I wasn’t trying to emulate her per se. Actually, today someone called my look “vintage librarian”. Another exclaimed, “move over, Jackie O!” Ha! Those made me smile. The “vintage librarian” comment did give me an idea. I had thought about trying to find an appropriate office to take a few pictures, but came up empty, so I began looking for libraries. I didn’t really want to take a pic by a bunch of books, so I attached a cigarette (just about everyone smoked in those days) and Librarian Pumpkin went on her smoke break out in the front.

I decided to go with hair from Elikatira, since you can always count on Elikapeka Tiramisu to come up with sleek, classy styles. The glasses are vintage (by SL standards) from Artilleri. Hey, they still look good and they got the job done. The black lacquered pearls are from Haus of Darcy and I thought they fit perfectly. I ran over to *G Field* for shoes because…well, does one really NEED an excuse to buy their shoes?

Don Draper, eat your heart out.

Creds:

-Dress: LG Concept (Yulia dress in ‘Sherbet’ @ TDR)
-Skin: Laq (Ebba)
-Lipstick tattoo: Pink Fuel (from the ‘Elly’ skin)
-Hair: [e] (‘Charmed’)
-Shoes: *G Field* (‘Alex’ pumps)
-Necklace: .HoD.
- Glasses: Artilleri 
-Cigarette: FNKY!
-Poses: *EverGlow*

Beautiful houses, but not the 'painted ladies' I'm talking about.

Not to get off track too much, but I think the family on “Full House” was supposed to be living in one of those houses, which is crazy, as they cost about $6,000,000 (I’m sure I’m low-balling the figure). The father hosted a morning show. No way could he afford the mortgage on any of those houses.

Anyhoo, back to the subject of painted ladies. Back in the 1800′s, men would go west to seek their fortune. Wherever these boomtowns formed, “painted ladies” were sure to be there. How else could a man spend a month’s worth of wages in one night? Some of these courtesans were dressed more lady-like than others. Some would simply lounge about in their bloomers without a care in the world.

This year’s Etheria event celebrates these painted ladies. Some of Second Life’s most talented artists have paired up and recreated various period clothing and jewelry for this occasion. The pair I will be featuring in this post are Lolapop! (jewelry) and Schadenfreude (clothing).

Schadenfreude designer/owner Allegory Malaprop outdid herself with her dress. It is a bit deceptive, to be honest, but brilliant. The dress gives the impression of a fine, upstanding lady, but in reality she is a courtesan that strolls about a crowded bar, gracing the prospectors with her presence. If you have enough money, she might be bothered to help you part with it.

Lolapop! designer/owner Lola79 Hienrichs drew inspiration from Allegory’s dress, as well as from research she did for this project. The cameo and earring set comes in black and white and compliments the Schadenfreude dresses beautifully. The jewelry is simple, but elegant.

These painted ladies were looked down upon by society’s well-to-do, God-fearing, Bible-thumping women. They were called tramps and whores by not only the those same church-going women, but by the same men who paid for their services. They were seen as trashy, damaged, dirty. Some may have even thought they were “taking the easy way out”. I don’t believe that for a second. The thought of sharing the vocation of these ladies makes me panic. They were strong women. You had to be strong to be in that line of service. I don’t think I have even half of their tenacity or resilience. You may not agree with their vocation, but you have to admire their will to survive and their willingness to do whatever it took to ensure their livelihood.

Lady in green.

Visit Etheria today! January 8th is the last day to pick these beauties up!

Creds:
-Clothing: Schadenfreude for Etheria
-Jewelry: Lolapop! for Etheria
-Skin: Laq (Ebba)
-Hair: Elikatira (pics#1-4) & Exile (pics#5 & 6)
-Tattoos:
*lipsticks: Pink Fuel (from the Elly skin)
*blush: cheLLe
*Eyeshadow: Pekka
-Boots: G Field
-Poses: EverGlow

I decided to use Pumpkin’s shape. Not because I couldn’t find any reasonably priced, decent shapes (there are plenty), but because I’m a lazy girl. It’s who I am. So, that along with a few shop’s LMs were the only things I transferred to my new alt. The beginning is always bumpy.

Dontcha wish your girlfriend's alt was hot like me?

After putting on my Pumpkin shape, I went to Pink Fuel and got one of the Ember skins for $100L. Then I headed over to Exile and picked up the Kendra hair for free (there’s a shelf of free hair for both men and women). I headed over to FairyTail to stalk their lucky boards. While there, I picked up some of their group gifts, including a really nice pink bow necklace (free if you join their in-world group). I also looked around the marketplace and found some nice eyes from [BC] for free. I wanted simple but cute clothes for my alt, so I headed over to fri.day and picked up their free white cami and a denim mini skirt for $50L. I toyed with the idea of getting makeup tattoos, but decided against it since I’m trying to go as cheap as possible. I did grab some $6L eyelashes from .:Glamorize:.

I love PF skins!

For shoes, I went to Shiny Things and joined their subscribo (and no, I didn’t unsubscribe) and got their cute Zimmy flats once my subscribo status was verified.

Cute Shiny Things shoes! Free!

I really liked the stuff on the lucky boards at FairyTail, so I jumped on my main account to stalk the boards with my alt. Pumpkin looks jealous of the alt.

She's just jealous.

When I went to Exile on the alt, I admired the new Exile releases and decided that I would buy Pumpkin one of the new hairs…which I did, as you can see! I didn’t dare buy the alt any hair because again…I was trying to do this as cheaply as possible and didn’t want to go over the $550L limit…but Pumpkin has no spending limit (provided I have enough L’s in my account, that is).

Mmm...Exile.

I love short hairstyles & Kavar always seems to come up with fun, sassy short styles. I love this one, called Miu.

Noob love.

I remember when I first started playing SL. I was a bit overwhelmed with the cost of items. I was hesitant to purchase L’s because I wasn’t quite sure if I’d stick around the game long enough to justify the purchase. Then someone showed me that there are some very generous and talented creators out there. It blew me away that some creators gave away awesome skin, hair, clothes & accessories for free, or nearly free. Like I said before, you don’t have to spend a bundle to look good in SL, you just have to know where to look. Although I would like to suggest that you actually *buy* some items from said creators to help them keep their stores open & to show them your appreciation!

So, if you like what you’ve seen, check out the stores!

Creds:
On alt:
-Skin: Pink Fuel ($100L)
-Hair: Exile (free)
-Top: fri.day (free)
-Skirt: fri.day ($50L)
-Jewelry: FairyTail (free – group gift)
-Shoes: Shiny Things (free – join the SOM)
-Eyes: [BC] (free)
-Lashes: .:Glamorize:. ($6L)
-Poses: Kuso ($10L each AO pose)
-AO: (not shown, but used) Oracul (free)
Total – $156L

On Pumpkin:
-Skin: Laq (Olivia)
-Hair: Exile
-Top: Tram
-Shorts: *Fishy Strawberry*
Total – none of your beeswax

One of my favorite pictures from my (now defunct) favorite sim. (Feb. 2010)

As a backup, I decided to TP to AM Radio’s The Far Away sim, another awesome place with a similar feel. I wanted to take a picture with a retro-y feel…on a farm. Kind of a Superman circa 1950 meets Jem and the Holograms (hence the makeup) for a baseball game…or something? LOL. AM’s sim totally fit the bill and I think the two pictures I took came out kind of nice. I really wanted to use one of the new hairstyles from Exile, one of my all-time favorite hair places in SL, so I used “Kai”. It has that innocent girl-next-door look that I was going for.

Baseball in SL? Heck yeah.

I’m still a novice when it comes to messing with any shadow/DoF stuff, but I’m attempting to learn! I’m no awesome photographer by any means, but I do try my best.

I didn't point to left field like Babe Ruth. I'm lucky if I get a bunt!

Creds:
-Skin: Laq
-Hair: (1st pic) Tiny Bird (closed) & Exile
-Top: *BOOM*
-Shorts: *Fishy Strawberry*
-Shoes: [Gos]
-Eye makeup: *cheLLe
-Lip Gloss: Pekka
-Poses: (1st) *Pffiou!* – closed, (2nd) *EverGlow*, (3rd) Embody
-Prop bat: Embody (comes with the pose)

                          I’ll accept my “Tia of the Year” award at a later date, thank you.

I’ve always been kind of leery when it came to SL prim babies. When I think of prim babies, I usually think of those God-awful ones from 2007 that looked more like a gross blob of a prim, misshapen and scary looking…so when Gogo gave her Zooby baby to me (a new, cool feature), I was surprised at how cute and cuddly the baby actually was.  Good job, Zooby.

                         I thought Goya would like visiting the kiddie park. I was wrong.

As I mentioned, the ability to transfer the baby is a new option and comes in handy to those who have SL families. The baby comes in copy form & a separate no copy (that you can transfer) so you can dump off baby on someone while you dress like a hoochie and go dance at a club with your amigos. Of course, if you give the baby to a friend/significant other/stranger you can’t use your no copy version at the same time as the other person.

Baby: “Tia, this is not what I imagined when you said you have a house with a pool.”

Okay, enough baby stuff. As you can see from the pictures, I’m wearing another creation from Evie’s Closet. Well, it’s kind of a two-in-one kind of deal. The Nocturne dress is the full dress if you want to look fancy and classy. The Nocturne II dress is for the wildchild in you, allowing you to bare your belly if you so dare. What really gives the dress(es) that extra “oomph” is the hat! I love it. I would wear this hat during Christmastime. The dress/dresses were just released this weekend!

This dress is just too hot to miss out on. It’s perfect for a fancy-looking Halloween costume!

Even the troll agrees.

Creds:
Skin: Laq (Lovisa)
Hair: Elikatira
Hatchling/baby: Zooby’s
Cigarette: FNKY!
Clothing (mine, not the baby’s): Evie’s Closet
Poses: *EverGlow*

“Those skulls look evil!”
“So…you guys are trying to bring their spirits back? Like, with black magic?”
“Celebrating their death? Sounds so morbid.”

I understand that it might seem weird or morbid to people who didn’t grow up with this in their life. However, Dia De Los Muertos is far from creepy or morbid. Yes, we may gather in cemeteries (which used to creep out my ex-boyfriend), but we do it not to glorify our loved ones deaths…but to remember and celebrate the gift of their lives.

When I made my first DDLM altar years ago, I dedicated it to my friend Drea who was one of my oldest friends. I met her when we were in the sixth grade and we were close thoughout high school and while we were in college. When we were in our early 20′s, she passed away from cancer. Her passing haunted me. How many of us honestly think about death a great deal when we’re in our 20′s? I couldn’t understand why SHE had to die. For as long as I knew her, she never said a bad thing about anyone…not even the people who were total assholes. She is one of the most wonderful people that I have had the good fortune to know. I’m honored that I could call her my friend. Even now, years after her passing, I catch myself thinking of her, of what could have been. It makes me sad, of course, but I just remind myself that she lived a good life while she was with us, then an image of her smiling face fills my mind and I smile with her.

Sorry I trailed off. LOL. I tend to do that from time to time. Back to the altar: it was a labor of love. I made it all by hand, sawed the wood, nailed it together, painted it, decorated it with papel picado, her favorite drinks, paper mache replicas of her favorite foods, sugar skulls, skeletons, flowers and various pictures of her being her happy self. In short, I put a bunch of stuff on it that reminded me of her.

No. Dia De Los Muertos isn’t scary or blasphemous. It’s just the opposite. Now, in celebration of it, Lolapop! is having a mini-hunt. The prize? Eight different colored Dia De Los Muertos-themed necklaces featuring sugar skulls and flowers. The cost? $5L.

                                                                                                                                                       Look for these skulls to get the necklaces! ^

Take a look at the cute necklaces below. When I first saw them, I fell in loooooove!

                                                                                                                                                                         Try to collect all eight!

                                                                                                                                                                  Just being me. Hanging with skulls.

So next time you see a sugar skull, don’t be quick to dismiss Dia De Los Muertos off as “just another scary holiday” featuring flowers and “dark magic” (like someone once told me). Not everyone wants to mourn the loss of a loved one. Some of us want to celebrate life by raising the dead (so to speak).

Creds:
Skin: Laq (Alva)
Dress: Tres Blah
Hair: Exile
Jewelry: Lolapop!
Poses: *EverGlow*

                                                                                                                                                          “HALP! I left my GPS at home & I’m lost!”

Evie’s latest release is Eden, which comes in gorgeous, earthy tones of brown and green, perfect for fall. The outfit comes with the dress, wings, socks, slippers and hat. For $99L. This is an insanely great bargain! I was feeling saucy, so I decided to pair my outfit with a cool makeup tattoo from cheLLe (no, not The Living Dead tattoo, but being a zombie fairy would be kind of cool). I’m also wearing the Again 2 hair from Elikatira, which is pretty much my go-to place for adorable short hairstyles.

So if you’re running short on funds and feel like running around this crazy Second Life as a cute fairy, pick up this amazing deal! While it’s from Evie’s Closet, the outfit isn’t actually *at* her store (though she has a sign at her mainstore with an LM giver that takes you to the goods). It’s exclusively for The Gallery Gift Shop and it’ll be there all month.

Creds:
Hair: Elikatira (Again 2)
Outfit: Evie’s Closet (Eden) for The Gallery Gift Shop
Skin: Laq (Alva)
Makeup: cheLLe (Tropical – green/yellow)
Poses: *EverGlow*

       Blue tint

                                                                                                                                                                                 Green tint

I like to think that the Living Dead tattoos are coinciding with the season two premiere of The Walking Dead on Sunday. Oh yeah, and also maybe because Halloween is just around the corner as well. However, these tattoos aren’t strictly for wearing in October. What about the often forgotten holiday of Zombie Thanksgiving? Or Zombie Black Friday? Zombies like standing in line the day after Zombie Thanksgiving for sales too. Just sayin’.

For those of you who prefer the kind of dead peeps that prefer to suck your blood instead of om-nom-noming your brainssssss, check out the vampire tattoos in the pics below.

                                                                                                                                                                         Messy meal.

                                                                                                                                                                              Cleaner.

 Still clean.

The tattoos are perfect if you’re feeling Halloweeny or just like walking around and freaking people out. The blouse I’m wearing is from PurpleMoon Creations and it’s an exclusive item at their store on the LE.LOOK sim, and you have several colors to choose from. The hair in the last three pics are the new releases from Exile. From the top, we’ve got Caramina, at the very bottom is Sherilyn — both of which are lovely styles. In the middle is the Exile group gift — mesh hair! It comes in two color combos: brown/purple (what I’m wearing in the picture) and blonde/blue.

If you like what you saw, don’t hesitate to stop off at the stores and try demos (if they’re available, that is)! That’s all for now, guys! Be nice to each other in this Second Life.

Creds:
Skin (underneath the tattoos): Pink Fuel
Tattoos: cheLLe
Hair: Clawtooth@Collabor88 (first two stack pictures) & Exile (last three pictures)
Top:   PurpleMoon Creations (exclusive@LE.LOOK)
Jeans: fri.day
Poses: *EverGlow*

“What happened to your blog?” she asked.

It was a good question, and I had no immediate answer.

Over the past (nearly) nine months, I would think — albeit half-heartedly — about reviving this little blog. I would get a new skin, an article of clothing, new shoes, hair, whatever…take pictures, start writing…then stop. I was never happy with the pictures, so I’d retake them. I still wouldn’t be happy with the outcome and end up scrapping it all together.

It also didn’t help matters that I logged in, at one point, only once every couple of weeks. I was far from gone from the world of SL — I stayed very active on plurk. I had made friends in SL and I intended on keeping them. Lately, I’ve been logging in more. With that, the itch to begin blogging again has begun. Sometimes you just need a kick in the pants from a wise friend to get started. I realized there were several factors as to why I had withdrawn from the (SL) world at large. I had become too dependent on others to keep me happy. It’s really up to each of us to make ourselves happy. When your whole life/SLife revolves around someone else, eventually you’re going to become an unrecognizable shell of the person you used to be, finding neither joy or amusement in the things that once made you smile. I think I have once again found the enjoyment that made SL so addicting when I started over four years ago.

So, to answer Gogo’s question: it’s rearing it’s ugly head once more, blondie.

Speaking of said blondie, she snapped a few pictures of us embracing each other in our unmentionables:

I don’t log chats, but I do believe her exact words when she was summoning me over to her place were, “I want you here in undies”. Before ya’ll get the wrong idea, she just wanted to snap pictures of us wearing BOOM‘s latest underoos that they are giving out for free to help promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month. As the granddaughter of someone who battled breast cancer, had a double mastectomy and is in remission, I’m proud to help spread awareness of this terrible disease that affects millions of men and women around the world. Here’s the ad in BOOM‘s stores (main & satellite) that you need to look for to get the panties:

I’ve always liked BOOM‘s swimsuits, shorts and panties, so when I saw they were giving them for free, I got all happy! Speaking of BOOM, check out what they’ve got at this month’s Collabor88 (hint: it’s more panties!). They have all sorts of styles. I picked the animal pack, mainly because I was feeling saucy. I’m laying my lazy butt on the new bed from Mudhoney (the furniture accessories are from there as well). It has quite a few cute poses, including couple poses. Need a new bedroom set? Check it out.

While at Collabor88, I also picked up this cute hairstyle called “Shine” from Elikatira, the hair flowers by Sauce and this pretty slip dress by Tres Blah. At $88L a piece, you’re making out like a bandit. There’s tons of stuff by several designers & it’s definitely worth checking out if you haven’t already.

That’s all, folks! Hopefully I get my butt into gear and blog stuff on a regular basis again! Be nice to each other!

Creds:
*Pic#1 by Gogo
-Panties: BOOM (free — but make a donation to your favorite Breast Cancer charity!)
-Tops: BOOM (not free, but worth every linden)

*Pic#2 taken from Aranel Ah’s flickr

*Pic#3
-Panties: BOOM@Collabor88
-Hair: Elikatira@Collabor88
-Furniture: Mudhoney
   -Shoes: Maitreya (old group gift, sorry)

*Pic#4
-Slip dress: Tres Blah@Collabor88
-Hair: Elikatira@Collabor88
-Hair flowers: Sauce@Collabor88
-Necklace: Lolapop! 
-Pose: *EverGlow*
**Skin on Pumpkin (all pics): Laq 

The necklace and earring set from Lolapop! is very versatile. It has several color options & it comes in solid dark colors, solid pastels, polka dots (what I’m wearing) and stripes. As I said above, it’s only available at the I <3 Originals Fair!

Exile released some lovely new hairs (could you expect anything less from Exile?!) this weekend! I always look forward to Kavar’s releases and this weekend, he didn’t disappoint!  There’s Morrigan (bottom, left) which has a romantic, side-swept ponytail…Roxy (bottom, right), which is a sassy, rockin’ ‘do that reminds me (in a good way) of some of the fun, edgy, hairband styles from the 80′s…and finally, Pandora (bottom), a wind-blown style that’s feminine and sexy. It also happens to be my personal favorite of the three.

In this post, I’m wearing two of the newer skin releases from Dutch Touch: Megan (from the first two pictures) and Jaliah (the last two pictures). It was really hard for me to choose a tone for the Jaliah skins — I fell in love with all three of the dark tones, they are so well done!

If you like what you’ve seen on here, go visit the stores, take some demos and buy, buy, buy! Behave yourselves!

Creds:
-Skin: Dutch Touch
-Hair: Elikatira (pics#1&2) & Exile (pics#3&4)
-Dresses: Evie’s Closet (pics#1&2) & Swansong (pics 3&4)
-Jewelry: Lolapop! @ I <3 Originals Fair
-Poses: Poseur
-Music: Tori Amos