Dallas Experience - Part 2

August 28: One more day before the contest starts.  Sir and I are settling into the hotel, getting last minute things to ensure the stay is smooth and comfortable.  We got to meet some of the other contestants, including Brooklyn Davenport, Paul Grosart, Scout, and Philthy Pup.  The Leather folk were arriving in batches and the lobby of the hotel was crowded with people in leather.  LOTS of cow in the house!  *giggles*  Dallas, are you ready for this?

Dallas Experience

In our room in Dallas TX

August 28, 2013 - Sir and I arrived in Dallas TX last evening.  We drove down and started our trip Monday morning (very early in the morning!) and spent Monday night at a hotel in Dickson, Tennessee.  There was an interesting homey restaurant called "Farmers Marketplace" which served only buffet style meals for a set price.  It was home cooked food at a reasonable price.  The only issue I had with it was the country music that played over the sound system.  However, the food was good and I managed not to fall face first into my plate during the meal from fatigue.  After all, we had been on the road for about 14 hours when we finally stopped in Dickson.

When we arrived at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Dallas, we were both tired but happy to be here safely and without too much trouble. The clerks at the check in desk were a bit confused by our arrival since most folks for the ILSb-ICBB event were not due to arrive until August 28th.  They were extremely helpful and a bit stunned at the amount of "stuff" that we hauled out of the car to take up to the room.  Sir decided they deserved one of my chocolate-bacon muffins as a reward for their encounter with a Leatherwoman competing in a contest about which they had no clue.  One of the staff was so curious about my Mid-Atlantic Community Bootblack title vest that she had to come and ask me what it all meant.  I gave her a condensed version of what a bootblack was and she wished me good luck in my competition for ICBB.  I organized our outfits for the week in the room and discovered that the closet was really not big enough to handle the amount of clothes a contestant needs for this event.  *giggles*

I noticed late last week that Sir John Krikorian had posted about a sushi restaurant here in Dallas that he recalled with fondness.  Sir and I went there for dinner and it was a wonderful experience.  The Sushi on McKinney is a bit far from the hotel but worth the drive (about 20 minutes away by car).  We had the black cod bento box, which included fish, shrimp tempura, and sushi, as well as miso soup.  In spite of the heat, I also had hot green tea, which was perfect to clean my palate between bites of wonderful food.  My soul, as well as my tummy, was very happy and we went to bed last night content.

Bento Box Dinner - Yummy!

The Floating World

August 16-18, 2013 -  This was my first time at The Floating World and I went there to present three classes, one of which was on leather care.  I did very little bootblacking and that was a different experience for me.  Generally speaking, I spend most of my time at an event working at the stand and spreading the love for leather to those who sit in my chair.  However, it was my skills as a presenter that were on display this weekend.  AND, I got to attend some of the workshops!  Whee!  I attended a class called "Sacred Touch Experience" and it was interactive.  Very interesting class and one of the participants revealed that he found me to be an "old soul" who was a "healer in a past life."  The experience of touching someone that I did not know and opening myself to see beyond the outer shell was very informative and I enjoyed it a lot.

I got to attend part of Laura Antoniou's class and bought her latest two books AND she signed them for me.  That was a good time and the participants in her class were lively in their interactions with her. *smiles*

I found that two of my classes were well received - Leather care 101 and Legal Issues for LGBT relationships.  Both classes were small but the participants asked a lot of questions and I believe that they came away from the classes with new information and a need to follow up on what they learned.  I am a happy teacher!

East Coast Sturgis

August 9-11, 2013 -- This was an experiment by one of my bootblack "babies" which did not go as anticipated.  Trigger wanted to bring the bootblack experience to the biker community and, as he is one of my Leather children, I was happy to support him by being there and joining in the event.  Life, as usual, has a way of testing one's resolve and I was proud of the way Trigger handled the situations that arose.  Sir, Raquel and I drove up to Little Orleans, Maryland on Friday and it began to rain (again that week!) after we got our tents set up and had started looking around the event grounds.  It had been raining every day that week and the dirt roads were a sea of mud enhanced by the bikers performing daily runs to show off their motorcycles.  Raquel had never been camping in tents before and was a bit stunned by the lack of amenities that she was used to in the city.  Since it was so muddy, no one wanted to have their boots cleaned and polished since the shine would be gone within steps from the stand.  Saturday, there was no rain but it takes time for so much mud to dry out and, since most of the bikers were there to show off their wonderful machines and not to have their leather gear worked on, the few who did sit in the stands found out what a bootblack could do for them and their leathers.  Ah, well, life goes on and so does my journey.  *giggles*

The lace top was a halter that did not last.

At the campground

Mid-Atlantic Family Send Off Party

The Mid-Atlantic Leather Family 2013 (with send-off cake!)

August 3, 2013- Hooker & Boys hosted the Send Off Party at Hooker Hilton in Baltimore MD for the Mid-Atlantic Leather Family 2013.  It was a cookout and fundraiser for the travel fund to Dallas TX for Sir Robert Bowden (Leather Sir), boy quinton (Leather boy) and me (Community Bootblack) for the International Leather Sir/boy - International Community Bootblack contest at the end of the month.  Our supporters came out en masse to donate what they could and to cheer us on with their encouragement and the hope that we will come home to the Mid-Atlantic Region with the international titles. Cowboi Jen and Tina came down from Philadelphia PA to add their voices and area to the happiness of the party.  Boy Darren (who drove down for a visit to Baltimore MD from the Midwest area) joined us with Sir John Krikorian, Boy John and Boy David.  boy quinton came with his Daddy and his partner from Delaware.  I cannot name all who attended but they included friends and extended Leather family.  Before we got down to the serious (!) tradition of the send off cake, Sir Hooker took a moment to wish David Pug Spellman a Happy Birthday with a special cake just for him.  Everyone at the party cheered and wished him a better year.

Happy Birthday, dear Pug!

Sir Hooker started the introductions and send off speech and then handed the microphone to Sir John Krikorian to finish up.  And then the fun of "sharing" the cupcakes that comprised the send off cake began -- ending with the regional titleholders decorated with icing!  Fun and silly times.  *giggles*

Belton Moore makes wonderful send off cakes!

Sir Hooker

A hug from my Title Sir!

Let the icing of titleholders commence!

Is there enough sugar?

Nina Love, Mid-Atlantic Leatherwoman, iced!

Philadelphia Leatherwomen Bar Night - July 2013

Some of the Leatherwomen in The Pit at the Bike Stop.

July 19:  The second bar night at the Bike Stop for Leatherwomen was an awesome time.  54 women showed up and I got to indulge in my love of leather by working on the leather of several of those women while we partied in The Pit.  The generosity of the women included a donation to my charity, Bikers Against Child Abuse, as well as the bartenders donating their own tips to my travel fund.  I love being a Leatherwoman and being the beneficiary of such open hearts.  My love to you ALL!

Mid-Atlantic Women's Motorcyle Rally

Rocking some sexy hose as a newbie at MAWMR

Temporary tattoo by a facepainter at MAWMR

June 21-23, 2013 - Sir and I drove up to Gettysburg PA for the Mid-Atlantic Women's Motorcycle Rally (MAWMR), which has been held yearly as a fundraiser for local charities involved in breast cancer support.  This year was the first year that Tracey Black, Mid-Atlantic Bootblack 1999, asked another bootblack to help her out with working the event and raising funds.  I asked if it would be okay for me to raise funds for B.A.C.A., as well as the other charities, and she was okay with that.  We ended up raising $419 for HOPE and PinkOut and $145 for B.A.C.A.  The entire weekend resulted in the event raising over $37,000 for breast cancer support, while having a lot of fun.

Tracy and me, ready for Friday dinner

Parade of Lighted Bikes Friday Night.

Many of the bikers included stuffed animals as riders!

It was awesome to be amongst approximately 200 women and their bikes.  I even got to ride as "bitch on back" for the Parade of Chrome.  I brought a pair of black boxers I had snagged from Derrick at the Triple L and wore them with my new leather chaps and a tank top.  We rode about 10 miles and it felt so wonderful to be riding a motorcycle again.  I have missed riding with Sir Tatsujin Paris on his bike.

Trip and I before the Parade of Chrome

I loved being on Trip's bike!

Spike, a very butch veteran, was fun to flirt with and she liked my work on her New Rock boots that she came back with the other two pairs of boots to have me work on them as well.  I also worked on some purple Ariat cowboy boots, which was my first time working on this brand of boot.  I had some Meltonian shoe cream that matched the color exactly!  Then there were the flame boots that needed a lot of love and a bit of repair.  The owner was not ready to give them up.

Final result on the flame boots.

Cbecking the damage

Conditioning the boots

Cleaning some pretty brown cowboy boots.

Cleaning one pair of Spike's New Rock boots

Spike's boots match her name!