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A few weeks ago, when the Gems were invited to march
in the San Francisco LGBT Pride Parade with the contingent from
TransGender San Francisco (TGSF), we were thrilled but not quite sure
what our contribution to the parade would be. Then Dianna came up with
the idea that some of us could wear "Southern Belle"
style dresses. Kimberly rigged up our Gems banner with carrying
handles (thank you Kimberly!), Marla designed some attention-getting
signs for us to hold, and so it came to be that five River City Gems in
elaborate ball gowns, flanked by several other beautiful sisters who
were more casually dressed, marched our way down Market Street and
into LGBT history!
We assembled at Beale and Mission, near the parade
start, around 10:30am. There was a long wait before it was our turn to
join the procession, so we had a chance to talk to all the girls from
TGSF and others who were participating, and we made some wonderful new
friends. Also during this time we got a taste of what the day would
bring: it seemed that EVERYONE wanted to meet us and take our picture!
Here's how we looked in our Southern Belle dresses.
From the left: Crisa, Marla, Rachel, Stephanie, and Dianna.  Here's us with our banner proudly displaying our motto: "Celebrating Feminine Expression"  At one point we noticed a man from the Red Cross contingent holding a sign that said "Red Crossers 4 Crossdressers.    Time seemed to move very quickly and the parade was over before we knew it. Those of us who wore the dresses needed to change, so we walked back to Stephanie's hotel room at the Parc 55. On the way back we got stopped many more times by people with cameras wanting to be in photos with us. We overheard one mother with small children say "oh, look at the pretty ladies!" It was just magical. In the latter part of the afternoon, six of us went to
help TGSF in their fundraising beverage booth. It was hard work serving
up margaritas and cosmos to so many thirsty Pride-goers, but we earned
the gratitude of TGSF and strengthened our bond with their organization
-- another small step along the path to transgender unity.
By the end of the day, it was cold and we all had sore
feet, but nothing could dampen the joy we felt about what we had
experienced. It definitely felt like we were meant to be there .... and
we will definately be back next year with more Southern Belle dresses,
anyone want to join us??
It was the Sacramento Pride Festival at Southside Park, and the Gems were out in force! We had our own booth which we used as our base to hand out brochures and pamphlets and to help educate folks about the "T" in LGBT. We talked to people about our group, informed them about our upcoming formal ball River City Sparkle and also gave out a leaflet on "How To Be A Trans Ally". Many of our members attended Pride and stopped by at the Gems booth to say hello, some even hung out with us throught the day. It was a great day and even though our make up was melting and those wearing wigs were sweltering in the recorded high of 105 degrees, we all had fun. Then, after the event finished 16 of us decided to all go out to dinner. But first we needed to freshen up. Some went back Kimberly and Jilly's house while others went back to Andi's hotel room. Then it was downtown for some good Italian food! Here's a photo of our booth with some Gems in attendance. 
If you read our news pages here regularly, you will already know that the Gems often have femme 101 workshops on clothes, and makeup etc. However, this time we decided to have a femme 101 workshop on "hair" (wigs) but with a difference! The Gems were able to secure a private shopping and educational event at the exclusive Wig Galleria. Those lovely ladies Sharon and Kristy offered to let the Gems have a "closed event" after hours party to try on all the wigs we could ever want to. Not only that, we were offered a seminar on the do's and don'ts of selecting, caring for, and styling our own wigs. The staff of Wig Galleria answered all our questions about how to care for the wigs we currently own including a hands on display of how to shampoo and condition a synthetic wig. They also gave us styling tips and one-on-one attention when it came to trying new styles and looks. Many of the Gems made new purchases and we all had a fun time trying on all of the literally, hundreds and hundreds of wigs available to customers. Afterwards, we all decided that we were simply having way too much fun to go home early and so we spontaneously decided to all go out to dinner (some in our new purchases) at a Marie Calendars restaurant. We picked a secluded area of the restaurant and we were treated wonderfully by the staff. They called us "ladies" all night and treated us as the gender we were presenting as. Yet again, the Gems push the boundaries of feminine expression in public, with great success!
One of our goals at the Gems is to try to please all of the people at least some of the time. In practical terms this translates to sponsoring a variety of different activities and allowing members to choose the ones they feel comfortable with. We believe we can support those who desire to do more, while also protecting those who need more privacy. We try not not to limit ourselves to only one type of group activity. With this in mind, last weekend the Gems organized a whole weekend of fun and activities to take place in the city of San Francisco ... all of course while dressed en femme! We carpooled and most of us arrived in SF around mid morning or lunchtime. We checked out Pier 39, the Fisherman's Wharf tourist area, had lunch, rode cable cars, took in some shopping and generally enjoyed being out in the "big city" en femme. Saturday night came and we had reservations at a wonderful Asian restaurant called Ponzu. It had fabulous contemporary decor and delicious food. 18 of us (both GG and TG) dined together and then afterwards we headed over to a busy Martuni's ... a vibrant piano bar and cocktail lounge. Later we crossed the road and spent time at Octavia's Lounge. A busy live entertainment venue with a great band and a dancefloor. Some of the Gems even got to "strut their stuff" ! Then at around 1.00am we decided to head back to our hotel to rest up ready for the next day. Sunday morning came and we had two events on the calendar. The Asian Art Museum in the Civic Center and the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park. But first, it was time for breakfast at Ihop! After a replenishment of energy via pancakes and eggs, it was off we go! A small party decided to call it a day and start the long ride home, some when to the Japanese Tea Garden, the rest went to the Asian Art Museum. Finally, at the end of a long day, we headed back home weary but elated at success of our fabulous weekend en femme in the city! Can't wait 'til next time!
It's absolutely amazing! The attendance at our monthly socials has always been high, but no one could have believed we would break the 40 attendee barrier! Yes, on Saturday May 10th the River City Gems had 42 people attend our social !! Incredible! We had the event at our regular hotel in downtown Sacramento. It was attended not only by regular members but also no less than 4 new girls that had never ever been out dressed in public before! Folks arrived and chatted during pre dinner drinks. Dinner music was classic classic big band sounds and laid back easy listening. After dinner we raffled off the evening's door prize which was a $20 dollar gift certificate for Payless shoe store. We also played our fun game during the first part of the evening, the secret hugger." The idea was as people greeted and hugged each other the secret hugger would count how many times she got hugged. When the fifteenth person hugged her, she made a mental note of the name of that person and they were revealed as the winner later in the evening. The prize was $10. We also gave away another cash prize in our Member Drawing. At each month's social, we put the names of all the paid Gems members into a container and draw one out. If that person is present, they win! If they are not there, the jackpot will roll over to the next month. Our President's Mom Sherri won $20! Just perfect, as it was the day before Mother's Day! Afterwards a few of the girls decided to hit the LGBT area of town for some more fun. The Gem's socials have always been well attended, but 42 attendees is not a social, it more like a banquet!
April
26th 2008
Was it a party? Was it a Fashion Exchange? Or was it a Beauty Bazaar? In fact, it was all three! On Saturday, April 26th the Gems had our first annual Fashion Exchange and Beauty Bazaar and it was a huge success. Thirty-one people enjoyed a delicious buffet (including a fabulous selection of desserts brought by attendees), an evening of laughter and conversation, a chance to sample and order Avon products, and a fun "treasure hunt" for clothing and other items including shoes, breast forms, wigs, jewelry and more! It was more fun than we could have imagined. Thank you to our gracious hostesses Dianna and Jeri
for welcoming us into their home and making the night so special for
everyone.
And once again, the Gems attracted new people who joined us for the first time ... .Jada and Rebecca, Ellie and Amy, Monica, and Karin .... welcome to our family.
Yes folks, the Gems created a new record for ourselves on Saturday, April 12th, when we had 36 people attend our monthly social ! Fantastic! It was the first social at our new venue – our very own private banquet room at a wonderful hotel. The room accommodated our large group comfortably at round tables to allow for easy mixing and mingling. We chose from five dinner entrees, including chicken parmesan, roast turkey breast, or rosemary roast beef. There was also a full no-host bar in the room, complete with our own bartender. As an added bonus, the hotel provided us with a designated changing room so that attendees could dress on-site if they needed to, and a couple of the girls took advantage of this. We had hoped that it would be the best Gems social yet and we were right! Attendees arrived dressed slightly more formally than usual and sipped cocktails and wine as they chatted with the soothing sounds of contemporary and current ballads playing in the background. Our Multi-Media Director Rachel brought her mobile DJ console and sound system, so we had not only our own specially programmed music but also a PA system and microphone for announcements too. During dinner, the music changed to smooth jazz and classic big band and lounge songs such as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole and Dion Warwick. After dinner we raffled off the evening's door prize and one of our members, Sarah, won a beautiful 2-foot high candle holder and big scented candle. We also played a fun new game during the first part of the evening. Before the night began, and unknown to everyone else that attended, we had selected one of the girls to be "the secret hugger." The idea was as people greeted and hugged each other the secret hugger would count how many times she got hugged. When the tenth person hugged her, she made a mental note of the name of that person and they were revealed as the winner later in the evening. The prize was $10. The Secret Hugger was so popular that we have decided to do it at every social. Who will the next "secret hugger" be? We also gave away another cash prize in our Member Drawing. At each month's social, we put the names of all the paid Gems members into a container and draw one out. If that person is present, they win! If they are not there, the jackpot will roll over to the next month. Next month's jackpot will be $20! After dessert and coffee, our President, Crisa made an announcement thanking everyone for coming and outlined our plans for future events this year and some of the extra fun things that we'll be incorporating into upcoming socials. Everyone said it was a fabulous evening with great food, good music, attentive hotel staff, and definitely one of the best socials they'd been to ... and with a record breaking 36 attendees, it's going to be hard to improve on that!
On Friday April 11th we had the first in a series of Pro Makeup workshops. Our Activities Director, Marla, had arranged for two professional makeup artists from Lancome and Clinique to teach a workshop for us at Jeri's Salon. They also gave attendees one-on-one instruction, and one lucky person got a full makeover as she was their model. Everyone agreed it was a great success! The makeup artists, Melissa and Charlsie, were wonderful. Their expertise and fun personalities made the class fly by. All of their personal attention was very helpful. The confidence that was built in the workshop was a positive thing for everyone who attended, and we all hope that the new skills and techniques that were learned will help us present a more feminine image. Can't wait for the next one? ..... it's coming soon!
..... the River City Gems! On Friday March 28th we had our first movie night. We've had (and still continue to have) game nights before and they are a lot of fun, but never a movie night. The idea was to all get together at a member's house and watch a movie .... but of course, the Gems went one step better. We "themed up" the night and that made it a lot more memorable! One of our sisters, Stephanie, has a fantastic home theater set-up including a 56" wide screen HD TV and an amazing surround sound audio system. We added to this some decorations and displays incorporating movie themes, such as large movie posters on the walls, streamers and garlands draped all around, a clapper board as part of the table decorations, plus lots of movie style candy and popcorn. Stephanie also supplied a 9 foot Subway sandwich plus others brought lots of chips, salads and side dishes. Wow! what a feast! There was of course, wine, beer and soft drinks aplenty. We had four movies to choose from, and after a democratic vote with a show of hands, we decided on the British comedy Kinky Boots. It was a fun night with lots of laughter and a great movie, plus another opportunity to dress en femme and socialize with a great bunch of gals!
It was the weekend before St. Patrick's Day, and the Gems being the Gems, simply couldn't let the weekend go by without celebrating the national holiday of the Irish with a "Sham-ROCKin" good party! Kimberly and Jilly, once again, open up their lovely house to us all and we partied until midnight. On arrival everyone got a warm welcome and were given necklaces of green "pearls". Then, as the music soundtrack of Irish pub songs and traditional Celtic tunes played, some folks chatted while others played pool and video games on the Nintendo Wii. Halfway through the night we had a hearty dinner of corned beef and cabbage with mashed potatoes and homemade Irish soda bread all washed down with Guinness for those who wanted it After dinner, a dozen guests participated in an Irish trivia quiz. If you answered a question wrong you were "out". We had 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes for the winners. It was a great night of fun, food, and laughter ... all of course, while dressed en femme (and in green!)
The River City Gems recently held our second Femme 101 workshop. The idea of these workshops is to focus on helping particpants achieve their very best feminine image. Places are limited to fifteen to keep it friendly, intimate, and informal. The first workshop's topic was "how to get the curves you've always wanted". This second one was on "building a feminine wardrobe". It was presented by our Activities Director Marla, and covered the basics of color, style, and how to choose clothes that suit your body and emphasize your best points to make the most of your shape. There was also lots of opportunity for the participants to ask questions during the presentation and many of us shared stories and ideas on color coordinating and various tips and tricks on style. Refreshments were served during a halfway break in proceedings and we chatted like girlfriends do! Yet another great Gems event that proved very popular.
It was the second Saturday of the month, and for those in the know, it can mean only one thing ... yes that's right ... another River City Gems social! The Gems like to vary the location of our socials from time to time. We like to offer our members the opportunity to go to different restaurants, sample different menus, enjoy different ambiances, all the time being dressed en femme but still knowing that everyone is safe and secure. To get this variation we often venture outside the confines of the LGBT community restaurants in mid town and go to regular mainstream restaurants around Sacramento. As I'm sure you can appreciate, sometimes this can have it's challenges when it comes to finding a suitable restaurant ... especially when you have an average of 30 people for dinner! Saturday the 8th was no exception. We had no less than 29 people attend, including 6 who were joining us for the first time. We booked at a nice Italian restaurant a few minutes from downtown and chose to take advantage of their private banquet room. We had already checked out the restaurant, and the management and staff were excited about having our group. We arranged a special fixed priced menu which included a choice of three pasta dishes, plus soup and salad, and a soft drink, for an all-inclusive price of $20 including tax and gratuity. At one point in the evening everyone took it in turns to stand up and introduce themselves to the group. We also had our regular prize giveaway and this time the prize was a $20 gift certificate for Century Theaters which was won by Anne. One of our GG members who is an optician brought in a selection of femme eyewear, and several of the girls had fun trying on the frames. She has promised to bring more frames to a future social or a workshop so that more members will have the opportunity to get a new look. There were also birthday celebrations for three girls. Dianna, Claire and Rebecca all had birthdays in the month of March and so the Gems supplied everyone's desert in the form of birthday cake, and of course, we all sang happy birthday as they collectively blew out the candles. All in all, yet another great Gems social, that was well attended, and enjoyed by all.
On Saturday February 23rd the Carmichael branch of Dress Barn closed its doors to the public at 6pm, and welcomed the River City Gems for a private shopping experience. What a fabulous event! Right from the moment we walked in it was a friendly and fun atmosphere. We had the entire store all to ourselves. The manager and her staff of three were told all about our group beforehand and were truly awesome! They were all very friendly, very accepting, and very helpful. They really went out of their way to make us all feel comfortable, and not only that, they gave everyone a 15% discount! They also helped us with choosing clothes, ran to get different sizes when we poked our head around the fitting room door, and generally waited on us hand, foot, and finger! We also took lots of pictures, both of ourselves and with the Dress Barn staff. We had refreshments available in the form of sparkling apple cider, water, and soda, along with snacks and "finger food". The clothes were really great too ... almost everyone bought something, and many of us found several perfect outfits suitable for upcoming parties and socials. After our shopping excursion, those who wished to continue on to dinner joined us at the NY Grand Buffet, just a few doors down from Dress Barn. We reserved their private party room for our group and a couple of folks that couldn't make the shopping trip joined us for an all-you-can-eat buffet. It was truly a fantastic evening and one that we are sure to repeat !!
On Friday February 22nd the River City Gems held the first in a series of five planned Femme 101 workshops. The goal of the workshops is to focus on helping participants achieve their very best feminine image. On the night of the workshop, 14 attendees arrived for the two hour presentation. The first session's topic was "how to get the curves you've always wanted". Workshop leaders and participants shared tips and "tricks of the trade" and also went over the basics of breast forms, padding, body shaping, and foundation wear. There was also an open Q&A session where folks got answers to their questions on any crossdressing topic they cared to mention. Refreshments were served during a halfway break in proceedings and we chatted like girlfriends do! It was a great night. Afterwards everyone said that it was entertaining as well as educational. The way things are going ... I think we're going to need a bigger room for next month!
On Saturday January 26th, the Gems had their first official social of 2008. What an amazing night! We had no less than 34 people attend! Yes, you heard correctly ... 34 people, including many couples. This success did in fact create some challenges in itself, seating at the restaurant being one of them. Thankfully we had booked a private banquet room at a downtown Sacramento Thai restaurant which made things much easier. We did fill the banquet room to capacity, but everyone was still able to move around the room between courses to chat to their friends and welcome new attendees. Yes, lets not forget the new attendees ...it was also a record-breaking day for new people. .. we had an amazing 9 guests who were attending for the first time! Some were online members attending "in person" for the first time, and others were brand new to being out en femme in public. One of our new attendees, Anasta'cia, took home the door prize of a stylish black leather purse. After dinner, we all enjoyed cake and celebrated our group's January birthdays. One thing is for sure - the River City Gems are on the move!
On Saturday January 12th, twenty one of the River City Gems attended the TransGender San Francisco Cotillion, a glamorous Debutante Ball. The event was held at the South SF Conference Center, just a couple of blocks from the hotel where we were all staying. At the Ball itself, we had reserved two large tables near the stage for our group. The schedule of events included dinner, then music, performances, a contest for Ms. TGSF, plus a formal presentation of ladies to polite society called the Debutante Walk. Almost all of the Gems (both CDs and SOs) walked the stage with a male chaperone and were announced to the audience by name and location. We had such great fun, “dressed in our best” and it was so good to reunite with friends from other groups as well as our own ... and of course, it was great to meet other TG folks from all over California. We drank champagne, laughed, enjoyed the entertainment and danced until 11.00pm. After that, some of us decided to go into the city where we re-grouped at a bar called Marlena's .... many of us still in our ball gowns! The following day we all enjoyed a free full hot breakfast buffet (courtesy of the hotel) and twelve of us, who were able to stay, decided that we would all like to spend the day together in San Francisco. We decided to go to Pier 39, a busy tourist area of the city. What a blast! We checked out the sea lions, wandered the shops, then sat amongst the audience of an entertainer on the main stage to watch the show. Then after more window shopping we all had lunch at the Boudin Bakery Bistro on the pier. For many of us it was our first time attending TGSF Cotillion and it was a fabulous evening of fun, laughter and entertainment. Where do we sign up for next year?!
On New Year's Eve it's not unusual to host a party, but this New Year's Eve the River City Gems hosted three parties in one on the same night! It was Crisa's birthday, plus of course, it was the New Year and after midnight we celebrated Dianna and Jeri's Wedding Anniversary! Our wonderful hostesses Jilly and Kimberly opened their home to 18 attendees including a new couple Jenny and Trish who were out together for the first time. It was an unforgettable New Year's Eve bash! Our wonderful sister Stephanie provided us with a
sumptuous Chinese feast of Cashew Chicken, Kung Pao Chicken, Broccoli
Beef, Chicken & Pork Chow Mein, Deep Fried Prawns, Pot
Stickers, Egg Rolls, Chicken & Pork Fried Rice, White Steamed Rice,
BBQ Spareribs, Vegetarian Mu-Shu Vegetables and Pancakes and Vegetarian
Kung Pao Vegetables. WOW!!! What a spread!!!
For dessert there was a chocolate cake with raspberry filling and chocolate icing that said "Happy Birthday Crisa" on it. Besides the cake, there were also delicious German chocolate brownies, various candies, and the most fabulous mincemeat pies that the world ever tasted. All that food ... it was just like one of those Las Vegas all-you-can-eat buffets! As far as drinks go, there was an unlimited supply of beer, red and white wine plus Stephanie also supplied all the champagne that was sipped during the night which included the top quality stuff for the midnight toast. Everything was just perfect, reflected by the general level of merriment and jollity throughout the house! As well as the wonderful games room for pool and
darts, many of us played bowling on the Nintendo Wii that was set up in
the lounge while others enjoyed stimulating conversation. The music was
awesome. Classic party songs all night, then "
What an amazing night! Thank you to EVERYONE who contributed and made the evening so special.
It was the first official River City Gems social. It was also a fabulous Holiday Party! Our Hostesses Dianna and Jeri have a wonderful home and it made for a great backdrop to an exciting night. 26 people arrived bearing gifts for a gift exchange later in the evening. Our hostesses made home- made lasagna for everyone and the guests supplied the rest. There was ample food and drink for everyone. There was also lots of good music, lots of old friends and many new ones too. Vickey and her SO Lynn came all way up from Fresno just to be with us! At the end of the night we had a fun gift exchange where you take it in turns to either pick a gift from the tree or you can steal a gift from someone who has already picked and opened their present. Needless to say gifts were getting stolen left, right and center! A great night was had by all, so good in fact, that we decided to have another party but this time for New Year's Eve!
It started with an idea for a small group of four friends, three of whom were from out of town, to have dinner en femme on a Saturday night. Then some Gems board members asked to join them. Then the dinner was casually mentioned on the new Gems Yahoo group and before you knew it there were 14 people who said they wanted to go! Gosh! this was rapidly turning into an unofficial first social! ..... and so it came to be that the board plus 8 other supportive friends all had dinner together in a downtown mainstream Thai restaurant. The restaurant has a private banquet room so we decided to make use of it. The food was delicious, the company was fantastic and the staff were very welcoming and happy to oblige us. After dinner about half of us decided to go on to the Mercantile bar for drinks and more conversation. It wasn't an official River City Gems social but it sure felt good to be with friends and be together as the newest TG group in town!
November
2007 saw the
birth of Northern California's newest social and support group for the
transgender community -- the River City
Gems! To learn more about us, tour our website. If we sound like
something you want to be a part of, click HERE to join
our Yahoo group. We'd love to get to know you.
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