Which Lily am I?

When I was 35, I had a crisis about crossing a demographic line, and this prompted me into finally getting a tattoo. I'd been thinking about getting one since my early 20s, but I had no idea what image I'd want on my body for the rest of my life. When I turned 35, I knew I had to do something momentous, so I scoured old books for cute 1950s/60s illustrations, and found, in a cookbook, a line drawing of a chicken. I love chickens, and I love vintage illustrations, so this drawing was perfect! My bf at the time was a graphic artist, so he copied it, added chicken tracks, and I took the drawing to a tattoo artist in San Francisco who was recommended to me. You can't tell by the photograph, but the chicken tracks go all the way around my ankle.

I'm very happy with my tattoo, and after I got it, I saw why people get more than one. I kept thinking, "What's my next tattoo going to be?!" But the idea of coming up with another image I wanted on my body forever...well, I couldn't think of anything. But now, I'm thinking how much I like playing the part of Lily in SL, and how I love the name, and how I do like the flowers quite a bit...do you see where I"m going with this?

I'd like to see some photographs of Lilies that I can use for a tattoo. Probably the best is to send me links to images online. When I pick one, I'll have an artist render it for me, and figure out where it will go. The winning entry will get...hmm I don't know--I'll have to think on that a bit. But I'll document the process for this blog.

So, hurry up and send me those links! And thanks in advance for your help!

Time for Renewal

I'm on a long weekend trip to the land of cheese, visiting a friend who is here visiting her mother. She brought her boy with her and I brought mine. And actually quite unexpectedly, I am having a more relaxing time than I've had in ages.

We got here late Thursday night, and my friend, Zru, got into town on Friday. That night we went to a local restaurant for a nice dinner--the perfect end to a nice, low-key day. Saturday, though, we picked up the pace a bit.

First stop: The Flying Pig. It's a funky little place, with metal crafty sculpture things for sale, wine by the glass, and WONDERFUL coffee. I got my usual Americano w/4 shots, and was able to officially start my day.

Next stop: Krohn's Cheese. Let me tell you something about myself: I. Love. Cheese. Without a doubt, this is one of the most wonderful things ever to happen to milk gone bad. I love smooth, mild cheeses. I am nuts over Huntsman. And I absolutely ADORE a beautiful aged cheddar. (Recently I visited a new cheese shop near home, and bought some of their 10 year old aged cheddar, @ $35.00/lb. Yes, I know: "Yikes." But it was worth every goddamn penny.) So, anyway, Krohn's has a very nice 5 year old extra sharp cheddar, for only $8.99/lb. so I bought a pound of it to take home. It's very very sharp, but smooth, without that sour aftertaste that some aged cheddars seem to have. The boy and I agreed it was a righteous cheese. Aside from that cheese, I bought another dairy's 5-y.o. cheddar, and a pound of the award winning Mozzerella. Fortunately the shop also sells ice packs and freezer bags, so we were able to keep it cold till we got back to my friend's place.

After the cheese shop, we went to The Men's Mall. That's not the real name, but what the locals call it. It's actually Mills FleetFarm. They sell everything a guy needs for his truck-driving or farming needs. It's like Walmart and Home Depot rolled into one. I found a really cute pork pie hat for my boy, but he refuses to wear a hat. I had to practically get him in a hammerlock just to have him try one on. And he looks soooooo freaking cute in a hat! The boy doesn't know what he's missing out on. I would love to have a head that fit into a hat. But between the size of my noggin, and my big mop of hair...well, I need a size 5-7/8s, which is hard to come by. (Note to self: go to the men's department of a department store and find a hat for the summer.) The most interesting items at FleetFarm were the camouflage lingerie. Camisoles, bras and panties, slips, etc., in a couple choices of color: traditional green hunter camouflage; and, BRIGHT ORANGE, so when you're lounging in the woods with your man as he tries to bag a deer, you won't be shot accidentally, since you'll be in your neon orange bikini. Mmhm...it's true.

Next stop was lunch at the Titletown Brewing Company, in Green Bay. Ok, now, folks from Wisconsin, please don't get all up in my shit about this, but I'm sorry...Titletown??? WTF? Titletown sounds stupid. Green Bay is a great name. People know that the Packers won the title. (They did, right? I honestly don't follow sports.) Yeesh. Well anyway, at least the food at the brew pub was really good. Zru and I got a beer sampler and tried a number of the varieties available. Oh, and they have a really nice root beer they make there, too.

After lunch we went to the Goodwill store and I got the boy a couple of pairs of pants (he's at that age where he's growing like the proverbial weed). Then we headed home, I took a nap, and relaxed, wondering what it might be like to live up here: great coffee, great cheese, Lake Michigan, and the Interwebs. What more could a girl want?

I've had a Meta Makeover!

Cue music...roll video tape...protect the children: My home in SL was chosen to be featured on the show Meta Makeover, hosted by the lovely Saffia Widdershins!

When I closed Port Novem recently, I looked around for a large parcel of land where I could move forward with my leisure-filled retirement. One day while shopping at La Belle Vie, owned by Zasa Rossini, I saw that she was offering parcels on a new Sim she was building. Aside from the pure beauty of the environs she had planned, the major selling point was that there were only 7 parcels on the entire Sim.

When the Sim was opened, I plopped down the house I had bought from Fatima Ur of Antique Artistry, and began to fill it with furnishings from La Belle Vie and Cache, both located in Zasa's other Sim, "Dans les Montagnes." I was very comfortable in my little doll house lifestyle. And then things got even better: Zasa said that Meta Makeover wanted to do an episode on my house, and did I want Fatima Ur to do a makeover for me! Yes! Yes! Yes!

Fatima contacted me and asked what rooms I wanted revamped, but I had trouble deciding: I had already pretty much furnished the house how I liked it. Then she mentioned that she could do the yard and the conservatory...to which I gave another resounding YES! Over the next couple days, Fatima uprooted the trees I had just set down willy nilly, and in what seemed like an instant, my front lawn and waterfront area was landscaped to look more like an Estate than any place I've ever lived, SL or RL (RL...hah! Yeah, I live in a castle in RL...).

This past Sunday was the Meta Makeover run-through. Saffia Widdershins, host of the show, and Editrix of The Primgraph, visited me with her staff to look over my grounds and prepare for Tuesday's taping. Then, yesterday, it all came together. I was nervous, but Saffia and her team put me at ease.

I'd like to thank all involved in this exciting opportunity, especially Zasa Rossini; Saffia Widdershins; Fatima Ur; Elrik Merlin; and Matelisse Criss.

And a great big thanks to Miss Eve Ayres, of Bord du Lac, and of Belhaven, just for being you.


ADDENDUM: I got the names of Saffia's crew, as well as the names fo the SLCN people involved, so I'd like to give everybody a big thanks!

For Meta Makeover:
Saffia Widdershins
Elrik Merlin
Matelisse Criss
Davon Westland - producer
Darleez de Cuir - studio manager - she organised Fatima setting up her lovely exhibition in the studio hall
Aisling Sinclair - Advertising and Client Relations Manager

For SLCN:
Texas Timtram
Starr Sonic
Wiz Nordberg

They used two camera people:
Mr Mims
Truman Donaldo