Posts tagged beach

The days leading up to Pensacola Pride were explosions of costume making, rehearsals, work, kitten loving, working out, stretching, go-go at Rev…

…hanging with my mom, tying up loose ends, trying to figure out my financial sitch, maybe kinda sorta not really sleeping, and possibly best of all, GETTING MY AC FIXED IN MY CAR YAY YAY YAY!

So with Dirty Diana in tip-tip shape, all my costumes made, my CD burned, and my bags packed, it was time for:

IT WAS INSANE!!!!

Here are some highlights from the trip:

First, an epic road trip with the Bunny and one of my favorite people in the entire world, Lanie (a.k.a.) Lollie! She lives in L.A. now, and is kicking ass and taking names out there. The girl is a hurricane of motion, good vibes, and good times. She’s known me so long that she was at my actual very first audition as Ivy! This girl has watched me grow up, and somehow I got lucky enough to make an impression on her so even though she travels the world, she manages to keep in touch.

Finally getting the chance to catch up with her was well-worth the totally numb ass and truck stop bathrooms. ;)

We got to Pensacola and hit the ground running! Straight to rehearsals and a meeting at Spikey’s mom’s house with the cast, then to our hotel room (the Bunny, me & Lollie stayed at the hotel while the rest of the cast stayed at Spikey’s mom’s. We’re not anti-social; we just don’t want to sleep on air mattresses. ;) Plus, I’m allergic to dogs (sad trombones!), and along with a real bed, I like to be able to breathe and not have hives.)

We unpacked, and then got all dolled up and ready for ROUND 1 of Pensacola Pride at Flounder’s!

^ This was my first outfit for the event! SO GAY! [the Bunny made that button bra! cute, huh??]

Confession: On the way to Flounder’s, I totally got nervous! My heart was racing and adrenaline was pumping. I love Pensacola Pride so much, and I look forward to it every year, so the excitement was overwhelming! My nervousness isn’t insecurity - it’s more like how a unicorn gets excited when it majestically leaps over a canyon to save kittens. It’s an indescribable feeling. The energy is just electric!

So finally stepping on to the stage and doing my first hair flip…OH! It felt GLORIOUS! The sea of thousands of lesbians! The music! The energy! Me and Lollie on stage again together for the first time in years! The fabulous other entertainers, doin’ their thang! It was amazing, and this was just the first five minutes!

I even danced to some dubstep in my number with my Dub Step pasties! ;)

Such a blast! The first night was a total sweaty, sandy success! [and HIGHLIGHT: Several people in the crowd told me they love my blog! OMG! Such a huge compliment!]

The next day, the Bunny, me, and Lollie were instructed by Spikey that we would be meeting the cast at noon to go to the beach.

Well, deep down in my heart, I KNEW that Spikey wouldn’t be ready to go at noon. [because in the five years I’ve been doing Pensacola Pride, she has never once been ready to go at noon!]

But our trio still got our exhausted bums up at the crack of 11 a.m. I texted Vita half an hour before noon to see when they were leaving Spikey’s mom’s house, and got back a simple, sleepy, “Not yet.” haha

But the Bunny, Lollie, and I were all about Carpe Diem-ing, so we got ready, grabbed some Starbucks, and made our way out anyway! The crew didn’t show up for THREE HOURS, my car overheated, we saw a swamp monster, we walked the beaches for(EVER), and ended up meeting the crew (eventually) for a bit of a parade. All in all, a ridiculously good Saturday afternoon.

Back to the “apartment” (a.k.a.) our hotel room to shower and get ready for ROUND 2 of shows!

^^ I felt like a lesbian superhero in this outfit! Isn’t it HOT?! This was definitely one of my favorite looks the entire weekend.

Ready for Round 2, we headed back to Flounder’s for some sweaty, intense go-go dancing, a sick show, and so much ridiculous fun, I can’t even tell you. If you weren’t there, you’ll just never understand. [Lucky for you, there’s always next year!]

Costume change! ;)

^this guy kept us safe all weekend!

Round 2: check! Hours later, and we crawled back to our hotel…after discovering the Ihop we wanted was closed. Damn you, Pensacola! Everything delicious should be available 24 hours! [HANGRY!]

But luckily for everyone, brunch was on the horizon. The next morning, we welcomed Sunday by meeting up with two of my favorites, Jordan and Kacee (who were participating in the Pride festivities), for a delicious brunch at the Five Sisters Blues Café!

Mmmmm sweet potato fries! NOM! [and nom. and nom. and are you going to finish that? nom.]

Then we were off again, our leisurely morning giving way to the manic panic of the last day of Pensacola Pride. Onward to Spikey’s mom’s house for rehearsal, and then back to the hotel to get ready for ROUND 3, the finale! The last night of Pride!

We went all out for the last night!

Hello, beautiful cast!

Oh, hellooooo, Lollie!

dance dance dance dance sweat sweat sweat sweat

At the end of the night, we packed up, covered in sweat, dirt, sand, make-up, and went back to the hotel for the last time. Vita came and crashed with me, Lollie & the Bunny, so we watched reruns of Angel, chick-chatted, and finally started to wind down from the insanity that is Pensacola Pride.

After a bit of sleep, we got up, checked out, and went to Starbucks for one final hang sesh with Kacee, Jordan, Lollie, Vita, me and the Bunny.

As per the sign, we ended up talking about the weekend, breakfast, relationships, and sex toys. ;) A fantastic send off before our long-ass road trip home!

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And there you have it, folks! One helluva weekend, with illustrations. It hardly does the party justice [thousands of gay boys & girls, beaches all day, party all night, amazing musicians, sick DJs, and girls, girls, girls!], so next year I hope to see all of your faces there!

I left this year with a million inside jokes, show bruises, and several hundred new friends. :) I got my wish: best Pensacola Pride yet!

Stay tuned for my recap of Gay Days & what life is like as the best 25-year-old flower girl in the history of EVER!

Till then…

xx

As a go-go dancer and burlesque entertainer going on a 7-year-long career, I have a lot of costumes and, well, stuff.

I NEED organization and my BurlyQ closet has gotten pretty messy lately [yikes!]. Probably because I’ve been doing several shows and performances, plus planning for upcoming events, but it’s been driving me a bit crazy. So the Bunny (she’s a saint!) and I started our mission to clean and organize the mess.

[this isn’t even HALF of what we’ve organized.]

Don’t worry, I don’t wear animal fur. Fenton just likes to be around fabulous things, like multi-colored fishnets.

You guys, I feel like the Martha Stewart of the burlesque closet organizational world. Oh, I also did about 8 loads of laundry. It. Feels. Glorious!

Wow. I am such a riot. Getting excited over organizing closets and doing laundry?? You people can’t even handle the kind of thrill wave of fun I am. [I also get excited about groceries and having no dishes in the sink. Hang on to your panties, ladies! This girl is wild!]

But let me tell you, the past few shows I’ve done have been a breeze to pack for! Usually I start sweating before I even make it to the club because I’m going crazy trying to dig through stuff, and pack, and holy baby Jesus in a jam jar, where is that one pair of ruffly bum panties?!??

Not so anymore! Wham, bam, thank you ma’am, and it’s off to WERK! ;)  [I just have to deal with kittens running off with my sparkly bra…no, seriously.]

^from my show at Lakeland Pulse.

And these are from Saturday night at Rev.

Aside from peeling, revealing, shakin’ & shimmying, I’ve been getting down with my laptop…and my thesaurus. [Groceries, organizing, and synonyms…mmm sexy.] My writing workload is still heavy and steady and deadlines are wicked little creatures that seem to never go away. [I’m not complaining. I love it!]

But sometimes I clear the desk and go play. Like taking a lovely little trip to the beach with the Bunny, and our friends Led, Eden & Maia. :)

We’ve got mad skillz, yo.

^ With Maia, our lovely friend and capturer of handstands. ;)

Oh, what’s that you say? You don’t care about any of this and you want to know about the important stuff: THE KITTENS! You want to know how the kittens are doing? Well, I’ve had to delete several grammatically incorrect sentences they keep typing as they decide to walk across/lay on top of my laptop. Other than that, they’re THE BEST THINGS EVER! 

To be honest, my life is pretty much just kittens. Here’s a visual journey of life:

Banksy loves my crazy cat lady bag. He and I are the only ones.

Look at his feet making a little heart!! ^^^^ <3 <3 <3

Dat ass. Kittens love dat ass.

 My morning wake up is Fenton cuddling under the covers.

Bathtub cuddling!

Hope you’re having a wonderful week, lovelies!

xx

p.s. Thursday night at Revolution! I’ll be go-go dancing all night. It’s the first time I’ll get to dance to DJ Ants (Adam Brenner), even though I’ve wanted to for about three years now. So, yeah, I’m going to whip it real hard. #excited!

<3