Sharon and Cynthia ~ Getting Ready

I thought I had everything planned so I could meet Sharon around 7:30 at a Thai restaurant about 20 minutes from my house, at the Reston Town Centre.  If the family left by 3:30 that would leave me until, say, 5pm to get ready.  I wanted to stop by the mall for a manicure and expected to get to the mall around 5:30.  I figured my nails would take an hour.  That would mean a bit of shopping time (I did want to at least buy the hostess a gift).  And there's a new shop in the mall called "Intimacy" or something like that.  I wanted to check it out dressed.  I didn't know when I'd get that opportunity again.

I had asked Sharon to call me when she left her house so we could meet without either of us waiting for too long.  Reston Town Centre, where we met, is very crowded on a Friday night.  There are a lot of popular restaurants and a movie theatre there and plenty of parking.  And it's all outdoors so it's popular when the weather's fine ~ and it was perfect that night.

I showered, shaved everywhere, and finished with my moisturiser.  I started pulling out all of my Meg stuff, starting with my drag bag.  That's a bag where I keep my Meg essentials.  It makes packing much easier, although I still end up missing one essential item and ripping the closet apart looking for it.  Every time, I think.

I came across a corset that a special friend had bought for me.  I hadn't had a chance to play with it yet, even though it was in the closet since January.  Since I had so much extra time, I pulled it out. 

It's purple, it has laces on the back and five heavy duty clasps on the front and two ribbons at the top to tie behind your neck.  It does not cover the bust.

I took a deep breath and tried to close it from the bottom up, as I was told to do. 

Not even close.

I loosened the laces and tried again.

Close, but no corset.

I loosened the laces and tried again.

It was really tight, but I could close it.  I know the right way is to close the clasps and then tighten the laces but that's a two-woman job.

I had never worn a corset before, and it definitely felt constricting and different.  And interesting.  I'll try it further when I can.  I did take a couple of pictures which you will NOT see in this blog!

By the time I was done, a half-hour had passed and I was starting to feel that maybe I didn't have as much time as I thought.

I finished putting on my undergarments and tried on two new dresses.  One I didn't like as much as I thought I would; one was nice but a bit heavy.  I wore the one you all thought was best for my last trip to Tucson (when I didn't get out at all).

I then went to the makeup and started the routine: face, eyes, cheeks, lips.  Dress, jewelry, hair, shoes.  I was ready to go, a bit later than I wanted to go.  It was close to 6, but I thought I could still make it without a problem and I could get my nails done as well.

I did skip the "before going out" pictures though.

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