What An Adventure!

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I “SQUEEEEEEEEE’D!!” when I received this adorable pose set from Eternal Dreams Poses advent calendar and knew I had to find the perfect location to try it out. I had seen several photos of the North Pole Sleigh Ride Adventure on the Explore Second Life Flickr Group page and knew that it was the obvious choice.

This sim is a total delight. When you arrive, you are offered a ride on a horse-drawn sleigh (more on that later). But I slid down the hill to the railway station to snap this photo awaiting the Polar Express.

As you would expect, this is a family-friendly sim and there were a lot of people there, skating on the ice rink, exploring the bounteous Christmas and winter scenes and posing for photos. There was a family close to the train doing just that when I attached my pose props and plopped down (the suitcases hold the pose and the sign is separate; there is no reason you couldn’t make a different sign to hold with this pose, unless you are as hopeless at building as I am). I was immediately met with cries of, “Oh, look at Peep! Isn’t she cuteeeeeeee?” And while I tried to ignore them as I blushed and adjusted my camera angle and lighting, I couldn’t help but get caught up in their infectious delight. In fact, I ended up posing for photos for one of the girls 🙂

I admit I didn’t take as many photos as I normally would since I was feeling self-conscious, so I trudged back up the hill to hop on the sleigh to check out the rest of the sim (it is a no-fly zone). When I arrived, I noticed a man dressed all in black hanging around the sleigh. I waited a few moments to see if he was planning on taking a ride, and when he continued to loiter I hopped on for my excursion. I hadn’t traveled more than ten metres, though, when suddenly I had a passenger! The Man In Black had joined me, uninvited o.O I laughed and said hello and he greeted me in return, then didn’t speak again.

After we had driven down the hill, past the polar bears playing and through the tunnel I began feeling a bit uncomfortable. I don’t believe this interloper held any threat, but my Mama told me not to get into sleighs with strangers…so I bid my adieu and jumped off the sled with a quick “This is my stop – enjoy your ride!” and teleported home.

I wondered about his appearance at my side; I’m sure most of us in Second Life have been the subject of unwanted attention at one time or another. In the end I just decided he was a city-slicker who had never learned to drive a sleigh. I hope he was able to finish the ride – the horse seemed to know where he was going and didn’t appear to be ready to bolt 😉

As promised, here is a close up of another shade from the .::Vivid::. Slink Nails Appliers 4 pack available from today at Stuff In Stock. It reminds me of caffè latte – without the foam.

1 Vivid Slink Nails Appliers 4

Pretty stuff I’m wearing:

Jacket: ::{u.f.o}::buckle mustangtang – cream by Charming Meiler (Available at Collabor88 December)
Top: JANE – needful things.romper.br coffee by Janie Marlowe
Jeans: ::{u.f.o}::knit wammer skinny – navy by Charming Meiler (Available at Collabor88 December)
Boots: {Sleepy Eddy} Engineer Boots (Natural) by Metro Moonwall (The Aracde December Gacha prize)
Hair: Clawtooth: Snuggle Party – Red eye flight by Bubbles Clawtooth (Available at Collabor88 December)
Skin: [PXL] Creations – [PXL] JADE SK Peach Lips MEB C2 by Hart Larsson
Hands: Slink Mesh Hands (av) Casual by Siddean Munro
Hand appliers:[PXL] Creations – [ PXL ] Slink Hand Appliers SK by Hart Larsson
*Nail appliers: VIVID [Slink Nails Appliers] Polish Pack 4 by Honey Bernandes (available from Tuesday at Stuff In Stock)
Eyes: Amacci Gaze Eyes – Ocean Blue by Carina Larsen
Lashes: Mon Cheri *MC* “Falsies” Eyelash by Freya Oliveri

Pose: Eternal Dreams Poses – *ED* North Pole or Bust ! by Fata Boa (Eternal Dreams Poses Advent Gift 2013 – 150L group joining fee)

The Winter Season Challenge: Doing My Head In

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Yes, Miss Berry has managed to cause my brain to twirl. This meme is one that is confusing for someone who lives in the southern hemisphere but grew up in the northern part of the world. I’m going to do my best to answer the questions without muddling your brains as much as my own. And then, I’m going to introduce my very first challenge!

But first, here’s Berry’s instructions:

Meme Instructions: Take a wintery picture and/or answer the following questions about the season. Don’t forget to leave a link to your post in the comments (of this post) and share your picture in the Blog Memes Flickr Group.

1. What is the December/Winter season like where you live? – I live in Australia now so winter is usually chilly and rather wet most of the time. But I grew up in the US Midwest, so winter was cold, often wet and sometimes snowy. Summer officially started in Oz on December 1, so I hope you can understand my confusion!

2. When you think of winter, what’s the first thing that pops into your head? – Cold, crisp weather and snow.

3. Have you ever played any extreme winter sports? – lol well, I used to go sledding when I was a kid and skated on the pond in my boots. Oh, and digging my car out of butt-deep snow in Michigan! In Australia the most extreme winter sport I participate in is avoiding being sprayed by cars as they fly through puddles 😦

1 Winter_039

4. What do you like most about this season? – In Australia, I love the respite from the heat. I don’t have air conditioning so it’s nice to be able to throw on an extra doona and cuddle up when I sleep instead of flying my helicopter (my fan) with windows open, covers thrown off and (maybe) a tee shirt to sleep in! What I liked best about winter living in the north was being able to curl up in front of a fire.

5. Do you celebrate Christmas, Hannukkah, Kwanzaa or another holiday during this time of year? OK, again, the confusion. I always celebrated Christmas back home in winter and even after 13 Christmases in Australia I can’t get used to it happening in the summer. I live in Sydney so the only holiday we celebrate in winter is the Queen’s Birthday in June. No, it’s not really her birthday but it’s the only holiday we have between Anzac Day (April 25) and Labour Day (first Monday in October), so I’ll take it 😉

I’m going to mention my challenge here, since it kind of relates. I did a post a few weeks ago about seasonal confusion. My buddy, Wendz, who hails from Hawaii has been suffering the same affliction. In comments bandied about between her blog and mine, I said I was going to make it a challenge. I took the pictures well over a week ago but I just haven’t done the post yet. So, Miss Berry, since you confused me again you can claim responsibility for me finally getting my bum in gear 😉

Here’s the link to the Summer in December challenge – I hope to see a few tan lines and cool shades in everyone’s near future!

Pretty stuff I’m wearing:

Dress/hair: Exile::First Snow by Kavar Cleanslate (The Arcade gacha prize)
Skates: The Secret Store – Ice Skates – Ice Leaf by Maylee Oh (The Arcade gacha prize)
Necklace: MG – Necklace – Truth Owl – SoftPink by Maxi Gossamer (The Arcade gacha prize)
Skin: [PXL] Creations – [PXL] JADE SK Cherry Lips MEB C2 by Hart Larsson
Hands: Slink Mesh Hands (av) Casual by Siddean Munro
Hand appliers:[PXL] Creations – [ PXL ] Slink Hand Appliers SK by Hart Larsson
Eyes: Amacci Gaze Eyes – Ocean Blue by Carina Larsen
Lashes: Mon Cheri *MC* “Falsies” Eyelash by Freya Oliveri

Pose: VERO MODERO & THE MUSE POSES Winter Fair GIFT – Ece Skate 04 by Audrey Cresci (old gift)

Location: Fruit Islands Winterland

A Little Birdy

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Drop a penny in the well, close your eyes and make a wish. Don’t even whisper it to a little birdy and it will come true. Little birdies have big mouths…I know because one told me about this lovely location 😉

I took these photos at Lost Horizon. Cougar Sangria has graciously opened her home sim until the end of December. It is a stunningly peaceful place and I availed myself of her generosity to take these photos. I admit to getting stuck in this spot…I just loved this little well in a secluded glen. I took a few shots of other parts of the sim, but I didn’t do it justice. I’ll be back, though, to try to capture it’s serene beauty.

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Here is a closer look at my casual outfit and gorgeous manicure, compliments of .::Vivid::.. See? Even the little birdy is admiring them 😉

Pretty stuff I’m wearing:

*Outfit: VIVID – Little Mix Outfit with color-change HUD by Honey Bernandes (available at Pure Sales Room – starts Nov. 27)
Necklace: je suis…nocturne necklace by Julia Merosi
Earrings: je suis…nocturne earrings by Julia Merosi
Shoes: tulip. Suede Loafer (Clay) for Slink Flat Feet by Minami Susanowa (available at Shoetopia until Nov. 30)
Hair: /Wasabi Pills/ Anais Mesh Hair – Cinnamon by MissAllSunday Lemon
*Nails: .::VIVID::. – VIVID [Slink Nail Apliers] – Polish Pack 3 by Honey Bernandes (Fingernail & Toenail pack – 12 colours)
Skin: [PXL] Creations – [PXL] JADE SK Bare Lips MEB C2 by Hart Larsson
Hands: Slink Mesh Hands (av) Casual by Siddean Munro
Feet: Slink Mesh Feet (Av) Flat by Siddean Munro
Hand & feet appliers:[PXL] Creations – [ PXL ] Slink Hand & Feet Appliers SK by Hart Larsson
Eyes: Amacci Gaze Eyes – Ocean Blue by Carina Larsen
Lashes: Mon Cheri *MC* “Falsies” Eyelash by Freya Oliveri

Poses:
1st picture: Wishing well pose: . a i s l i n g . Wishing Well (Full with Petals)by Damian Kleiner
2nd picture: Eternal Dreams Poses – *ED* Generation Girl 10 by Fata Boa

*Review copies