My SL Horses!



Dulcie with Star, a white female Palomino Amaretto

I don't ride horses in real life, but I thought it would be fun to buy some horses in Second Life.  I had no idea the marketplace for them is so big.  Not only can you buy a horses to ride, you can buy ones that breed, too!  It seems horses is a big SL business.  They are sold, auctioned, and housed.  The most popular are the Amarettos. 

I began to shop for just the right horse, but I didn't realize how much was involved.  These horses have stats, information about parentage, eye color, need to be fed, kept happy by riding, and age.  A horse has to be at least 7 days to breed but no older than 120 days.  Afater 120 days, the horse will no longer breed, but you can keep it as a pet. Along with a male and female horse, unless you buy a bundle which looks like a hay bale but turns into a horse in 3 days after it is "born," you also need to buy food and  a barn or stable to keep the horse. Optional purchases include snacks, a salt lick to make it happy, aphrodesiacs if your horses aren't mating as quickly as you'd like, saddles and bridles, etc.  It can be quite costly to keep them.  Male horses are a bit more expensive to buy because there are fewer of them born. 

Now if you really want to get into horsing, there are sims you can ride them, groups you can join, and lots of cowgirl outfits and other western clothing for you to wear.  I took a few shots of myself with one of my horses wearing some of my new cowgirl outfits.  Yeere Hah!

My SL Valentine

I have to admit that I have never been to a SL Valentine's party in the nearly four years I've been a resident.  But this year, some friends and I are having one up on the top level of our new clubhouse/treehouse.  I found some decorations on the Marketplace and in my inventory and helped set up the deck that overlooks our beautiful winter scenery.  The view is nothing short of breathtaking.  I got lucky finding a heart dance floor that also included a set of twinkling red heart lights that I strung all around. 

All that was left before the party was for me to decide what to wear.  Not an easy task in rl or SL!  We had decided that the dress code for the party would be formal, so I went about checking all my red, pink, and purple gowns to see what was suitable.  I also looked in my favorite stores to see what they were offering.  Since SL clothing tends to be a bit revealing, which is often an understatement, I wanted something that was attractive but classy. I narrowed it down to 3 dresses and had to try them on with accessories. My choices were between a pink and purple gown with wide bustle skirt and surprise bustline from Lushish Catz,

a slimline dark gown with high leg slit and ruby heart accents along the shoulder from Dressed by Lexi,

and a simple yet captivating gown from Yess that came with 3 skirt options.

I considered a new hairstyle, but I couldn't find anything I liked better than my current style.  Of course, I had to have a manicure and find the right makeup to go with everything.  It seems that even in SL, women have a harder time getting ready for these things.

So when I finally chose the perfect outfit, and it turned out not to even be one of the above -- lol, I was prepared for the party.  I also ended up changing my hair to show off my jewelry.  I had to say my avatar looked gorgeous, sexy but not slutty, which is what I was striving for.  I am a librarian, after all.

Trying to Lose It!

I think the most popular New Year's resolution is to lose weight, especially since we all overeat during the holidays.  But for those, like myself, who keep procrastinating starting a diet, it can give a nudge for us to begin.  Now I admit that it isn't easy to get started, keep at it, and then maintain any loss you achieve.  That's been my problem over the several diets I've been on in my lifetime.  But, lately, I decided that dieting is not really the answer for people who need to lose. Healthy eating and exercising is more important.

Since I'm a librarian, I am aware of all the weight loss books out there, and any new diets that appear in print. Before Christmas, I read the Mayo Clinic diet and thought it might be good to try because it focused on healthy eating and exercising. I bought myself a copy for Christmas. I still hadn't started dieting until a few days ago because I had to find the right time to start. The ironic thing is that, just before I was ready to begin, I read a Facebook post about a website called "Lose It" where you can calculate your calories and exercises over the internet and also on your iphone. Since it was free, I thought I'd take a look at it.

Screen from iphone app

I was surprised to find that Lose It, for a free online program with an accompanying app, is so well designed.  I hardly needed to access help to use it.  Another good feature is the forums and friends option so that people using it can support one another.  The weekly reports, goals, and motivators are also nice to use, and the numerous reward badges are fun and inspiring. There is a book that actually was written after the program launched, and I have it on reserve at my library but only out of curiousity, as the program itself is self explanatory.  It can be used with any diet, although it is based on calorie counting.  Although the Mayo Clinic diet doesn't require calorie counting but habit changes, the two of them work well together, at least for the three days I've been on it.  I'm not sure if I've lost anything, but I've been keeping to it and will know on Sunday. 

What I like most about Lose It (and I'm not a rep), is that, for people like me who spend a lot of time on the computer (most of who are overweight btw), it is a convenient way of keeping track of what you are eating which is a very important part of dieting. And, when you are away from the computer, you can track things on your iphone, both sync perfectly.  Of course, the price itself makes it worth it to try.  Trying to Lose It with Lose It makes a hard undertaking a little bit easier.