First time out in the wild

Hey girls, i'm a new member and a couple of you mentioned that i should post about my first and thus far only time out which happened not long ago in New Orleans. Fortunately i had written about it in my diary so i was pretty much able to cut and paste the following. Forgive me if it runs on a bit but i wrote this as a memory rather than EVER thinking i would share it with anyone! 
Hugs,
stella

OK so let’s get down to the nitty gritty potentially life changing events, yeah, there, i said it. So the Saturday morning of our trip comes and it’s Drag Brunch Day and terrifyingly the first time this girl has ever been out in public, my gosh what am i thinking, can i do this? My Wife and i had our morning cuppa and got dressed. i wore my Land’s End sleeveless floral dress, strapless bra, lace panties and stockings. Reasonable makeup and my wig. Yikes, am i really going through with this!!!? a couple bloody Mary’s as a fortifier and yes, yes, we are. i had some mild panic right before we set out and Astrid admitted later that She did also but away we go via Lyft. Having a driver meant A. being seen and B. waiting a bit on the street for our car to arrive. We didn’t run into anyone waiting so i guess technically the first person to see “me” other than Astrid was our driver who made no mention of anything and hustled us on to the venue. When we got there the music was bumping and we initially poked our head through the door to find that the show took up the whole place and we would have to wait outside until they cleared the place between shows. Astrid got us a couple beers and we sat at one of the sidewalk settees by the front door enjoying the weather and our drinks. SOO normal. Well when the show ramped down, the main performer Vanessa came out and chatted with us and even complemented my gray hair. Wanted to know where we were from, she was a hoot and we had a great time. By then some others were showing up as well so a small queue started off to the side again while we luxuriated with our drinks. Well turns out i was the only “dressed” girl which i wasn’t sure if would be the case or not but clearly this was an acceptable setting. OK so as tables cleared they were escorting people in by reserved table and lo and behold our table was a high top right next to the performance area. Smack dab in front! Next to us were a lovely mother/daughter from Minneapolis who we had fun talking to. We ordered our food and a pitcher of mimosa’s to wait for the show. Having never been to a drag brunch i had no idea what to expect and it turned out to be somewhat like a stripper show which yikes we barely had any cash and Astrid didn’t bring Her debit card. Fortunately i had thought to tuck a $20 into my purse since a girl can’t be too careful you know. Astrid changed that for singles so that while we couldn’t make it rain we at least could drizzle a bit. The show was fabulous with four girls dancing, singing, multiple costumes changes. i flipped when Vanessa came out and did Nancy Sinatra “These Boots Are Made for Waking” in the cutest 60’s floral outfit that i later told her i was gonna steal! Plenty of singles later evenly distributed with lots of hands brushed during exchange we just had more fun flirting. The audience was a hoot as well as there were some real characters including a table mostly from Memphis, more on them in a minute. Second pitcher of mimosa’s, yes please… Food was terrible but who cared. So we get through the show and the girls said anyone could come up for pictures. i needed to use the bathroom by now, so next decision, which one? Astrid said they were singles so i excused myself and went to the Ladies (hovered of course) so fun!  After that we went up to get our pictures and while standing there i told one of the girls it was my first time and she said i did great and looked good  i even offered and snapped the Memphis groups photos. OK so things were ramping down so we went outside and visited with several of the people who were there and visited with the Memphis folks for a while which is how we learned where they were from. Funny story on them is one was flamboyantly gay and really fun and funny. We ran into them again the next day (Sunday) at Arnaud’s Jazz Brunch and he acted straight and wouldn’t speak to us, What a hoot! Anyways, while milling about waiting for our Lyft to arrive we chatted more with the performers and particularly Vanessa who i also told was my first time. she was so sweet and said how great NO was for us girls but to use some caution. We mentioned we were considering going to Lafittes and she said it was OK but that she would be performing at The Crossing and to come there or to go to the Brass Lantern, she gave me her card and said to mention her and we would be treated well. Again, so sweet and we parted company when our ride came. Back to our condo where when we got back changed and relaxed for a bit before the evening. OK so Astrid got in one of Her moods and was insisting on going out and eating afterwards which got Her in a bit of a snit but i pushed back and ran over the Bourbon Street and picked up Oyster Po-Boys for dinner. Then She really got put out over going back out, again i pushed back and am glad that i did as was Astrid in the end. We decided to pass on going to the Crossing and chose instead to go to the Brass Lantern. After a spell Astrid calmed down a bit and we got dressed, well, i did as She had stayed in Her cute yellow top and white pants, i changed to a black skirt and Ann Klein black and red floral top and fixed my makeup. Around twilight we headed down to our Lyft and while waiting for it to arrive we stood close to the entrance and funny thing was that several people stopped by to ask various questions like where things were. Just very normal which was rather neat. Well on to the Brass Lantern which was east of the quarter, even if close we had been advised not to walk around as it could be dangerous. So when we got there no big deal we poked our heads in and it looked really like a normal neighborhood bar. With a horseshoe bartop in front and a side room. Not too busy, so while trying to figure out if we needed to get drinks at the bar or if there was table service we got a hightop table to the side and back and Astrid heading to the main bar to get us a couple drinks. All of a sudden this cute Swedish man approached me and introduced himself saying that he had met Astrid and She had said for him to come back and meet me. Hi I’m David (?) and i introduced myself as stella. He didn’t bat an eye and asked if he could join us. Of course i said sure and we moved down to the only normal height table and we made chit chat until Astrid came with our drinks. It was so nice to be out as “us girls” and being treated as such. David ended up being a bit of a bore and a braggart as he apparently is compensated very well for his work and made it plain to know this. Hot pole dancing wife, kids pictures, car pictures, bike videos, ugh. Several times he offered to buy us drinks but we refused. Astrid told me later that “a girl never turns down a drink” lesson learned but i replied, that i didn’t really like his vibe and She agreed. Anyways i was sent up a couple times to refresh our drinks. Ended up with a gin mule which proved to be delish! So it seemed he was never going to leave us but thankfully Astrid turned to Her political tip which quickly drove him away, he pretty much vanished, maybe there is a benefit from Her complete detachment from reality, HAHAHA  Anyways we found ourselves entertaining each other for a few minutes when a group of cute gay boys from DC came in. They were milling about the high top we abandoned which we offered to switch tables as ours had numerous chairs. They were very appreciative and we certainly didn’t mind. Actually there was a small bar extension in the room as well which had opened up so we settled there with our drinks and a break or two to touch up our lipstick. Astrid commented that not only did i need to find lipstick that lasted better but that i needed to work on my makeup overall. (note to self, up my makeup game , challenge accepted, my Cap-E-tan!) OK about this time Vanessa shows up, color me surprised, as we didn’t expect her after her gig at the Crossing. A hug and a kiss we welcomed each other. she had switched to a gray wig which i commented was pretty, she mentioned that i had changed outfits as well and looked nice. i offered her a seat but she declined and sat across at the bar extension as it turns out she is a regular (knew that) but had her spot and crew. The DC boys were having so much fun as it was nearing midnight and it was “69’s” (according to his t-shirt) 30th birthday. There was dancing and much fun going on. They posed for photos which i offered and took. After a bit two of them came up and thanked us again for the table and bought us a drink, so sweet. They stayed for a bit and we chit chatted and had a great time. As the night progressed, we just had more fun and Vanessa had her group coming through, including Astrid’s ongoing heart-throb Easton who She coincidentally had met outside on a smoke break. Honey, this boy was de-lish-ous and had been at a wedding so was in a tux no less. Beautiful, a chef, engaged to a lawyer…. He was having a ball dancing with everyone including Astrid. By now the DC boys had disappeared so the crowd had cycled. Things were winding down a bit so had called for our Lyft, when he starts dancing further with Astrid. Meanwhile i said goodbye to Vanessa who reiterated that i did great for my first time out and to be sure to stay in touch which i promised i would. Then with our ride coming had to break the news to Astrid that we needed to go (i’ll forever be in the doghouse for taking Her away from Easton) anyways She got a nice kiss and surprise, i did as well! another first. Well off and out we went for our ride home for which i still am receiving grief for ending the party. This from the Girl who was complaining that She didn’t want to eat until later and expected an early end to the day. Girl, Please….