Happy ♥ Day

Wishing all my friends a lovely Valentine’s Day, however you like to celebrate. Hope you all have happy hearts… in whatever form they may take.

John and I already had our celebration last weekend. He gave me roses, took us out for a special dinner, and then hid small boxes of chocolates all throughout the weekend — four in all! I gave him chocolates as well and baked him his favorite brownies from scratch.

And of course, what’s hearts and flowers day without a little naughty humor?

Enjoy, everyone. 🙂

New E-book: The Spanking Hand Book

A few months ago, several of us writers/bloggers were approached by a publishing company called Instructing Eve, based in Australia. They were requesting contributions to an e-book about spanking and listed several topics we could cover. I believe they ended up with 16 of us, and the result of our collaboration is now available for purchase!

If I try to list some of the other contributors, I will certainly omit someone and that would be inappropriate. So I’ll just say I’m in good company, and the book is packed with fun stuff — short stories, tips and tricks, and very cute illustrations. My contribution? A list of tongue-in-cheek tips entitled “What NOT to Say to Your Spanker.” Rather than go for the smart-ass remarks and comebacks we all know and love, I endeavored to come up with some originals, all of which I’ve used myself, of course. 🙂

The Instructing Eve folks sent all kinds of goodies, including pictures and banners. I posted one of the banners on the right-hand side, directly underneath my two books. If you click on it, it takes you directly to the ordering page.

Or, you can just click here. Just $5.95, y’all. Cheap!

In other news: John and I were finally able to pull off our Valentine’s Day weekend. His knee is still swelling every time he’s on his feet for any length of time, but he’s been icing it and taking anti-inflammatories, so I guess we just have to wait it out. Regardless, he said he was fine with going out for our special dinner.

I surprised him by getting completely dressed up — form-fitting LBD, stockings and heels, and even a cute new pair of boy-short panties with a pattern of red and pink hearts on a black background. He stood in the doorway of the bathroom as I put on makeup, gawking at me. “Um, sweetie? Let me make sure I’m clear on this,” he quipped. “Does this mean I have to wear long pants?”

“Correct,” I smiled. The man lives in shorts on the weekends, no matter how cold it is. And Teva sandals. “Does that mean shoes and socks, too?” “Correct,” I repeated. As if he didn’t know. And may I say that when he was dressed, he looked damned handsome. 🙂

I’d given him a card, a heart-shaped balloon and a case of these, his absolute favorite chocolate bar (hard to find, so he’s always excited when he gets some). John had already sent me roses and hidden a one-pound box of See’s in my car, so I figured that was plenty, along with our lovely dinner. However, he had other plans.

We ordered, and he left to go use the restroom. After he returned, we chatted until our server brought our plates. I looked very happily at my fettuccini with grilled vegetables and tomato-herb sauce and picked up my fork, then jumped as the server appeared again at my elbow. “And something special for the lady,” he said, placing a wrapped package by my plate. John burst out laughing when he saw my shocked reaction. Turns out he hadn’t gone to the restroom after all; he just snuck over to the server and asked him to help with the surprise.

I love that man.

I was a big grown-up girl, though. I didn’t open my present until we were both finished with our meals. Another beautiful vintage watch to add to my collection, and one I recognized. When we’d gone to have his watch serviced a few months ago, I’d admired it in the jewelry case.

Did I mention that I love that man?

Dinner was perfection, and then we drove to a nearby coffee house, also a favorite. I’ve mentioned it before — the one with the fabulous cakes, including our obsession, German chocolate cake. Luck was with us that night and they had some left, so we shared a gigantic slab of it.

John and I couldn’t take our eyes off each other. I felt like I did when we first started dating. To watch us last night, you’d never know we’ve been together 15 1/2 years.

But of course, we’re not kids anymore. When we got home, John put his foot up on an ottoman piled high with pillows, wrapped an ice-pack and Ace bandage around his knee, and promptly fell asleep. I snuggled against him, watched Saturday Night Live and ate three pieces of See’s chocolate.

Wouldn’t have it any other way. ♥

Happy (almost) Valentine’s Day ♥

So why does a cynical curmudgeon like me love Valentine’s Day, you ask? Simple. It’s that Late Bloomer thing again. Many, many Valentine’s Days spent alone when I was young, gorging myself on See’s Candy and crying. Hating all the damned ads and commercials, all the pretty displays in the malls. Feeling like Charlie Brown. (“I know nobody loves me; why do we have to have Valentine’s Day to emphasize it?”)

Then I met John… and I’ve loved Valentine’s Day ever since. 🙂 Yeah, I know it’s commercial. I don’t care.

My sweetie is still sick and injured, but he sent me roses — a whole week early! He figured I’d be more surprised that way, and I was. I’m hoping we can celebrate this coming weekend, if he feels better.

But in the meantime, I had a lovely time tonight with my toppy Valentine, ST. He had quite the nice surprise for me as well.

After he arrived and sat down, he pulled over his toy bag and started unzipping it. Hmmm; guess we’re going to skip the small talk, huh? But then he said, “Well, what have we here?” and he pulled out a bright red Frederick’s of Hollywood shopping bag. !!!!

I love Frederick’s. VS is nice, but I like Frederick’s so much more. Looking inside the bag, I first noticed a package of black thigh-high stockings, fishnet, with a seam up the back and lace tops. Gorgeous! There was also something bundled in black tissue paper, which I eagerly opened. Ohhhh, my. It was a red-and-black lace corset, with black spaghetti straps and garters attached.

I’ve never had a corset, so this was another first for the late bloomer. I’ve tried them on, but I never would let John buy me one, protesting that they’re too expensive. I’d make jokes, saying I enjoyed breathing. But this was exquisite. Came with a little matching g-string, too. The kind of thing I’d ooh and aah at dreamily in a store window, but would never buy for myself.

We did have a little comedy of errors getting me into my new outfit, however. Too bad we didn’t film it; it was pretty hilarious. This corset has the usual lacing up the back, but unlike some others, it doesn’t open in the front. So the only way to get it on was over my head. Unfortunately, it was a size small. I’m flattered, but it was too small. I may be thin, but I’m tall and I have wide shoulders. So, the wrestling began. I was determined to wear it tonight anyway.

ST loosened the lacing as much as possible, and then I pulled it over my head. I stood with my arms straight up while ST yanked and pulled, but it wouldn’t budge. He managed to get it loosened just a bit more, then tugged down on it, tugging and tugging (and cracking me up with his grunting noises) until finally it went down past my shoulders and over my torso. Then he tightened the lacing. There was a several-inch gap when it was pulled as tight as he could get it, but it still looked spectacular.

And then the fishnet stockings! Those fit perfectly, and I recruited ST to snap the garters in place for me (those were rather uncooperative and took several attempts). But at last, I slipped on some heels, and voila:

Isn’t it lovely? That was worth the work to get it on me! I feared I wouldn’t be able to get it back off, but we put that aside for the time being. After all, we had other things to do.

We kept it simple tonight, implement-wise. Of course, we had to use the heart-shaped paddle that he made for me last Valentine’s Day. He also wanted to draw hearts on my bottom with eyeliner or a Sharpie and then fill them in with reddened flesh, but I nixed that idea. (insert eye-roll here) Along with the paddle, just a couple of his straps plus the leather spanking buddy. No canes tonight. And mostly OTK, although I took a fair amount of strapping while bending over/kneeling on the bed.

You know why he was spanking me? Because I was wearing naughty clothes. “You bought me those naughty clothes!” I protested. “Yes, but you didn’t have to wear them! I was just testing you!” Oh, brother.

Not much banter tonight, once I settled down and stopped giggling. I felt sexy and sensual and my body relished every stroke deeply. I went so far into subspace, he didn’t even ask me to count the final flurry. He knew I wouldn’t be able to.

Bliss. ♥

Of course, once we wound down and had uploaded the photos from his camera, it was time for Operation Remove Corset. It was actually a little easier than it had been getting it on; he loosened the ties, had me raise my arms over my head and then he yanked upward. Yank-yank-yank, and then it gave way and popped off. He’s going to take it back and exchange it for a medium. (OK, so I wore it a couple of hours. Sue me. :-Þ I was freshly showered!)

I had a little heart-shaped box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates for him, which I gave him as he was leaving. Sweets for a very sweet man.

To everyone who celebrates it, happy Valentine’s Day. For those who would just as soon bypass it, happy Tuesday. I’m going to spend my afternoon squirming in the dentist’s chair, and making him wonder why I’m smiling. 🙂

Oh my… you SHOULDN’T have…

Being that today was Valentine’s Day and I was getting my Valentine spanking, I dressed up for New Guy, with stockings and red garter belt, and another red dress (I have three of them. Just like LBDs, you can’t have too many LRDs, either.) He showed up on at my door, all smiles, bearing a sweet bouquet of white daisies and red carnations.

And a heart-shaped paddle. A wooden heart-shaped paddle. Which he made himself, just for me.

Talk about confusing. On the one hand, I was quite tickled and touched at his efforts on my behalf. But on the other hand, the phrase, “Oh my, you shouldn’t have” was quite apropos!

Guaranteed not to break, he crowed. Oh, joy. Wouldn’t want that little @#$%er breaking, would we?

So here’s the “before” picture, happy me with my flowers and my, er, special gift:

He was hoping he could get a perfect red heart on one of my butt cheeks. But alas, the paddle was too large (or my butt is too small) to get that imprint. He tried his best, though. Oh, did he try. But he settled for overall RED. Big of him. 🙂

He used his other old faithful paddle too, and two straps. I was in feisty mode tonight and I couldn’t seem to stop giggling or being snide. When he referred to himself as an evil genius, I said he was half-right.

Ouch.

When he stopped, I tried to catch my breath, and he knelt down and smiled into my face. Or was it a smirk? I couldn’t tell. I glared back at him, then, very quietly and deliberately, said, “You bastard.”

That was good for another round, until I said I was sorry. Then he piled all four implements onto the coffee table, saying he’d leave them within reach in case I needed a refresher later.

After we relaxed and chatted for a while, he left to use the restroom. I immediately whisked the implements off the table and shoved them under the couch.

Hey, I thought it was funny. But my glee was short-lived, as he put me back over the ottoman and fished another weapon of a#$ destruction out of his bag. “Where are they?” he asked.

“They got bored and left!” I hollered.

“You better get ’em back, then,” he said, and laid into me with whatever the hell that thing was, until I gave up and crawled over to the couch, retrieving the four hidden toys.

I got ten hard ones with all four, rapidly, no break in between each one. Holy moly.

“You going to hide my implements ever again?” “NO!” “I guess that wasn’t the best idea, huh?”

Guess not.

OK, so I sorta kinda maybe asked for that. But really. Tops can be so damned mean, giving us consequences for our actions. Humpph.

I did get some sweet aftercare with lotion and snuggles, though.

And remember the “before” picture? Usually when you see a “before” picture, you know an “after” picture is coming, right?

Here ya go.

Did I have a happy Valentine’s Day? You be the judge. 🙂

Valentine weekend

It’s Sunday night and I am back home. Hard for me to believe that it isn’t Valentine’s Day proper yet, as we’ve been celebrating it all weekend and my heart is already full to bursting. 🙂

I went to John’s Friday night, bearing Valentine treats. There were the homemade brownies (and balloon!):

The card with just the right words:

And of course, these:

He presented me with a one-pound satin-heart box of See’s chocolate, which is my favorite chocolate on the planet. We happily tore into it later that evening. I still remember all too well the many weeks where I could barely get John to eat a few spoonfuls of soup, so it gave me joy to see him scarfing brownies and chocolate.

Saturday we took his mother to lunch; I was comfortably dressed down in black jeans and a plaid shirt, but underneath I had on my sexy kiss-print panties and a bright red bra. Once we got the filial duties out of the way, the rest of the afternoon and evening was ours. Driving back to John’s place, on the winding canyon road, we saw two deer grazing off to the side. There was no one behind us, so we stopped right in the middle of the road and watched them. They didn’t get spooked, just looked back at us with those huge eyes. Wish I’d had my camera then! John said he arranged for them to be there, as part of Valentine weekend (sure, honey). And that it was damn hard to get deer to cooperate, because, well, they’re deer.

Of course, later, we got pictures. Me, being Ms. Cheesecake:

Then after dressing for dinner, I was sitting on the bed buckling my shoe, and John said, “Don’t move!” (He did, however, adjust my skirt, lifting it up higher on my leg… humph!) 🙂

He looked quite spiffy himself:

We went to one of our favorite restaurants, a place called the California Canteen. Wonderful food, lovely atmosphere (not too loud!) and great service. Our table was directly beneath this sign:

We were seated at a rounded corner booth, so we could sit together. After we ordered, John told me to close my eyes. ??? Roses, chocolates and this beautiful dinner… there was more?

I love watches. I know that people don’t wear them much anymore, now that they have the ubiquitous cell phone with the time handy, but I love to wear them. John got me into vintage collectible watches a few years ago; he’s given me several different ones since then. Each one has been unique and goes with different colors/styles. Sure enough, when I opened my eyes, there was a jewelry box in front of me.

The accompanying card read: “You are the best and the most beautiful; you deserve the same.”

When I was young, I dreamed of nights like this. I thought they existed only in commercials and fantasy stories. Or perhaps for other people, but never for me.

Damn, but I love this man.

(many thanks to Zelle for “doctoring” this pic for me a bit. John had an obtrusively glaring light over his head.)

After dinner, we went to another favorite place, the Aroma Café, and shared a ginormous piece of German chocolate cake. Stuffed and happy, we headed home. No… no Valentine spanking. His energy level is still low. BUT… he’s finally starting to exercise again, which he hasn’t felt like doing in months. The itch is still with him sometimes, but it’s slowly fading away and he’s sleeping better. As for future heart surgery… not going to think about that now. I’m staying in the moment.

And tomorrow, on actual Valentine’s Day, I get to have a Valentine-red bottom from New Guy. Am I spoiled all to hell, or what?

Thanks for bearing with my mush, folks. I promise my bitchy, cynical self will return. For now… she’s quite overwhelmed.

Hope everyone has a beautiful Valentine’s Day. 🙂

Happy Friday blathering

It’s Friday of what John has been calling “Valentine Week.” I know, I know, we’re nauseating. But please bear with me. This is the one time a year where I throw my customary cynicism out the window and indulge in sheer romantic mush. Yeah, yeah… it’s a date on the calendar, we should be like this all year round and not just one day, it’s too commercial, blah blah freaking blah. I don’t care. No one’s gonna rain on my little giddy parade. 🙂

And of course, what’s my favorite thing these days about Fridays? Getting Chrossed! My incredible scene with New Guy this week landed me not only on the Chross list, but on PaddleMePink’s and Kaelah’s blogs as well. Thank you, one and all. When I write about a wonderful experience, I get to relive it… and then when others enjoy, comment on and cite it, I relive it yet again. Such a lovely cycle.

While perusing Chross’s choices this week, I ran across something that made me cheer. (Yes, I do get excited over the damndest things.)

You guys have listened to me babble on and on for years about my favorite mainstream spanking scene, the Robert Horton/Susan Oliver spanking in the Wagon Train episode, “The Maggie Hamilton Story.” I first saw it on my Cinema Swats VHS tape and I dissolved into a puddle of girl goo, as Danny used to say.

However, much to my frustration, the scene was nowhere to be found in its entirety online. There was a clip of it, but it was severely truncated. Instead of showing the delicious buildup to their confrontation, it started right in the middle of it. And then it cut out abruptly after the spanking, without showing the sweet moments afterward. I could describe the full scene until I was blue in the face, but nothing was like seeing it.

So I was delighted to see that Le Monde De La Fessee found that full clip and has posted it! The blog is in French, but don’t pay any mind to that, just look at the pictures and then the video. Susan Oliver is the perfect impossible brat (“If I kill you, it will be your fault!”). And ladies, if you have never seen this clip in its entirety, go, go watch. I guarantee you that the last few seconds alone will make you melt. And while you may never have heard of Robert Horton prior to this, you will have a crush on him forevermore. (“You’re going to grow up. All the way. Right now.”) Swooooooooooooooooooooooon… McLintock and his stooooopid coal shovel — Meh! Flint McCullough (Horton’s character) is my epitome of a spanking man. 😀

Anyway (fanning myself), on to the weekend. I’ve already received my Valentine’s Day roses… last Tuesday. John likes to send them early, mixing it up, so I’ll be surprised. Not red, but peach. And not a dozen, but fifteen. I’m not sure why he chose that number, but this is our 15th Valentine’s Day together, so that could be it. It would be very much like him to remember a detail like that.

I have a large Tupperware filled with brownies from scratch, a heart-shaped balloon and a nice card (not too flowery/mushy, just right). And I will bring something pretty to wear tomorrow night when he takes me to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, including some new panties. 😉

Have a great weekend, y’all.