Oh, The Glamourous Life!

Dear Constant Reader,

I couldn’t neglect talking about the shopping at The Expo!

This was my small haul this year:

I needed a necklace to go with my hosting outfit for The Original Newcomers’ Showcase and Su’ad was able to hook me up with the lovely set on the left. Su’ad and Farasha are performers themselves, so they understand the need to have great jewelry that won’t break the bank.

Funny story about the pasties on the right. I saw them on the Glorious Pasties table and every time I walked past it, I looked at them. On Sunday Lili VonSchtupp mentioned she’d bought a pair of pasties, to support Cheeky Cheetah, and would be adding them to her collection. A quick glance at the table showed me just which pair she’d bought and made me realize how much I wanted them. Happy ending all round — I bought them from Lili and she bought another pair for her collection.

There was so much other great stuff, like from Meadhall (who stock up on the shiny trim for this event), Cleavage Couture, Booty & the Geek, Bella’s Tchotchkes, and of course, Vixens Ahoy (I know I missed a bunch), but I was just generally running around and too busy to do much shopping.

I didn’t buy either of these books at The Expo, but they’re still connected. Doc (of Doc & Stumpy) was selling his fantastic book Baggy Pants Comedy, now in paperback. That’s a hardcover above because I got it as a gift for Scratch as soon as it was published. The book (and its pricing) was really intended for academic institutions, but I wasn’t going to let that stand in the way of gaining really valuable information about burlesque comedy. Doc was gracious enough to inscribe it to Scratch.

The other is one of my purchases from early in my burlesque career. Angie was kind of amazed to see it (“published by Kinkos!”) and cheerfully signed it.

Other than all the shopping, the Costume Exhibit, and the Bordello stage, the Vendor Hall has the cafe. You see, unlike BurlyCon which has attendee-provided hospitality, the Hyatt won’t allow any outside food. And it’s a hotel, so the dining options are kind of pricey. Scratch does what he can to help out there, like having breakfast included in The Whole Shebang ticket, having local take-out menus at the reg desk, and arranging for the cafe. It offers soup, sandwiches, salads, and the like for pretty reasonable prices and they’re quite good. And then there are tables in the Hall, so you can sit, eat, socialize, and plan your shopping.

Saturday I had gotten my lunch from the cafe and Scratch waved me over to the table where he was sitting with Angie and her husband Brian (who is one of the nicest guys on the planet). I’ve known Angie quite a while, have some of her hand-me-downs in my closet (we wear about the same size), and have performed in a bunch of shows with her. So, here I was, sitting with some friends, chatting about stuff, but, in the back of my brain, there was this little voice squealing like a fangirl “Oh my God, I’m having lunch with *Angie Pontani*!!!”

Dear Constant Reader,

The Expo has been and gone and I’m exhausted! Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be giving you a recap in bite sized pieces, but today I wanted to give some thank yous.

Everyone who worked on The Expo deserves big thanks and if I tried to list them all I’d surely forget someone. However, there are some people who helped me out personally and I want to make sure you all know who they are.

Thank you to:

…Brigitte Bisoux, Devora Darling, Stella Diamond, Lucie Luxe, and Mandy for running the B.A.B.E. drop-in classes all weekend long and for packing up the classroom at the end of each day. And special thanks to Lucie for toting all the gear back to B.A.B.E.

…Donna Denise, Femme Brulee, Gorejess, and Scandal from Bohemia for judging the Main Event and making it one of the fastest, easiest, and most conflict-free deliberations ever.

…my tea party ladies: Brigitte Bisoux for getting MEM Tea Imports and Runa: Clean Energy on board as sponsors, Mimi Mischief for making the adorable centerpieces, and Blaze for helping with set up and making sure the tea pots stayed full.

…the backstage crew at The Original Newcomers’ Showcase: Claire, Linda B., Lia, and Diamond DeVille. You guys were fabulous at keeping everything running smoothly, even with all the messy acts.

…Betty Blaize and her Web Guys, Marcus DeBoyz and John K. The casual user of the event site has no idea what useful features they created on the back end. It made my life so much easier when I was prepping for judging and hosting shows.

…a stage kitten whose name I never caught who cheerfully pinned me into my tea dress when the zipper was failing.

…and of course, Scratch, without whom none of this would have happened.