I Used To Be A Dancer, But Now I’m Just (Re)tired

1 I Used To Be A Flapper

Have you ever seen those older ladies who don’t dress their age? I don’t mean that they’re sporting skinny jeans and piercings – I mean they’re fully made up and wearing the clothes they wore when they were young and desirable. Depending on their era, it might be a poodle skirt and twin set or a flapper dress and feathered headband.

I want to be like that when I grow up. Never forgetting the time when I was a bit of a bombshell. When heads turned to see “the girl in the hat.” When I knew how to flirt but not be a tease. When I was the centre of attention and loving every moment.

That is a gift that takes a lot of confidence to pull off. I hope I remember how I danced like tomorrow wasn’t coming. How I had the world in my hands and I was never letting go.

The dress and headpiece I’m wearing are from Salt & Pepper at the Vintage & Cool Fair. No, they’re not the era I grew up in, but they evoked the memory of a time when I was the dancer, and not just (re)tired.

Pretty stuff I’m showing off:

*Dress: Salt & Pepper S&P Dress Audrey by xxSaltandPepperxx (available at Vintage & Cool Fair 2015 – August 21 – September 4)
*Headpiece: Salt & Pepper S&P Audrey Headpiece by xxSaltandPepperxx
(available at Vintage & Cool Fair 2015 – August 21 – September 4)
Shoes: Pure Poison – Andreea Pumps – Maitreya – RARE by Shaleene Kenin (gacha prize)
Hair: “”D!va”” Hair “Iris” (Fatpack) by Marisa Kira (group gift)
Tattoo: [White~Widow] Midnight in Paris – Maitreya Mesh Body by Julie Hastings
Skin: -Glam Affair – Summerv3 – America 02 E by aida Ewing
Body, hands and feet: Maitreya Mesh Body – Lara V1.0 by Onyx LeShelle
Eyes: IKON Promise Eyes – Maldives by Ikon Innovia
Lashes: Mon Cheri *MC* “Falsies” Eyelash by Freya Oliveri

Bench: Cheeky Pea :CP: Sweetwater Bench Burnt by Isla Gealach
Surround: Pixel Mode – Victoria’s Hideaway – Sun Cover by Tya Fallingbridge (gacha prize)
Table: Pixel Mode – Victoria’s Hideaway – Willow Side Table by Tya Fallingbridge (gacha prize)

Pose by the bench

Photo taken using the LumiPro HUD by Stefan Buscaylet

A Certain Kind of Alone

1 Waiting at Home

Yesterday was a very busy day for me at work. I was on the go from the moment I arrived until the moment I escaped the office doors at five. It was one of those days where I had seventeen things on the go at once, and still had another dozen to complete. There was a constant murmur of voices, the phone was ringing, my inbox was humming and every time I looked up, someone was standing at my desk, needing something else from me. A typical Monday in my working world.

At lunch, while most people had fled for a well-deserved break, I made a sandwich and sat in my cubicle, trying to catch up in the relative quiet. I was succeeding, until a distant memory pricked the back of my mind and before I knew it, I was staring into space, remembering another time. A time when I was young, barely more than a child growing up on my parent’s farm. I was taken back to a place I loved to go to be alone. Under a tree in a field far from the house where I would sit and read or daydream, where a brood of newly-hatched quails discovered me as I discovered them. To a moment of a certain kind of alone that I now cherish.

I have never wanted to be in a time and place so much as I wanted to be back there, protected by my father, loved by my mother, with my whole life ahead of me, marveling at the newness that was as much an everyday thing then as spreadsheets and deadlines are to me now. To be that child, discovering that quail’s eyelids blink up instead of down. Feeling the warm summer breeze on my face and listening to the cries of the doves, settling in for an afternoon nap as the baby quails discovered as much of me as I did of them. I was content with a small smile settled on my lips.

All too soon, my colleagues returned, another assignment landed on my desk and the reverie was broken. The breeze became the air conditioning, the cries of doves transformed into the quiet bell of my email notification, but the images I relived remained in my thoughts as a reminder of that certain kind of alone.

Pretty stuff I’m showing off:

Top: Blueberry – Laced Crop Shirt / Clean / – Maitreya – Pixie by Blueberryxx
Jeans: Vinyl – Oakley Jeans – Light Blue- Lara by Sukoshitosuto
Hair: “”D!va”” Hair “Kelly” (Red amber) by Marisa Kira
Tattoo: [White~Widow] Midnight in Paris – Maitreya Mesh Body by Julie Hastings
Skin: -Glam Affair – Summerv3 – America 02 E by aida Ewing
Body, hands and feet: Maitreya Mesh Body – Lara V1.0 by Onyx LeShelle
Eyes: IKON Promise Eyes – Maldives by Ikon Innovia
Lashes: Mon Cheri *MC* “Falsies” Eyelash by Freya Oliveri

Swing: Soy. Dreamy Hanging Chair by Soyoy (available at Collabor88 August 2015)
Stone wall: Mesh Plants – Full Perm Ruins Wall Piece_3 by Reid Parkin
Plants: Studio Skye Alligator Apple Bush (small leaf) by Alex Bader
Trees: HPMD* Garden Tree05 – white 2A+2B by Sasaya Kayo (recoloured)
Building: junk. the poor gentleman’s club shed. white. by Tab Tatham
Table: junk. recycled road sign table. trespass. by Tab Tatham
Chair: junk. recycled road sign chair. dumping. by Tab Tatham

Pose by the swing

Photo taken using the LumiPro HUD by Stefan Buscaylet

Cure For A Headache

1 Shattered

Gee, and I thought I had a headache…

I paid a visit to Cammino e Vivo Capovolto by Mistero Hifeng. It is a limited-time installation at LEA29 and it is definitely worth a trip. It is one of those places that is fine to go to by yourself, to wander and discover the creations of this talented artist.

This venue is as filled with beauty as it is with despair. As I walked about, I felt a sense of reverence for the pain and loss depicted by each vignette. I won’t say I enjoyed it; rather, I felt as if I had been allowed the privilege of having a glimpse of private anguish and loss.

On a happier note, the dress I am wearing from Salt & Pepper is available for this round of Shiny Shabby. It comes with a texture-change HUD to give you a variety of looks.

A little shopping is always better than a painkiller.

*Dress: Salt & Pepper S&P Dress Louise by xxSaltandPepperxx (available at Shiny Shabby June 20-July 15 2015)
Shoes: Bleich – Mesh Stud Plaform – Black by Samanta Bleich (available at Kustom9 June 2015)
Hair: “”D!va”” Hair “Rosa” (Red amber) by Marisa Kira
Skin: -Glam Affair – Summerv3 – America 02 E by aida Ewing (available at Collabor88 June 2015)
Body and hands: Maitreya Mesh Body – Lara V1.0 by Onyx LeShelle
Feet: Slink Mesh Feet (Av) High by Siddean Munro
Eyes: IKON Promise Eyes – Maldives by Ikon Innovia
Lashes: Mon Cheri *MC* “Falsies” Eyelash by Freya Oliveri

Pose: {.:exposeur:.} Back to Black 3 M by RubyStarlight Writer

Location: Cammino e Vivo Capovolto – Mistero Hifeng

Photo taken using the LumiPro HUD by Stefan Buscaylet