Big Yellow Taxi

Late last night
I heard the screen door slam
And a big yellow taxi
Took away my old man
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
‘Till it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

~ “Big Yellow Taxi” by Joni Mitchell

A casual summer look starts with a lace top from Apple May for Shiny Shabby. She has made several versions of this top including those to fit the Freya and Isis bodies from Belleza (yay!) and the lace is a lovely texture for many looks. I paired it with a flirty skirt from LouLou Teichmann and darling flat sandals from Monicuzza Babenco, both also featured at Shiny Shabby. My great necklace set is Mirja Mills’ great boho set for My Attic, which goes perfectly with the casual clothes I have on. I am showing ValiantCo’s terrific cab sofa for Uber, part of their city theme. It includes a ton of single poses and cuddles and a few adult.

Shyla Diggs has released a new skin for Uber with eyebrows in separate shades beyond the typical blonde, brown, etc. I am really glad to see this because sometimes a blonde brow is just too light, for example. The makeups, as always, are subtle but fashionable and the features are gorgeous. Because of the dark blonde brows, I was able to wear this shade of M4ri1yn Magic’s hair for Shiny Shabby, two braids which come with and without the hat, which also includes its own variations via HUD. The whole look is a little folksy, a bit of pop, just like Joni Mitchell’s song.

Hair: Tableau Vivant \\  Koca hair [with hat ] by M4ri1yn Magic for ~Tableau Vivant~, available at Shiny Shabby *

Skin: -Belleza- Amber Uber SK 1 Dk Bl by Shyla Diggs for –Belleza, available at Uber *

Eyes: {D.A} – Marble – Deep by Soleil Reid for Dead Apples

Body: -Belleza- Isis by Tricky Boucher for –Belleza– *

Top: Lace Tops (Belleza Isis) – White by Apple May for Apple May Designs, available at Shiny Shabby *

Skirt: Bauhaus Movement – Switchback  MIDNIGHT Skirt by LouLou Teichmann for Bauhaus Movement, available at Shiny Shabby *

Necklace set: .:EMO-tions:. * ABIGAIL * by Mirja Mills for.:EMO-tions:., available at My Attic *

Nail applier: [LB Chrome Brown] *Belleza* Manicure and Pedicure by Santana Lumiere for La Boheme

Shoes: *YS&YS* Santorini Flats Mail (Belleza) by Monicuzza Babenco for*YS&YS*, available at Shiny Shabby *

Couch: [Con.] Checkered Cab Seat – A by ValiantCo for Consignment, available at Uber *

To Fly

“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.” ~ J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

It’s time for a little springtime fantasy, and Kiddo Oh’s sexy wrapped dress starts it off with beautiful side cut-outs for a bit of peekaboo. Joined with AvaGardner Kungler’s necklace for the Cosmopolitan Room and a crown from YukaChoco Magic from the Fantasy Collective (which closes soon!) and here we have a gorgeous otherworldly princess, one who still flies, especially with her darling pet by Sh0rtie, also from the Fantasy Collective. (The wings flap most delightfully as it sits on your shoulder!)

M4ri1yn Magic made this very photogenic mesh hair for the Shiny Shabby event. It comes in the many colors and textures he offers with his hair on a handy HUD. However, I show it here in an ethereal white.

And the genesis of the look was, of course, Monicuzza Babenco’s fantasy skin for the LeLutka mesh heads. With 10 brow choices in black and white (which includes fantasy designs like the dots on my head and chin), 10 eye makeups and 10 lipsticks, it’s a beautiful fantasy applier for the mesh heads. Three tones are available: drow, vamp and then this grayish fantasy tone, which she calls “Zafiro.” She also includes eyes and body appliers, so I was able to put together this whole gorgeous look, and I had a great time testing out the many looks available. What a beautiful way to make a fantasy fly!

Hair: ~Tableau Vivant~ Fresh mess by M4ri1yn Magic for ~Tableau Vivant~, available at Shiny Shabby *

Head applier: *YS&YS* Ginny Zafiro Skin Applier – Lelutka Mesh Head by Monicuzza Babenco for*YS&YS*, available at The Fantasy Collective *

Mesh head: .LeLutka.Mesh Head-EVER v1.1 by JadenArt for LeLutka *

Eyes: *YS&YS* – Fantasy Eyes   Sea by Monicuzza Babenco for*YS&YS*, available at The Fantasy Collective (comes with the above applier) *

Body: Maitreya Mesh Body – Lara V3.3 by Onyx LeShelle for Maitreya

Dress: Persephone Cerulean by Kiddo Oh for .::Dead Dollz::., available at The Secret Affair *

Crown: Pamela *Gold* by YukaChoco Magic for chocolate atelier,  available at The Fantasy Collective

Gem: #adored – stick on gem – lapis lazuli – star – face by Constance Daehlie for #adored, available at AnyBody *

Necklace: (Kunglers Extra) Perola – golden & teal by AvaGardner Kungler for Kunglers Extra, available at the Cosmopolitan Room *

Nail applier: #adored – mood swing mani {maitreya} by Constance Daehlie for #adored, available at AnyBody *

Pet: [SWaGGa] Flutter – Sea by sh0rtie for [SWaGGa], available at The Fantasy Collective

Poses by Rogan Diesel for DieselWorks Animations *

The Red Room

“Of all the hardships a person had to face, none was more punishing than the simple act of waiting.” ~ Khaled Hosseini

He pulled me close, and I gasped. Beneath his impossibly long lashes, Tristan Grape’s hooded dark searing eyes scanned me. “Before I kiss you with my hot lips, I must ask you, Harper, have you finished your blog entry?”

I dropped my eyes in shame, heat filling my face as I turned 50 shades of red in embarrassment. “I… I did not, Tristan. I was having problems with fitted mesh and my boots needed refitting and I kept losing a hand when I put on my hair and I crashed 20 times.” I shuddered at the memory of adjusting the skybox and testing the windlight with 50 shades of blue density.

He sighed. “You know what this means, Harper?”

I blinked. “I lost my Flickr Pro privileges?”

He shook his head solemnly. “No, it means you must go to the Red Room.” When he said “Red Room,” I heard an echo as if he had turned on his voice morph in SL. My heart fluttered. Now I would know about Tristan’s Red Room, that forbidden skybox of pain and pleasure, that mesh enclosure of virtue and vice, that mysterious cube in the sky made by Niemack Saarinen that took only 32 prims on his spacious Homestead. I was going to enter the forbidden zone!

He rezzed a chaise from Rogan Diesel and after I clicked through several poses, finding a comfortable position, he moved me up into the skybox. Where I waited. And waited. I fluffed my mesh skirt from Ivy Burner and checked the buttons straining on the leather vest, hoping I showed some Rock Attitude. I retied the laces on my boots from Circe Ishtari and admired their shiny materials-ready texture. I readjusted my fishnets from Bax Coen and clicked my nail HUD to try all 12 colors (not 50 shades but come on, it’s only 5L!) from Giela Delpaso’s generous applier for the Runway Perfect Hunt. Twisting my heart-shaped ring from Maxi Gossamer that I just got at FaMESHed, I clicked the light fixtures on and off… on and off… on and off.

Wisps of my straight asymmetrical hair from M4ri1yn Magic floated against my cheek. I checked all 50+ shades of hair M4ri1yn offers on his HUDs while I waited. I admired my spanking new skin from Shyla Diggs (pun intended), enjoying the vibrant makeups and her beautiful features. (I am so glad Shyla is back!) I clicked some more, changing the color of the stones in my heart-shaped pendant from Maxi Gossamer. Click… click… click. I sighed. Click… click… click. As I waited, my heart beat faster and faster in anticipation of what would happen in this red room.

And then I saw something that made my heart stop:

“Tristan Grape is offline.”

Ugh, fifty shades of f’ed up.

“Tators, baby.” ~ Tristan Grape

Hair: ~Tableau Vivant~ Valentin Hair (regular) – FatPack by M4ri1yn Magic for Tableau Vivant, available at FaMESHed *

Skin: -Belleza- Ria SK 9 Dk with -Belleza- Sk cleavage (Tattoo) by Shyla Diggs and Tricky Boucher for -Belleza- *

Eyes: .ID. Delicate Eyes / Brown by Audrey Lamede for Insufferable Dastard

Outfit: ~Sassy!~ Rockitude vest+skirt by Ivy Burner for ~Sassy!~, available at the Rock Attitude Fashion Fair *

Necklace and Ring: MG – Necklace – Kinbaku Heart – Short – SILVER and MG – Rings – Kinbaku Heart – Large – SILVER by Maxi Gossamer for Maxi Gossamer, available at FaMESHed *

Hands: Slink Mesh Hands (av) Casual Left and Slink Mesh Hands (av) Casual Right by Siddean Munro for Slink

Nail appliers: Nailed It – Slink – The Runway Perfect Set HUD by Giela Delpaso for Nailed It, available from the Runway Perfect Hunt *

Stockings: BAX Ornament Leggings Fishnet long low-waist by Bax Coen for Bax Coen *

Boots: Tokyo.Girl . Myr Boots . Orenji by Circe Ishtari for Tokyo Girl *

Skybox: iDoM \\ The Red Room by Niemack Saarinen for iDoM *

Chaise: Diesel Works – Elvira Ottoman (Cerise/Black) by Rogan Diesel for DieselWorks Animations *

Poses by Valencia Southard for Marukin

Bored

Life, friends, is boring. We must not say so.
After all, the sky flashes, the great sea yearns,
we ourselves flash and yearn,
and moreover my mother told me as a boy
(repeatingly) “Ever to confess you’re bored
means you have no

Inner Resources.” I conclude now I have no
inner resources, because I am heavy bored.
Peoples bore me,
literature bores me, especially great literature,
Henry bores me, with his plights & gripes
as bad as Achilles,

who loves people and valiant art, which bores me.
And the tranquil hills, & gin, look like a drag
and somehow a dog
has taken itself & its tail considerably away
into the mountains or sea or sky, leaving
behind: me, wag.

~ “Dream Song 14” by John Berryman

Let me say right off, I am NOT bored. Not with SL or what I am showing. I am merely amused today with John Merryman and had to share this poem, which always appealed to me. Whenever someone pipes up in Skin Addiction that they are bored, I always say something like Merryman’s mother. Then I suggest they go out and about in SL or else log off and find a good book to read. There is so much to explore in this world!

I like running around the grid in something kind of non-themed and cute so entrance into any adventure is guaranteed. This gorgeous new dress from AvaGardner Kungler is a great pick because it combines pattern with solid, an all-in-one that can get you from needing a skirt to prancing around a garden. I love the Mary Janes Sissy Pessoa is selling at FaMESHed with texture-change socks. Her mesh is well-proportioned and as with everything Sissy does, beautifully textured. I am sure these shoes are going to show up again on my feet. When I go out and about, I make sure I carry my inventory in a big bag (because it’s big) and this almost-free bag from Temperance Snoodle does the trick.

Circe Ishtari of Tokyo Girl had backed off making skins for a time. She hand-draws them, which is time-consuming for her and with RL things going on, she wasn’t finding the time. She followed her muse with several hair releases and mesh fashions. But she is back, gloriously, at Skin Fair 2014 with three new skins, one of which is the one I am showing. Available in five tones with appliers for boobs and butt (but not hands or feet, regrettably), all three of the skins include a makeup and natural version. I topped my look with M4ri1yn Magic’s darling top knot from the Attic, available with his awesome textures via HUD, which one can click around to test looks to avoid boredom. Love the wisps! (There’s my next suggestion when someone says they are bored—”Go click something!”)

“I’m bored’ is a useless thing to say. I mean, you live in a great, big, vast world that you’ve seen none percent of. Even the inside of your own mind is endless; it goes on forever, inwardly, do you understand? The fact that you’re alive is amazing, so you don’t get to say ‘I’m bored.” ~ Louis CK

Hair: ~Tableau Vivant~ Gloster Hair – Fatpack by M4ri1yn Magic for Tableau Vivant, available at The Attic *

Skin: Tokyo.Girl Skin Inari . Sunkissed . Makeup by Circe Ishtari for Tokyo Girl, available at Skin Fair 2014 (Sim 2) *

Eyes: {S0NG} :: Inka~ Lost Eye by Funeral Plutonian for S0ng, available at Kustom9

Dress: (Kunglers) Lilian Blouse and Skirt – Art by AvaGardner Kungler for Kunglers *

Handbag: *SB* Sola brown tote by Temperance Snoodle for Sheik Bags

Shoes: Baiastice_Anna Pump-choco by Sissy Pessoa for Baiastice, available at FaMESHed *

Poses by Olaenka Chesnokov by oOo Studio

Elegance

Elegance isn’t solely defined by what you wear. It’s how you carry yourself, how you speak, what you read. ~ Carolina Herrera

I have always been a big proponent of elegance, which features beauty and simplicity and a certain quiet rightness to things. People can speak of elegance in code, elegance in math or philosophy, but here I hope to represent it in self-presentation. My beautifully textured dress from Ariadne Garrigus certainly conveys the idea. With a simple palette, she covers her dress in beads of varying sizes over a satiny fabric but with a casual silhouette that includes a strappy criss-cross back. It’s purely sexy in a sleek elegant way. BabyChampagne Sass’s gorgeous peep-toe slingbacks and simple jewelry from Maxi Gossamer complete the look.

The inspiration for the look was Shantia Soulstar’s exclusive new skin for Skin Fair 2014. In trying on several skins for preview, this one definitely caught my eye with its elegant beauty and rich tone. (I shot it kind of overlit, I realize, but I wanted the gorgeous features to really show.) Shantia sells this skin in seven tones with 10 eyeshadows and 10 lipsticks and includes dark, light and no brow options. It’s a really captivating skin from a creator I had not tried before.

And of course, I have been looking for the perfect chance to show these dreads from M4ri1yn Magic. He has created a very interestingly engineered hair piece—there are two pieces actually: the dreads themselves and then the wisps. This ensures the pieces will fit on your head. His HUD includes tones from white to dark with blonde, red and dark in between. It’s a fresh thought process from M4ri1yn and not like his other hair, and I love it!

“An elegant woman is a woman who despises you and has no hair under her arms.” ~ Salvador Dalí

Hair: ~Tableau Vivant~ Hill – Dreads series by M4ri1yn Magic for Tableau Vivant *

Skin: Zoul Creations – Meili – Tone 4 – Dk Brows with Zoul Creations – Meili – Tone 4 – Lips 06 and Zoul Creations – Meili – Tone 4 – Eyeshadow 01 by Shantia Soulstar for Zoul Creations, available at Skin Fair 2014 (Sim 1) (opens March 14) *

Eyes: PC pearl – bog wood – large medium by Lano Ling for Poetic Eyes

Dress: ***ArisAris AA31 boasts Dress by Ariadna Garrigus for ArisAris *

Jewelry: MG – Necklace and Earrings – DewDrop Glass Bead by Maxi Gossamer for Maxi Gossamer, available at FaMESHed *

Hands: Slink Mesh Hands (av) Elegant Left and Slink Mesh Hands (av) Elegant1 Right by Siddean Munro for Slink

Nail appliers: Flair – Nail Hud Add On – Slink Avatar Enhancement – Set 144 by Sasy Scarborough for Flair *

Shoes: {{BSD Design studio}}Dancing queen black by BabyChampagne Sass for {{BSD Design studio}} *

Poses from the Geisha set by Tutys for Tutys

Spring Blossom

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. ~ Marcel Proust

Today it was 60 degrees out and yes, you bet I was out on my bike! My cuffs got sprayed with water but I got a new fender thing in back so no stripe up the back! And it was puddle wonderful outside! I am waiting for the blossoms to bloom and Saya Littlething’s kimono for the Fashion Pride event, which is a fundraiser for the AIDS Committee of Toronto, sponsored by RGF Estates, is the closest I could find today. Giela Delpaso’s nails (which I wear here but you can barely see—sorry) are also being sold at this event. I picked up geta half price from Yuri Trice at the Slink West opening. It’s fun to peek in all the different places and see all the items that have been made to go with Slink!

The big news is, of course, that Skin Fair is opening in a few days (March 14). I have seen some amazing skins at the preview I attended, and I will be dedicating myself to sharing my favorites with my readers. The first is Sawsan Secretspy’s Yuki skin, which is one of two she is offering as an exclusive at Skin Fair. Sawsan includes 5 beautiful makeups and a natural skin with appliers and a butt applier and offers the skin in Tan, Bronze and Dark Tan. I think you can see how beautifully delicate the skin is, perfect for spring. You will find Sawsan’s store on Sim 1 of the Skin Fair (see below).

Mr. M4ri1yn Magic has made this darling unisexy ponytail for Collabor88. With wisps of hair that curl away from the face, it’s great for RP or just pretty looks like this one. I couldn’t resist using the Monsoon hud with bright color combos to match Saya’s kimono.

“Merrily, merrily shall I live now,
Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.”

~ William Shakespeare

Hair: ~Tableau Vivant~Low hair – (Ladies) with ~Tableau Vivant~ Low Hair HUD – Monsoon by M4ri1yn Magic for Tableau Vivant, available at Collabor88 *

Skin: .::WoW Skins::. Yuki Tan 04 by Sawsan Secretspy for .::WoWSkins::., available at Skin Fair (Sim 1) (opens March 14) *

Eyes: .ID. Bright Eyes / Reg / EarthSpriung Blossom by Audrey Lamede for Insufferable Dastard

Kimono: *::Schoen::* Kimono gown typeII for Fashion Pride by Saya Littlething for Schoen, available at Fashion Pride, opens today! *

Hands: Slink Mesh Hands (av) Casual Left and Slink Mesh Hands (av) Elegant Right by Siddean Munro for Slink

Nail Appliers: Nailed It – Slink – The Fashion Pride Set by Giela Delpaso for Nailed It, available at Fashion Pride, opens today! *

Feet: Slink Mesh Feet (Av) Flat by Siddean Munro for Slink

Geta: :::LP::: Geta Sandals L [Female] – Cherry by yani Tryce for Le Primitif, available at Slink West

Poses from the Geisha set by Tutys for Tutys