Christmas 2011 Crafting

Otaku/etc and mini bulb ornaments go on tomorrow~

Perfect way to end a long day-  putting the mini lights and garland on our miniature tree while my sister played Josh Groban's "O Holy Night"... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.  What positively ethereal voice, my stress levels and general world-weariness decreased almost instantly.  <3

★★★★★★★★★★★★★ FOOD/SNACKS   ★★★★★★★

Sorry!!!  ; A ;  

The only flaw of panda bread- you feel guilty slicing and/or eating it.  (No, Habib, you're not showing this to Tori as proof that I'm a panda hater or eater!  >_> )  It was tasty, though.  

★★★★★★★★★★★★★ CRAFTING   ★★★★★★★

After getting up early to participate in my first serious bidding war (I came up short in putting in a final bid by around half a second) on eBay, spent some time chatting with Habib online before going outside to sunbathe and wander around in the yard for a while to recharge, get fresh air and sunshine.

A pretty Hawaiian flower plant in my yard, not sure what the name is
(even though I took a course in Hawaiian botany  ; w ;  Shame, shame. )

 Unexpectedly obtained and got to know a new texting buddy from Gaia a little better, then dedicated the rest of the evening primarily to working on my Christmas card list while wrapping up day 3 of my Words with Friends weekend marathon with Belle and bothering panda buddy #2 on Pingchat.  (Bother bother bother!... but in a dead-ish sort of way)

  By the time the day was over, my hair, skin, and chair all had glitter stuck in/to them, and I completed a total of 4 cards, the last of which required quite a bit of work (and the main reason why I still have glitter falling out of my hair ), but I'm very pleased at how it turned out.  I'm really hoping that my recipient will be pleased as well...  >o<

My Christmas list...!  o w o

My primary card-making supply list:  Assorted colors and patterns of cardstock, ribbons, glitter, tacky glue, assorted die cut shapes, glue dots, scissors, paper cutter

Tomorrow is another busy day...!  @ o @;; 

★★★★★★★★★★★★★ RANDOM THOUGHTS   ★★★★★★★

While I was getting to know my new texting friend from Gaia (I had talked to her a bit in a thread a little while ago, so she wasn't just a random person, lol), I suddenly got the desire to try and make/have a [reasonably] good friend in every US state.  Darn it, Teresa, if only we stayed penpals, I could say that I have one in Missouri.  But not anymore.  v_v  So what I do have so far is California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, Texas, and now Virginia.  Eight out of fifty.  I could include my high school friends to add more states, but I'd rather make new ones.  But that means 42 more friends? hmmm.  Maybe this can just be a life-long goal.  I think that my traveling journal project should take precedent.

Actually... when I was brainstorming about said project, it hit me that I could try to arrange it so that I could possibly make new friends - since my current number of contacts in different states is limited, I could have people who participate have any of their friends write something about themselves in my book and optionally leave some sort of  contact info (e.g.- email, etc) for other participants interested in trying to be friends with them.

But yeah, still brainstorming... I'm hoping to get this project off the ground by early next year!  =D

....Also, I need to make time to play Maple story!!! There's a Thanksgiving quest that I never got to do.  And my cash shop itemssssss...!!  Dx   Man, I'm so tired that my brain can't tell what I'm looking at for a long time.  x_x  Panda out.  

Maple: Rise of Fellowship Update

  

My only getting five hours of sleep this morning is catching up to me...  x__x

[/I claim no ownership to any Memebon photos]

★★★★★★★★★★★★★PURCHASED  STUFF ★★★★★★★

I asked my sister to buy me a journal for my planned "Traveling Journal" penpal project, and she came back with a beautiful rose textured hardcover journal with shiny silver-lined pages... a gorgeous journal, to be sure,... but unfortunately, too large and heavy.  I may just keep this as my own personal diary.  <3

Not familiar with a traveling journal?  You can get the basic gist of it here:  http://www.thetravelingjournal.com/how-it-works/

Wanna sign up for the project?  Let me know!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★ONLINE  STUFF ★★★★★★★

GAIA ONLINE

The Halloween main event?  Pshhh.  I give up on it.  But I'm on 9/19 candies before I get my last item for shop Trick or Treating.  ...mm, but perhaps we can still go to the Masquerade?  Just find an emptier room in the flashspace and ... soak in the creepy ambiance?  haha.

Today, I posted the annual Halloween banner for my (now renamed) thread, featuring my main regulars.  This year, I also made a version for our secret Facebook group.  I can't believe that this is my friend thread's 3rd Halloween on Gaia!  I'm also very happy to be able to include ZeroGuilt (pictured on my right in the 1st and 3rd photos) in the banner again.  =^o^=

zOMG

Today is zOMG's 3rd birthday!  Happy birthday!  As someone in the birthday sticky said, "3 years uncompleted!"  But nevertheless, I've had many an adventure there with my good friends Habible, Random Acts of Monotony, Symbolism of number One, ZombieJehuty, not to mention a whole bunch of random fellow zOMGers.  <3

Me and Habib doing the impossible- felling a giant Stone Coatl!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★GAMING  STUFF ★★★★★★★

MAPLE STORY

So, for the last week or so, I've been trying to log on the Facebook Maple Story Adventures App more often in order to get the daily login bonus, and since I haven't been in the mood to play the real thing, I've been using it to ease my occasional Maple cravings.  When I have no energy, it's nice to mindlessly click to kill things and hear the music for a few minutes.

An example of the daily log-in perks that you
receive in Maple Story

                     

I logged in last night to travel all the way to Ludibrium and Korean Folk Town, since I remembered that I haven't explored the deep sea area of Aqua Road.  If possible, I'd like to explore it with someone in particular, but if not, I'll have to either ask KakkoiiChibi or just do it by myself.  I hope that I can play with someone again soon though, since Maple has a new "Rise of Fellowship" update and a whole bunch of events coming up.

~Upcoming Event Highlights:

Halloween Event:  Mansion of the Good Witch of the Left-Side  (10.27.2011 – 11.08.2011)

• Another annoying "dammit go away red envelope I don't wanna join the battle" quest, it seems

Magic Gachapon Wheel  (10.27.2011 – 11.22.2011)

• Wheel of Loot tokens can be obtained from monster drops.
• Open the Magic Gachapon Wheel window with the = key by default.
• Drag a wheel token from the ETC tab of your item inventory. 
• The rewards include recipes, mastery books, scrolls, recovery items, ETC items, equipment, and more.

Potted Maple Tree  (10.27.2011 – 11.08.2011)

• You can check your progress in the Mini Maple Tree Cultivation Journal in the ETC tab of your inventory.
• Double-click the Potted Mini Maple Tree or drag and drop it into the Item Pot and make it grow.
• Once it reaches maximum Fullness, it goes to sleep and wakes up in 30 minutes, completing its growth.
• Rewards include: Power Elixirs, Continental Return Scrolls, Secret Recipes, and Advanced Equip Enhancement Scrolls.

My conclusion?  Sounds annoying. Quest item takes up an ETC space.  Also, Item Pot items annoys me.  Worth a try?  We'll see.  The Continental Return scrolls sound awesome, though.

MapleStory Lifestyle Campaign ( 10.27.2011-12.06.11)

• When given four options, you will receive a title by choosing one
• The titles appear in the ETC tab of your item inventory. Double-click one to turn it on or off.
• Once you receive one of these titles, a new quest will become available from NPCs in various towns.
• Each NPC gives one of the following rewards at random.
  Return Scroll - Nearest Town, Scroll for Helmet for HP 100% ,Scroll for Shoes for Speed 100%, Scroll for Gloves for ATT 100% , Scroll for Shoes for Jump 10% ,Scroll for Shoes for Speed 10% , Clean Slate Scroll 

Not really sure what to think of this event.  

Golden Temple (11.09.2011-12.6.2011)

I WANNA DO THIS WITH SOMEONE!!!  Last time this event was up, I didn't get to.  :,(

Sidekick  (10.27.2011-12.06.2011)

• Requirement: Lv. 15 - Lv.120
• The new sidekick system gives you bonuses for teaming up with a player five or more levels above or below you.
• When a sidekick relationship is made, a lower level player receives a temporary stat and level increase effect based on the higher level player's level.
• The lower level sidekick’s primary and secondary Abilities will be temporarily increased.
• The lower level sidekick’s max HP and MP will be temporarily increased.
• Both people in a sidekick relationship receive a buff every hour.
• If a sidekick relationship is maintained for a long time, the higher level player's Fame increases once per day.
• Both people in a sidekick relationship receive bonus EXP similar to the party bonus EXP system.
• Each player in a sidekick relationship will receive a title corresponding to their level in comparison to the other player: Low Level Sidekick /High Level Sidekick