Holiday Shop and Hop

 Hiya everyone! Tonight it's time to head to the Holiday Shop & Hop, the annual extravaganza which this year has 16 regions filled with 320 top designers offering a wide range of specials, discounts, and of course gifts :) Tis the season, after all! As usual I find the easiest way to handle such a large event is to keep things separated by region and share them one at a time, so tonight we are taking a look at several gifts found on the Golden region. They are all decorated beautifully too, with wintry scenes in the center and at each edge. 

My first look is the duo of sweaters from MONOMANIA called Alaska Dangerous. Both versions fit Freya, Isis, Venus, Maitreya, Hourglass, and Physique bodies, with a very cozy style and texture that makes me long for cocoa and gingerbread cookies :) I think your favorite jeans or leggings will look perfect with this gift, and probably sneakers if you're feeling casual.

Jazabelle is offering us a sexy gift called Christmas Showtime Dress, and before I added the 'modesty heart' to the front (in Photoshop) it was putting on quite a show indeed! That center panel is very transparent as you can see, and the solid satin covers the essentials up top but clearly not below. I think for public wear, I'd add a lace panty or some sort of playful pasties, it all just depends on your personal tastes. The dress is designed to fit the Maitreya mesh body.

Next I shimmied into the [ LsR ] - Sexy Santa Christmas Gift, feeling and looking festive. The dress and boots are each provided in Freya, Isis, Legacy, Maitreya, and Petite mesh body sizes, and the dress is more of a long corset with garters and a tiny frilled skirt to cover the rear. No wonder Santa looks so happy in the fabric print! I am a big fan of having long boots to balance out a short skirt, in general, even if the boots are below the knee instead of these appealing thigh highs. 

SENTINUS has two varieties of outfits included in their Ketty gift, a top/skirt and a top/bottom which is shorts cut high enough to almost be panties ;) Each outfit is linked to wear as one piece, in Maitreya, Hourglass, and Physique sizing. We also receive a 10 color HUD with lots of rich dramatic shades that look terrific on either outfit, with a hint of sheen that really caught my eye. The skirt pairing has a built in belt, very flattering, as is the top on both with deep V neckline. 

My final look tonight is the Blackstone gift from Shop & Hop, their Ugly Sweater - Fatpack. Truthfully there is nothing ugly about it though, from the wide boat neck that accentuates our lovely neck, to the 5 fun textures found on the included HUD. The sweater fits Kupra, Legacy, and Maitreya mesh bodies. I think calling Christmas sweaters 'ugly' has become either force of habit or an affectionate term? Well as you can see, I have paired it with one of my favorite jeans, the Delizio fatpack which is a marketplace freebie. This is the black pair but there are several colors included in system/BOM layers and appliers for Maitreya and Omega. 

Well, it was a decent Friday here with good and bad...we had a few power outages last night and today that seem to have messed up the wifi in my room here, as my android tablet won't stay connected to it but worked fine from a phone hotspot and at my parents' house. Obviously I have regular internet since I'm here posting ;) I just play a few random games on the tablet, nothing crucial, but it is annoying to wonder what went wrong. Dinner with my parents was nice, and we discussed next week/holiday plans but a possible blizzard could throw a wrench in things. I am patiently waiting to see what happens, as the weather can change drastically by then several times. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend ahead, many magical magpie hugs to everyone!!

Credits:

All Gifts from Shop & Hop - Golden Region:

Photo 1:

Sweaters: MONOMANIA - Alaska Dangerous $0L Shop & Hop Gift

Photo 2:

Dress: Jazabelle - Christmas Showtime Dress $0L Shop & Hop Gift

Photo 3:

Outfit: [ LsR ] - Sexy Santa Christmas Gift $0L Shop & Hop Gift

Photo 4:

Outfits: SENTINUS - Ketty Outfit $0L Shop & Hop Gift

Photo 5:

Top: Blackstone - Ugly Sweater - Fatpack $0L Shop & Hop Gift

Pants: Delizio - Jeans + Applier for Maitreya + Omega (shown in Black) $0L Marketplace

Mesh Nails: N.Kolour+KOSMETIK: Omega Coffin Nails - Medium // Maitreya

Head: LeLUTKA Fleur Head 3.1

Hair: TRUTH Serenity - Redhead

Skin: 7 Deadly s[K]ins - NOISE cotton candy (BOM)

Ring: (BENTO)~~Ysoral~~ .:Luxe Ring Lyanna 4:. (Marketplace)

Body/Hands/Feet: Maitreya Mesh Body - Lara

All Poses: Verocity  (Various Sets)

Black Friday Bazaar

 Hiya everyone! Tonight I would like to invite you to a special seasonal event, the Black Friday Bazaar 3 by Evil Bunny Productions. Black Friday refers to the day after American Thanksgiving, traditionally when the Christmas shopping season gets rolling so there are massive sales at most stores. This trend continued when online shopping became popular, and carries over into SL quite a bit as well. So what will you find at the Black Friday Bazaar? Plenty of exclusive offers at 25-50% off, lots of great ideas for your holiday gift giving, and customer appreciation gifts for you from nearly every participating designer. You will need the Evil Bunny Hunt group tag (free to join) active to claim these gifts, and those are what I will be showing you tonight. The event just opened and lasts until the 1st of December, and you can find the gifts inside black drawstring bags that have a framed photo of the gift next to each one. 

This lovely dress is the group gift from g-spot called Loli Dress. It is a fun strapless style with a bubble skirt and contrasting belt with bow. The gift includes sizes for Freya, Hourglass, and Maitreya mesh bodies. I accessorized with another gift, the Black Bazaar Necklace from Jazabelle. The faceted heart shaped gemstone in the middle of the wings has a beautiful rainbow effect, so I made sure to share a closer view in the upper right corner. What do you plan on wearing it with?

My next outfit is the **GIULIADESIGN** gift called Follettina5. The dress has a built in belt and some intriguing cutouts with lots of little ties to hold things in place, and it and the thigh high boots are each included in Freya, Isis, Venus, Maitreya, Hourglass, and Physique sizing. The colors are fun for the season or year round if you wish.

I felt so seductive in the +Uni Boutique+ Cobra Dress - Black Lace gift! It is an alluring strapless mini with slits on both sides, in sizes for eBody Curvy, Freya, Isis, Venus, Maitreya, Hourglass, Physique, Tonic Curvy, and Tonic Fine bodies. The bare neck seemed to call out for some adornment, so I added one of the many varieties found inside the [WitchCraft] Agate Necklace gift. There are a total of 8 unrigged necklaces in there, 4 gold and 4 silver, so a nice range of colors to match any mood or clothing. 

Grumble is actually the event organizer here, well their designer runs Evil Bunny Productions, so it is not a surprise to see that they are offering a treat for us too :) This is their Sleeveless Tee - AFK, and it is provided in Freya, Isis, Venus, Maitreya, Hourglass, and Physique sizing. The hemline is intriguing, as it rises in the middle (both front and back) with points on each side. The "AFK" is emblazoned across paint splashes, and probably stands for Away From Keyboard. I am wearing it with my favorite Marketplace freebie, the jeans from Delizio which come in several colors as system/BOM layers plus appliers for Maitreya and Omega. This is the blue, but there is also a lighter blue and black along with several other options. 

The blue jeans from Delizio look fantastic with my final gift of the evening, which is the Madcatcreations Boho Fall Cardigan and Tank - FATPACK. The same black bag contains a gift for the guys too, so please pass that information on to anyone who might find it useful :) The sweater set here comes in Isis, Venus, Maitreya, Hourglass, and Physique sizing, and each individual color is packed separately via HUD: dark mauve (above left), green (right), rust, black, blue, purple, red, violet, and yellow. That is certainly enough choices to enhance any cool weather wardrobe!

Hair note of the night: Truth Hair released their newest style, Serenity, and I have very little self control when it comes to their awesome styles so I rushed over and tried on the demo right there in the store. I was in good company too, LOL, as there were many others interested in the new offering. I picked up my usual Redhead pack, although if they do a Black Friday sale I may be tempted to get the blondes or another color pack.

I feel like this weekend was at least 3 full days long...time is being weird again for me. Living through strange times like this will have that affect I suppose. I watched some videos on how to cut my own hair, since it has been well over a year since my last salon visit, and realized that it is beyond my abilities. It is so long and frizzy though, and in desperate need of shaping, so I will most likely call Tuesday morning and see if I can get an appointment. The salon I go to is near a community for older adults (55+) where many of their clients live, so I trust them to take extra precautions these days. I am asking first of course when I call, to make sure I feel comfortable with their protocol. I've been going there for over 20 years now, a realization that just startled me but in a good way :) I hope you're all having a wonderful day/evening, many magical magpie hugs to everyone!!

Credits:

All Group Gifts from Black Friday Bazaar:

Photo 1:

Dress: g-spot // Loli Dress $0L EBH Group Gift

Necklace: Jazabelle - Black Bazaar Necklace $0L EBH Group Gift

Photo 2:

Outfit: **GIULIADESIGN**FOLLETTINA5 $0L EBH Group Gift

Photo 3:

Dress: +Uni Boutique+ Cobra Dress - Black Lace $0L EBH Group Gift

Necklace: [WitchCraft] Agate Necklace $0L EBH Group Gift

Photo 4:

Top: Grumble-Sleeveless Tee-AFK $0L EBH Group Gift

Photo 5:

Top: Madcatcreations MCC - Woman - Boho Fall Cardigan and tank - FATPACK $0L EBH Group Gift

Pants Photos 4&5: Delizio - Jeans + Applier for Maitreya + Omega (shown in Blue) $0L Marketplace

Head: GENUS Project - Genus Head - Classic Face W001 - Mocap 

Hair: TRUTH Serenity - Redhead

Skin: 7 Deadly s[K]ins - AGNESE FRECKLED cotton candy (system layer for BOM)

Ring: (BENTO)~~Ysoral~~ .:Luxe Ring Lyanna 4:. (Marketplace)

Body/Hands/Feet: Maitreya Mesh Body - Lara

All Poses: Verocity  (Various Sets)