My Sparkly Weekend

So the second Sparkle has come and gone and this one was even bigger and better than the first one.

I travelled up on the Thursday this year, the idea being to make the Friday a little less stressful. Thursday was a quiet evening, telly and pizza watching the football. The quiet before all the partying.

Friday morning I headed for the shops, I wanted some Mac foundation, having heard good things about it and never having been totally happy with the foundations I have tried. So I spoke to the lovely ladies on the Mac counter in Selfridges and they were great in helping me choose a concealer and a foundation in just the right shade. I resisted the urge to buy any more clothes.. I had more than enough with me in my suitcase.

Around lunchtime Kim arrived with the van and after helping her unload her stuff we headed out of town to collect some safety barriers and deliver them to Sackville Gardens. We had to do some creative bodging to keep the doors of the van tied together.

Once done, I finally put my girly clothes and my new makeup on and headed down to AXM for the Sparkle Launch. Canal Street was already buzzing and it was clear that things were going to be busier than last year. Only blip was that it was at I was getting ready I realised that most of the decent eye shadows had been left at home in my wifes washbag - she'd decanted out some of the makeup at a recent family event rather than take the whole case down with us. Luckily I had enough, but I would have to go back into town in the morning and get some different shades and a few brushes.

It was in AXM that I met Valerie. She had come all the way from Finland just for Sparkle, and I knew her through some of the tranny Flickr groups. She had some fantastic photos, but had only ever been out en femme once. Sparkle was her second time out. She looked amazing in a very chic business suit. Luckily Fiona had organised the evenings dinner, and we were able to make a space for her with us that evening so she didnt have to eat alone.

So Friday was a very nice meal in Eden followed by a party in AXM to celebrate the opening of their new changing rooms. A few drinks in there and then Valerie wanted to go dancing, and as there wasn't much dancing in AXM we ended up on the dancefloor in View. I don't think I did any dancing at all last year so it was good to actually get some dancing in this time. For the first time I wore stiletto heels.. so my feet were rather sore by the end of it!

Saturday was initially spent going back into town and getting some more makeup to replace that left at home, then back to the hotel to femme up and head back down to Canal Street. I hit the art exhibition for a while, which was cool.

On my way back I passed a group of guys who were obviously discussing the number of trannies around (and the state of them) - as I passed one of them looked at me and said ''That one's not too bad''... Not Too Bad??? I'm not sure whether I should have been insulted or complimented :-)

At lunch I caught up with Becky, Jane and Valerie again and we grabbed some food at Via Fosse while people watching and trying to work out what all the canoes were about :-) I then got my nails painted at the free nail bar in the MMU. It was great to have someone actually do a professional job rather than the botch job I usually do on them!

The evening was kickstarted by a very nice bottle of champagne provided by Valerie and a rather nice bottle of red. We ended in Sophie, Shannon and Jessica's room trying to explain the intricacies of Doctor Who to Valerie.

Down to the park to watch the bands (via the Sparkle stretch Limo), and then the fashion show. Followed by a wander to the cashpoint and then a rather nice meal in the Japanese restaurant. Back to see the last band and then off to use our VIP passes in AXM. Canal Street was heaving and it was a real struggle to force our way past the Rembrant to AXM.

From AXM Valerie and I again ended up dancing in View for a while until the bar closed at 2am. English licensing laws was a new concept to Valerie so we tried to find somewhere else that was open as neither of us wanted the evening to end yet. After following some girls to Napoleans, and realising that we couldn't be arsed to queue to get in, we found a bar that seemed to be letting people into. So we went in, not realising until we got in that it was a lesbian bar... we were the only trannies in there ;0) Which was great! There was much dancing, and drinking, and then a lot more dancing. I haven't danced that much for years. The only downer was that Valerie lost her camera somewhere in the evening (after trying to lose it on Friday)

And that was it. I had a fantastic weekend thanks to Kim and Bella Jay for organising such an amazing weekend.

There were many people over the weekend that I managed to at least say Hello too, but would have loved to talk to longer. There were many others I missed, but thats the nature of an event where there were so many people.

Becky and Jane - as usual it was great to spend some time with you. Valerie, it was a pleasure to meet you. I admired your bravery in making only your second time out in a foreign country. It was great spending time with you and I hope to see you again sometime. Maybe we can import a tranny scene to Helsinki for a weekend?

So that was my Sparkle. It was fantastic to just spend a few days in girl mode and just be me. I didn't brave the shops, I may try that next year, but the roads around the station are very busy and it was such a buzz just walking past all those people with my head held high and a big grin on my face just being Joanna.

The ownly downer is the post-Sparkle blues I've felt yesterday and today having to be back in drab mode. But that'll pass....

I've already got the dates for next year in my diary, and I am sure next year will be even bigger and better.

Here's to Sparkle 2007!