Last night I jumped into Second Life to grab some Advent Calendar goodies and put up a decoration I made for the store. Except I got a group message from Jian that I just had to take advantage of. They’re offering their new Santa Baby Hats as a group gift, and they’re so adorable I had to get mine. It’s a colorable hat with either a puppy or kitteh poking out of the front of the Santa hat. How can you say no to these faces?
(Why am I writing about a gift from another creator in SL? Because they’re too cute to not pass along, and so I can show off my new kitteh.)
Seeing the ad, I wondered if I’d have to choose between getting the pupper or kitteh version. I think anyone who knows me knows which I’d choose. But both versions come in the same package, so if you love dogs and cats, you can alternate between the two.
There’s no HUD for changing things. But when you click on the hat or animal, you get a blue menu, which lets you change the breed. (You can’t swap between dogs or cats from the menu, for that, you have to change hats.) It also gives you the choice of 9 colors for the hat itself. Of course, I had to go with purple. I know it’s not a Catmas color, but it is one of my fav colors any time of year.
My newest kitteh
I’d like to introduce you to Inara. Years ago, some friends rescued an adorable orange tabby kitteh from the streets of Malden, MA. Being an orange tabby shortly after the Firefly TV series left the air, they named him Mal the Browncoat. I almost named my tabby Mal, but all my kittehs are girls. I was first going to call her Kaylee, after my fav member of the Firefly crew. But unlike me, Kaylee’s into the boys, so no. I considered calling her Zoë, a badass who did fight with the Browncoats, but she’s straight as well. Then there’s Inara Serra, the Registered Companion. Inara’s not a Browncoat, and she’s not really part of the crew, but she’s more flexible in her sexual preference, so my cap kitteh got her name. (Am I flexible like that? Sorry guys, but no.)
If you see me around Second Life in the week before Catmas, you’ll probably see me with Inara. Feel free to say hi. If you want a Santa Baby Hat of your own, head on over to the Jian mainstore inworld. All you need is to be a member of their SL group and have their tag active when you click the sign. If you run the Firestorm viewer, you can use the Area Search to find it. Just look for “Santa Baby Hat.” I usually right-click on an Area Search result and click Zoom, which takes my camera right to it. Then you can use the vendor as if you were standing right in front of it.
What am I wearing?
I found TRUTH’s Taren hair (worn without the hat) works beautifully with Jian’s Santa Baby Hat. My sweater is a test of a custom sweater I was going to sell, but I couldn’t get them made in time. The boots are another group gift, the Demet Candy boots from ChicChica. I don’t usually wear thigh-high boots, but these are so Catmas-y, I had to get them. I went through several pairs of jeans in my inventory, and Blueberry’s Evie High Waist Jeans work best with the boots.
Stay safe, stay warm, and I hope everyone has a purry Catmas, whether you celebrate the holiday or not. After all, how can you hate a purring feline?