

At 4 pm, the party broke up and Jackie and we made our way to Primark where Jackie wanted to pick up a few things. Bad mistake. The shop was heaving and even I took a few hits I didn’t expect – more like on the rugby field and queues! – wow, I reckon they should have those signs you get at tourist attractions – 1 hour from here! Trying to try on shoes was fraught with difficulty as all the seats were occupied by women waiting for friends/relatives and having found one seat, I was almost pushed off it by another woman when I reached up to try a different sized shoe!
Giving up in disgust, we decide that we need a drink and so worked our way up Oxford Street and then branched off by Debenhams finally arriving at The Marylebone having passed two pubs which were full of football supporters.

Finding a spare couple of seats on a table we joined a couple of French girls whilst sipping our beers and chilling. The pub was very busy but importantly – no football supporters! It was great to be able to sit there without attracting undue attention.

Before leaving I paid a call and whilst in the cubicle, a group of American girls entered the toilets and continued their discussions about a couple of guys who had been trying to chat them up. I won’t go into detail but it was kind of graphic with no holds barred. On leaving the cubicle, the girls were posing for photos on the sink and just smiled at me as I washed my hands, brushed my hair and touched up my face they continued with their appraisal of the guys.

Leaving the pub, we decide that it was time to make our way back to King’s Cross and we walked to Baker Street tube only to find the station closed. During the day we had found a number of the stations closed which did cause a few hiccups as we made our way across London. As there was a replacement bus service we made use of it and took the scenic route back to King’s Cross where due to the absence of a bar, we decided to take the first available train back to Hatfield.

Tired but satisfied, we headed North and reunited with the car, I drove the first leg home. We decided to take a “small” detour off the A1 halfway home to stop for a break and a quick drink at a country pub. Well that was the idea however having chosen to come off at the exit for a place called Woolley we found ourselves on narrower and narrower country roads and not a sign of any village. We blinked and missed the two houses – no pub!! As we wended our way deeper and deeper into the “sticks”, we jokingly commented that if we see a big house on a hill with a light on to keep on driving! Finally we found what we were looking for, a quiet pub in the village of Greetham (wherever that is!), called The Mermaid.

Walking into the pub, we noted that the ongoing conversation between the 6 oldish men about football at the bar didn’t stop on our entrance and we were promptly served by the woman behind the bar who commented on how it was slightly warmer inside than out. Taking our drinks, we made our way past the standing customers into what one could describe as a living room and took our seats by the fire. In the 30 minutes we were there, we might as well have not been there, even the one other woman customer (one of the guy’s wife?) sitting on a barstool facing us seemed to accept us- again a very welcome feeling. Gathering up our glasses we thanked the barmaid commenting on the fact we still had 50 miles to go and bade her good night.

I wonder if they continued talking about the football and cricket after we left!

We finally crawled through the door before midnight having made sure our youngest had indeed stayed out at her friends before collapsing in front of the television exhausted having had a wonderful day out in London.

Sales Shopping In London

Finally managed to organise a day out shopping with Sue in London. It had been touch and go due to members of my family over the Christmas period succumbing to viral infections etc including my wife. However, on Tuesday evening I got in the car, bag packed and proceeded to make my way South through fog and an amazing amount of traffic, turning a two hour leisurely trip into almost 3 ½ hours of torture.

Arriving at Sue’s I dumped my bags and we went to the pub for a couple of beers and planned the following day in London.

Up early, I got ready taking only 30 minutes to put my face on and get dressed. This is due to knowing what I was going to wear, doing my nails the previous evening and having a fixed routine for my make up (practice, practice and more practice)

Sitting there nursing a cup of tea whilst waiting for Sue, I reflected on how far I had come in the previous two years. I was totally at ease and excited at the forthcoming adventure and comfortable as Emma in a way that I had never felt was likely in those early days. As usual the weather had turned unpredictable and I was faced with being too warm in the shops but warm between the shops. I chose my favourite woollen pencil skirt, blouse and matching jacket. Opaque tights on the legs and kitten heeled courts with a ¾ length woollen coat over the top. For the first time, I went without my usual forms and instead wore my new bra from Asda with a pair of fillets. The bra worked in squeezing and pushing up my own flesh to give me a smaller than usual silhouette but not out of place. Overall I was very pleased with the result and with summer not far off!! I will be able to show a reasonable cleavage with the right tops.

Leaving the “sanctuary” of Sue’s we made our way to the train station and tickets purchased, just missed the train, having to wait for the next one to take us into London. The train ride was “ordinary” and we chatted all the way into town.

On arriving in the City, our first port of call was an excellent coffee shop where we sampled some Belgian chocolate and cookies (well they screamed at us – eat me eat me!). Our plan of attack was to head towards the centre of Oxford Street and work our way back from the Soho end. We didn’t have any priorities, so we explored the shops as and where we found them, too numerous to name them all here but including the main culprits.

A common denominator was the sheer frustration I felt in finding a dress or top I liked, only to find 6 of them in a size 8 only. The other problem was the random spread of the sales goods and that was without facing up to the odd elbow in the ribs from other women looking for that perfect buy!

Before stopping for lunch, Sue had managed to find a new bag and a couple of skirts and a pair of leggings whilst I made do with a pair of shoes (no surprises there then!) from Zara. We decided to lunch at Bistro 1 in Soho, a restaurant we had eaten at before and very affordable. On entering, Sue was greeted by the waiter recognising her from previous visits! No comment!

We both ordered the 3 course meal (£9.95) and a bottle of Pinot Grigio to wash it down with. Whilst there, we were joined by Helen Love and ended up having a lazy 2 hour lunch with a couple of bottles of wine! I could get used to this, sitting there in good company, dressed and accepted as a woman, chatting about clothes, make up, venues, music and the state of the EEC ‘s agricultural policy! Not!

On paying the bill, we first explored the nearby MAC shop before Helen left us and we continued back to Oxford Street. By now, the streets and shops were heaving and after another hours shopping we decided to have a tea in House of Frasers café on the 5th floor.

During our break, I ended up having a bit of fun with a young child on the next table to us who was there with his parents. It’s amazing where it can lead to when you stick your tongue out. As it turned out the mother and I then exchanged thoughts on taking a baby buggy complete with all the paraphernalia associated with young children through the crowded London streets and on the Tube. She then confided that she was 23 weeks gone with another baby at which I raised my eyebrows. Wishing them both good luck, we parted ways.

Before leaving the store, I decided I needed to go and so found the toilets only to end up in a queue of 7 women. I decided that it was not fair for the others there and so rejoined Sue, moving on.

Our penultimate stop was in Debenhams where we took our lives into our hands and joined the throngs of shoppers. I managed to find an evening bag I quite liked which was still big enough to carry what I need. As to trying anything on, forget it, there were queues right round the floor. We did receive a nice compliment from one of the women on a stand in the beauty hall. She asked us if we used tinted moisturiser and would we like to try some. I pointed out that I needed something a touch heavier than that and we started to chat. She asked me what I used and I explained that I was a MAC girl. She said we both looked very good (it may have been a cynical statement to try and entice us to buy – but I took it as the compliment offered). What girl doesn’t like a compliment?

Finally we decided that as it was now rush hour, we would find somewhere to have a quiet drink whilst waiting for the crowds to die down. Using Sue’s excellent knowledge of the streets of London and the fact that we had already had a quiet drink there earlier in the year (in Bob mode and accompanied by my wife) we made our way to The Mason’s Arms in Maddox Street. Walking down Bond Street, skirt caressing my nylon clad legs, the sound of my heels on the pavement, the taste of lipstick on my lips, earrings dangling from pierced ears – it could have been taken from a fiction site and certainly 3 years ago would have been only a figment of my imagination.

Entering the pub, we found it to be quite full with no apparent places to sit. Ordering the drinks we looked around and were pleasantly surprised to find a couple moving over and inviting us to sit on their table. Sitting down, we thanked them and without much ado entered into conversation with them. The guy was Scottish and a classical musician whilst the woman was freshly divorced and had just lost her job. We talked about all the regular topics such as unemployment, VAT work etc and of course fielded a few questions about our dressing. Debbie was amazed at our antics and I explained how I was happily married (27 years) with three daughters. She expressed great interest in joining us for a shopping trip the next time we were out in London and we exchanged contact details.

Sitting there cross legged with my hands around a half glass of Speckled Hen, the light reflecting off my long dark red painted nails , chatting away to “complete strangers” in a busy pub in the middle of London, I reflected on life and my decision some 30 months earlier to join the Angels and to come to terms with my dressing.

Eventually some two hours later and having consumed a few more beers, it came time to depart and we wished our new friends all the best and with a promise to try and meet up the next time we are in London.

Given the time we decided to eat in town and having passed by a few establishments which had queues outside, we ended up at a Spanish restaurant where we took a table for two. Meat Tapas and a carafe of wine later, it was finally time to gather our bags and make our way to Bond Street tube station and onward to the main station for our return trip to the suburbs.

We made the 10-15pm train with seconds to spare which involved running from platform 6 to 15 in heels and a tight skirt carrying our shopping! Probably should be in the next Olympics!

Taking our seats in the carriage, we just chilled out as the train wended its way out of the City with passengers changing at each of the stops. Finally we joined the other passengers getting off at our stop and made our way down the main street past the pubs and closed shops back to Sue’s. Kicking off our shoes, jackets hung up and with a welcome cup of tea we chilled out after a brilliant day shopping as Emma and Sue.

My thanks to Sue for her friendship and putting me up, to Helen who I met for the first time and who I would like to get to know better and to all of the Angels whether I have met you in the flesh or just on the forum for the encouragement, enthusiasm and support offered to myself since joining. May I wish you all a healthy and prosperous New Year and that you achieve all your wishes and dreams.

Having booked the day off work, I made my way to Manchester finding just how frustrating it can be on our road network in the process. A journey that I regularly make in less than 2 hours took almost 3 ½ hours.

Nevertheless, with no fixed agenda, or critical times I just chilled out and watched the scenery and the drivers around me as we slowly wended our way.

The New Union where I was staying organised my room so that it was vacant which gave me the opportunity to book in at 1030am and gave me the chance to be changed and out for 1130ish. As I was intending to go shopping in the Arndale Centre, I decided on a skirt suit and blouse, black opaques and black kitten heels. Over the top I wore my ¾ length woollen coat which protected me from the cold but was a touch too warm in the shops and the Centre. You just can’t win!
Making my way from the hotel up into town, I felt totally at ease and relaxed. I noted that my choice of clothing was one shared by a lot of the women I was walking with and reduced me to just another woman in the lunchtime pedestrian traffic.

My first port of call was Superdrug where I picked up a new mascara and whilst there tried a few different lip colours. One which I tried was a lip stain from Max Factor. Even now some 24 hours after trying it on the back of my hand, the colour remains. I think I will have to be particularly careful when I use it for real! It is a nice experience being able to pick up, examine and try out make up without attracting strange looks when you try it as a guy.

Out of the shop and making my way to Primark, I received a text message from Karen that she had just arrived at Piccadilly, I sat down on one of the benches outside Primark to reply. Suddenly this woman came over and asked me for directions to the station. I got up and told her indicating the way and that was that, not a single sign of concern just a pleasant thanks and she was on her way. I know it’s not exciting but it is such a nice feeling of acceptance in a busy city centre.

Having contacted Karen, we agreed to meet back at Taurus and I made my way back there. It was the first time I had met Karen in guy mode and we spent a short time sipping our drinks and catching up on the gossip before walking back to my hotel where she made use of my room to get ready (her hotel room would not be ready for a couple of hour yet). Sitting at the bar, I made friends with a couple of guys and spent a pleasant half hour in their company before the call of the shops became too loud and off I went again.

I made my way to Debenhams looking for a nice necklace, possibly new flats and a pair of fancy tights. Whilst making my way through the beauty hall I was accosted by a young saleswoman and I ended up buying a couple of make up presentation boxes which will be nice Christmas presents for our daughters.

Upstairs, I found the tights I wanted only to find they didn’t have any on the shop floor in my size. Having asked one of the assistants, we ended up in conversation about a wide range of topics as I also was interested in replacing my Spanx full slip with the next size down. I did manage to pick up a nice chunky bracelet in red which I was pleased with. At the Faith franchise I managed to miss the seat when sitting down to try on a lovely pair of ankle high boots! Other than my dignity I was ok and the girl and I had a laugh over the incident – just hope it doesn’t feature on u-tube!

Before leaving the store, I needed to use the toilets and followed a couple of women into the ladies, grabbing the last free cubicle I did what I needed and then discovered at the same time as the woman in the adjacent cubicle that there was no toilet paper! Luckily I had a couple of packets of tissues in my bag and was able to help her by passing one of the packs to her which she was grateful for as we afterwards stood next to each other washing our hands.

From Debenhams, I decided to seek out a jeweller’s to look at buying a silver necklace. I have till now always made do with cheap costume jewellery but was fed up of my neck turning green! Passing by Beaverbrookes I decided to risk it and popped in. I asked one of the assistants to show me their necklaces and that I needed a 20” chain. We found one I liked and I added the letter E to it. I was then offered a coffee while she then produced a pair of matching silver hoped earrings which I also decided to buy – hard sell or what! During our conversation she casually asked me if I was on my way home from work!

Paying for my jewellery, she asked me for my details starting with Miss, Ms or Mrs. At this point I realised that with my address, I may end up having catalogues addressed to Emma Walkey arriving at our home and trying to explain that to our youngest so I hurriedly asked her to change the name to that of my wife. She just looked at me blankly at this as if not understanding. Either she was a very good actress and saleswoman to boot or I was passing better than I thought. I assumed the former but she certainly had me going for a while. Who knows! She soon recovered and I left the shop feeling good about myself.

Meeting up with Karen again we strolled through the Centre, window shopping and in one shop whilst Karen was picking a top, I got chatting to the sales woman. I was admiring the white roll necked pullovers and mentioned to her that trying to stop them getting make up on them was near impossible and so for me the jumper was remaining on the rack. We then chatted about how the sizes varied shop to shop before moving on, Karen having finished her purchase.
Approaching 4pm, we entered the Mac shop and I asked one of the girls to help me. Guiding me to a stool in the middle of the shop, I removed my coat and sat whilst explaining what I wanted. Basically, I was looking for a base/concealer for under my foundation to neutralise any shadow, a replacement foundation and fixing powder, some ideas for my eyes for daytime, evening and party and a suitable red lipstick which would suit my colouring.

Setting to with gusto, the scary bit – I had to remove my current make up! She was very complimentary about my make up before we started, which made me feel good. (The more cynical of you out there may note that this could have been part of a sales pitch – I also thought that briefly and then decided no – I would go with the flow, we all need compliments don’t we) For the next 2 hours Holly showed me how to achieve the various looks I wanted and we tried all sorts of colours. It is a wonderful feeling having a professional applying your make up and one I would recommend wholeheartedly. I finished the session with the evening / party eyes including a pair of false lashes added. It was funny whilst sitting there in full conversation with Holly that none of the woman around me even bothered to check me out! The only funny looks I did get was from a mother who in between giving her student daughter some grief over choosing a suitable foundation and lipstick, looked me over a few times.

Having parted with a substantial sum (this being a woman can damage your wealth!) I walked back to Taurus where I met up with the rest of our party for the evening meal. Sharing a bottle of wine during happy hour we caught up with news before moving onto Eden’s and then making our way over to Villagio’s for our meal. We were to have been joined by two “new” girls but they didn’t show. We decided on only a main course this time to allow us to visit the Manchester Concorde girls over at New York New York.

As I wasn’t dressed for the evening, I quickly departed for my room and changed into a short dress, (and I do mean short!) fancy tights and new shoes before rejoining the girls around the corner. Passing Via I elicited some complimentary comments about my legs from a couple of business guys leaving the bar as well as some voiced suggestions which even made me blush under my make up, though it did make me smile.

At New York, New York we caught the end of the quiz and then stayed for the music, meeting up with Claire, Mary and Bev amongst others before moving on again. The others then decided to go direct to Napoleon’s but I wanted to go elsewhere, so we parted company and I walked down on my own to Tribeca and sat down with a bottle of wine. Surprisingly the place was really quiet and I ended up chatting to one of the bouncers until leaving.

I finished the night at Napoleon’s and got back to my hotel late, waking up the next morning having missed my 5-15am alarm call by a few hours! Never mind, I made up the time at work in the evening finally getting home at turned 9-30pm that night, absolutely tired!

Looking back on the day, I believe as I get out more and more as Emma, my increased confidence, experience and better presentation skills all seem to reduce the incidence of adverse reactions from those around you. I certainly no longer have any problem interacting with anyone when out these days (call me gobby if you like!). For those who still have doubts, try relating to me – a 5ft 9”, 16stone rugby player in a dress! If I can do it, so can anyone of you.

Birthday Celebrations in Manchester

My wife and I had been invited to join our good friend "Mrs Kate" to celebrate a significant birthday in Manchester on the Saturday.

Whilst my wife continues to be very supportive of Emma, she has reduced the number of times we go out together as she still feels uncomfortable. However, this occasion was one which she wholehearted wanted to join me in and so with our “story” established we left our youngest mid morning on the Saturday to drive up to Manchester.

The idea was to drop some stuff I was selling at a friend’s in St. Helens on the way and book into The New Union mid afternoon. On arrival, the room was not quite ready and so as we were enjoying a quiet drink at the bar, when who should join us but Di who was also staying at The New Union.

When given access to the room, we unpacked and my wife made her way into town for some shopping whilst I got ready. The weather was warmer than I had expected but I decided to go with a long t-shirt top over my stone washed jeggings and favourite mid height heeled shoes. On top I had my black ¾ length coat which is very warm. Ready, I made my way up to the café in Debenhams where we had agreed to meet, just another woman amongst the throngs of shoppers.

Meeting up with my wife, I sat down and we enjoyed a cuppa and some fruit cake whilst organising where we wanted to go and what we needed. My immediate requirements were a new pair of glossy patterned tights for the evening whilst my wife was looking for some replacement needles for her cross stitching hobby and some gel inserts for her heels. Ideally I had wanted to visit the Mac store but as money was tight I knew I would spend too much there so refrained. We did however spend an pleasant hour wandering through the clothes section at Debenhams, examining dresses, tops, coats and skirts for both of us. We find it very useful to be open and truthful about clothes and we both take great delight in picking out clothes for each other and respect each others comments.

However, as time was moving on, and money was tight, we both found what we wanted and then made our way back to the hotel through the crowds of workers and shoppers on their way home. Again, no issues with the rest of the world, I was taken as I presented.

Back at the hotel, whilst Jackie went up to get ready, I sat and had a beer during which Dianne came down ready for the evening and introduced me to Katherine, another friend of hers.

I then joined my wife to get ready whilst Dianne ad Katherine made their way up to Taurus where we were to join them later.

For the evening, despite having brought three different alternative dresses, matching shoes and bags, I resorted to an old favourite a sparkly LBD and matching heels over which I wore my genuine rabbit fur coat (E-bay bargain last year)

Make up refreshed and darkened for the evening, a slick of lip gloss and squirt of perfume, we gingerly made our way down into the bar and then up Canal Street to find our friends. My wife looked stunning as we popped into Taurus but didn’t see them (we later found out they were in the alcove), followed by Velvet where my wife got chatted up by a guy as we were looking for Di and Katherine. It was quite funny listening to the conversation whilst standing there next to Jackie in my heels etc!

Moving on we finally came across Mandy and Tina as they were walking up the street and we decided in the absence of any agreed meeting place to drop into Churchill’s where we enjoyed a bottle of wine between us.

It was good to have the opportunity to chat as it had been a while since Jackie had been out with me as Emma and all too soon we had to up sticks and make our way to the venue where we were eating – Velvet.

On arrival we found Di, Katherine and Bev and her wife there already and so with fresh drinks awaited the arrival of birthday girl and Kate which duly happened.

The bar was very busy and standing in 3” heels not quite so much fun as its’ made out so when seats became available, we made a beeline for them. Shirley and Kate both looked stunning and with all of us in a party mood, the rest of the evening looked like it was going to be good.

Making our way carefully down the steel spiral staircase to the restaurant was, as usual, fun, wearing a tight dress and heels adding to the “excitement”

Taking our seats, cards and pressies having been handed over, "Mrs K" handed out little badges and masks to get us in the party spirit, mine was Miss Boozy! – is someone trying to tell me something!

The food as usual was very good and the “low fat deserts!” something to die for.

As the night was young we decided to visit Spirit first where we met up with the girls again after I had revisited my room to change my shoes and leave my fur coat behind.

For some reason the atmosphere in the village early on appeared quite threatening with lots of groups of guys wandering around the “village” and there was quite a lot of verbal comment. Probably Man United having been at home didn’t help. Nevertheless, we didn’t let this detract from our enjoyment, we just were somewhat more careful than usual.

Gradually our friends made their way from Spirit until myself and Jackie were left sitting on one of the beds on the mezzanine floor. We took time to have a great chat about just about everything. My wife and I for the first time since the night I was attacked, actually held hands and cuddled. This was a massive step for my wife in accepting me as Emma out and about and both of us felt really comfortable.

(The night I was attacked, my wife had for the first time since going out with me as Emma held hands – I know it doesn’t sound that great but believe me this was a massive step for my wife and I, and she thought (wrongly in my opinion) that this lead directly to me being assaulted that night.)

From Spirit, we sauntered across to Eden’s where we continued cuddling and chatting until a young girl on an adjacent table beckoned us over to join her and her friends. She was an 18 year old hairdresser from Manchester and we passed an enjoyable hour answering questions, chatting and generally getting on really well with no unease whatsoever. Her young friends and herself were totally accepting and showed a genuine interest in us. When you think she is only a year older than our youngest daughter! We took advantage of educating them which I believe they were largely ignorant of in the first place. Jackie and I smiled as we fielded some of the standard first time questions and the fact that we were happily married with three daughters didn’t fail to impress on them that any preconceived perceptions they may have had were not necessarily correct.

Before moving on finally to Napoleon’s, I needed the loo and entering in front of another girl grabbed the one available toilet much to her “disgust”. Having finished my business, I washed my hands, repaired my make up and brushed my hair at the mirror before being joined by the girl who had followed me in. She smiled and laughingly commented that following me in she thought I was a woman but was cool about it and asked me if she could borrow some lip gloss. She was a 21 year old who confessed that, whilst she touched up her lips and I refreshed my perfume, she was trying to ditch the guy she was with.

Rejoining my wife, we briefly had a chat before we parted company and walked over to Napoleon’s. By now it was well past 2am and my wife was buzzing. We rejoined our friends downstairs for a chat and final drink or two.

Getting up to buy a round of drinks I bumped into Justine at the bar and we caught up with life etc (we last met at Sparkle though we keep in touch via facebook) and the fact that she and her wife now had a baby to look after.

Finally as the clock was approaching 4am we bade our farewells and made our way back to our hotel and sleep.

Jackie has since then reiterated how she had a really wonderful time out and about with Emma and all our friends and we have penciled in further dates for us to both go out. The fact that Jackie has been able to embrace me and allow me to engage in normal physical signs of affection whilst out as Emma is a massive step forward in acceptance and one I really appreciate.