Jace has done a great job and things are starting to take shape. I've also spent a ton on plants to make it perfect. I have also started designing packages for ceremony, reception, and photography.
I am opening a wedding service in SL. I have wanted to do it for a while and we have lot that will be a great spot. Our good friend Jace is a master craftsman and is handling the design and build. I will post updates here on our progress. Right now we working on the collaboration of taking ideas and making them real. Stay tuned and watch the progress. SL is great for a small business because you don't need capital, you just need a talent and brain trust. Luckily I think we will be ok on that end.
We found a new store last night that is trying to be a big department store in SL, Amodica. They have men's and women's clothing, accessories, and furniture. I bought 2 shirts. They have some nice clothes, but we had the most fun in the furniture section. They have a wide selection of bedroom furniture, a good selection of den and living room furniture, and they are building their selection of kitchen and bath. We had to try all of the beds. They have great pose animation that include a menu. This is great because you don't have to have 50 pose balls all over the bed. The sleep pose is also much better than some of the "chicken roasting on a spit" poses where you roll over ever 15 seconds. Amodica also has a full line of accessories for the furniture.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Southsea/88/123/433
Ok, I was really really really bad. I went to shoe expo. We won't go into how much money I spent on the 8 pair of shoes that I bought. (I only pictured 4 here. I didn't want to admit I bought 8 pair.) You really need to check them out.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Rezzable%20Discover/128/128/0
Zak and I have recently decided to give up our protected beach front lot on the mainland and move to a private undisclosed island paradise. We decided that if we were moving to a new lot, we had to have a new house. I think building your own home in SL is a lot like building your own home in RL. We didn't want to deal with the hassle or the arguments on how the house should be built. This was a good idea because Zak would have been doing all the building since I can barely rez a cube. We decided to do the best thing for the tranquility of our computer room and buy a pre-built house. There are lots of great places to buy house and we shopped around to compare prices, styles, sizes, and amenities. We finally found the house we love at BO+HA architects.
BO+HA is located on its own sim and it is always full. I think that is a good sign of a retail store. If you never see anyone there, there may be a reason. They have beautiful modern designs in all sizes, prim counts, and styles. We choose the Oporto house. It's a beautiful modern design with enough space to feel big, but not too big that it looks empty. It also has a ton of wall space and we have used all of it for art and pictures. (There are some great original artists here in SL, but that's a post for another day.)
We added a side garden to the house as an entry point. Zak designed a great fountain modeled after one that we saw while we were on a trip. I 
love the pool on the house, and we faced the house toward the ocean to take advantage of the incredible views. We are glad to have things settled and are taking advantage of the sun and water. In SL you don't even have to use sun screen. I love not getting burned. If you are looking for a house, take some time and check out BO+HA we are glad that we found it.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Angora/147/143/22
PS - If you want a great 6,656 sm of ocean front protected property, check out our lot that is for sale. Ancient Rising is a quiet sim and has some great views.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ancient%20Rising/88/50/44
Zak and I love to go dancing. We like a wide variety of music, but we do like to get dressed up and find a good jazz club. Our favorite club changed owners and we have been looking for something new. As luck would have it, one of our favorite DJs in all of SL, Syriana Paine, is working there on Sundays. We went last week and had a wonderful time. Fauxy Shepherd is the manager and he is wonderful. The club is one of the most beautiful builds I have seen in SL. If you like to dress up and have a wonderful time, you have to check it out.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Silver%20Sands/60/230/22
I hope that after my last two posts you have a chance to go and explore the exciting things going at SL Pride 2008. If you are going to check out the rides, you have to start at Welcome Center 2. It was designed by an amazing friend and builder Jace Lewis. Jace is extremely creative and puts a lot of thought and care into his creations. He also adds unique pieces of sculpture to his build, like the rainbow tower in the Welcome Center.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Rhodium/35/6/41
I think the Log Flume is my favorite ride in the Amusement Park section. (Ok, I have also ridden it the most because I helped test it for programming issues.) You start the ride in a little hut that reminds you of the rides at any major theme park. Right out of the gate you start up a hill. You also get a great view of the ride sims while you go up the hill.
Along the way as we tested some of the early runs, Zak and I had a few adventures of an off course log flume car. If this happens to you, just stand up. The log will disappear and you will be fine. It is kind of fun to see where you land.
We did make it safely into the station on most of the runs.
The Osmium Pride Space Park is also an incredible experience. The designers, I'm sorry I don't know your names, have created an out of this world place where you can float freely around the imaginary planets and galaxies. You can also enjoy a little atrial Tae Chi while you watch your friends obit the area. Make sure you watch the video at the entrance so that you will know the optimal settings for you viewer. It really is a creative way to spend some time with your friends.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Osmium/128/128/2
I hope you have gotten excited about SL Pride 2008 and that you are going to take some time to go explore and see the work of some incredible volunteers, artist, builders, scriptors, and others who care enough to share the talents and passions. They all have a lot to be proud of and we as a community should be proud of them and support them.
The Second Life PRIDE celebration does a wonderful job of balancing the serious aspects of living in the face of prejudice, hate, misunderstanding, and the joys shared with family, friends, and loved ones. There are tons of fun things to do like shopping and carnival rides, but there is a more serious side. Tonight I'm going to look at the Memorial Garden and Sanctuary. I'm only including two pictures because you really need to go experience this place of serenity yourself. There are memorial to
those who are fighting with HIV and AIDS and those who live with it every day. You can light a candle for someone you know and love, or someone you have admired from afar. 
There are to many people to name who worked on this part of PRIDE but I think everyone will agree that it is very powerful and moving. Please take some time to check it out. I promise that tomorrow we will have some more fun!
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Osmium/128/128/2
For the past year, Zak and I have been very blessed by the friendship of two incredible people, Blue Revolution and Capability Todd Elswit. They are great friends and immensely talented. Cap is the chair of the building committee for SL Pride this year. He and his team (yea, I'm biased since Zak helped) have done an outstanding job. The six sims they have designed are amazing and everyone should come by to see. Diversity is a wonderful thing. In RL we tend to stay in our own comfort zones, but SL gives you the opportunity to step outside what you see everyday and meet people in any way the represent themselves. You don't have to be gay to enjoy Pride. You can see that everyone should be proud of who they are in SL and RL and accept each other on the same terms.
Here are some pictures from the opening day and some of the first highlights. I'm going to keep adding new Pride adventures each day this week. Pride ends next Sunday, so please take some time and come see it.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Palladium/182/14/42
Cap designed the Museum of Art in Pride. They have some amazing works of art. I even had to find the gallery that sold the works of Karem Mikoyan and pick of two great paintings that he created. There is even a sculpture garden on the roof. Cap also has a great painting on the first floor. There are some wonderful artists in SL and please come take time to view their works.
There are some incredible works of art that have been made just for this event. One example are the special themed fountains. 
Aevalah Nikolaidis created an amazing set of fountains to celebrate all aspects of gay, lesbian, transgender life. This is the Strength of One fountain. She also puts pose balls all over her works so that everyone can cool off and sit and enjoy the day. Aeva is amazing artist and we are lucky to know her and call her a friend.
Please come out to Pride and explore. You might just stumble upon something you never imagined.
I'm CJ Escher in SL . I started playing SL years ago when my husband started playing. I never got into building or scripting. In the early years there weren't that many people online, but in the last year or so that has really changed. We have met some wonderful people from all around the world. We have people who we consider family, and many great friends. I keep going to new places, seeing new merchants, and discovering great artists. I always think I need to tell others about them and then I never do. I'm finally starting a place to do that. To the great places that have come and gone over the years, I'm sorry I didn't do this sooner. To the places I find and post, I hope I am able to give you a tiny bit of exposure. Enjoy, expore, and make your SL count as much or more than your first! - CJ
PS I have gotten into Photography here in SL. If you need profile pics, weddings, etc, let me know. :-)
