I ♥ Good Sales!

With Christmas fast approaching, we most likely will be seeing many designers putting items on sale. I was extremely excited when I received a notecard yesterday stating that Ingenue will be having a 50% Off Sale on all dresses through Wednesday. If you are an admirer of 40s fashion; you most definitely do not want to miss this! I picked up several dresses while I visited the store; the dress featured below is titled Kerria and is absolutely perfect for all the Christmas parties you are sure to attend over the next 25 days or so! The colors blend so perfectly between the system skirt and the flexi attachments. At L$175, you cannot go wrong! The dress is offered in four beautiful colors.

I wonder if it would be too much to hope for a shoe sale from Ingenue? =) ... Just sayin'. Hehe

Clothing: Kerria in Scarlet by Ingenue @ 50% Off Sale
Jewelry: Bullseye in Gold/Smokey Quartz by EarthStones (Group Exclusive)
Hair: Witch in Lady by !lamb.
Skin: Pearl 5 (Peach) by LAQ
Pose: *Pencil 5 by aDORKable Poses
Background by E Dina




* Denotes item provided by designer for review.

Cyber Monday @ Apple May Designs

Apple May Designs is holding a Cyber Monday Sale with super low prices! Items on sale have been placed out just beyond the entrance of the store. All single colors on sale are available for L$75; fatpacks have been included at a discount as well! I'm wearing the Gossip Girl Tank in Red (bra/no bra versions are included with purchase), Everyday Denim in Classic and Shiny Belted Pumps in Red. This sale will end at midnight SLT!

Clothing: [Top] Gossip Girl Tank in Red and [Pants] Everyday Denim in Classic by Apple May Designs @ L$75 Cyber Monday Sale
Shoes: Shiny Belted Pumps in Red by Apple May Designs @ L$75 Cyber Monday Sale

Hair: Paige II in Brown 8 by Dernier Cri @ One.Eleven
Skin: Pearl 5 (Peach) by LAQ
Pose: Take a Look 5 by !BANG
Background by JoesSistah

Shox!

Oh, how I love a new, fantastic pair of shoes! It has been quite a while since [hoorenbeek] released a new pair of athletic shoes, but the wait was well worth the amazing pair of shoes released yesterday! Shox, a virtual remake of the famous Nike Shox, are extremely well made and come in six fantastic color options including black/grey/green, black/grey/orange, black/grey/red, black/white, white/black and white/red. For this weekend only, you can purchase individual pairs for L$200 each or the fatpack for L$600. Normal prices for shoes at [hoorenbeek] are L$520 for single colors and L$2,100 for fatpacks including six colors.

Shoes: Shox in White/Black by [ hoorenbeek ]
Skin: Pearl 4 (Peach) by LAQ
Pose: it gave you a momentary wiggins by Don't Freak Out!
Background by JoesSistah

Week 4 of 52 Weeks of Color - Plum

Plum is most definitely an easier color to put together an outfit with than goldenrod. I had a lot of fun shopping for this challenge, and I discovered a few new stores which I will most likely become a regular of in the near future.

Clothing: [Undershirt] The Instinctive Tank in Eggplant by JANE, [Sweater] Knit Cozy Sweater in Lila/Light Grey by So Many Styles and [Pants] The Waffle Knit Tights in Eggplant by JANE
Jewelry: Aubade Purple by Mariposa (No Longer Available)
Shoes: Flidais Flats in Red Soil by Concrete Flowers
Hair: Paige II in Brown 8 by Dernier Cri - one.eleven exclusive
Skin: Pearl 4 (Peach) by LAQ
Pose: heartless look by flowey. - one.eleven exclusive
Background by JoesSistah

My undershirt and leggings (they are actually the pant part of tights) are from JANE, a cute little store I found via the feeds when they were having a huge sale last week. Unfortunately, the sale is over, but their regular prices are extremely reasonable as well! The Instinctive Tank is a freebie from JANE which comes in thirty-one amazing colors! The Waffle Knit Tights come in packs of three shades of each color at L$50 per pack.

The sweater I am wearing is a new release from So Many Styles titled Knit Cozy Sweater. I know that lilac is not exactly plum, but I enjoy putting different shades together in an outfit. If everything was the same color, it would end up blending all together, and you wouldn't be able to tell anything apart. The sweater fits extremely well and the textures are absolutely beautiful! It makes me want to curl up beside a fire and read a good book! Six color options are available for L$180 each.

The necklace I am wearing is by Mariposa, which is unfortunately now closed. The purple color was an exclusive version of the Aubade necklace that can no longer be purchased. However, you can still purchase other colors of this necklace via the Second Life Marketplace.

My shoes are a Project Themeory exclusive from Concrete Flowers, also newly discovered to me. These adorable flats, titled Flidais Flats, are available in five colors at L$75 each or in a fatpack for L$299. The items in this store look so adorable, and I cannot wait to visit it again!

Like so many other people yesterday, I HAD to visit the exclusive one.eleven shop. As expected, the prices were extremely expensive, but as I tell my real life students - the less you have of something, the more valuable it becomes. I picked up three different items from three different designers which include !lamb., Dernier Cri and flowey. I have been a customer of !lamb. since I was probably only two or three months rezzed in Second Life. Dernier Cri and flowey. are entirely new to me, and I cannot wait to visit their regular shops to see what each designer has to offer. The hair I am wearing is Paige II in Brown 8 by Dernier Cri, and my pose is heartless look by flowey.

My skin is one makeup option of my very favorite skin pack that I own. Makeup 4, which features purple eye makeup, in the Pearl skin pack from LAQ is extremely well made, as are all other skins released by LAQ. I have had the skin for many months, and it never bores me. The makeup options are fantastic; they are very elegant and classy and not at all overdone.

Luna Jubilee's color for next week is sepia, which I am sure will be very interesting. If you are interested in blogging the 52 Weeks of Color, please visit Luna Jubilee's blog.

Black Friday @ PIDIDDLE

It isn't too late to catch the Black Friday deals at Pididdle! Select colors of each item have been marked down to L$55, L$75 or L$95. This is the perfect opportunity for you to grab that item you have had your eye on! The outfit included in my picture below features the Obsessions Top Plain in Egg Shell (L$55) and the NEW High Waisted Tube Skirt in Hot Pink (this color not on sale). I absolutely love the little bow at the top of the skirt! It gives it such a cute look and feminine character. The owner and designer of Pididdle has set out an exclusive color (forest) of the High Waisted Tube Skirt for customers absolutely free! Be sure to drop by before midnight to grab the gift!

Clothing: [Top] Obsessions Top Plain in Egg Shell and [Skirt] *High Waisted Tube Skirt in Hot Pink by Pididdle
Shoes: The Alice Cullen Flats in Ivory by Cherry
Hair: Felicity in Chestnut by ETD (No Longer Available)
Skin: Pearl 8 (Peach) by LAQ
Pose: *Pencil 6 by aDORKable Poses
Background by RubyBlossom




* Denotes item provided by designer for review.

Taylor

I'm so glad that I opened myself up to trying new skins. Over the past month, I have discovered so many fantastic designers who each offer something special and unique. I've known about Adam n' Eve since I first started playing Second Life; however, for some reason it never occurred to me to check out their skins. Believe it or not, the shape that I wear most often is the shape I was 'rezzed' with which was donated by Adam n' Eve. I have tweaked it a bit, but even if I had not it would still have been very beautiful.

Taylor is a new skin from Adam n' Eve which is offered in four tones: Bermuda, Natural, Pale and Tan. Twelve amazing makeup options are offered with the skin; four of which are shown below. It is very evident that the designer has taken a lot of time to make this skin look realistic; the skin features shading, highlighting and random freckles/moles. Each makeup also includes options for normal breasts/larger breasts, pubic hair/no pubic hair, manicure/pedicure tattoos and a hairbase. Individual makeups are available for L$1000 and a fatpack is available for L$7500. Adam n' Eve is also featuring a Black Friday Special in an exclusive makeup for the Taylor skin in all four regular tones; each is available for L$500 and a fatpack is available for L$1800.

Clothing: Lace Leotard in White by Modd.G @ 50% Off Black Friday Sale
Hair: Kitty in Mocha by TRUTH
Skin: *Taylor in [1] Berry, [2] Blush, [3] Citrus and [4] Coral in Tan by Adam n' Eve
Pose: [Top] *Poofy 4 and [Bottom] *Pencil 5 by aDORKable Poses




* Denotes item provided by designer for review.

These are Hot Pants!

After a long break, *LP* Design has returned to the to the fashion world in Second Life! Several new pairs of pants have been put out as the designer's first new releases. If you are looking for your perfect pair of flashy holiday pants, you will definitely be able to find them at *LP* Design. The Moonlight pants are slim fitting and very shiny! These pants are available in five fantastic colors including black, blue, green, pink and red. Single colors are available for L$170 while the entire fatpack is available for L$500.

Clothing: [Top] *Danni Top in Green by Total Knockout (No Longer Available) and [Pants] *Moonlight Pants in Black by *LP* Design
Shoes: Aura Ankle Boot in Nickle by Cherry

Hair: *Enix in Cocoa by TRUTH
Skin: Nina by -Glam Affair- @ L$10 With Love Hunt
Pose: Glitz 5 by !BANG
Background by RubyBlossom




* Denotes item provided by designer for review.

Wind Chill

It isn't every day that you can purchase an amazing shape, stunning skin and adorable lingerie set all for L$100. Lestat Reuven, owner and designer of Siss Boom (formerly Wondrous Strange), has released just such an amazing deal! The Wind Chill shape is a little taller and wider than my normal shape, but she is very well proportioned and her face is absolutely beautiful. The skin is very realistic; it features highlighting and shading in appropriate areas and freckles and moles. My favorite feature of the skin is the eyes! The makeup gives your avatar such an amazing depth while still being very simple and not overdone. The bra and panties, also included in the set, feature a beautiful splash of blue and orange. For a limited time, you can pick up all three for the very low price of L$100.

Clothing: *Wind Chill by Siss Boom
Hair: Dylan in Jaded Blond by fri.day
Skin: *Wind Chill by Siss Boom
Shape: *Wind Chill by Siss Boom
Pose: [1] *Pencil 5 by aDORKable Poses and [2] *Attitude by estetica
Background by RubyBlossom




* Denotes item provided by designer for review.

Giving Thanks

Too often I feel that we, and when we I say we I mean to say especially me, lose sight of what the American holiday of Thanksgiving should truly be about. Too often it is simply about eating more food that you honestly should and visiting family and friends. But, how often do we stop to actually think of all the things that we are truly and abundantly blessed with? Certainly not often enough.

Over the past week or so I have tried to make it a point every day on my real life Facebook account to post something I am thankful for. My posts have been from the big things in my life like my wonderful boyfriend and my family to the 'smaller' things that I rarely think about like having electricity and running water. Even if I continue to post a different thing or person that I am thankful for the the rest of my life (and hopefully I still have quite a few years left in me), there is no way that I could ever possibly list everything. God as so richly blessed me, and I am ashamed to admit that most the time I take it all for granted. An example would be my 'smaller' thanks of electricity and running water. I'm sure that would be nothing small to someone living in a third world country or even to someone who lives in a progressed nation who cannot afford their bills. Unless there was a widespread electrical outage, I have never had to go without either of those.

I am personally going to try hard every day to think of something different that I am thankful for. To me, this will be an excellent exercise which will hopefully in the end will help me to not to take anything, even the 'little' things, for granted.

What I'm Wearing: The dress that I am wearing is a replica of the classic Pilgrim outfit worn by women. The owner of A Touch of Ireland is so extremely generous to me, and yes, I am very thankful for her! AliciaKay Kilara specializes in costumes and has almost anything you could possibly want. Although it is not pictured below, the outfit also includes shoes to match. A Touch of Ireland is most definitely the place to go for all of your costume needs!

Clothing: *Pilgrim Female Dress 2010 by A Touch of Ireland
Shoes: Included with Clothing
Hair: Josephine in Mocha by TRUTH
Skin: Pearl 2 (Peach) by LAQ
Pose: *Poofy 9 Mirror by aDORKable Poses




* Denotes item provided by designer for review.

Simply aDORKable!

If you are looking for your perfect Christmas poses, aDORKable has you covered! Three new, very fun pose sets were released yesterday. Kiss Me NOW! features three male/female poses with a mistletoe which has transfer/no transfer versions. Holiday Dork Cakes included four different cupcake options with five poses each; the cupcake is really cute and is so much fun to play with! Dork Family Christmas is an absolutely adorable sculpted Christmas tree with boxes and ornaments. Six poses are included with the tree and transferable ornaments are included with your purchase.

What I'm wearing... When I thought about decorating a tree for Christmas, I thought about it being a fun, homey event. It's something I enjoy doing with my real life family every year. Normally, we are all in our pajamas while we stand around our tree hanging ornaments. I'm not sure if I have ever purchased pajamas in Second Life since my ava never needs to sleep. However, BOOM released adorable thermal shirts last week that give me that down home feeling. I paired the shirt with a pair of shorts, titled Wei Shorts, and a pair of tube socks also from BOOM.

Clothing: [Shirt] *4 Warmth Thermal in Cherry, [Shorts] Wei Shorts in Army and [Socks] Tube Socks in Red by BOOM
Hair: Cassidy in Thoughtful Brown my fri.day
Skin: Pearl 3 (Peach) by LAQ
Pose: [1] *Kiss Me NOW!, [2] *Holiday Dork Cakes and [3] *Dork Family Christmas by aDORKable Poses




* Denotes item provided by designer for review.

What I Love

Blogger Challenge from StrawberrySingh:

"This week's challenge is blogging about what you love about Second Life. Is it something in your inventory? A person? A feeling? What makes you log back into Second Life everyday?"

Clothing: *Milk Maid by Siss Boom @ L$100
Hair: Kitty in Mocha by TRUTH
Skin: Ania 2 (Peach) by LAQ
Pose: Glitz 2 by !bang
Background by RubyBlossom


What I love about Second Life has changed so much over the course of the past thirteen months. When I first joined, I loved going to parties and participating in dress up contests. I 'made' my real life boyfriend join so that we could dance the night away. We live nearly six hours apart in real life; so, Second Life was an easy way for us to spend time together without really being together. Of course I always prefer to have the real life version of him with me, but for the time being, Second Life Dryden will have to do.

I have never been a big shopper in real life, but from the very start I have loved to shop on Second Life. I am awed and amazed that people can create designs in a virtual world that look so real. I suppose my love for fashion is what eventually lead to my love for photography. Looking back, my first photographs were in all honesty rather horrible. I had no clue as to what windlight settings even were or that I could edit them. I didn't have any poses, and, of course, I most definitely didn't have my own photo studio then. I started posting pictures on Flickr for the weekly contest Lemania Indigo Designs had to win copies of her new releases. I was beyond elated the first time I won. My techniques eventually improved and somewhere along the line someone gave me the suggestion for my current love in Second Life.

I started blogging in June of this year, and while I did take a short break, I have fallen completely in love with it. It enables me to combine my love for fashion and photography and has also allowed me to meet a lot of amazing and extremely generous people along the way. I do not know where I would be without the blogging tips from SweetDeb Kips and Tapika Tomsen or the photography advice from Vanessinha Vectoscope. I know there are many people who do not like to share their secrets, but these three ladies have always graciously answered any question I had. I could not thank them enough. I also could not have done without Lanj Plasker and Rachella Rossini cheering me on the entire way; both of these ladies are always so positive and send me all the amazing sales they hear about and new stores they discover!

So what is it that I really love about Second Life? I can't just boil it down to one thing... It's the time I get to spend with ♥Dryden, the priceless friendships that I have made and the endless and oh so amazing fashion and photography. This is what keeps me coming back.

* Denotes item provided by designer for review.

For Your Head

Cold winter weather is moving in... even to our Second Lives! To help keep your ava's head warm, Secrets Hair recently released winter styles that include hoods and hats. Penelope 2 is a remake of an earlier sytle; the newest version includes a hood up/hood down with nine color options! Both Winter and Winter 2 feature adorable berrets with a cute knot pulled to the side. Winter features a snowflake attached to the berret (nine color options) while Winter 2 features multiple textures (twenty-six total!). Color packs are available for L$200 and fatpacks are available for L$2000. Demos are available free of charge.

Clothing: Winter Sweater Grey by So Many Styles
Hair: *Penelope 2 in Umber by Secrets Hair
Skin: Isabel 1 (Peach) by LAQ
Tattoo: *Glitter Eyeshadow by [ a.e.meth ]
Pose: *Pencil 5 by aDORKable Poses
Background by RubyBlossom

Clothing: *Moody by Siss Boom @ L$100
Hair: [1] *Winter in Umber and [2] *Winter 2 in Umber by Secrets Hair
Skin: Ania 2 (Peach) by LAQ
Pose: *Pencil 5 by aDORKable Poses
Background by RubyBlossom




* Denotes item provided by designer for review.

Just One More...

Just a mere hour or so ago I was so tired and didn't think that I would be able to stay up much longer. However, now that I have learned how to take better photographs, I just had to do one more before I went to bed! The outfit I am wearing is from Siss Boom which is titled Winter Basics. The red sweater with undershirt and beautiful jeans are perfect for casual Christmas or even Thanksgiving wear. The top and bottom are sold as a set which is available at L$100 for a limited time.

Clothing: *Winter Basics by Siss Boom @ L$100
Shoes: The Alice Cullen Flats in Blood Red by Cherry
Hair: Sonya in Mocha by TRUTH
Skin: Pearl 3 (Peach) by LAQ
Pose: Softly Standing by estetica
Background by RubyBlossom




* Denotes item provided by designer for review.

I Could Seriously Kiss Luna Jubilee

For months I have been trying to find a way to make my ava have the smooth lines that I have seen so many other bloggers produce with their pictures. I have actually been considering saving up to buy a new computer even though mine is barely two years old. I want a better graphics card! I'm sure that by now everyone has heard of Luna Jubilee's 52 Weeks of Color Challenge. While on her site, I was checking out some of her 'categories' and noticed that she had something listed as BootCamp. Well, of course that sparked my interest and I clicked it! Low and behold in her Blogger's Boot Camp she has instructions for producing high resolution images. I had already bumped my graphics to ultra and clicked the "high-res snapshot" option in Second Life, but I hadn't increased the size of my photographs! Oh my, what a difference it makes! Since I hadn't redressed from my last blog post, I just went ahead and tried a new photograph with the same shoes. The new picture looks 1,000,000 times better. All I did in Photo Shop was reduce the photograph size to 600 pixels. That's it! With my previous picture I did a lot of touching up to try and not make my legs look so jagged. I'm forever indebted to you, Luna Jubilee! My Second Life does crash every time I take a picture, but I think it may definitely be worth it to get pictures of this quality. If anyone has any idea how to not make my Second Life crash, I would seriously appreciate the input!

Before

After

The Perks of Being a VIP

Purrfect 10 released two new group gifts today. Regular group members can stop by the store to pick up their free pair of Serenity Heels in Denim. VIP group members will receive the denim pair along with Serenity Heels in Paisley. These shoes are absolutely stunning and well worth the L$510 membership fee. VIP members are guaranteed to receive ten exclusive group gifts each year! If you are a shoe lover as I am, you cannot miss this!

Shoes: [Top] Serenity Heels in Denim (Group Gift) and [Bottom] Serenity Heels in Paisley (VIP Group Gift) by Purrfect 10
Skin: Pearl 2 (Peach) by LAQ
Pose: Mistakes We Knew We Were Making by Don't Freak Out!
Background by JoesSistah

Week 3 of 52 Weeks of Color - Goldenrod

The color goldenrod isn't necessarily a color I would normally think of to blog about. However, I can definitely see why Luna Jubilee included in her blogger challenge. The goldenrod is a classic fall flower that first appears at the end of summer and lasts until it begins to frost. It also wasn't as difficult to come up with an outfit as I thought it would be. Donna Flora's Mandy has beautiful yellow tones as well as blues. In the past two challenges, I have made my entire outfit of that week's color. I'm not extremely fond of yellow, however, and didn't want my ava to look completely washed out; so, I most definitely loved the added blue in the dress!

Clothing: Mandy by Donna Flora
Jewelry: Lumiere by Donna Flora
Hair: Bonnie in Mocha by TRUTH (New)
Skin: Pearl 2 (Peach) by LAQ
Pose: *Pencil 5 by aDORKable Poses




* Denotes item provided by designer for review.

Need Some Color?

Do you need a little color in your Second Life? If so, Amacci released new, crazy hair colors this past week which are available in all Amacci styles. The new colors include blue, blueberry, cherry, lilac, lime, red, pink, and purple. Best of all, the crazy color packs are discounted to L$35 until November 30! After the sale, prices will return to L$250 per pack.

Clothing: Fann's Touch by Phoenix Rising (No Longer Available)
Hair: *Kathleen in Red, *Jessica in Lime, *Eva Long in Blue, *Lara in Pink, *Michelle in Blueberry, *Mikki in Cherry, *Mindy in Lilac and *Minna in Purple by Amacci
Skin: Pearl 2 (Peach) by LAQ
Pose: Long Hair 2 by GLITTERATI




* Denotes item provided by designer for review.

Winter Skins @ JeSyLiLo

I've had such a long, real life week which has unfortunately resulted in less second life blog posts. Uuuggghhhh! I have a complete week off from real life work, though; so, hopefully I will get caught back up!

JeSyLiLo released a beautiful new skin last week titled Winter. It is perfect for all of those snow filled occasions you are sure to be participating in for the next three months or so! The skin is offered in three tones (light, tan and dark) and five different makeup choices at L$1200 each or L$4500 for the fatpack. Each makeup has options for freckles/no freckles, small breasts/large breasts, matte/shiny and hairbase/no hairbase.

Clothing: *Snow Flake by Lemania Indigo Designs @ L$100
Hair: Francesca in Mocha by TRUTH
Skin: *Winter (Tan) by JeSyLiLo
Pose: Long Hair 10 by GLITTERATI




* Denotes item provided by designer for review.

Delirium Aquarellist

I am wearing a mixture of designers today. My amazing jeans are a new design from Miseria, titled Delirium. The prim bottom blends beautifully with the pant portion of the jean, and I absolutely love the faded, worn look at the top of the pants. My shirt and shoes are both from Ingenue. The sweater, titled Aquarellist, is only available at the LE.LOOK! location of Ingenue. The shoes, titled Clara, are available at Ingenue's main store in a gatcha machine.

Clothing: [Shirt] Aquarellist in Blush by Ingenue; [Pants] *Delirium Jeans in Fog 2 by Miseria
Shoes: Clara in Hunter by Ingenue
Hair: The Morning After with Bangs in Girl Next Door by Clawtooth
Skin: Ania 2 (Peach) by LAQ
Pose: pose for you by estetica
Background by RubyBlossom




* Denotes item provided by designer for review.