SL is for shopping!!

So I thought about my little self-imposed budget... and decided it was too easy. Between the generous gifts and the current trend for "day sales" (like the Fifty Linden Fridays and it's spinoffs) you can look pretty glam for next to nothing. Which is a great thing in my book!! But... it's still not much of a challenge, and not much worth writing about! So I decided, while I'm doing this little budget, I'll also be on the hunt for some closet staples and signature pieces for my wardrobe. Each week I'll give myself something to find (or readers can send me after things!) and try to stay within a budget in the process. The point isn't to hunt down freebies and sales, although those aren't out of the question either. Just to get some nice items I really like without breaking the bank. :)

This week... well, next week, starting Sunday... my goal is to find a flouncy spring skirt. With my current funds I can give myself L$150 a week. Let's see what we find!

Birdbrained

Lesson number four: Today I learned there's a nest of crows in my rafters.

I'm not sure if this is a common thing in all the Linden Home regions. I'm in the Tahoe theme, which is supposed to be kind of wilderness-y. I get that. But I think the Lindens could tone it down a notch with the "nature sounds."

One moment it will be quiet... and then a cacophony of at least 8 birds start squawking loudly all at once. I didn't notice it too much before, but as I was sitting at home idly throwing some prims around and the constant din was slowly growing on my nerves.

I know, I know, I could just turn my sound down or off. But I like some nature sounds and just think it could be a very pleasant thing if the birds sounded more... well, pleasant. Like a treeful of finches, as opposed to a gang of magpies torturing a starling.

Anyway, that's just what I think. :)

Lessons and more lessons

Lesson number three... if you don't have a trade, Second Life can hurt your bank account.

I fully admit to being an avid shopper, in-world and out. I love fashion and makeup and everything that goes into it, and SL is a lifesaver when I get that shopping urge and don't have the cash to blow in real life. However, SL shopping habits can get quite costly if not kept in check.

When I returned to Second Life I had a small amount of money left over from my last foray in-world. That didn't last long though, as my avatar was stuck in 2008 and needed a facelift pretty badly. Then I decided to take the plunge and go premium so that I could consider landowning eventually, and have a Linden Home to camp out at in the meantime. Following that I bought a few lindens for some furniture Then a few more.

Besides the premium fees my grand total is somewhere in the realm of $12 USD. Definitely not the worse I've done on a spending spree, and I know some people spend a lot more than that, but considering I've been back all of 2 weeks... this could become a big problem fast. It's all too easy to throw in $5 dollars here and $10 dollars there.

So I've decided I either need to curb my spending, or find a way to fund myself in-world. I don't see the first lasting long.... so I've decided to do both. I currently have 1,427 linden dollars. My goal is to make that last until the end of April. This budget will include the stipend from being premium, as I consider that already paid for, and anything I earn in-world. And meanwhile, I'm going to experiment, look around, and find something to do to fund my girlie from within SL. Besides stripping.

This won't be the focus of the blog... (although maybe it should be, since I don't seem to have a focus...) and I won't be spending the whole time telling you about all the wonderful freebies and deals that will make this budget much easier. There's plenty of blogs to do that. This is just a personal project and as such I'll throw out an update now and then. :)

A little piece of land

I have a bad tendency to rush into things. Maybe that's why my interest in things can seem pretty flighty. I've only been back in Second Life a week, but I've already been itching for a place of my own. I don't know why it's important to me, but

So I came back at the right time as the Lindens have just released their Linden Homes. I figured it would be enough for now so I signed up. Being a Washingtonian I immediately loved the Tahoe setting. The houses are cute little one-room builds with lots of big windows, which I also love. And best of all, I'm in the Larch sim, which any good Monty Python fan can appreciate.



I've noticed only a dozen day-sales going on in SL, The Fifty-Linden Fridays as the original and most known. Being a fan of <3Cupcakes though, I've been keeping up with their Monday sales as well, and picked up a lovely skybox from A.D.D. Andel. Now if I only had somewhere to put it! :)

So much to learn...

I've learned another lesson in Second Life today... I am no longer smarter than my eye lashes.

I used to be really good with prim lashes!! But after a long conversation about them, the Fashion Emergency group (I missed those guys!) told me I HAD to try Lelutka's Diva lashes. They sound like a great idea... individual lash prims that you can customize to any eye, and more importantly to me... they don't float on top of your hair at the wrong angle! So I hopped over and picked up the lashes, and was all set to go.

Two hours later I looked like I had caterpillars on my eyes and had probably lost a few of the prims inside my skull. I tossed those and started with a new copy, and eventually managed to make them form the shape of an eye. Kind of. I still think they look like they're going in every direction and I haven't managed to get them spaced quite well enough. But I'll keep working on them and see if I can't get them right.

Meanwhile, I'm wondering if it wouldn't have been easier to just get the girl a barette and pull her hair out of her face.

Where is everyone going???

I was going to write this yesterday but got distracted with the new Linden Homes.



I've been learning and re-learning a lot of things in Second Life since my return.



The first thing I've learned-- people move a lot!!



I went to do some shopping Tuesday and realized over half of my landmarks no longer lead to what they're supposed to, if they led to anything. So my shopping excursion turned into an LM-updating excursion as I went around trying to relocate my favorite stores.

I've gotta wonder what makes SL-ers so transient... although I can understand it too. There's a lot of good reasons to move up and out... needing more room, trouble with landowners and surrounding businesses... the list could go on and on, I'm sure.

And of course, some of them have just grown out of their britches. It's cool in a way to see those little shops I loved two years ago now have their own sims in some cases. I just wanna go pinch their cheeks and say "Awww, look how big you've gotten!" Yeah, I'm going to be a horrible aunt someday.

How does it happen???

One day back in SL....

And my inventory is already a thing to be feared.

Haha, I guess that's what I get for coming back on Valentines Day!

Oh god, not her again...

So did you hear who's back in Second Life™?

... ... ...

What do you mean no? =\

Hahaha. So, almost two years ago I left SL and haven't been back since. There's no big story behind it... I wasn't in a coma, nor was I taking care of a sickly relative, nor hiking in the Appalachian mountains... I could make excuses about college taking up my time (as it eventually would have) but, to put it simply and honestly, I was just twenty and flighty and I moved on. While I'm being honest... I never really felt my place in SL. I wasn't a builder or a designer, I didn't have any grand fantasy to fulfill, and I wasn't especially interested in the pixelsex. To me SL was a brief but amusing social observation.

I did however, meet some amazing friends back then who I was sorry to leave. So if any of you guys happen to read this (and remember who I am!) I do miss you guys!!

Recently, I've gotten the bug again... not sure when it bit me but I found my self thinking about getting back into SL. Then yesterday I went ahead and downloaded it again. So here I am, giving it another shot. Who knows, maybe this one will be productive!

I haven't decided if I'm tracking down those old friends or not... they may not be as I remember them... which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but perhaps I should let them get on with their lives and start anew on my own. I really would like to see them though... saying hi wouldn't hurt. I dunno.

I'm off to go throw around some lindens and get this poor girl caught up with the times. Happy Valentines Day!!