Usual routine getting out of the house. Stopped at Carla’s to wait for people to gather. About half girls I knew and half who were new to me. There were a dozen of us, including Carla and Syndey, who’s a FTM to who’s the boyfriend of one of the girls, who’s a FT MTF. No sports on the TV this time and after a little bit we all drove over to a Chinese restaurant nearby. First time we’ve been there. So-so food, but a chance to get out with the girls.

It was about 6 p.m. so it was broad daylight and a number of people on the sidewalk. Got a few stares as you might expect. But the restaurant staff were quite friendly and led us over to a big round table, which was out on the main floor. There was a couple with two young kids at the next table, and they did a couple doubletakes and then seemed to
not pay us a lot of attention for the rest of their dinner. There were a couple other diners who came and went over the course of the dinner, who also didn’t seem to pay a whole lot of attention—but I was facing away from them (towards a partion) so I didn’t have the
greatest view of what was going on around us.

Turns out there was a bit of drama at the last dinner I wasn’t aware of. Apparently the hostess was a bit rude and the waiters stared at some people. I was in a really good conversation with the people at my table, so I guess I didn’t notice. Anyway, we’ll never be going there again.

In contrast, the staff at the Chinese restaurant was friendly and respectful. Seems like Asian cultures are generally more t-friendly, so maybe that was a factor. Don’t know how the Chinese specifically view transgenders.

A couple girls were comparing their electrolysis stories. Carla’s girlfriend is going through some extensive electrolysis, although she’s not apparently transitioning (as Carla made clear), there was a pre-op transsexual next to me and another girl who’s just getting her face done. Apparently, she’s got a really heavy fast-going beard and ends up with five o’clock shadow by the end of evening. Little extreme for me, but I can understand why she wants to do it. Fortunately, I’m naturally a dark blonde, so I generally don’t have that problem except on my chin and throat where the beard is darker. MAC’s got it’s “Full
Coverage” foundation that’s essentially a concealer, so have to experiment and see if I can combine using it with one of their regular foundations.

Anyway, we had a good time although we wrapped things up around 8. Walking out to the parking lot we got read by some women coming in, although I think they couldn’t quite believe what they were seeing.

Still had the urge to get out more, so Sunday afternoon I decided to go up to San Francisco. Got dressed and did my make-up, put my wig of to double-check that things look right. Got the hair adjusted just right and hated to take it off, since it’s hard to check in the rear-view mirror. I kept going to the front window and taking a look outside and
the street seemed deserted. So I said, fuck it, grabbed my boy bag and went out as is, and took off. Don’t know if it’s just getting to the point where I don’t care as much if the neighbors find out, or whether it was just thrill seeking. Probably not the smartest thing to do, but it felt daring.

Drove up to the city and discovered that while it was sunny and warm on the Pennisula, the fog was rolling in. So while I was going to go to Union Square and hit the department stores, I decided to change my mind and hit Fisherman’s Wharf again. Lots of tourists underestimate the cool San Francisco summers, so I figured I’d stick out less. (I’d foolishly
decided to wear a flirty summer skirt that was made out of lightweight fabric. Learned my lesson—unless I’m clubbing I’m wearing pants up there.) Unfortunately, traffic was really bad around the Wharf (previously, I’ve gone during the week, since I can set my own hours) and I lost patience and headed back to Union Square.

Parked in a parking garage nearby that’s I’m familar with and doesn’t have valet parking. The one down side is that parking starts on the second floor and you have to take the elevator down, so I was bit nervous about potential close quarter contact. When I went out dancing with Jamie and Eve a pizza guy got in the elevator with us, but there were three of us then and I think he was a lot more nervous than we were. Fortunately, where I parked I discovered an emergency stairwell that I hadn’t know about before. It wasn’t alarmed, so I took it. Might not have been the smartest thing, since I could’ve run into some weirdo, but I figured I’m a big girl and I’d rather have room to maneuver.

Got read more than my outings to Fisherman’s Wharf. Partly I think it was the skirt wasn’t appropriate to the weather. I did seem a few women in skirts, but they were heavier, warmer fabrics like denim. Partly, it may be folks around there and in Macys were less
distracted. Partly, it was I had to take my sunglasses off in-doors, which exposes an unfeminine brow line and nose. The irony is my big, doughy nose (which I think is a bit of a giveaway) actually came from my Mom. Guess God has a wicked sense of humor. OTOH, I’d say a lot of people didn’t appear to notice.

It was kind of interesting observing people’s reaction. A few people clearly seemed to read me but seemed friendly. Most people did a double-take with their eyes, but then tried to act cool about, although occasionally their eyes would stray back for a moment. A few
would stare for a bit and when I’d look them in the eyes and smile they’d look away, realizing they’d been caught. On the escalator for several floors there was a sharply-dressed young black kid with his girlfriend who couldn’t stop taking looks at me. Wasn’t mad-dogging me or anyway, I think he just couldn’t believe what he was seeing. After the first couple times I looked at him and tried to give him my best “I know that you know” smile, but he kept looking. But he seemed harmless and just walked off with his girlfriend when we both reached our floor. Who knows, maybe he was a closet crossdresser himself….

Did a bit of browsing around Macys—wasn’t planning to buy anything since there weren’t any sales going on and anyway Darla need to keep on a budget, aside from a few things I need to get when the fall/winter seaons stuff comes in. Wandered into the Women’s
department. It was pretty slow, with a few clerks and customers on the other side of the floor. But I ended up loosing my nerve and wandered back out. I knew I wasn’t passing as well and wasn’t really eager to interact with the salesclerks.

So went back down to the ground floor out through the cosmetics counters—oh, so tempting—and walked around a bit more. They’re building a new mall inside the old Emporium building so I was curious to see how that’s going. Passed the cable car turnaround and walked back to the garage. Unfortunately, you can’t enter the stairs from
ground-level so I had to take the elevator. Fortunately, no else was around. Drove home and it was twilight, so I figured it was quiet, I’d try getting in the house without changing—thanks be to that front hedge. At worse, I figured as long as I could get in the driveway, I could always take off the wig and form and pull on the gym suit while I was parked there. But it was quiet, so I lived dangerously again.

Not as satisfying as other outings, but still nice to get out of the house. Now just to get serious about that dieting.