Happy Birthday SL

 Hiya everyone! Tonight we are celebrating Second Life's 18th birthday, which is a truly exciting milestone for our beloved virtual world. I have been here for almost 14 of those 18 years, and am always amazed at how much it has evolved to keep us enjoying it. The part of the celebration I am focused on for blog reasons is Shop and Hop, where you can find discounted offers from a whopping 320 designers on 16 full regions/sims from now until July 6th. Most of them are offering gifts for all visitors, while a few have group gifts for their store's group members. You can find clothing for men, women, and kids among the gifts as well as accessories and home decor of all sorts, great variety as always. I find it easiest to keep the gifts sorted by region when I share them, so tonight's treats are all found on the Gilded sim. 

We start the evening with the striking Emalia Dress - Ghost by MORBID. It has a sheer added layer of fabric over the tighter pencil skirt, and an intricate neckline with built in necklace. Our gift includes sizes for Legacy, Perky, Maitreya, and Petite mesh bodies, and it is such an attractive look that I am very grateful for.

>>GothiCatz<< is offering their Tiffany swimsuit as their SL18B gift, and it is a delightful retro style with a carnival pattern on the bottom complemented by red polka dots on top and waistband. Each piece comes in Freya, Isis, Venus, Legacy, Maitreya, Hourglass, Physique, Tonic Curvy, and Tonic Fine mesh body sizes. I am not always comfortable with clowns, I admit, but there is something about this style that catches my eye.

I also stopped by the !APHORISM! display, where I happily claimed this Jackie Dress Marigold Ltd Ed Gift. It is provided in sizes for Freya, Legacy, and Maitreya bodies, with a HUD offering 3 texture options: plain, pattern (left above), and ombre (right). The ombre is subtle and just goes a shade or two darker, and the pattern is a pretty square weave. 

Be sure to explore the LYBRA display so you can find their wall of gifts, including this terrific LARA ~ GIFT. The halter style dress is included in Freya, Hourglass, and Maitreya sizing, with a HUD to choose from 10 patterns and 4 metals for the zipper in back. There are a few basic patterns with color variations for each, which creates a lovely variety among them. 

For my final look of the evening, I decided to share two different gifts of tops that went well with my favorite Delizio marketplace freebie jeans. The left is the ZVI. Paeri Top which comes in sizes for Kupra, Legacy, Maitreya, and Petite mesh bodies. It has a soft floral pattern on baby blue, and the cropped length is great for warm weather. Then on the right I changed into the Becca {Coffee & Love} from Slackr, whose mug image says "I run on Caffeine & Love". The heart shaped steam from our piping hot beverage is a wonderful touch, isn't it? The tank top itself is trimmed in red that really brings out the color of the mug. This gift includes Legacy, Maitreya, and Petite sizes. 

Hooray for the weekend! I had a nice visit with my parents for dinner, and am eager to visit the farmers market tomorrow morning. It will be warm and sunny, so sunscreen is a must, and I will be careful to stay hydrated. It is the next to last week for one of the regular vendors, who is returning to Mexico to care for his father whose health is failing, so we have to enjoy their talent and kindness while we can. Fortunately we will be able to keep in touch online, just another reason to be grateful for the internet. I will be taking tomorrow evening off from blogging, returning Sunday with lots of goodies for you to see. I hope you all have a terrific weekend ahead, many magical magpie hugs to everyone!!

Credits:

All Gifts from Shop and Hop - Gilded:

Photo 1:

Dress: MORBID Emalia Dress - Ghost $0L SL18B Gift

Photo 2:

Swimsuit: >>GothiCatz<< Tiffany $0L SL18B Gift

Photo 3:

Dress: !APHORISM! - Jackie Dress Marigold Ltd Ed Gift $0L SL18B Gift

Photo 4:

Dress: LYBRA . LARA ~ GIFT $0L SL18B Gift

Photo 5:

Top Left: ZVI. Paeri Top $0L SL18B Gift

Top Right: -Slackr :: Becca {Coffee & Love} $0L SL18B Gift

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

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

Hair: TRUTH Halona - Redhead

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

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

Body/Hands/Feet: Maitreya Mesh Body - Lara

All Poses: Verocity  (Various Sets)