Dots and stripes.

• Button down: Maurices (previously)
• Cami: Maurices (buy)
• Skirt: Maurices (previously)
• Sandals: Lela Rose for Payless

This post is part of Megan's challenge to show off your stripes. Okay, this is going to have to be super quick: I got slammed a little yesterday and today, and have a lot of non-blog things to do (trust me, I would rather be blogging! :) ). And for all my blogging buddies further to the north... our weather is supposed to get unpleasant later in the week, so please don't hate on the bare legs! And of course, the pictures today were taken by my awesome wife.

An outfit for driving.

• Hoodie: Maurices (buy)
• T-shirt: Old Navy
• Jeans: Maurices (previously)
• Boots: Clarks via Craigslist
• Socks: Hanes

Since the beginning of the year one of our ongoing projects has been to get rid of some excess stuff, either by taking it to consignment and thrift stores, or by selling it on Craigslist. This plan has a flaw I have recently discovered: other people on Craigslist have things I want, and so I end up "window shopping" the other listings. And that is the genesis of this outfit. I found a listing for a formal dress on the cheap, and while I have no "reason" to own one, I found myself realizing that it would be really nice to try one on, and own one "just in case", and the seller was offering an excellent deal, and really, this is all just rationalization for the fact that I want to make up for wearing a tux to my HS prom. So I sent an email, and scheduled a time and place to try on the dresses to make sure they fit. I realized that since I would mostly be driving and trying on dresses, I might as well dress how I wanted. And so after a pleasant and chilly afternoon drive, I am now the proud owner of a formal dress, and pleased with my outfit for the day. Even though this outfit spent more time in the vehicle than it did outside.

And of course today's pictures were taken by my wonderful wife. And I am slowly getting back into the swing of things with blogging and commenting, it only took the first two months of 2011 to do that. Thanks everyone for your comments and reading my blog!

Funky office casual.

• Blazer: Maurices (previously)
• Tube top: Maurices
• Cropped pants: Torrid
• Pumps: Payless

I've had this tube top in my closet for a while, but I've not been satisfied with my attempts to style it until now. And while a tube top is not something I think most people would count as acceptable office attire, I think it works well under this blazer. Admittedly, since I work from home, any discussions about acceptable office wear are purely theoretical. (And let's face it, in my case, most people are going to get stuck on that whole "crossdressing" thing instead of noticing the tube top...). And while I'm not sure if it shows up in the pictures, but the shading on the pumps are actually polka dots that slowly get bigger and more dense toward the toe.

I have one more outfit from my backlog to post, and we're still having to share computers in our household (not much longer I hope!), and of course in addition to being so gracious with her laptop my amazing wife took the pictures for today's post.

Too many patterns.

• Dress: Maurices
• Belt: Maurices (came with dress)
• Button down: Old Navy (previously)
• Pumps: Payless
• Pantyhose: Just My Size

This is another outfit from the backlog that was trapped on my old computer. When I put this outfit together I decided to have fun with pattern mixing. The shoes are plaid, and both the dress and the button down have vertical stripes in them. And in writing this post, I realized this outfit has a certain resemblance to the previous one in which I wore this button down. I guess that means I just need to get more button downs. And the temperature around here has been up and down lately, so it's just been too chilly for bare legs, but I've had this dress for a few months, and I really wanted to wear it, so I opted for the pantyhose.

And I am slowly getting caught up(and I'm still borrowing my wife's computer that she is graciously sharing with me until my new one gets here). And of course, my awesome wife took the pictures for this post.

What we actually wore: Valentine's part 2.

My Outfit

• Button down: JC Penney (previously)
• Pants: JC Penney (previously)
• Tie: JC Penney
• Oxfords: ? (previously)
• Belt: JC Penney

My Wife's Outfit

• Dress: Maurices
• Belt: Maurices
• Pumps: Maurices

I'm a little later than I meant posting this. (Wow, take a day off and the rest of the week goes nuts.) But I wanted to post what we actually wore for the big date. And some of the pictures from the evening. The evening started when my wife got home from work about 10 minutes after my previous post.

I was afraid my wife might be forced to work late, so our reservations were late enough to provide some extra time which we didn't need. So instead, I took back roads that my wife is less familiar with, and slowly drove by a lot of restaurants which also would have been suitable for the day. (Okay, and I also drove past a few fast food restaurants too, just to add more suspense...). The good news is that when she finally saw the restaurant sign, she was too confused to guess if it was our destination or not.

Neither of us had been to a Brazilian steakhouse before. But I have to say if your budget can afford it, I highly recommend the experience at least once. Unless you're a vegetarian: while they did have a pretty cool salad bar, the meats are what makes it awesome, and its not exactly a vegetarian/vegan friendly sort of place. For those who don't know, the staff is constantly circulating through the restaurant with skewers of steaks, and they constantly stop at your table and cut off whatever you want in whatever quantity you want. And it's all you can eat. I had the funny idea I wanted to sample one of each thing on the menu, but I couldn't make it. We did save room for dessert though. I'm not sure how. So after the restaurant, I suggested coffee at a Starbucks near the hotel, which my wife agreed to, still in shock over the pleasant surprise of the restaurant. After coffee, I feigned getting lost only to pull into the hotel parking garage a few minutes later. My wife was speechless at this point. I later showed her the previous blog post and everyone's comments, which she thoroughly enjoyed reading. The only real downside is that I have no clue how to top this next year.

And of course, my very surprised wife took some of the pictures in today's post, and I took the rest for once. I hope everyone has a wonderful (and possibly long) weekend, and maybe someday I'll get caught up on everything I'm behind on (including your wonderful blogs...)

What I would have worn: Valentine's Day.

• Dress: Asos (buy)
• Belt: Torrid (previously)
• Cardigan: Torrid (previously, borrowed by my wife)
• Pumps: Nine West via Amazon (buy, the color is Dark Red)
• Bracelet: Torrid (previously)
• Necklace: Maurices (previously)
• Pantyhose: Just My Size via Walmart

Okay, this is going to have to be a quick post since I'm trying to get ready for Valentine's day. And while I would love to wear this outfit tonight, this is not what I will be wearing. But if I weren't wearing actual menswear for Valentine's Day, I thought this fun little black dress I recently got from Asos would be perfect. I realize it's a bit short, but hey, it is Valentine's Day, and I definitely felt really cute wearing it. The cardigan and hose are still necessary because it's still way too chilly here for bare legs and arms. Also, the cardigan masks my stellar "farmer's tan" nicely as well.

Since today is also Monday I need to post 3 positives as part of Melissa's and Hope's Fabulous in February.

1. I love planning elaborate surprises. This one is related to today. My wife knows nothing about what we're doing. And since she won't read this post before tomorrow, I'm going to let you in on the plan. We're going to a new Brazilian steakhouse in a nearby city that she's wanted to try for a while but our schedule has not permitted. After that, we're going to hit a Starbucks for coffee, and since it will be kinda late, the big surprise is the hotel room I got us in the city for tonight, which I already checked into. I drove out and back today, to check in and take our overnight bags I secretly packed, and decorated the bed with a stuffed animal. So tonight we can go straight to the room, and she won't see our overnight bags until it the last minute. Or something like that.
2. I have a very good memory. Sometimes this frustrates me because it means I remember all the things I'm behind on and get some slight panic attacks, and regrets and past mistakes live on in my mind far past everyone has forgotten. (I still feel guilty over things I've done wrong to my wife year's later, and I'll bring it up, and she's completely forgotten about it). Despite all this though, I'm very glad to be able to remember all the positive things that have happened to me over the years, and all the people who made it happen.
3. For my last one today, I'll pick something physical. I like my hair, and I feel really lucky that it's healthy, and I can grow it long and that it looks nice.

And I'm still trying to get caught back up on everyone's wonderful blogs! And of course, today's pictures were taken by adorable wife.

Lounge wear?

• Button-down: Covington via Craigslist
• Vest: Maurices (previously)
• Skirt: Sag Harbor via Craigslist
• Pumps: Naturalizer via Craigslist
• Pantyhose: Just My Size via Walmart

This was Wednesday's outfit, and it was almost completely created from recent Craigslist purchases. It's definitely a little different from my normal style, but the long wool skirt was really calling to me. Of course, that's probably because after warming up just enough to a relatively balmy 40's and 50's, it was back below freezing again.

I also wanted to take a minute to mention that I love answering reader questions, and a few posts ago, Cara from the wonderful Cara's Closet asked a question: An odd question, and possibly a question you don't want to answer (in which case, ignore me!!), but does your love of women's fashion stretch over into lounge/sleep wear?

First, within reasonable bounds, I will try to answer any question I can, and I certainly don't mind discussing lounge/sleep wear. I actually have been interested in extending my interest in fashion to lounge and sleep wear, but right now, I don't actually have anything like that. My current sleep wear is a pair of a cotton shorts and a cotton t-shirt, both from the men's section. It's actually fine by me, but they are getting a little worn out, and I have been shopping for some more "feminine" replacements. I haven't met with much success though, as most of what I've found either hasn't really inspired me, or has been too impractical, or just looks to... um... "granny-ish" for my preferences. The story is similar with lounge wear: I've looked off and on, but I haven't really found anything that has inspired me.

I think part of this is also because when I do go shopping, its easier to get excited about things I can put into my daily rotation, or a new pair of shoes. I have a similar problem getting excited about basics and layering pieces, and I have a similar gap in my wardrobe for those pieces. There are also many days where I don't get to dress how I want through the day, and I frequently try to dress up in the evenings, so, somewhat ironically, many of the outfits I post on this blog might be classified as "lounge wear".

Again, I love answering questions, so please feel free to email me, or leave them in a comment, and I will try to do my best to answer them in a future post! I tag all my answers if you would like to read past questions. And of course, the pictures in today's post were taken by my fabulous wife.

Dinner and a haircut.

My outfit

• Dress: Asos (buy)
• Belt: Torrid (previously)
• Cardigan: Maurices (previously)
• Tights: JC Penney
• Boots: Nine West

My Wife's Outfit

• Top: Kohl's
• Skinny Jeans: Torrid
• Pumps: Nine West

The month of January was a bit of a rollercoaster, it had some major ups, and some frustrating downs, but mostly a lot of things to take up a lot of time. Hopefully my schedule will calm down for a bit. But this post is about a very big personal up for me. And since I said I would do Fabulous in February as organized by Hope and Melissa, I think this post will work into that quite well.

Early in January, I lucked into finding a seller on Craigslist who first had shoes in my size, and then clothes, and posted about that. For my second visit, I actually went dressed up, without my wife accompanying me, to see a person I didn't really know that well. That was a big deal for me, and a positive experience to be accepted by people in a situation like that. I'm sure I will post some outfits with the clothes I bought soon, but it turns out that was actually a good warm-up for the next weekend.

Our last haircuts were at Halloween, and we went in costume to get that haircut, and so I always had that to fall back on if anyone said anything. This time, however, there was nothing to hide behind. I dressed how I wanted, and thankfully, the hair salon we use is pretty cool like that. In hindsight, its hard to see why I was nervous, one of the stylists had a beard that went quite well with his dress. My stylist did a wonderful job on my hair, and that was a great start to the evening. And the outdoor pictures are at the park we've used several times before after the trip to the salon.

Next, we met up with two other female friends for dinner at an Asian fusion restaurant. I'll freely admit I was pretty nervous at this point, but I felt good about how I looked. We waited in the car until one of the friends arrived, and then headed in to get a table. Even though it was early, we ended up having to wait for a table, even after our other friend joined us. Dinner was good, and the waiter didn't say anything if he noticed.

Dinner ended up being a wonderful success. Ironically, the biggest shock of the evening was nothing. I felt pretty normal, and no one seemed to notice at all. We both enjoyed ourselves, got haircuts we were happy with, and had a fun dinner with some of our friends. I'm definitely looking forward to our next outing. I'm not sure when it will be, but the confidence boost I've gotten from my supportive friends and from all the wonderful support I've gotten from commenters and other bloggers.

And on that note, as part of Hope and Melissa's challenge, I'm supposed to list three positives about myself:

1. I'm honest. It's not always easy, and it doesn't always make getting along with other people easier, but I find it very difficult to deceive or maintain deceptions.
2. Crossdressing. I spent a good portion of my life feeling like crossdressing was the worst thing that had ever happened to me. I still have plenty of down days. Whether this is a "lifestyle", a "hobby", or whatever, this is something I have never quite been able to "not" do. But this is part of who I am, and its not going away, and now I'm trying to enjoy and make it a positive, constructive part of my life.
3. I like my legs. It's probably my number one physical feature that gets comments here, and I don't think anyone had ever said anything about my legs before I started openly wearing skirts. And I admit I can't always see it myself, but I do like my legs, and I will say that here.

And with that, I hope I'll get back to a regular schedule and finding out what I've missed on everyone's wonderful blogs. And of course, my awesome wife took most of the pictures in today's post.