Frozen Margarita, Please (or "My Problem with AADD")

Now that I have everything *almost* together again, I'm working on the land adjacent to my retreat that I just got back (see "Putting it All Back Together"). I'm working on the back beach area that leads up to where my stables will be located. I needed something fun, something beachy, something that would fill the dull color of sand when not facing the blue water. I needed my trusty "search" button :P

I entered "tiki bar" into search and decided that I wanted to try to feature someone who had great product but remained low on the traffic count. I scrolled all the way to the bottom. I found what seemed to be exactly what I was looking for... and with a traffic count of only 6! I pressed "teleport" and arrived at an amazingly huge and full parcel.

I arrived at Tiki Supplies located in Jadu. What I saw on arrival wasn't exactly what I had typed in. There were awesome club runways complete with stripper poles, DJ equipment, all sorts of fun things! I used to own Club Aldon, a stripper/night club and this stuff was exactly what I was looking for when I was trying to get my building set up.

OK, dami... let's not get distracted... you didn't come here for that! (Sorry folks, doesn't take much for me to want to buy everything in sight). Back to the task at hand. Ah, yes. The tiki bar :P

I turned my sight in the opposite direction and was more than impressed with what they had to offer in the way of beach themed furnishings. Some of the items are a little more... ahem... risque... than others. I had to hop on a stool marked with a very mature theme just to see what it did :P

OK... I'm getting distracted again. Back to the... OOOooohhh a POOL!!! I couldn't resist hopping in the pool and taking in some sun. The pool was really nicely done. It was complete with plants, chairs, lamps, and even a float! I began wondering where on my property I could put it! The price was amazing too! I'm not sharing that with you here. You will have to stop by and see for yourself :P Here is the slurl again: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Jadu/186/93/432

After trying out just about everything they had on the property, I settled for a nice tiki bar set complete with 6 chairs and a rug, and also 2 different potted palm tree arrangements. I promptly took my purchases home and put them on my land. I think the bar will be a complete hit at my next party! I just need to find someone who can bartend for me while I have fun and dance with my friends.

While I'm behind the bar, can I get you something? How about a Frozen Margarita?

Putting it All Back Together

About a month ago, Linden Labs made a mistake and seized my home parcel. I've been fighting with tickets and live concierge support trying to get this all straightened out and had given up on getting it all resolved. It took them 2 1/2 weeks to take action on my ticket, but they finally delivered my cherished retreat back to me. The only problem was that I would have to put everything back the way it was and all of it had been returned in clusters. I didn't know where anything was! What made things worse is that under normal circumstances everything in those clusters *should* be in the same position it was in when it was returned... it was all a scrambled mess. Lag can do strange things in Second Life and there are no hard "laws" of physics there. I began the tedious task of rezzing a little at a time, taking it back into my inventory piece by piece, and replacing everything where it was. Some of my stuff is still missing, but I did retrieve my bathroom sink that had managed to rez at 4000 meters above sea level and my Xcite bed that had ended up floating in the sky above a neighbor's house in the next sim. I've finally gotten everything back fairly close to where it was and I'm very happy to have my beautiful retreat back.

After working for 2 days on the parcel, I began to look at front lagoon (there are 2 lagoons on my property). It was very simple and not much had been done to it except for a waterfall and dock. This place needed work! My friend Neph found some waves and splashes in his inventory and he stirred up the water a bit and also placed a huge rock in the middle of the lagoon. I immediately took my mermaid form and got into the water!

I know in my first post I told you I was a vampire... but this is Second Life! I can be whatever I want to be! Natalia Zelmanov has written a wonderful blog, Mermaid Diaries, complete with tutorials and her adventures as a mermaid. She was my inspiration to become a part time mermaid and she has lots of cool stuff in her store, Sirena Hair (not just hair btw). She even has a tutorial on how to become a mermaid! Stop by and check her out!!! She has become one of my favorite bloggers as well as hair designers! That hair I'm wearing in the mermaid pic is one of hers :P

After putting in waves, rocks, and mermaid pose balls, I decided I needed some fun sea creatures to share my time in the lagoon with. I visited Animania. They have some of the coolest animals on the grid! I was greeted by a curious dragonfly and a sweet hummingbird on arrival! If you join the group you can even get a free gift! There are teleporters directly in front of the landing point that will take you straight to the animals that you are interested in. There are so many varieties of animals that do all sorts of things. All are animated and they have a very realistic look to them. I found "Sea Life" among the teleporters and began my shopping.

After my visit to Animania, and being quite a few Linden lighter in the purse (I managed to spend a couple thousand Linden), I headed back to New Tolmussen to introduce my new friends into their home. I purchased a bottle nose dolphin, a manta ray, a few fish, and some aquatic plants. The Orca in the background was from Animania as well, but I got her on a previous trip :P

The dolphin was easy to set up. All I had to do is drop him in the water and follow the blue menu answering questions about how far he was allowed to swim, how often to jump, and all the sorts of things that dolphins do. The manta ray was a little more difficult for me. He has to have a rock that tells him how far he can venture and my lagoon wasn't quite as large as he needed. I kept getting a message that his swim area was too close to the next sim and he could be lost... and he did end up getting lost. Animania does have a cool feature that will allow your animal to email you and let you know that he is lost and where to come and retrieve him though.

After adding in my new friends, It was time to kick back and enjoy the fruits of my labor. My parcel was returned to me, *almost* all of my precious possessions were back in place, and I had a beautiful lagoon filled with gorgeous living creatures. What more can a vampire/mermaid ask for in a day's work?

Hmmmmm.... does that make me one of those evil sirens???

Ahhhh.... Relaxation :)

When it's time to start anew, the very first thing that has to be done is to get in the right frame of mind. Nothing can do that better than finding nature again. Just to sit on a picnic blanket with a special friend sharing a snack, some wine, and some great conversation can put you back at ease and into a comfort zone.

I took care of a little business early in the evening and finally got time to relax for a while with Neph Gloom. He found the most beautiful spot to relax, share a picnic snack, a nice bottle of wine, and good conversation.

Ancient Woodland Garden Center is a beautiful island located in Headtrip, The island is owned by Web March, who did a wonderful job with the designing and landscaping. There are beautiful shade trees that actually have shadows that move with the wind, gazebos, rolling hills, streams, and bridges. The colors of the foilage were magnificent and there was a beautiful blanket of flowers on the ground. The fireflies danced through the trees, and the cobblestone paths made for a wonderful guide. We spent quite a while walking around the sim looking at the ferris wheel, the lighthouse, and the sailboats. We even saw a couple of cows :P

We found our perfect place for a picnic underneath a huge sculpted tree. There was a picnic blanket complete with a picnic basket, plates of fruit, and glasses of wine. We sat on the blanket and enjoyed the sights and sounds of our surroundings. It wasn't long before I had forgotten all of the stresses of Second Life and soon I realized that I was actually enjoying the first day of my second Second Life.

Thank you, Neph for finding such a wonderful and relaxing place. You know I needed it :)

My New Beginning

Every once in a while all of us go though a time where we need a change in our lives. Me, being an avatar, found that I needed a change in my Second Life. Hey, why not? My human can take control of her life... why can't I?

Just a lil background on me: I've been in SL since February 2009. Yes, my profile says my rezday is in November of 2008. The truth of the matter is that I first rezzed in SL in November but could't figure out how to put on my hair let alone figure out how to navigate my way through the grid. Fast forward a few months later... with the help of some friends... I finally ventured into the grid and haven't turned back. I've become a true resident :)

I've had many wonderful adventures and have met many great people along the way. Some have come and gone, some have remained good close friends. Some will hold a special place in my heart forever. Some I'm glad I don't have to deal with again (just bein' honest here).

I am a vampire just so you know. Please don't hold that against me :P

I'm not one of those vampires that go around biting people just to be biting them. Those vampires that stalk the newbies in the welcome areas and bite without warning give us all a bad name.

I'll be sharing bits and pieces of my past Second Life experience in future posts, but for now I want to concentrate on making this second Second Life for myself. That is what this blog will be about. I have no clue which direction I will travel in, and I have no idea where I will arrive. All I know is I need a change and that change began last night.

I own quite a bit of land. Most of it I have owned since my second week. Last night I decided that is where my change would begin. I cleared off my entire parcel in New Tolmussen and have it subdivided and put up for sale. If any of you are looking for a good land bargain the asking price is less than 4L$ a square meter (shameless plug, I know). I have almost 1/2 of the entire region up for sale. I have decided to keep the 8296 sqare meter plot in Klancaster which holds my business for now. That should be enough for me to live on and still be able to use it for a business should I decide to keep that up.

Well, that is my little introduction to the beginning of my second Second Life. It's time for me to login now and see what the evening has in store. I'm so excited. I'll tell you about it all tomorrow !