Valentine’s Day in Second Life: Free Gifts, Hunts, and One Billion Rising

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Bleah.

This picture perfectly illustrates my mood today, stuck in my apartment due to a combination of bitterly cold Winnipeg winter weather (it’s -25°C/-13°F, or -33°C/-27°F with the wind chill), and a province-wide pandemic lockdown. On a day meant to celebrate lovers and love, I am feeling alone and isolated, cranky and depressed.

So it’s time to for me to escape real life by retreating to Second Life! The following are some random notes from my travels, of free gifts and Valentine’s Day hunts, plus a visit to the One Billion Rising event taking place today. Enjoy!


First, please don’t forget to visit the Second Life Valentine’s Shop and Hop event before they close on February 17th, 2021, and snap up all the fabulous freebies (here’s a blogpost with my picks of the best gifts). One example of the many wonderful free gifts you can pick up is this shimmering, lilac Athena ballgown by Son!a Edge:

Such an outfit demands a place to wear it, so I trotted out an alt wearing this lovely ballgown to Frank’s Jazz club, which was a predictable sea of red for Valentine’s Day (including what appeared to be one man who appeared to be dancing stark naked, but I assume that this was because his clothes failed to load in my Firestorm viewer!)

Anyway, I wasn’t really in the mood for syrupy love songs today, so instead I decided to go hunting for Valentine’s gifts. Baby Monkey’s proprietor, Pixieplumb Flanagan, posted the following heartfelt notice to her store group:

I know it’s not the easiest time right now, but I hope these colourful and funky heart print mules help a smidge. 4 colour options xxxxx

The cost of join the Baby Monkey group is a very reasonable L$20, so this is a bargain! Here’s the SLURL to the location of the group gifts wall at the Baby Monkey store (save the SLURL to your inventory, then right click on it and select Show on Map, then follow the red arrow from the central spawn point).

Also, if you visit Suna Design, and join their store group for free, you can pick up a free L$500 gift card, good for anything in the store!

You can use the L$500 gift card to pick up two different versions of the beautiful materials-enabled Mia ballgown shown here!

The gorgeous Mia ballgown can be yours for free with the L$500 gift card from Suna Design

The Poème womenswear store is celebrating Valentine’s Day with a hunt, with 14 prizes for only L$15 each. The pink hearts are large and fairly easy to find!

Here are three of the hunt prizes: a flirty sweater, leggings, and red combat boots (the sweater and leggings come in two patterns each):

Here, I paired one of the Valentine’s Hunt prizes, the Ruffle Me Up dress, with a L$1 prize in the My Funny Valentine Hunt at Poème (the hunt hint is: “Are these 2 heads looking at me!?”). The cute red-and-pink-with-hearts design umbrella is resizable, and comes with a high-priority Bento hold pose (there’s a second version to rezz as home decor if you wish).


At the Orsy shopping event in Second Life, you can pick up the following men’s and women’s outfits for only one Linden dollar! The package is called L’Amour, by La Perla, and you can find it high up on the wall, halfway up the stairs at the south end of the shopping event (here’s the exact SLURL). The women’s gift is a red bodycon dress with matching reel heels in sizes: Maitreya Lara; Belleza Venus, Isis, and Freya; Slink Physique, and Legacy (note that the jewelry shown is not included).

The men’s gift is a men’s dressy outfit (shirt with bowtie and vest, pants and shoes) in sizes: Belleza Jake, Signature Gianni, Slink, and Legacy.

If you like the look of these, La Perla also has a Love Set, consisting of men’s and women’s outfits, on the SL Marketplace for only L$1.


In addition to Valentine’s Day, February 14th also marks the date of the One Billion Rising event in Second Life, when men and women in Second Life join people across the world to protest violence against women, in a show of unity and strength. The Second Life event features a four-region stage where 200 people can come together to dance, surrounded by an area of art installations, an arena for poetry, a stage for dance performances, informational exhibits, and free gifts.

A couple of the art installations at One Billion Rising
The main performance stage at One Billion Rising

You can pick up free T-shirts for both men and women at the four landing spots for the One Billion Rising event in Second Life:

For more information about One Billion Rising in Second Life, and a schedule of events at their main stage, please visit their website.

Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: Advent Calendar Gifts for December 23rd, 2020

Here’s my blogpost with links to four lists of Advent Calendars and 12 Days of Christmas Calendars, plus my “Top Ten” Calendars you should not miss in 2020!

And if you want to learn how to pick up a whopping 629 free Christmas presents on Christmas Day, here’s your plan of attack!

Do I have a haul of fabulous and fashionable freebies for you today!

Today’s gift from Wow Skins is this very attractive Dana Bakes on Mesh/system skin in the sandy skin tone (the Wow group costs L$199 to join):

Wow Skins: Dana in the sandy skin tone

Next up we have the Hope skin from 7 Deadly S[k]ins, in the cotton candy skin tone. Coincidentally, this skin looks very similar to today’s present from Wow Skins! The 7 Deadly S[k]ins group costs L$1,000 to join during the month of December.

7 Deadly S[k]ins: Hope skin in the cotton candy skin tone

From the Advent calendar at Essenz we receive these Barbados wedges in coral pink, which include a HUD to change the sole, the metal, the texture on the wedge, and the colour of the stripes and ankle strap. The Essenz group costs L$350 to join, or non-members can pay just L$50 each to pick up this and all previous Advent calendar gifts.

The final gift from the 12 Days of Christmas calendar at Baby Monkey are these suede wrap boots! You don’t need to join a group to snap up these beauties, simply pay the calendar L$1, and your Linden dollar will automatically be refunded. While you’re in store, why not pick up the previous 11 gifts as well! Altogether, they form a colour-coordinated capsule wardrobe in cream, pink, and chocolate brown!

The present from Mishmash Fusion is this cozy blue and grey snowflake sweater with a snowflake pattern, which comes in sizes to fit various women’s mesh bodies. The Mishmash Fusion group is free to join.

The next two pictures show you two gifts together: the beautiful Eowyn elven gown in opal green from Eclectic Stars (no group needed), paired with the Charlotte diadem, the gift from the Advent calendar at Vagrant today (the Vagrant group is free to join). You’re all set for your next fantasy roleplay!

The crown comes with a HUD to change both the colour of the gemstones, and the metal textures:

Today’s gift from Virtual Diva is this haute couture Carmin bodysuit, collar, and corset! The Virtual Diva group is free to join during Advent. As you usually have to pay a fee to join the Virtual Diva group, you might wish to remain in the group after Christmas to take pick up some high-fashion group gifts throughout the year!

Among today’s gift from the eBENTO shopping event is this red and silver Estrella ballgown from Elisea Carter (the eBENTO group is free to join):

Lastly, we have this drop-dead gorgeous emerald green ballgown, today’s present from Celestina’s Weddings (the Celestina’s group is free to join):

Happy freebie shopping!

Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: Advent Calendar Gifts for December 22nd, 2020

Here’s my blogpost with links to four lists of Advent Calendars and 12 Days of Christmas Calendars, plus my “Top Ten” Calendars you should not miss in 2020!

If you want to know my plan of attack to pick up a whopping 629 free Christmas presents on Christmas Day, here it is!

The gift from the Advent calendar at 7 Deadly S[k]ins is not one but two fatpacks of the Nadine skin, which means you can pick up ten different skin tones of this skin today, available in both Bakes on Mesh/system skins and Omega skin appliers.

& Deadly S[k]ins Nadine skin in the caramel skin tone

Don’t forget that the 7 Deadly S[k]ins store group does cost L$1,000 to join during December, but I think it’s worth it. (Or, if you prefer, you can pick up all the previous days’ gifts for just L$25 each, using my daily Advent calendar blogposts as a guide.) Unlike other store calendars, the 7 Deadly S[k]ins Advent calendar has gifts every single day, including the days between Christmas and New Year’s!

Virtue‘s gift today is the Rosita dress in purple (the Virtue group is free to join):

Today’s gift from Essenz are these fun, strappy Amsterdam shoes in serenity blue. The HUD allows you to change the colour of the sole and the hearts, as well as change the metals. The Essenz group cost L$350 to join, or you can buy this pair for only L$50 if you are not a group member.

Today’s present from the 12 Days of Christmas calendar at Baby Monkey is the Darla skirt with side pockets (see red arrow), worn with two previous gifts from the same calendar, the shawl collar sweater and the slingback pumps. No group join is required, just pay L$1 for each gift and your Linden dollar will automatically be refunded.

I leave you with today’s gift from the 12 Days of Christmas calendar at JUMO, this lovely Barbara gown in green. You don’t need to join any group, just come and slap the December 22nd star and it’s yours!

That’s it for today…happy freebie shopping!

Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: Advent Calendar Gifts for December 21st, 2020

Here’s my blogpost with links to four lists of Advent Calendars and 12 Days of Christmas Calendars, plus my “Top Ten” Calendars you should not miss in 2020!

I’m running a bit late today again, my apologies!

We’re getting down to crunch time in the last few days leading up to Christmas Day, and boy, do I ever have a haul of Christmas presents for you today! Today’s gift from Entice is this cute brown dress (the Entice group is free to join):

From the 7 Deadly S[k]ins Advent calendar comes the Hope skin in the darker, coconut skin tone, which come in Bakes an Mesh/system and Omega applier versions, plus a fatpack of the Gillian skins in five skin tones, also in BoM and Omega versions:

7 Deadly S[k]ins Hope skin in the coconut skin tone
7 Deadly S[k]ins Gillian skin in the oak skin tone

Remember that the 7 Deadly S[k]ins store group does cost L$1,000 to join during December, but it’s worth it. (Or, if you prefer, you can pick up all the previous days’ gifts for just L$25 each, using my daily Advent calendar blogposts as a guide.) Also, don’t forget that, unlike other store calendars, the 7 Deadly S[k]ins Advent calendar has gifts every single day, right up until New Year’s Day!

Here are two December 21st gifts from the Advent calendar at the eBENTO shopping event which I quite liked: the striking Zoey hoop earrings by Supernatural (which come in silver and gold versions, with two HUDs to change the gemstones to match any outfit!), and the eye-catching, crystal-adorned black plat pumps from Celestina’s Weddings. There is no cost to join the eBENTO group.

Below are two 12 Days of Christmas calendar gifts, worn together: the fur coat and hat are from the calendar at No Shot, and the thigh-high laced leather boots are today’s gift from the Baby Monkey calendar. You do not need to join any group to pick up these gits, and if you prefer, you can wait until Christmas Eve or Christmas Day and pick up all the presents at one time! I just love it when Second Life stores do not force me to log in every day to pick up that day’s item. (I mean, it’s fun, but by this stage, it’s rather wearisome.)

The gift from the Advent calendar at Vagrant is this red top (the Vagrant group is free to join):

The gift from Justice is a relative rarity from an SL Advent calendar: a Christmas-themed item of apparel that is not bright red or green! This shoulder-baring Skye shirt with the tied sleeves comes in this muted Christmas ornament pattern, which I find a very refreshing change. The Justice group is free to join.

Today’s gift from the 12 Days of Christmas calendar at JUMO is this stunning Arden gown in red (the JUMO group is free to join):

Finally, these last two freebies are not Advent calendar gifts, but the free Christmas gifts from my friend Solas NaGealai of BlueMoon Enterprise are so wonderful that I had to add them to this post! You will have to join the Blue Moon group for free to pick up these group gifts.

The women’s present is this gorgeous red and gold ballgown, sure to turn heads at your next Christmas gala!

And the men’s gift is the red and gold Mouse King outfit, straight out of the classic E.T.A. Hoffmann tale The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, which includes the crown, cape, and even the boots! You can wear this outfit with or without the optional mouse head.

Happy freebie shopping!