Sera Miles

Day One + A Taste of Night One

I’ve been home for a week and a half, yet I can barely find a minute to record my notes on how fabulous DomConLA was. What a perfect trip! That four day weekend measured up to be exactly what any traveler would likely want from a vacation: fun, invigorating, and educational; full of shopping, good food, good wine, and excellent martinis; left me already anticipating next time. Sadly, though, I doubt I’ll be able to go to LA next year–DomConLA is too close to another conference I’m slating myself for. BUT! DomConAtlanta in 2010? A very likely yes!

Kara Chains and I headed for the airport at 230pm on Thursday. Our suitcases were heavy with shoes, toys, and alternate outfits. We didn’t know exactly what to expect, so we packed for every possibility we could imagine. Our flight was full but relatively headache free, and only about two hours long. Once in sunny and humid (remember: we live in the high desert) LA, we jumped on the shuttle and checked into the opulent Hilton LAX. We rested our suitcases in our third floor room, and Kara set off with $3 to buy us two diet cokes. She returned with one–each diet coke, you see, cost $3.

Nothing, though, could get us down! We split the sacred diet coke into two glasses and each lit a much-needed Camel. I feel guilty about having started to smoke again after nearly two years off the stuff, but remember: I was on vacation. The Camels were lit, the wine poured–as our next step on the agenda was me ordering up a fine bottle of pinot grigiot–and the fun started that night with the Meet & Greet.

I put on my new sweater from Cache; sometimes, the advent of fetish-y clothes in mainstream fashion annoys me, but at other times it’s so frickin’ convenient. This black sweater has barely-there shoulder sleeves, two fabric “belts” with silver buckles around the waist, and tiny round grommets plus buckles rimming the neckline. In sweater, pencil pin-striped skirt, and uber-high faux snakeskin heels, I made my way down to the reception. And then I had a vodka tonic for the first time in two years. And then another.

Kara and I took it upon ourselves to chat it up with a few men who stood alone at tall tables, nursing watery drinks. We then met the inimitable Jay Wiseman, who was sweet and bright-eyed and seemed very happy to see us–especially the lovely Kara. It is amazing, I have to say here, to think of myself at 19, 20 … all the way through 25, when I hid the kinkster closet, saw names like Wiseman’s on books I flipped through furtively at Baltimore’s Lamda Rising, imagined that he and those in the know simply had an ability to be open that I would never possess … and to think of myself now, at 32, shaking hands with Jay Wiseman, toasting with other BDSM celebrities, attending a Meet & Greet hosted by Domina and legend Irene Boss.  And hey, this is my blog, so I’ll say it outright: I hope to one day be one of that crowd, a person who helped ease someone else out of the kinkster closet, who showed others that this open life is not only possible and worth living but worth living to the hilt.

Kara and I left the Meet & Greet to have a smoke upstairs in our room, and once we had our heels off, it was all over–there was no way we were going back downstairs. Are you imagining we crawled into bed with a final glass of wine and slept? You’d be partially correct. You’d be missing the part that led to me standing in the corner, panties pulled down, pink bottom on display.

A Typical Naughty Girl Before Bed