Who's Martha?

She's sexy, classy, and a little on the preppy side. She's a nerd, she's the star, she's got spunk...she's you! Introducing, Vitamin Ci-Martha... I'm actaully quite pleased with how this turned out and it didnt' consist of me sweating over prims, thank GOD! The top and the skirt have the sweater pattern on it so you get the whole sweater-vest and button down shirt underneath, look. There's a little paisley detail on the cuffs of the sleeves and socks. Then you have argyle socks with that same argyle trim on the hem of the skirt. I lubs eet! I hope you do too...it's available in so many colors, you're bound to find one you like: slate, pink/green (shown), purple/mint, burgundy/pink, teal/tan, and red/berry. Available @ Vitamin Ci's main store in Extraordinaire. YAY :-D

Thank You, Shelley

Shelley Pinkney was one of my first shop assistants. My store was half the size it is now, blue, and had a big ass orange in the center, waving at everyone. It looked like it was right off of a video game. Shelley would hold events such as treasure hunts, meet and greets, chat & coffee mornings, plus your run of the mill best in black club stuff. Those were the days: small, comfortable, and fun. We'd butt heads....OFTEN but we needed eachother. It's funny when I think back on all the petty arguments we used to have. She told me once "You don't thank me enough!" I rolled my eyes, sighed, and vowed to thank her EVERYDAY she was in the store. I did. I kept my promise. Right before our new store was underway, Shelley took some time off of SL, she hadn't been feeling well. She'd come on sometimes with an occasional hello, but she wasn't the 24 hour, Vitamin Ci Shelley I once knew. I couldn't wait for her to feel better and come back.

The day she'd come back and be my #1 never happened. She passed away July 15th of Lymphoma. Of course it took me a while deal with it. I'm not the type of person who talks a lot about death. I guess because the unknowns of it scare me. At first you feel a lot of regret...what you could have said/done differently. But, hopefully you get past that, and realize all the fun times you had...and we did have fun. She was so dedicated to me, my co-owner @ the time, Lone...and our store. I appreciated her so much! Today I put out a fountain in my store in rememberance of her (Thanks to Dyna Diller, Alyssa Bijoux, and Pennie Strauss). It's nothing grand...just very simple--something I can look at and smile. Thank you Shelley for being such a great person! You will be missed, but I'm sure heaven is a lot more fun than VCi! Aloha...my prayers are with your friends and family always. xoxo -Ci

It's Been a Minute

Yeah, so with no outfit last week, I had to make up for it. I hope you all can forgive me...and if not...so what ho! Here's Flora...simple, flirty, and versatile. I give my models their outfits before they tp to my portable photobooth...seems to help with rezzing *shrugs*. One of my models, Zoey Pinkdot, showed up with her zillion piercings, dark makeup, with my prissy pink dress on....I was like...hmmm...put on some boots and I wont fuss about that...lol. The picture for it came out great (shown). Then you have the classy look and somewhere in between. Whatever works. I love me models! Also available in blue, red, gray, and white :-D Enjoy!

Conflict Diamonds

What is a conflict diamond? Conflict diamonds are diamonds that are sold to fund the unlawful and illegal operations of rebel, military and terrorist groups. The countries most affected by conflict diamonds are Sierra Leone, Angola, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo--all places where citizens have been terrorized, mutilated and killed by groups in control of the local diamond trade. Recently, some participating countries have started something called the Kimberly Process. The Kimberly Process accounts for more than 99% of their diamonds and insures they are non-conflict.

It's a topic that really concerns me because many conflict diamonds still find themselves in jewelry stores all over the world. Forget non-existent weapons of mass distruction. How about our funding terrorism by purchasing conflict diamonds? There are many comapanies around the world that cannot account for where their diamonds come from, according to a British based report by Global Witness: Bulgari, Cartier, and Harry Winston--failed to respond to Global Witness in writing about their policies on conflict diamonds and how they ensure that none are sold by their stores. U.S. jewelry chains, including Littman Jewelers, Whitehall Jewelers and U.S. department stores like Bloomingdales, Macy's and Saks Fifth Avenue, also failed to respond.

I hope this disturbs you and makes you want to take some sort of action, even if it's as simple as buying your diamonds from non-conflict diamond retailers, who also have documentation as to where their diamonds come from. Here's a buyers guide on how to purchase a non-conflict diamond. Information can also easily be found on google.

Not Quite A Kimono

Vitamin Ci-Kim was one of those outfits where I set out to make something completely different and then, tah dah. Needless to say, I'm not disapointed. We have the vibrant japanese floral for the daring and white for the mild! Available in 4 colors @ Vitamin Ci's main store on Ocean Drive in Extraordinaire! Come visit us....Now, time to study for yet another test... GAH!

Addiction Over...

I just got out of class today after having a freaking AWESOME 4th of July vacation. I got to see a lot of my family and.... the little niece entertained me like always. She's so fabulous! She does this little dance now, with one hand on the table, the other in the air...and she hops up and down when you sing a song. Every once in a while she uses her pacifier to hit on the table to make a beat. It's sooooo funny...and amazing. Everyone must see the Bri dance! She also can stand in place...no walking yet, but it's coming!She really makes you want to have kids...or at least, she makes ME want to!
I also got to see a lot of my cousins...some that I've not seen in ages. Two of them are totally grown up now...well, they're 12. They look like mini Beyonce and Kelly...too cute. I've always been an advocate for surrounding yourself with positive things and people and MAN...that has paid off for me.
So, what addiction am I talking about? S freaking L. Didn't even think about it much, besides selling my linden. Had no desire to log on at all! Why? A few reasons. When Brianna is dancing, who has time for SL? Also, the negativity that goes along with being there. I'm generally very quiet and to myself, yet blunt... RL and that flows over to SL as well. Some days I can be uber social but most days, not so much...some people take that as I don't like them, although I generally "like" most people. They're interesting creatures and what makes them tick is facinating. If I didn't LIKE people I wouldn't want to teach kids...to then turn them into SUCCESSFUL people. Think of it this way....I'm like, that kid that sits in the back of the class and no one really knows what they're thinking....and this kid is thinking a lot...I'm thinking, why ask people to retract their claws when you've scratched them? Why be evil to people you barely know? Why me, them or anyone? Yanno? ...the he said she said gossip going on in SL, who'd really want to hang out there when you have a GOOD life? These people who start crap don't want to solve anything. They're all to their friends "Why can't we all get along" and in the same breath downing people they don't know one thing about....I've approached my gossipers head on, to only be ignored or lied to while they continue to be evil. I'd pretty much gotten over that...what can you do? But now, the texture theives....BLAH!...It's just gotten sad. Hurting me is one thing...hurting others, I take a lot hader. I try not to pay attention to it but it still manages to poke at me now and again because I LIKE people. Good hearts are sometimes overlooked when there's no ass kissing involved...but believe me, I notice all of the positive people in my life...SL and RL...I thank you for making things enjoyable for me! Anyway, it was quite theraputic to hang with a buncha characters RL that like me back, including my neice (shown)....LOL...this is no parting letter from SL or anything, just some thoughts, that are going to require me to make a lot of changes on how I do things when in world. Maybe then I'll get my addiction back :-D