Chicago and Peoria Illinois

So this was a two part journey – working fist in Chicago Illinois for a couple of days and then driving down to Peoria for the rest of the week. Still traveling with the new engineer I'm training but this is turning out to be not much of a problem. He is a very likeable guy but seems to have absolutely no interest in hanging out after work. He also prefers a different hotel chain than the Holiday Inn that I prefer to stay with and so we are staying at different hotels. I literally couldn't have asked for this to work out any better! All kidding aside, I am starting to wonder if he has his own reasons for wanting privacy. As I said, he is very likeable and easy to talk to and he has already commented on my nails. He said he used to keep his long too. When the conversation led to discussion of how I am fairly confident in my manhood, he want on to say that he used to wear a "man purse" until he wore it out. Wouldn't that be funny if he and I stumble in to each other some night in the same club. LoL

I have this wedding dress that I bought probably 8 years ago. It's beautiful but is huge and takes up a lot of valuable closet space for something that I'm never going to get to wear anywhere. Add to that the fact that the dress doesn't fit and I decided to take it with me, take some pics, and get rid of it. Yes, I know it LOOKS like it fits here but the zipper is not all of the way up and it's torn from my prior attempts to fit my size 14 behind in to the size 12 dress.

So Chicago turned out to be pretty cool. Someone online turned me on to the fact that Hunters does Karaoke on Monday nights and so I decided to check it out. I wore a new skirt that I think is cute and flirty and tried a couple of different tops. Decided the teal really didn't suite my skin very well and so went with the blue instead.

As luck would have it, I arrived just in time to see half a dozen people putting away guitars! Damn damn damn, I just missed either a band or a jam session – I was mad as hell. Stuck around for the Karaoke and was pleasantly surprised to hear that the majority of the people were really good and so it was a pleasure. Of course we're talking about a Monday night so there weren't many Tgirls out and about. There was one other Tgirl there – very young, skinny, and cute (the bitch! lol) with a huge head of curly blond hair. At least twice I said hello as I walked by her or she walked by me. Either she didn't hear me, or doesn't care to talk to ugly old cross dressers because she didn't even bother to smile back. Oh well . . .



Drove down to Peoria on Wednesday. After we got done doing some training on our software, the other engineer headed out for his hotel and I was free! Got cleaned up and headed out for some shopping.

I hit up a Goodwill right next to the hotel and found nothing of interest there and headed to Kohls. I was shopping through the shoes when this young lady loudly says "Oh no! I can't believe this happening to me!" I glanced her way and she took that as an invitation to start a conversation with me.

"I've got to go to a funeral tomorrow and they don't have the shoes I wanted in my size!"

I said something stupid along the lines of I was sorry to hear about that. She sighed and continued looking for the perfect she for her skirt. A moment later she walked up to me and asked:

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?" I figured we were about to get into a discussion about transgender and told her "Sure, go for it!"  She held up a black skirt with white dots she was carrying and a pair of black pumps with much larger white dots with red four inch heels.

"Do you think these work together?" I was floored. I thought she was going to ask me about being a cross dresser but instead she treated me as another woman and asked for my fashion advice. I almost teared up! LOL.

I told her "I really don't think so, and the four inch red heels might send the wrong message at a funeral. We both laughed, she said thanks, and then off she went. Sigh . . .



Finished shopping and headed for the "Elbo Room" – a karaoke bar there in Peoria. It is a "straight" place, but very popular with young people and the medical folks from the surrounding hospitals and is really a very friendly place. I had a ball singing and listening to others. A few folks really made an impression with me and so I asked if I might take their pictures.


This is the bartender there. She is attentive and friendly lady and gorgeous. I love her sense of style too as every time I've been there she is wearing cute blouses that I want!

This is the lady that ran the Karaoke. She is just cute and adorable and very easy to chat with.

 This is another patron and singer. I took her picture because she sings VERY well, is cute and a bit different, AND I loved her dress. LOL