Yesterday I had the pleasure of getting together with a few of the bloggers that are blogging up a storm this month (like myself) for the Avatar Blogger Crossfit Month. There are about 2 dozen avatar bloggers participating and Vaneeesa Blaylock was trying to get a hold of as many of us as possible for a picture. She managed to grab a few and then I had to run and I think one or two more showed up so not everyone is in this image that I took. However, you can click over to iRez for more pictures of everyone that showed up and check out the awesome gold star Vaneeesa gave us for reaching the one week goal!

I’m doing pretty well, this is the 9th day and I’ve done all 9 so far. However I have a feeling this week I will have to take a few days off to catch up on some real life work. I’ll definitely try and do as much as I can for the rest of the month though.

Blogging can be a lot of work, but when you enjoy it so much it makes you want to push yourself harder and do more. Earlier this week I noticed someone on plurk asking about ways to promote their blog more so they can increase their readership. I responded with a few of the things that I do myself so I thought I’d share them here since we are on the topic of blogging.

1. Blog often but only if you enjoy it. Put your heart into it and do it when you are inspired and excited about it.
2. Create accounts on different social networks and then interact and share your blog posts to those with like-minded interests.
3. Apply to the different Second Life blog feeds out there. You can see a list of the ones I’m on, on my sidebar or my blogroll page.
4. Participate in blog challenges by other bloggers (or start your own). It builds a bond and will get you more involved within the blogging community. Also, if you are a fashion blogger, it breaks up the monotonous “look at this pretty new thing I’m wearing” blog posts and gives your readers something different and interesting to read. For a list of challenges to participate in, you can check out the SL Blogger Support blog or try out one of my memes/challenges in my blog challenges category, which I post every Monday.

I know participating in different challenges and also doing my own has brought a lot of new readers to my blog and has also helped me find new blogs to read. What do you do to promote your blog?

Now here are the names and blogs of the lovely ladies in the picture with me, from left to right:
Me! :P – StrawberrySingh.com
Peep Sideshow – Pics by Peep
Anarya Elderslie – Stuffery
Lizzie Gudkov – It Takes a Village
Ravensong Merlin – Chaotic Virtuality
Vaneeesa Blaylock – iRez
Full ABC Participant List

It was great meeting you all! <3

I’ve been a bad girl and have been a bit too preoccupied lately that I forgot to do any posts on Irez.me for a while. So I thought today would be a great opportunity to do one and talk about what exactly is a meme, since I get people asking me every week. So click on over to Irez.me to read my post about that.

The skin I’m wearing is a new release from YS&YS called Rachel. I’ve got a couple of raw shots of this image on my SL profile, with teeth and without teeth. The skin comes in both versions.

Credits:
*Skin: YS & YS Rachel 01 Nude by Monicuzza Babenco
Eyes: Mayfly – Deep Sky Mesh Eye (Desert Dawn, w4) by Arkesh Baral
*Hair: >TRUTH< Hollana w/Roots – caramel by Truth Hawks
*Necklace: .Olive. the Folded Golden Paper Letter Necklace – B by naminaeko (Arcade March)

(click here for a raw shot of this image)

Are you ready for some fun and adventure? Global Domination is an event by the Hottie Cooterati team and it will be an extravagant adventure! It all starts tomorrow on Valentine’s day and will run through till the 28th of February. However, Global Domination is more than your standard shopping event or hunt, it is an interactive game experience, leading you through a series of challenging puzzles themed to various countries and cultures around the globe. Each puzzle will be challenging and once solved you will receive all sorts of prizes! Every person that plays and completes the 17 puzzles will receive the prizes.

I am not going to get into the details of the puzzles, but here is a short summary of what you need to do to play this game:

1. The first thing you do is purchase a Passport, which is a HUD. You will be given landmarks upon purchase of where you will start the puzzle. The passports are L$300 right now, but at midnight SLT tonight (Valentine’s Day) they will go up to L$400. So click on over to the Global Domination Passports page and see where you want to pick up your passport. The hat I’m wearing in the first image is available at Baiastice if you purchase your passport from there.
2. Once you have your passport and you take the landmark to the locations you will need to start looking for clues. These clues will help you solve the puzzles. With each puzzle you solve, you will get a stamp on your passport. You need 17 stamps to complete the game.
3. Once you have all 17 stamps, you will be given a SLurl to the prize center, where you can claim all the prizes from the participating creators. Click over to the Global Domination prizes page to see what you are playing for.
4. In addition to those prizes which everyone who finishes can claim, there are three grand prizes! So if you are one of the first three to finish, you will win one of the three grand prizes which are also listed at the bottom of the prize page.

If you do have further questions about this, I know the Hottie Cooterati team has been very helpful and have been answering questions on there social media networks such as plurk and facebook. So feel free to poke any of them if you guys get lost or confused.

Finally I couldn’t resist a closeup of the image below to show off my new ring which I just picked up today from Paper Couture. So gentlemen, if you’re still looking for that perfect Valentine’s present for her, it’s transferable and available on marketplace.

I also couldn’t resist making this image my iRez photo of the day today along with one of my favorite quotes. Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! <3

Credits:
1st and last pic:
*Skin: Glam Affair Ginny by Aida Ewing
*Hair: Truth Rashida by Truth Hawks
*Hat: Baiastice_Estella-hat by Sissy Pessoa (Global Domination Passport Gift)
*Top: [Decoy] Arcelia Blouse by Annette Voight (Global Domination Prize)
*Mesh Hands: Slink Mesh Hand Casual by Siddean Munro
Ring: Paper Couture: Gemstone Heart Ring by Cora Lu (Marketplace)
*Cell+Pose: Adorkable Poses by Adorkable Peapod

2nd pic:
*Skin: al vulo- Eleonor by Hlin Bluebird
*Hair: TRUTH Kenzie by Truth Hawks
*Dress: Indyra Originals Mesh: Daisha Gown: Blue Lily by Indyra Seigo Global Domination Prize
*Necklace: Indyra Originals: Adrift Necklace: Caribbean Blue by Indyra Seigo Global Domination Prize
Mic+Pose: *Naina Props {Vintage Mic Set2} by Naina Brune
*Stage: PILOT – Borovsky Stage by Kaz Nayar Global Domination Prize

3rd pic:
*Skin: al vulo- julia by Hlin Bluebird
*Hair: /Wasabi Pills/ Fay Mesh Hair by MissAllSunday Lemon (@ Fameshed February)
*Dress: Baiastice_Estella dress by Sissy Pessoa Global Domination Prize
*Shoes: Baiastice_Lira Pumps-red by Sissy Pessoa
*Pose: Diesel Works by Rogan Diesel
*Curtains: Rustica – Mesh Drape full set by Maxwell Graf

I was trying to do an entry for the 2013 Oscar Fashion Photo Contest but after I took all the images I realized it looks more like I’m marrying my alt, Manberry. *facepalm* So what I’ve decided is to not enter these ones because really…I dunno what I was thinking, lol. I went back and read the rules and it says that the picture has to be taken after December 1st, 2012 so I’m thinking I will enter one of these two pictures: Golden or Red because I just love that gown. But I can’t decide which one looks more like an Oscar-ish picture. Which one of the two do you guys think I should enter?

I’ve been kind of busy with RL work and studying my ass off for this certification I’m trying to do so I haven’t had much time to put a lot of thought into blogging. I have so much I want to blog but trying to keep up with RL work and SL work, I think it’s taking a toll on me. But hopefully I’ll make some time to get to all the blogging ideas swimming around in my head.

I know a lot of you have recently contacted me to schedule photo appointments and I’m pretty much booked till March now, so I’d like to suggest you guys take a look at my Photographers page in case you are in a hurry to get some pictures. I haven’t updated in a couple of years and not sure if all of those photographers are still around and doing photo work, but please feel free to add any more in the comments if you know of others that are currently taking clients.

I really messed around with the first and last image in this post. The second image is almost a raw shot because I pretty much just ran out of time haha. I’ve been wearing these clothes and trying to complete this post all week. I have some raw shots up on my profile here and here if you’d like to take a look.

I’ve also made the last image my iRez photo of the day today. That makes a total of 25 posts I’ve made on iRez.me since I started. I feel so happy and fortunate to be a part of a blog that has such vibrant and creative writers. If you’re not a regular reader of iRez.me, this is your chance to add it to your readers and blogrolls, you won’t regret it!

Credits:
What Strawberry Singh is wearing:
*Skin: Glam Affair – Roza Basic – Jamaica01 D by Aida Ewing
Eyes: Mayfly – Deep Sky Mesh Eye (Deepening Spring, w4) by Arkesh Baral
*Eyeliner: -Glam Affair- Couture Eyeliner no.03 by Aida Ewing
*Hair: [LeLutka]-POCAHONTAS hair – Bournville by Thora Charron
Dress: Les Petits Détails – *Marie Antoinette* Dress Sunset by Nevery Lorakeet
*Headpiece: -Glam Affair- Queen of Roses Silk Emotion by Aida Ewing (@ FaMESHed February)
*Jewels: Cae :: Elegance set by Caelan Hancroft
*Mesh Hands: Slink Mesh Hand Casual by Siddean Munro

What ManBerry is wearing:
Skin: the body co. Fox (08 Dark) w/hair by thebodyco (Sale ends Feb 15th)
Hair: *Dura-Boy*33(Dark Brown) by chiaki Xue
*Suit: FATEwear Suit – Edward (B) – Void by Damien Fate

*Curtains: Rustica – Mesh Drape FULL SET by Maxwell Graf
*Couples Pose: oOo Studio by Olaenka Chesnokov

Last week Maxi Gossamar dropped one of her new mesh jewelry sets on me and said that she created an indian themed set for one of the Miss Virtual World contestants this year. I didn’t get a chance to try it on till just last night and I instantly fell in love with it. I really feel like royalty wearing this set. It’s available in white, red and black pearl versions with a gold metal. It’s already up on marketplace as well.

The jewelry and dress from Gizza were pretty heavy so I wanted to keep the skin simple. The skin is actually Tuli! Yes, Tuli Asturias has returned and her mainstore is on the cupcakes sim. She is currently still setting up her store but it is open and she has 4 skins available there. I am wearing Helena in powder tone.

When I put this look together, it immediately reminded me of Jahanara, or maybe she was just on my mind because I was recently reading a book about her. I love reading up on historical south asian women and the mughal empire. Here’s a short youtube video that briefly describes Jahanara’s life.

A crop of the first image is also my iRez photo of the day today. I shared more about Jahanara in that post, so click over if you’re interested.

Credits:
*Skin: [:Tuli:] Helena / powder :: 01 by Tuli Asturias
Eyes: Mayfly – Deep Sky Mesh Eye (Desert Dawn, w4) by Arkesh Baral
Hair+Hairbase: booN gathered raised hairbase black & booN YNO421 hair black by boo Nakamura
*Dress: GizzA – Hankie Dress [Orient] Size S by Giz Seorn (For Limited Bazaar) (slurl to Limited Bazaar)
*Jewels: Maxi Gossamar Ananya set by Maxi Gossamar
*Mesh Hands: Slink Mesh Hands Casual by Siddean Munro
*Pose: Diesel Works by Rogan Diesel