When I was growing up, if I woke up tired, grumpy or out of sorts and complained that I didn’t want to get up and go to school, my mom would say, “Well, you better wear a wake up outfit, then, hadn’t you?” A “wake up outfit” was anything with bright, cheery colors or prints, clothes that could make you smile when you look at it. I’m all grown up. My mother is gone, but on a gloomy, grumpy morning, I will still turn to clothing to lift my mood. I put this on as a sort of prophylactic outfit, hoping to stay up for a good portion of my friend Maht’s mahrathon for Heifer International. Of course, my computer did not cooperate, crashing constantly, so all it’s wake up powers went untested.

The “wake up” power begins with the delightfully whimsical retro print skirt from Plastik. This Misfit skirt was produced in thirty different styles. Thirty! That gave me such a moment of fellow feeling with Plastik designer Aikea Rieko. You know that feeling when your are making something and it’s working so well, you just make more and more and more. Even better, Rieko has set up a Christmas gift board with 109 items that can be purchased for gifting.

Like Rieko, I went wild with variety last Christmas, I made some vanilla sugar to give to friends for Christmas. A simple thing to add some herb or spice to sugar to infuse its flavor and make a lovely, inexpensive gift. But then I made some lime sugar, lemon sugar (from the zests), thyme sugar, cinnamon sugar, chocolate sugar, lavender sugar and nutmeg sugar that I packaged in jars and gave in decorated six-pack cartons. If I had stuck to my plan, I could give the same gift this year, but with such a surplus of sugars, everyone still has some left from last year. The fun thing about that gift, though, is that friends have let me know new ways they have tried their sugars and what recipes were really transformed by an unusual sugar. Thanksgiving cranberries given a bite with lime sugar, sugar cookies brightened with lavender sugar and a pork roast enlivened with a bit of thyme sugar are all things that I will have to try one of these day.

That impulse to do more is evident when I shoot my pictures for the blog. I seldom shoot just four, let alone the just one that so many choose to do. I want to focus on different elements, but also to show the clothes in different poses and at different angles. I always shoot so many more than I intend. Morphine Janek of Monso is much more disciplined. This fabulous baseball jacket comes in five very different variations. This one with the black cat and yellow stars will WAKE YOU UP! The v-neck sweater underneath is from novocaine which closed a while back. Any plain tank, sweater or cami would work under the jacket. I chose this one because its color coordinated so well with the Drift leather collar.

Jewelry from Bliensen & Maitai help tie the colors together. So does the scarf that is part of the hair from Wasabi Pills. A new release, the Valerie hair comes in two variations. You can find it at Collabor88.

My skin and makeup come from PXL Creations. This is Kate. He’s released two newer skins since Kate, but I still love Kate the best. I particularly love the fabulous lip colors and eye makeup.

Store info at Blogging Second Life

****SHOPPING LIST******

• Poses: Adorkable
• Skin: [PXL] KATE NAT NE MEB C1
• Makeup Tattoos: [PXL] KATE NAT Pale Lips Glossy (Tattoo)
• /Wasabi Pills/ Hairbase – LONG – Rouge
• [PXL] KATE NAT LineGreen Eyes (Tattoo)
• Eyes: Insufferable Dastard
• Lashes:Lelutka
• Mani/Pedi: SLink Mesh Hands
• Hair: /Wasabi Pills/ Valerie2 Mesh Hair – Rouge
• Clothing: Novocaine – Genevieve Long Sweater :: blood (store closed)
• Drift Collar
• Plastik :[P]:- Misfit Skirts [S] ://Moonbeam

[monso] My Baseball Jacket – Kitty
Jewelry: Bliensen + MaiTai – Mille Colori