December 2001
07/12/01 - Vanessa invited me down to what she said would be a, "sophisticated weekend". Tonight a Christmas party at Tranny Grange - hosted by the wonderful Nikki and debs. Tomorrow, a party of eight travelling by stretch Limo to London, Stormes and The Way Out Club.
A wonderful buffet was laid on, with canapes and champagne among the culinary delights, indeed a very sumptuous affair.
Faces I recognised numbered Stefan Whitfield, Sarah Lloyd and many others I got to know a bit better the following night, including the beautiful Princess Lauren who ended up borrowing my falsies (breasts) for a few months, but that's another story.
There was a wonderful festive spirit and the evening was over almost before it began... and by now I couldn't wait to be in that Limo heading for London, tomorrow.
About midnight Vanessa and I called it a day and headed back to Kettering. Knowing we were in for a another very late night we made the most of what remained of the night to get some much needed beauty sleep.
08/12/01 - What heaven, a lay in and no pressing itinery for the day. Vanessa and I did very little during the day other than pop over to Peterborough and Stamford.
Vanessa called into her dressmaker to pick up a skirt that had been repaired, and then we headed off to Peterborough for me to take a look at corsets.
Juliet's is a shop stocking a huge of, shall we say, alternative clothing, of which corsets are the more mundane!
I very quickly established what I wanted and the size (with a little help from Vanessa) - a full length corset, waist size 26" in white. Brilliant. They had just the corset I was looking for in my size, but not in white. It seems everyone wants black.
So, Rachel left very disappointed, but having placed an order.
We headed back to Kettering discussing what we might wear. Vanessa is a very generous-hearted person, so I had the promise of anything in her wardrobe that she wasn't going to be wearing.
In the end though, I ended up in my trusty black pvc catsuit, purple stilettoes, and as a brunette.
Vanessa got changed, but I waited to change at Tranny Grange - the thought of walking through Northampton in my catsuit to accompany Vanessa to the hairdressers where she was having her hair put up, was too scary!
Having arrived at Tranny Grange, it was a mad dash to change before the Limo turned up about 8pm.
Prior to being whisked away we posed (as TGirls have been known to do) by the car. As soon as we were off the champagne started to flow along with the good natured banter.
Traffic proved tricky entering London and someone said Regent's Park was closed, so I offered to direct the chauffeur through some back doubles. Unfortunately the stretch limo is a little longer than my trusty motorcycles, but we managed to end up on Finchley Road at swiss cottage amongst very slow moving traffic.
Nikki then decided to have some fun by opening the window of the passenger door and attracting the attention of other traffic alongside, waving to them, asking if they were enjoying their evening and other pleasantries - she's a wicked girl!
Once we got to Regent Street, in the heart of the West End, the sunroof was opened and Nikki and Fiona began waving to and greeting the shoppers on the pavement.
However, it was agreed that the shoppers must have been too tired and weary to have much spare Christmas spirit, and both girls eventually gave up and settled back down.
We were booked into an italian restaurant in Soho so it wasn't long before we pulled up outside. Of course, you wouldn't believe it but we seemed to receive quite a few gawps and stares as we climbed out of the Limo and entered the restaurant.
While we were waiting for a table it gave us the opportunity to talk to other diners as they left the restaurant, and yet again the cameras were called upon to record the event for these people who insisted we have group photos... or was it the other way round?
The meal was excellent, but don't ask me what I ate. After the coffees we made a move, but what I hadn't reckoned on was a visit to the sex shop across the road. After which we took a walk round the Trocadero - yes another 'first'.
Under the mischevious eyes of Nikki and Debs and with contributions mainly from Fiona we bantered our way through the shopping centre, mixing with the non-TV classes - what an education for them.
Next stop, Stormes. (To be continued)