Sunday and a little Susan time at Starbucks.

It is Sunday and yes I was planning on going to Starbucks for a little while as it is my normal routine. I did get ready a little earlier as I am behind on my blogs. I did my purple eye shadow and a coppery colored lipstick, yes I love the reds but I wanted to mix it up a little after all that is the fun of makeup. I got to my Starbucks just before 3pm and they looked busy as I had to park way out. I walked in and I was right, they were packed. About 15 people standing waiting for drinks they had ordered, and 7 people in line to order and every table was taken, only 2 seats at the counter along the front window were open so I did think about going to the Starbucks near my house but I saw a man walking with 2 drinks towards me and noticed the lady at the one table along the window getting up so I paused for a moment and they were together and leaving and that opened up a table so I quickly put my computer on it. I like these tables as I can sit with my back to the window and have a full view of everything and for people watching. I went and stood in line to order my drink. I heard the lady taking orders tell the couple in front of me when they asked that it was about 20 to 30 minutes to get their drink so I knew it would be a wait but that was okay. I placed my order and went and sat down to get some work done and yes people watch.

Now it has been a week sense I got my nails done and when Anna did them she removed all the acrylic and used gel builder on my nails and here is what I have noticed. I do think they are a little stronger. I also think they are a little thinner and maybe not as heavy a feeling if that makes sense, not that nails are heavy they just feel more natural. Now the gel Anna used does have a definite pale pink color to it so they are more noticeable so I may try a different one next time if I can find a more neutral color. This does lead me to a couple things, at work we got a delivery that I checked in on Friday and the man delivering noticed my nails and complimented me on them and I just thanked him and gave no reason on why I get my nails done. I had also mentioned one of my male co-workers had told me he painted his toenails well another young man in that department came to work this week with his nails painted a metallic green color, now it is just nail polish on very short nails so I am sure he did it himself but I thought it was cool. Maybe it will become more common for men to have painted nails and maybe even longer perfectly shaped nails.

I had been here about 30 minutes when they called my name for my drink and it was still every bit as busy, some people did leave tables and as soon as they left others took their seat so it was a good day to watch the people come and go. I was working on my blog when I heard someone call my name, it was Ryan the man I met here a while back. He was waiting for his drink and sat down at the table next to me and just wanted to say hi which was nice as I probably wouldn’t have noticed him as busy as it was. We chatted for a few minutes and I told him how long it took for me to get my drink, it turned out he had been standing up waiting and noticed the table open so he came and sat down. It wasn’t long and his drink was ready and he left but it was nice. It pretty much stayed busy like this till after 4pm so I guess a lot of people wanted to come to Starbucks today which is good for them and for me as I do own stock in Starbucks. I finished my blog from Saturday and posted it and then sent out the information for our Zoom call on Monday night and our Wednesday night dinner at Thai Bloom. It was a fun and relaxing afternoon. I stayed here till about 5pm before leaving and stopping at Fred Meyers to do a little grocery shopping and pick up something for dinner.

I got home just before 6pm and started my dinner and some laundry and then settled in for a quiet night at home watching movies. Now I am looking forward to Wednesday nights dinner and next weekend.

Thanks for reading my blog and sharing this part of my life with me.

Saturday May the 4th and a little time at Starbucks

It is Saturday May 4^th and if you celebrate Star Wars Day, have a great day. I got up and went to the gym as usual  got there just before 8am as I have a busy day and want to fit some Susan time in today, and worked out and stopped briefly at the Starbucks by Home Depot to post my blog from Wednesday night’s dinner. Now a funny side story. Julie and Trixie got home from Palm Springs last night and I picked them up from the airport at 8:30. I was my male self but I did do my eye makeup and a neutral lipstick. my eyes were a bronzy brown on the outer corner with a lighter browns on the lid, full mascara and a winged eye liner, it was a good daytime look for Susan and the lipstick was Maybelline lip ink in the color Seductress, somewhat neutral in color. I got them back to Julies and rode with Julie to take Trixie home so it was a little after 10pm when we got back to Julies and I went in with her and we sat and talked for a while. We talked till almost 11:30, it was so nice to have her back home again, it was almost midnight when I got home and went to be. Well if you have not figured out where this is going, yes when I got up this morning to go to the gym I forgot about the makeup I had on. I noticed it when I used the bathroom at Starbucks after the gym.  Now I like to spend most of Saturday as Susan but I did have some things I needed to get down today so my Susan time would be limited. Yes sometime my male self is needed. It was a little after 2 when I had most of what I needed to do done and started getting ready for a little Susan time. Now my time getting ready is my me time and so relaxing as it is putting away my male side for a while. I took my time as I wanted to try something new with my eyes, yes I still love playing with makeup. I have an eye shadow pallet with black and a sparkly grey and today I was going to use that along with the other colors. I also did a gel liner right on my lower lash line. In all I was happy with the look. It was a little after 3pm when I was ready and took some pictures. I did think about going to the Escape tonight but decided not to as it was to late in the day to post. So my plan was to go to Starbucks by my house for a couple hours and then back home to finish a couple things. I did call and talk to Cassandra while I was doing my makeup, I miss seeing her at the outing as she lives in Las Vegas now, we talked for about 30 minutes.

It only took a couple minutes to get to Starbucks and I had to park a little ways out as there were a lot of cars but they were not tat busy. I put my computer on a table by the window and went and ordered my drink. The young man working the counter greeted me by name, he used to work at the one I go to in Orchards but has been moved to this one now. We talked a little before I ordered my drink. I sat down and started working on my computer, really just messing around. Now the man at the table behind me, his name is Mark and I know this as I see him pretty much every Sunday at the other Starbucks I go to. I have never talked with him but like me the people there call him by name. I see him pretty regular when I come to this one on Saturdays so I think he does this one on Saturdays and the other one on Sundays. Now for me I like to go to a few different Starbucks just so I can be seen by ore people but also I just don’t want to go to the same Starbucks two days in a row and I wonder if that is what he is doing.

I did some work on my computer and did some research on my stocks, yes I find following my stocks and reading about them interesting. Some people follow sport, some fashion for me it is my stocks. I started buying stocks in late 1987 and have been managing my stocks ever sense. By the way there are a lot of financial web sites out their but my favorite is Yahoo Finance, I have used it sense they started in the early 90’s. For those who are younger at one time Yahoo was the internet, they dominated everything from search, to chat, profiles like Face Book and even groups, yes the Rose City T-girl started off as a Yahoo group. Their problem was they were the 800-pound gorilla and they took their lead for granted and just assumed they were the best and well you know how that goes. For a little history, Microsoft tried to buy Yahoo in 2008 for 47 billion dollars and yahoo said no, nine short years later in 2017 Yahoo was bought out for 370 million dollars, less than 1/100 of what Microsoft had offered. Sorry a little off track.

I caught up on e-mails and other things and really just had an enjoyable time here. I did check my social media but I try to avoid that as it is really getting political now, vote this way or that way, here is my take on this and yes it is political so feel free to skip over the red text. If you can be swayed by how you vote because someone posts something on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, or twitter I would prefer you not vote. Please do your own research and don’t just vote how someone online tells you to vote. I don’t care what party you belong to or who you support as long as it is you making the call based on the information you have read about, be informed. Now back to my blog. I stayed here a little longer than I planned as a little after 5pm it really started to rain and I didn’t want to get wet walking to my car plus I like watching the rain (or snow) out the window, it is calming to watch. It was about 5:40 when the rain let up and I left.

I got home and made dinner and watched some TV, yes I did watch one Star war movie as several channels had them on for Star Wars Day (May the Fourth). I did take a break about 7pm as I had a phone call I had to make and that lasted about 25 minutes, this was the reason I came home as I hate being out in public and talking on my phone. I did my dishes and as I did I chipped just a little of my right thumb nail, not bad, just enough to have a little jagged corner which I quickly filed. Probably because the last time I had them done it wasn’t Anna and she left them really square. I do like the square almost as much as the square with a slightly round corner which is easier as a sharp corner is a week point and breaks or chips easier. It was a little after 11pm when I washed away my makeup and went to bed. It was a good day.

Thanks for reading my blog and sharing this part of my life with me.

Saturday and I start my vacation week off with getting my nails done at Dream Nails.

It is Saturday March 9^th and I have the next 9 days off work so I am looking forward to that and it times perfectly with getting my nails done as it has been 3 weeks. I also have a two-week vacation starting April 6^th which is 4 weeks away so I will probably go 4 weeks till my next nail appointment if I can. I did skip the gym today as I still have a slight back pain and I didn’t want to risk it. I did post to the group I would be at the Escape bar & grill tonight in hopes others would show up. I was also really looking forward to todays trip to the nail salon as I am planning on getting a nice red color for the week. I started getting ready a little before noon and yes I took my time. I was ready by 1pm and called Dream nails to see if I could come in. Anna asked if I could come at 1:45 so I had about 45 minutes and did think about going to Starbucks by my house for a ½ hour but right after I hung up my brother called so I talked with him for 30 minutes. I left my house just after 1:30 and was at Dream nails by 1:35 so I went in and Anna had just finished the lady before me so I sat down. Anna asked me if I wanted a color on the tips again and I told her I just wanted a nice red color as I was on vacation for the week. Now they were not busy today again and Anna said it has been really slow, seems she has friends at other nail salons and it is the same thing all over. I guess getting your nails done is not a priority if you are worried about your finances, if you are in the Vancouver area and looking to get your nails done give Dream nails a try.

Anna started on my nails by removing the old gel polish and cleaning them up for the fill. As she worked we talked a little and she asked if I wanted them shortened and I said no as I wanted to let them grow a little, my hope is in 4 weeks when I get them done for that vacations they will be 3/8 of an inch maybe a little longer. With my nails cleaned up and shaped it was time for the acrylic and I think Anna did a little thicker layer probably because I didn’t have them shortened. She still filed the end a little to clean them up though. With the new acrylic on and shaped and filed smooth I went and washed my hands and came back for the polish. Now all I had told Anna was I wanted a nice red, yes she knows I like the red colors so she had picked out a color for me. Anna had picked out DND gel polish 068 Lava Red which really is a beautiful red color. Anna put two coats of red and finished it off with a topcoat and my nails looked beautiful and yes they do look a little longer with the red color on them. I did measure them later and they are ¼ inch long so yes in 4 weeks they will be closer to ½ inch as my nails grow a little more then 1/8 of an inch I 3 weeks. Anna did a fabulous job and my nails and hands look incredible. By the way the experience of getting your nails done is incredible and so relaxing, probably the only thing better is getting a pedicure. Just as Anna was finishing me two women came in, a mother and daughter, the daughter was getting a fill and pedicure and the mom just a pedicure. I paid and thanked Anna and she said she would see me in a couple weeks although she will see me next weekend to get the red removed. Yes as much as I love the color and yes I doubt anyone at work would blink an eye if I showed up with red nails it is just not something I want to do. Let me know what you think of them.

It was 2:30 now so I went to Starbucks in Orchards to work on my blog from Wednesday nights dinner and pass some time till it was time to go to the Escape Bar & Grill. They were not busy ad I got a drink and sat down and wrote my blog which I will post later tonight and caught up on some other things. I was also admiring my nails as I typed away on my keyboard. I also thought about it and I cannot explain why I love having pretty long nails. it is one of those things like trying to explain why I like presenting as female. I just know I like it and yes when I see my nails I do get a wonderful feeling, it just makes me feel good being able to see them. I stayed here till 5:15 before leaving and heading for the Escape.

I got to the Escape at 5:30 and went in, they were a little busier then normal. I ordered my dinner and the lady at the bar commented on my nails, she said she loved the bright red, of course I thanked her. My food came and I had just started to eat when Michelle showed up so she ordered dinner and then sat down and we started talking. That is the nice thing about getting here early as you can talk, once Karaoke starts at 8pm it gets loud and is hard to talk. Kris also showed up about 6:45 so we had 3 of us here tonight. By 8pm it was pretty crowded and Karaoke started and it did get harder to talk but it is nice to listen to the music too especially when they sing songs you know and like. A couple girls at the bar stopped by our table after they sang and introduced themselves and talked to us for a little bit which was nice. Now I didn’t plan on staying out late tonight as we set clocks ahead so we lose an hour of sleep tonight. Michelle left about 9:30 and I was getting ready to leave and Melissa and her husband showed up and of course came and said hi to me. I haven’t seen her in several months, we et here back before COVID and hit it off and have been friends ever sense. Well I decided to stay longer and then Kris asked if I would sing a song with her and I said yes. I have only sang once by myself but I am willing to sing with someone else so she went up and put our song in. the song we were going to sing is “Don’t go breaking my heart by Elton John and Kiki Dee“.

Melissa came over a couple times and we talked a little while, as I have said many times I have met a lot of wonderful people because of this side of me that I never would have met if I had not accepted this part of who I am. She showed me her nails which are a clear nail with a silver line design on them, very classy and I think something I could pull off at work, of course I showed her may nails also. Melissa sang the song “Alone by Heart” which is also one of my favorites. Yes I will date myself as my favorite singer/groups are, Elton John, ABBA, Neil Dimond, Herat, and the Eagles, any song from them is great. Well as I said with the big group here tonight it took a while for Kris and my song to get called, it was a little after 10pm (really 11pm with clocks going forward) when it was our turn. I think we did a great job. It was about 10:45 when I went and paid my bill. It was a wonderful day and my back was a little sore so I may have over done it a little.

I got home about 11:15 and cleaned up and washed away my makeup for bed so it was just before midnight when I laid down and set my clock ahead 1 hour.

Thanks for reading my blog and sharing this part of my life with me.

Sunday Susan time at Starbucks to relax

It was an interesting Sunday as I almost didn’t make it to Starbucks. I was doing some things before getting ready and I was not sure what I did but my lower left back started hurting really bad. Yes this happens every once in a while. So I ended up sitting down and icing it for about 20 minutes and it felt better so I went ahead and did my makeup and got dressed as I figured I could sit at Starbucks just as well as at home. I took my time getting ready as always, yes I was moving a little slower today. I did try a lighter foundation and a peachy lipstick which I actually liked the way it looked, yes still like the reds better but I thought this was a nice daytime look which is something I am still working on. Let me know what you think. I was all ready by 2:30pm and took a few pictures before leaving for Starbucks. This is my normal Sunday afternoon as I need to send out the information for our Zoom call and our Wednesday night dinner at Thai Bloom, plus write my blog from yesterday.

I got to Starbucks and went in and they were not busy today. I got my dink and sat down to work, I had to set up a new series of zoom calls as they only allow you to set 20 recuring calls and last week was the last one so I does take a couple minutes more, but we will be good for the next 20 Monday nights. I also sent out the invitation for Wednesday night’s dinner, which I already know Sherri will be there as she is in town on Wednesday and Thursday so it will be great to see her again. Now it was just going through e-mails, writing my blog and a few other things and yes I could do all of these from home but what fun is that when I can spend a few hours as Susan at Starbucks. I finished my blog and was working on other things and noticed my back was starting to tighten up so it was just before 5pm when I decided to leave and go home. I got up and wow my back had really stiffened up. I made my way out to my car and decided to just go home and skip my grocery shopping.

I got home and laid on the couch to watch TV and ice my back and that was how I spent the rest of the day. Other then the sore back it was a good day. Now I am looking forward to Wednesday nights dinner and next weekend as that will be the start of a 1-week vacation. I have the time to use and I need to take care of some things around my house and yard but yes there will be Susan time. It also works perfectly as next Saturday is my normal day to get my nails done and I plan to get color on my nails for the week.

Thanks for reading my blog and sharing this part of my life with me.