It's My Party

Hello, All---
As promised here is a long, boring ramble about my adventures this past weekend in Chicago.
First of all, getting ready went down to the wire this time. I had to work very, very late Thursday night and I had a lot to get done before I left the next morning. I had to pack and clean my apartment and attend to some personal errands the next morning, so it really was a chase to the eleventh hour. Luckily, I had made arrangements for the care of my two "babies", my cats Cricket and Lolita and I didn't have to worry about that.
The drive was absolutely beautiful; the weather was sunny if cold. We got there early before we hit the Friday Chicago traffic. In fact, we got to the hotel so early that there was time for a nice nap before going down to the party room to see who was available to play. I roomed with three other girls this time. Can you imagine four brats sharing the same room? That room saw a lot of spanking action, let me tell you. If the walls could only talk!
After my nap, I got showered and changed and went downstairs to see who might be up for some playtime. To my surprise, everyone was just sitting around and talking; catching up with each other. It had been about five months since most of us had seen each other and we wanted to know what was going on with them.
This party was smaller than I thought it would be but that turned out to be ok. I didn't play that much the first night but I went for quality over quantity anyway. The three or four times I played were all first rate spanking sessions.
The first person I played with was new to Crimson Moon and this was his first party. He was not, however, new to spanking as he proved to me. He was a wonderful Top, who insisted on knowing my safeword and who actually wanted to sit down and talk to me first. I would have insisted on it if he hadn't. What a nice spanking that was. :-)
I played with a couple of new people at this party and I really enjoyed it. Playing with new people can be risky...either you're on the same page or you aren't. Sometimes it takes a while to get on the same page and sometimes you never really do. Luckily I was on the same page as everyone I played with. Of course, there were people I wanted to play with and it just didn't happen. This happens at most parties for me. For me the real fun took place on Saturday night. Starting with a great breakfast at a really nice restaurant. I try to preserve my bottom the first night of a party; I try to take very good care of it. That's because on Saturday I am out to play for real. I went out of my way to find the good strappers and caners. We also had some "Fun and Games" on Saturday night. First, we played musical chairs. There were six of us and five chairs, of course. I "won" but I didn't feel too much like a winner when I was told what I "won." There were five different paddles on the table; from a little thin one to a huge sorority paddle. I "won" two swats with each paddle and then five with a hairbrush. I told the girl I beat out that I would let her "win" next time. Actually, I won a very nice prize not just the swats. After that, we played a dice game. You rolled one to determine the number of swats you got (from 5 to 30) and the other one you rolled to determine the implement you would get your swats with: cane, hairbrush, paddle, strap, hand, etc. The first time I rolled the dice it came up 30 with the hairbrush. The guy who was Master of Ceremonies let me roll "2 outta 3" because he knew I hated hairbrushes. It came up hairbrush every time, so I just decided to take my 30 with the hairbrush. Luckily, we could choose our own Top. I chose one who I knew would not go crazy with the hairbrush. He told me, "You'll get 30 medium ones." What I ended up getting was 30 extremely light ones. I got over his knee and he started with the hairbrush. Of course, the party goers who were watching were trying to make him lose count by miscounting the swats, but luckily he kept track. Almost every female bottom (and one male one) came up and rolled the dice. I went up twice because I felt lucky. Having two days to look back on it, I can ask myself this one question: Cigi, are you absolutely crazy? I arrogantly rolled the dice and ended up with 15. Again, I ended up with the hairbrush. But the MC told me, "You can pick your own implement." I chose the cane. And I let the MC deliver the cane strokes. I took the 15 strokes on the seat of my underwear. The strokes were hard, just how I like it. It was one of the really good things I found out at this party: that my tolerance wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I took a very hard caning and some unbelievably hard strapping. My tolerance was just fine. But after that caning, I was almost done for the night. But there were a few people I just had to play with; sore bottom or not. My pal Doc Ken was one of them. I got a very nice spanking from him in my room. I hope he doesn't mind that I mentioned him by name, but he gave me one of the nicest spankings of the weekend. And, of course, we had nice conversation, too. This party was so much fun in so many ways. Even though the Top I was looking forward to playing with didn't show up, I still had a great time. This was a smaller party but there were still plenty of people to play with. At bigger parties, you really don't have time to play with everyone. But at smaller parties, you can really take the time and play with everyone you want to. I even took the time for a shopping expedition, which is a first. Usually I don't want to "waste" good party time shopping, but at this party I knew I'd get to everyone eventually. There was just one person I didn't get to play with that I really wanted to and they know I'll get to them at the next party. When my sister Cheryl and I decided it was time to call it a party, we headed back to our room. Now, I didn't hear any spanking sounds and the "Do Not Disturb" sign wasn't in place, but when we walked in the door there was our other roommate getting a spanking from a man I had wanted to play with for the last three parties but never had the courage to ask. But we watched him spank our roommate and were just mesmerized. He had the most wonderful hands for spanking and he was actually a very nice guy. Perhaps that didn't come across at other parties, but he was very happy to sit down and talk to us and answer our questions about his spanking experience. Then, my "shy" sister spoke up and said, "Can I have some of that next?" He smiled, blushed and told her he would be "honored". My friend was barely off his lap before Cheryl happily took her place over his knee. Little did he know, he would have two more bottoms to spank before he left our room. I had to totally change my opinion of this guy. I had asked him to play at a party last year and he told me he was getting ready to play with someone else. I took this to mean "Buzz off and leave me alone" even though he had been polite when he turned me down. But Saturday night, he was sort of captive in my hotel room. Now I would have accepted it gracefully if he had said "no" this time, but I would have been disappointed to be turned down after seeing his wonderful spanking technique. But he was very happy with our attention and he spanked us enthusiastically. He had a big shit-eating grin on his face the whole time, I noticed. It was such a nice way to end a party. I went to sleep that night (on my stomach of course) and slept like a baby. I hate saying goodbye to people after a party, so it was a good thing we left pretty early on Sunday morning. We were on the road by 8:00. Almost all the people on our floor were CM people and I didn't hear anyone else stirring but us. Luckily, I said my "goodbyes" the night before. My only real complaint is that (once again) they put me in a room by the elevator and I had to hear "ding ding" every five seconds while I was trying to sleep. Once I got to sleep, it didn't bother me. But it could be annoying before that. The hotel where our party was at was very comfortable. The beds were so warm and comfy; you couldn't help but drift right off to sleep. The rooms that had sofas were really great. I'm glad ours had one. They are just perfect for spanking. You can really stretch out across your spanker's knee and concentrate on the spanking instead of what an uncomfortable position you are in. The beds were comfy but they seemed tall. I'm not a short person and I have pretty long legs, but I had to "climb" up onto the beds to lay across them for strapping and caning. It was a minor inconvenience at the most. To my surprise (and somewhat to my disappointment) I didn't really brat that much at this party. I thought I would have plenty of opportunity, but many of the male Tops there just didn't get into the bratting so I had to respect that. I was content to just ask if someone wanted to play. It was still fun. I got off a few smart ass comments, but I paid for them. The food was good at this party and they offered plenty of chocolate for those of us who consider it a food group. All in all, another great Crimson Moon effort. I love the hotel and I think they like us, too. We are a discreet group and we are well-behaved and courteous of other guests.
The drive home was interesting. My bottom smarted every time we hit a bump or a pothole, which Illinois is known for. And, of course, the orange construction cone is our state flower. lol
I took some great pictures at this party. To respect the privacy of others at the parties, I don't post party pictures anywhere on the Internet. The pictures are solely for my own enjoyment. I think some people forget at parties that you don't just take out your camera and start snapping away. In most groups, you have to get the permission of everyone who might be in the picture before you take a picture. I assure you I had the permission of everyone I took a picture of before I took them. I just have to organize them and I have a lot of them.
I know some of this may not make sense or seems disjointed but I just am writing this off the top of my head and haven't really taken the time to organize my thoughts. I am still too floaty and happy from the weekend to care. :-)
Now real life beckons...and I must go.

Have a nice evening everyone and maybe I'll post a little more about this party at a later date. For now, that's all.

Home Safe and Sound

Just a quick note tonight to let you all know I arrived safe and sound (but with a very tender bottom) from the Crimson Moon party in Chicago. I will write a very long and rambling entry about my adventures at this party. I will try to get that done tomorrow after work.

Had a great time and I promise a complete description of my party fun!
Have a great evening everyone!

My Rapidly Fading Tolerance

I have a spanking party to go to in about three weeks. Now, I am excited to be going and I can't wait to play with everyone. But there is going to be a Top there who I haven't seen (much less played with) in about four years attending. I can't wait to see him but I am afraid it will not take him long to learn my secret: I don't have the tolerance I used to have. When I first started getting spanked, I had what was called a "cast iron bottom". I could take a spanking with the best of them. In fact, a small part of me is proud that people were so awed by the amount and severity of spanking I could take. I was very proud to be one of the hardest players in the group.

Sadly, my tolerance has faded to the point that I am boringly average to play with. A swat with a wood paddle that used to be met with bored indifference now elicits an "owww!" Even if someone spanks me hard with their hand, I whimper like a "Powderpuff Girl" (as light players are sometimes called in a certain group I belong to). I know this isn't nor should it be a contest about who can take the hardest spanking. And I have never received a prize for taking the hardest spanking; unless you count the collection of broken toys I have acquired over the years. But this fading tolerance has hurt my pride and I suppose there are probably several reasons for it: 1) I ain't as young as I used to be. Having turned 47 in December, I'm no longer a spring chicken and 2) I don't play like I used to. As I mentioned in another post, I used to play every weekend, sometimes twice a weekend. I suppose if I got back into the habit of playing more often, my tolerance could return.

But there have been some nice benefits to losing a bit of tolerance. For one thing, the lighter spankings feel nice. I never thought I would like a lighter spanking. I usually just arrive at a party and head straight for the bruisers. Tops who spank lighter tend to play with you longer. Tops who spank hard sometimes forget about the warm up and, consequently, the spanking is over pretty quickly. If toys are used, the harder spanker can leave marks, abraded skin and pain that makes it necessary to sleep on my stomach. Trying to sit is an adventure for several days afterwards. But I was an avowed Pain Slut and still consider myself one. Whatever happened to the girl who could take 116 strokes with a heavy strap delivered with a full arm swing by an over 6' Top? Whatever happened to the girl who only used her safeword when she had to pee? (Now I just say 'let me up...I gotta pee"). Whatever happened to the girl who considered a nice caning to be 50 strokes? Is she still there somewhere just needing to be coaxed back out? Do I just need to get in training for this spanking party?
I always thought I was popular at parties because I had a cute bottom that happened to be made of cast iron. Now I suppose one person's light spanking is another person's hard spanking and vice versa.

And some Tops, I'm sure, will tell me that I haven't changed at all. But this one Top who is coming to the party remembers me as the girl with the bottom that could and did break toys. I'm concerned he'll think I'm not as much fun to play with if I can't play as hard. I'm not saying my friend would be that shallow. In fact, I'm sure he'll just be glad to see me and will give me any kind of spanking I want. But I'm worried that in the back of his mind he'll be thinking about how much I've changed.

A rock poet once sang "The times they are a-changing"...and for me they certainly are. Trouble is, how much are they changing? Is this change permanent? Or temporary? Is this just another chapter in my continuing journey in the spanking scene? I don't know. The only thing I know with any certainty is that I still enjoy spanking and that will never change.

That's all for now.. Have fun!

The Art Of Bratting

If you have ever been to a spanking party, you will notice some bratting going on. I have been called a brat (and a good one!) many times but I have never really put my thinking cap on and thought about what the term "brat" meant to me. When I was ten, if you had called me a brat I would have denied it even though the term definitely fit me then. Notice I didn't say I was a spoiled brat, just a brat.
The bratting that goes on at parties can take several shapes. It can be very subtle or downright obvious. It can be (and often is) quite charming. But it can also be irritating, not just to the person on the receiving end of the brat's attention but to everyone around them. Bratting can be verbal (as in simple smart alecky remarks) or physical (such as tying a Top's shoelaces together or hitting him with a rubber band or putting ice down his back...my favorite!) Every bottom and Top has to decide for themselves what constitutes bratting. If you want to take this route to a spanking, you have to decide what kind of brat you are. I am not at all subtle, but my bratting is usually the non-threatening variety. I would never do anything that might result in injury for the Top. And I certainly would be horrified if I were ever taken aside and told to tone my bratting down, which I have heard has happened to others.
There are Tops who don't like bratting. When I come across this type of Top, I respect their wishes as I would expect them to respect mine.
I liken this behavior to a dance between bottom and Top. If I've done my job right, I will end up over the knee of the Top. Because I brat mostly in public, the spankings I get for it tend to be public. Other brats and Tops who witness the spanking usually offer "encouragement".
At one party, I was getting a spanking from a certain Top. Both participants were having a good time. But another brat who witnessed this, got a twinkle in her eyes and said "Cigi, will you please stop yawning?"
The Top asked her, "Has she been yawning?"
She replied, "Yeah, she's yawned about five times since you started spanking her."
Of course, what I got was a little harder spanking and the addition of toys. I adored the brat but I spent the rest of the party trying to find a way to get her back. I did, too. While I would never rat out another brat or blame another brat for something I did, I have no problem "helping" another brat get a spanking. Isn't that what friends are for?
Sometimes you have to avoid what I call the "wet blankets" who sometimes attend parties, the ones who detest bratting and think all forms of bratting should be banned from spanking parties. These are the Tops (well, mostly Doms) who think we should all act like we are at High Tea or something. Out of respect, I don't brat these gentlemen in fact, I try to completely avoid them. To them, I am just wrong and so is my behavior.
I once had a particularly Domly Dom tell me, "I can't understand why someone doesn't take you brats in hand. If I had my way you would all be sitting quietly with your hands folded in your laps waiting for one of us to summon you." Ummmm, pardon me but....YAWWWWWNNNNNN! Can you think of anything so boring? What the guy was trying to say, of course, is that he considered us all to be submissive and he didn't appreciate our behavior.
"I leave these parties every time with a pounding headache", he complained.
"Well, then why do you come to these parties?" I asked. I thought it was a reasonable question. He didn't give me an answer. Spanking parties are loud, boisterous and fun events. What was this party pooper doing there anyway?
I'm not saying if you don't like bratting you shouldn't come to parties, but I will say if you expect all the ladies to behave the same you will be disappointed. You will likely see all types of behavior, and yes, some of it bratty. If you see me at a party, it will definitely be bratty. :-)
Bratting is an art, like anything else. It takes practice and you have to have someone around willing to let you practice on them. Luckily, I have a lot of Tops around who don't mind my bratting. And, yes, I've gone too far and I've learned things the hard way. But I've found out that I love the atmosphere of spanking parties and bratting is not the only thing going on. A lot of the behavior is flirty and fun, not what I would call bratting at all.
If you find you don't fit the brat mold, that's ok. You will still have a good time at parties. Brats aren't the only ones who get themselves spanked. Ladies who don't want to brat can simply ask for a spanking. To me, that's not as much fun but to each their own.
There is a party coming up in Chicago at the end of the month and, having realized that at the last few parties I haven't bratted as much as usual, I plan to do some catching up. I even bet there are a few other brats and Tops who are willing to help me out. :-)
Have a fun evening!