Meet Me in St Louis, Part 1

I traveled to St. Louis, Missouri, for a week volunteering at a national event. Originally, my wife was going to join me and volunteer in another area of the event. However, a medical issue prevented her from flying from Boston as I started my planning. Given the tight schedule for the event, I identified 2-3 opportunities for outings.

I contacted Dee about possible places to go in the city, knowing that she would be headed to Australia soon. We couldn’t make a meetup work, but she gave me several ideas for later in the week of my trip.

I had bought a pair of black pants, a royal blue satin blouse, a pair of snakeskin heels, and a short faux leather skirt. I had tried on most of the items without makeup and felt that the pants and skirt would work. I didn’t have time to take pictures of the skirt, as it was purchased the week before my trip. This is an older skirt in the picture that didn’t quite match the blouse.

I decided to bring a backup dress just in case, and I was glad I did, as the top I packed did not look as good with the skirt as I had thought. I had room in my checked bag for two pairs of shoes along with the outfits, but I left my foam hip pads at home as they are a bit bulky. I considered whether or not to “fly pretty” and decided it was not worth the trouble, since my departure from Boston was very early in the morning.

On January 4, 2026, I arrived in St. Louis and quickly checked into the hotel attached to a casino. After lunch with my volunteer colleagues and collecting my credentials for the week, I wanted to try on the outfits to see what I would wear the next night. I didn’t take pictures of the top and skirt, but the leopard print dress looked cute with black hose and heeled ankle boots.

I had brought my tripod in my checked bag, so taking lots of photos was easy. I had put on daytime makeup for these pictures as I was going to an evening reception before the event started the next day. What wasn’t easy was deciding which poses looked better!

I changed back to male mode for the evening and envied the looks on several of the women at the reception. After returning to the hotel, I put on my nightgown and went to bed. I had planned my schedule for the next day so that I would have the evening off. That’s a story for the next post!

Hugs, Tina