Who's That Girly Girl (Part 3)

After writing yesterday's Girly Girl blog post, I remembered that I had $100 in SpaFinder gift certificates from a caller. Apparently, at his job, when you do awesome above-and-beyond things, they reward you with these points that you can cash in for gift certificates -- he used his to get me SpaFinder for a post-move stress-release massage. Please, by all means, continue to be awesome at work on my behalf!

Turns out, the place nearest to me that accepts those gift cards also has an exfoliating massage followed by a "Vichy Shower" which looks like this:

That's SEVEN shower heads. I was lying on a rubber mat (which totally made me want to go down a water slide) on a steel bed in a completely tiled room with drains in the floor. The massage therapist scrubbed my body with sea salt and marine botanicals, then rinsed me off with the awesome multi-headed shower thing, then slathered me with a moisture-sealing oil. Then I flipped over and repeated on my front side.

Before I flipped over, I informed her that I didn't care if she saw me naked, because I was a theater major, and I got used to changing in front of a lot of people (my standard line for such situations). She innocently asked, "Do you still do anything with theater?", and I realized that my standard line invites that question... I'll have to rethink that.

So I answered, "Uhhhhhmmmm, kinda, but if you're not in the mood to be shocked, I'll just keep the answer to myself." She practically squealed, "Now you HAVE to tell me!" and so I did, indeed, inform her that I'm a phone sex operator. Her enthusiastic response of, "OH MY GOD that's AWESOME... now I have a thousand questions!" totally made the experience even more fun.

Yes, I told her about you. You, specifically. I'm sure I did. :)


Afterwards, when I was all glowy and happy, with the softest, healthiest skin of my life, I took this picture in the spa robe specifically posed so I could post it on the blog:

I know, the picture quality on my phone is crap, but I'm sure I do a horrible job of holding still when my arms are all post-massage-noodley, and the picture looks fine on the little screen...

You're missing the point, anyway. The important thing here is how happy and relaxed I look! Gawlee!  /hrmph /grin

Afterwards, I desperately needed sexy hands rubbed over all my newly soft skin, so I asked my husband to oblige me, which he kindly did (yay me!). We had a fantastic afternoon romp, and then we went to dinner, which I decided merited a little dressing up (hippie style, of course - it takes more than just being massaged to get me into a cocktail dress), even though we went to a local Tex-Mex dive place where nobody cares what I look like:

The purple ball on the floor squeaks when bitten by rescue mutts. Loudly. So loudly that it is off limits when I'm on the phone. And although it would be lovely if the bed were mussed because of the afternoon hubby-tussling, really, the bed was the site of an epic face-biting puppy war over Who Gets The Purple Ball while I was getting dressed.

Dinner was fantastic, and I'm in an absolutely delicious mood for the evening. Yum.

And that, my friends, is the story of a lovely, girly afternoon of pampering, also known as: "Why I Have Moved SpaFinder Gift Certificates To The Top of My Wish List"

Who's That Girly Girl? (Part 2)

As I mentioned in Who's That Girly Girl?, I was more of a tomboy growing up than a femme girl. Although I always enjoyed dressing up for special occasions, I didn't keep my nails painted, and I valued luxurious food with good friends over luxurious pampering (my first manicure ever was the day before my first wedding - I was 25).

But since I was 30, I've had a tradition with two college friends to go off for a girls' weekend of pampering and relaxation. Every year, someone needs something specific (a brass candle snuffer, a tall thin vase to balance the mantle, the perfect chunky necklace for someone's birthday...), and we all hunt together amidst funky shops to find it.

This year, I wanted glass bead earrings that looked like they were made of wood, to match a fun necklace that I never wear because I don't have good earrings for it. I found them, and then added bracelets, and then a second complimentary necklace so I could get the free gift (a fancy hairband for the daughter of one of my cohorts).

Then when I came home, I finally admitted to myself that I need to bite the bullet and buy my own nail polishes, along with clear top coats, so I can touch up my own manicures and pedicures without having to pay to have them redone.

And while I was finding the nail items, I remembered that I didn't have a good light pink lipstick, and I'd meaning to try lip plumper, since several of the PSOs I follow rave about it...

Which led to this cacophony of absolutely girlishness on my desk yesterday: 

That's my desk. Those things are for me. I will use all those things, regularly. That is an accurate representation of a part of me these days.

I wish I could explain to you how weird it is to admit that to myself.

And... how fun.

Presents!

Sometimes my callers want to give me gifts. Lately, I've gotten an unusually high amount of them.

Since I have a cam now, I made little videos of myself opening everything I've gotten in the past week. I figure it's good advertisement for my new cam listing too, right? I mean, just making a bunch of videos of myself isn't completely narcissistic, is it?

(Dear Inner Modest and Shy Girl: Please try to just keep your eyes closed more. All I can really offer you is denial. Sorry. Love, Galiana)

First: a thank you to the financial slave who bought me the camera, some Secrets In Lace lingerie, some amazing Carlos shoes, stuff to set up the Fuckatorium for cam, a new headset for cam calls, and some new hair / face stuff that I'm loving using. Here's me opening some of that (I didn't realize when I made it that Blogger would squish widescreen... sorry):

Then today, for Valentine's Day, I made 3 videos. The first was lingerie and pillowcases, and the chocolates my husband got me:

The second is 2 gifts I got in the mail, both of which make me feel good in different ways: the ItGetsBetter t-shirt, and a SpaFinder gift certificate.

And the last Valentine's Day gift-o-rama is a veritable boatload of stuff that will let me dress up and look a bit like a robot! I have a few fans in the technosexual / fembot fetish community who want me on video or cam. I'm still working on my movements, and not ready to demo those yet, but now I have clothes! /squee

I look happy in all these videos, and grateful, and both of things are true: I am both happy and grateful for them. And at the same time, I'm a tiny bit overwhelmed.

Remember at the end of A Streetcar Named Desire when Blanche tells the man who's coming to take her away that she has "always relied on the kindness of strangers"? I haven't. Not a bit. I've always relied on myself, always had a hard time asking for help, and always been stubbornly insistent on valuing *people* over *things*. I gave gifts much more freely and graciously than I accepted them.

And now I find myself in the position of completely relying on the kindness of strangers, and having to figure out how to be gracious about accepting things which will enhance my life, or help me grow my business. It's easiest if I can point to some way where "he'll get his money's worth out of this", but when someone gives me SpaFinder gift certificates so I can get a massage... well... there's not a lot there except for me to relax and enjoy myself, is there?

I'm working on it. I'm better. I'm down to only about 20% of the time now where I think "What the hell am I doing? What they hell are they doing? What the hell should I do when they wake up and regret this?!?" That's an improvement - at first it was more like 80%...

This is good for me. It's good for me to stretch and grow and learn how to do new things, like enjoy getting gifts without feeling guilty or indebted.

Thank you, gentlemen who have been getting me gifts. Thank you very much for the gifts, and thank you very much for helping me grow. /blowkiss

Who Is This Material Girl?

In college, I had a job building sets, doing props, and being stage manager for a local high school, so my car frequently looked like I had just robbed a hardware store. Although I wasn't in a sorority, I knew a lot of frat guys, and I got asked to formals on a regular basis because I loved to dance and I didn't get embarrassingly drunk.

One day, these seemingly dissociated facts collided: I had picked up my go-to little black dress from the dry cleaners, the one I'd gotten on sale for under $50 and worn four times already, and had loaded in some lumber to build platforms, and on my way down the highway, I thought, "This is exactly me."

It was the juxtaposition: lumber and lace (well, velvet and taffeta, but that's not the point...). It symbolized being practical, flexible, and fun, and I loved the image of myself as a strong, tough, capable girl who wasn't afraid to gussy up now and then, but who didn't take her gussying up too terribly seriously.

I was a fancy girl growing up: I begged to wear extravagant costumes to school, and my favorite part of the circus was the sparkles...



And I was a tomboy growing up: I would come home bleeding from a scrape on my knee, and when Mom asked what had happened, I would have no idea, but maybe when I fell out of that tree...

But by high school, I had decided that spending money was best used on entertainment, travel, and decadent meals with friends. The memories were what I wanted, the connections with other human beings, not "frivolous" material things.
And yet, this week, I have been delighted by lingerie, and chocolate, and shoes. And it has made me ask, on a surprisingly deep level, "Who am I now?"

Well, first, the lingerie and the chocolate...

My first gifts to my PO Box! A hypnosis caller who loves to please me (he asked for it, I promise...) asked me two days in a row what would make me happy, and I reluctantly came up with lingerie and chocolate. I'd open the box and show you the pretty chocolate morsels, but ... well... it's partially ravaged, so I'd rather just stick with the elegant closed box.

I'll be taking pictures with the super-happy sparkly red top when my new camera arrives. Yay fun!

And now that these have arrived, apparently, it was time to indulge me further, so he told me that he was ordering me this from Secrets In Lace in black:

I love. It. So. Much. 


Like, my heart skips a beat when I think of wearing it, I love it so much.

Like, I need to upgrade my body wash to make my skin luxurious enough to deserve to wear it, I love it so much.

Like, I need new shoes, and new panties, and stockings and a bra and a haicut and to get my eyebrows waxed...

I had this chat exchange with a friend from college about it:

Galiana: I think this robe will always mark a turning point for me
Her: How so?
Galiana: The day I finally embraced my Inner Femme
Galiana: I've been such a tomboy, so practical, and loved that self-identification
Galiana: and something about spending real money on frilly things... I've shied away
Galiana: but I get it now, or I get it more than I have before
Galiana: the human being as art
Galiana: or rather, the human being as a canvas
Galiana: and the fabrics and the textures as the paints
Galiana: and that the beauty has value in and of itself

It amuses me that it took me two decades of adulthood to embrace the celebration of fabrics and colors and textures that I celebrated so naturally at age 6. Somewhere in the middle, avoiding "materialism" was temporarily more important to me than enjoying something luxurious if it is available to me.

I know, I bought new lingerie for my photo shoot in September for my 40th birthday, but those were play things, of lesser value, not objects of quality and art to be admired and treasured. And they were for work, so it was justified. They didn't make me feel like that robe is going to.

It makes no sense that I would value a dinner with friends that cost $139, and yet, the prospect of owning a robe that cost $139 has required serious introspection, to the point of even having to redefine myself a bit... I understand giving a gift of luxury to someone else, and I've done it, but it is taking some emotional growth on my part to accept such gifts for myself. 

Well, hello there, Inner Diva. I'm sorry I haven't properly attended to you for so long. Please enjoy the sunlight and fresh air and chocolates. I hope you stay a while.

I'm going to have to reorganize my closet, aren't I?

I will never value things more than I value relationships. But, if it just so happens that a relationship can be enhanced by my acquisition of things, well then, how can I say no?

Yesterday's Pictures

1. I got a present from a caller in the mail, and told him I'd take pictures when it arrived.

2. That coincided with "maybe I'll stop shaving for a while and take pics when I next shave again".

3. These coincided with "one of my best callers had an awesome request for a holiday picture of me".

So yesterday was picture day.

First up: shaving. Since most of the pics are me naked and those aren't allowed on this blog uncensored, here are some partials:

Before shaving, there were pics like this, but full-body - I was kneeling.

The during-shaving pictures were soapier than this, with one leg up, standing, but tricky to find one that I could post, even partially.

Then I took pics in my new present -- yummy! So silky soft!

And then, by request, satin gloves, a Santa hat, and the red corset from the September shoot. He got more than just this picture, but the "naughty or nice" finger wag amused me greatly.

I don't know if I'm going to turn these into packages for sale or not, but I thoroughly enjoyed feeling pampered and photographable!

Amazon List Back Up

For security reasons, I took down my Amazon Wish List until I got a PO Box, and now I have a PO Box, so my Wish List is back up! You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/1688KL7WCFZAS?reveal=unpurchased&sort=priority

It seems to me like the exchange of phone sex for money is a fair exchange, and further presents are not required. But a few people have said they'd like to give me gifts for the holidays, so now you can! 

I have a few dresses that would be comfy and easy to lounge in, a few fun pairs of shoes, sex toys, lingerie, a high quality web cam, and a few practical around-the-house items. And gift cards.

Or you just browse and realize how much I like food - restaurant and chocolate gift cards make up most of my list. I love dining out some place a little ritzier than our normal fare - it feels festive and fun and luxurious. And of course, Amazon gift cards make my holiday shopping so much simpler.

All gifts will be thanked with custom pictures. Or if you want to see me in something specific, let me know and I'll add it to the list. Thanks tons!

PO Box Motivation

I turned off my Amazon Wish List when i realized that not all third party vendors respect privacy as they should, as I blogged about here.

I haven't gotten a PO Box yet... ummm... because I'm lazy? I don't have a better answer than that.

But I'd totally get a PO Box for this: a t-shirt from the "It Gets Better" project (to combat bullying and show support for LGBTQ youth). The shirts are given for a $30 donation, which goes to support "It Gets Better", but also the Trevor Project 24/7 suicide hotline, two of my favorite causes. 

https://secure.itgetsbetterproject.com/page/contribute/t-shirt

If I don't get a volunteer in the next week or so, I'll do it on my own. But I thought I'd share in case someone else wants to help me get my lazy ass moving (or in case you know other supporters who'd love a t-shirt!).

Welcome To My Birthday Season!

I turn 40 this month! I'm so excited!

Chunktastic
turquoise & coral

I've never minded getting older. When I was in college, working hard both in acting class and therapy, I did a visualization exercise of "the person I want to be". And the image that stuck with me is a 50-year-old woman, outdoors, enjoying the land and the sun and the day, at peace with herself. And she was wearing unnecessarily chunky jewelry, probably turquoise. I have always found self-possessed 50-year-old women fascinating company.

So for 20 years now, I have thought that my 50th year will be the best of my life. It's probably setting me up for a huge nervous breakdown the day I turn 51, but oh well, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

In the meantime, I'm another year closer - only ten years away now! It's time to start preparing in earnest, because the day I turn 50, I plan to wear unnecessarily chunky jewelry every day for the rest of my life. There is no good reason for this plan, and yet, I've been certain that I would do exactly that for years now. Maybe it just feels too self-aggrandizing to be full-on eccentric before 50, but after 50, it seems perfectly appropriate.

Dangly is an acceptable
substitute for chunky 

Growing up as a divorced kid, all holidays were seasons - celebrated at least twice (once with Mom, once with Dad, and sometimes again with grandparents or cousins). So my birthDAY isn't really as important to me as my birthday SEASON, which is very clearly: all of September. Obviously, September is mine. Which makes my birthstone sapphire. How can sapphires be chunky, you ask? Like this awesome dangly set right here, of course.

An important disclaimer: expensive jewelry freaks me out - I lose and break stuff too easily to spend a lot of money on wearable decorative art. I'm not freaked out by jewelry under $40, though. That seems about right for an indulgence.

Now you're asking yourself, "Galiana, how can I help you celebrate the kickoff to your birthday season?" ... aren't you? No? Well, I'm not surprised. After all, I haven't known any of you very long at all. And the whole gifts part of the phone sex culture still confuses me a little. But I'll tell you anyway, just in case you're so inclined.

You can:

• Leave me feedback. If you've made calls or bought pics and haven't left feedback, go do it! I read them for fun. It's truly a gift I will love.  
• Leave a comment here on my blog. It's irrationally gratifying to me. 
• Send me a happy birthday email and tell me nice things about myself (Hmmm, a theme has emerged: I love nice written words about me...)
• If you feel compelled to send something physical (which would be surprising and a little baffling, but I admit, it would also be fun), email me at galiana at ymail dot com (not yahoo.com, ymail.com) with three choices and let me pick! It'll be like shopping together, which is another family tradition - shopping together means usable gifts plus pleasant company! Then send me an Amazon gift card for that amount, I'll buy the thing with the card, and I'll send you pictures of me opening/wearing/using it. (I don't do an Amazon wish list because of this)
• CALL ME! This is honestly what I want most  :) 

I expect this temporary and caveat-laden foray into the "spoiled princess mistress" type of phone sex worker to fail miserably, but it amuses me, and I don't think anyone will be hurt. Therefore, given my value structure (1. Do No Harm 2. Have Fun), I must. 

PO Box Wishes

I just made my Amazon Wish List private until I get a PO Box, because I found out that some 3rd party vendors (not Amazon) send your shipping address in their confirmation emails, even if your Amazon settings specify to keep your address private.

Comments solicited on this issue, please! Assuming I get a PO Box:

Is it worth it to list specific items on a Wish List and risk having a caller know your PO Box? My husband could check it once a week on his way elsewhere, but would I worry about it?

Or should I only list specific items on my Wish List if I've checked with the vendor first to ensure they respect Amazon's privacy settings?

Or only have one item on my Wish List: an Amazon Gift Card -- then use gift cards to buy things for myself, and send pictures? I know that doesn't put your address at risk.

Ugh - not the fun part of the job.

Wishes Coming True

My $15 sale dress

A phone partner sent me an Amazon gift card off my Wish List. I went practical (medicines for the dogs), but also decided to treat myself by searching dresses under $20. I found a magnificent treasure via Chadwick's.

When I started researching this job, I was astonished to find that callers sometimes liked to send gifts to the people they're talked with. I mean... I'm getting paid already. That seems perfectly fair to me!

But I was a waitress in college - I understand the concept of tipping for exceptional service, and I'm certainly not going to turn down the chance to pick up something fun!

Thanks, babe!

Now, I'm not a big shopper, not a high-maintenance spa addict... heck most days, I don't bother with makeup! But I love it when I don't have to leave my house, I can find something that I *think* will look good, and then it turns out to fit like a dream!

Plus, let's be honest here... it makes my boobs kinda look awesome, doesn't it?