My friend bought hair

I'm a rational, fairly sane person. It really takes quite a bit to get my feathers ruffled. I have patience like you would not believe.

But it seriously bugs the hell out of me when someone messages me with "My friend bought hair from you and didn't get it. Can you help us/him/her?"

Come on people. If you have a problem, do not ask your friend to message me. Open that IM window and send me a message. I promise I'm not going to be nasty or rude or hostile. And, miracle of miracles, I'm going to try and help you sort things out. Because we're all about customer service, and we're nothing without our customers, and we know that. We want you to be happy.

I've gotten messages from people about hair that someone else bought. The friend got the wrong color pack. The girfriend got the wrong style. Their cousin didn't get the hair (which surprisingly was in their inventory) they paid for. The lady with the demo on her head wants to know how the hell to get the sign off.

Yeah, the grid's been wonky. Yeah, the database has issues and I can't even get a record of my transactions. Stuff disappears. You rez things and they're gone forever. I know that this stuff happens on occasion and things just disappear into the black void that is the SL world we all deal with.

That said, there are things I'm going to have to know from you that your friend is not going to have the answers to. I'm going to have to talk you through double checking places in inventory, through your transaction history. I need to know the style, the color pack, the location. The phase of the moon, where Jupiter was in relation to Mars, and if you had your tongue at exactly a 38.2-degree angle when you hit that left mouse button and bought hair.

Okay, so I don't need to know all that.

Really, if you have a problem with something you buy, we're gonna go out of our way to fix it for you. But we're not gonna go through your boyfriend, your girlfriend, your best friend, your cousin, or the lady standing next to you with the demo sign on her head.

We need to talk to YOU!

We actually like talking to our customers. We even like talking to your boyfriends, your best friends, your cousins, and especially the ladies next to you with the demo sign on their head. But when we're trying to fix an issue like you not receiving what you paid for, we really do need to talk to you.

And that's all I have to say about that.

/me wanders off looking for the box of chocolates.

To taper or not to taper

Okay, let me just say this and get it over with. I hate flexi. I hate flicker. I hate how flexi flickers. I hate how flexi goes through your body and makes you look like you have hair growing in the strangest places.

However, I know that a lot of people out there like flexi. So I make it. And cuss at it the whole time.

Now, my question is this:

Taper the flexi? Or don't taper the flexi?

Tapered flexi looks like:



And non-tapered flexi looks like: (look in the middle of the ad)



So, thoughts, opinions? Do you care?

Five for the weekend!

It's been kind of a rough week for us Calla Girls. I won't go into details. But trust us. It sucked. Somehow we managed to get some hair done. I'm pretty sure it was a miracle.

Here they are:





Begonia - (aka "the hair from hell") The hat is color change, and it was really fun to make. But coloring it, was just pure hell. It took foreva! I thought it was all finished, and went to box it up last night and discovered I'd missed two whole packs! I wanted to cry. Oh, and there's flexi. Which is why I wanted to cry.




Butterfly Weed - This one's also flexi, with scripted color change flowers on the hair clip. I was going to do the actual clip color change too, but I kinda liked it white with the colored flowers. So I left it. But since it's mod, if anyone really wants to color it, you can in the edit window.




Wild Plum - This is my 20's flapper 'do. That looks just like Annie. What can I say, it was one of my favorite movies as a kid.




Yarrow - PIGGIES! Hae does the most incredible piggies. I just love the little bobby pins in the front. These are all flexi, and really long, and of course have color change bands.

And last, but most definitely not least is a very special Ayeshe's Angels style.




White Rose - I asked Simone Stern what Ayeshe's favorite flower was, and she told me it was a white rose. So this one is named for Ayeshe's favorite flower. 100% of the sales from this style go directly to Ayeshe. We will be putting up a kiosk of some kind very soon, and keep a running tally of how much total L Calla has donated to Ayeshe's Wellness Fund. The number is pretty sizable, and I think it'd be a great thing for you all to be able to see what you're contributing for her!

So there ya have it. That's what's new at Calla for the weekend. We hope you enjoy them, and we sincerely hope your week was better than ours!

We have pants!

Release Notes for Second Life 1.13.2(12) January 19, 2007
=====================================
Bug fixes:
* Fixed loose clothing appearing tight upon login

And there was much rejoicing across the grid.

Being the child of the 80's that I am, I used to peg-leg my pants so this bug wasn't too annoying to me. Until I saw a guy with jeans that looked like leggings. And those big clunky boy feet. It was just so many kinds of bad I don't know where to start.

Haedon's been boycotting pants until they fixed this bug and I actually saw her with pants on yesterday for the first time in...a while! And I picked up some super cute jeans the other day that I'm so gonna have to blog.

So, yay for pants being normal again!

Color change love - Six new

Anemone - This one is absolutely gorgeous. This is Haedon's and is such a nice side chignon. She took the lilies I'd made and added them as a chin attachment, of course with scripted color change. Because we love color change.




Delphinium - Everyone seems to really love this one, I guess because there are few curly styles out there in SL. I don't know, but it's been an instant hit. I was in total denial of a max limit of linked prims when I made it. Thankfully it came in under 256.




Ground Laurel - I've been wanting to do some styles with hats, headbands, clips, etc. There's a hat style I've done, but is a bitch to color so you'll see that one some time next year. This one, however, came out awfully sweet. Of course, the band is color change.




Hydrangea - Another of Haedon's and one of my personal favorites. It looks very "pretty pretty princess" as some *cough* Haedon *cough* would say. And I fit the "pretty pretty princess" description...remarkably well. This one has flexi, and I just adore the layered back. And the hair clip is color change!




Solidago - I can't repeat the things we said about this ponytail without breaking some kind of ettiqute rules. But let me assure you, this pony by Hae rocks! We are both totally in love with this one. It kicks some serious bootay. Not to mention, the bands are color change!




Wild Hyacinth - Last up is this one, inspired by Hae's Solidago. I'm seriously piggie challenged. I fight with them every step of the way. I just can't seem to get that middle part down the way I'd like to. I'm gonna keep working on it, and eventually someday it will be perfect. And have I mentioned we love color change? Oh. Well then. Yeah, it's got color change bands.

A hair show!

We had a hair show put on by Aspire Modeling Agency and we had so much fun. Even with the grid issues (160something regions being shut down!) it went amazingly well. The women of Aspire were wonderful, and had everything so organized and planned out that we just got to sit around and look pretty and look at the models looking pretty.

Then we got to go sit up on the platform and oversee the show from the VIP seating.

The models were beautiful, and they showed off our styles fabulously! Some of the styles in the show were Gardenia, Nettle, Acacia, Eupatorium, Iris, and Ivy.

We had 30 styles in the show, worn by ten different models. They really did a fabulous job, and we're so pleased that it went off as well as it did! I can't imagine trying to coordinate it all.

For the grand finale, all ten models hit the stage again and they made me and Haedon come to center stage. Haedon said a brief thank you, and I just smiled and looked dazed.

But all in all, we had fun, the show went off without a hitch, and the ladies of Aspire were a joy to work with.

It puts the mayo on the roll....

So I've been reading SL blogs... lots of blogs... OMG so many blogs. Sometimes when I read them I'll stumble onto a little snippet about the blogger's personal everyday shit. The first few times, I thought to myself, "I came here to see if you had new stuff, read some reviews... Who cares about your personal junk?" And as the days passed, I realised the answer to that question was "I do! me me! I care!" Cause I am friggen bored at work, and all you bloggers out there are giving me something to read. So thanks!

Then I think to myself, "Hey! I should return the favour and tell stuff about me!" But you know what? I'm not that interesting. I don't have kids, I'm 26... I have a crappy job that pays me when they feel like it. I don't have any super powers (not that I'd tell you anyway!!!) >.> The biggest thing that happened to me today is that my sammich had no mayonnaise on it. It was a breakfast sammich. I got turkey and american on a croissant with mayo. It's not such a big deal, but the deli fucks up my order EVERY DAY, no fail.

I used to order sausage egg and cheese on a roll in a styrofoam container. I did that cause when they gave it to me wrapped in the paper, it was a mess and a half. How hard do you think that is? To make a sammich and place it into a container, rather than wrap it up? Apparently WAY hard. I got all sorts of variations on that one. I had the sausage, egg and cheese in the container with no roll. I once got that, with a roll wrapped in paper tossed in WITH the stuff. I once got the roll buttered, in the container with the other stuff. I suppose it was the new Do It Yourself breakfast sammich.

The issues withe the turkey sammich were fun. I didn't know why I was paying 6 dollars for a breakfast sammich, till I opened it up to find a mound of friggen turkey. It was like a deli lunch sammich. So the next time I called, I specified "a little bit of turkey, not a huge lunch portion". Sometimes it was right, sometimes it wasn't. But I was getting a little pissed off that I'm spending an extra 4 dollars every time they screw up my sammich. So finally I call and ask them what language I need to learn to speak, in order for them to get it right. They clear it up, appologise, and tell me the next ones free. I'm okay with that.

So I order my free sammich today... no effing mayo. I seriously give up. I'm going to go back to bringing in those personal bowls of cereal.


A very uninteresting,
Haedon

Snapple cap say: A hummingbird's heart beats 1,400 times a minute

One more!

We added one more to the list of new releases. It was a tad late but somewhat fitting. Haedon got married on Saturday, and we put out Ivy.



Ivy - This is a really gorgeous style, and one of Haedon's. We've had a lot of girls come in and need help fitting hair to their wedding veil. We have a lot of updo's that will usually work, but Haedon said he was going to try making one with a veil. I think it came out so pretty. And the veil is exquisite. The textures are great, the little flowers are so pretty, and have tiny pearl centers. The veil is not color change, but being modable, you can color it if you'd like something besides white.

Sixteen New!

Yep, that's right. Sixteen. We've really been working hard and have some amazing new stuff! I'll get right to it. Here's what we put out:




Acacia - This one is Haedon's. It's a magnificent 40's style with color change pearls. It looks wonderful with a hat. I wore this one around for days with a fuzzy winter hat, a vintage look dress and fuzzy gloves.




Carnation - Okay, really I tried to make a boy style. But it got too girly. Carnation is the result. It reminds me of a Demi Moore style, sorta Ghost-ish.




Clove - This one stayed on the pose stand for a really long time, nearly a week. I just couldn't get it to look the way I wanted it. Haedon finally made a suggestion that worked perfectly. It did have three braid loops, but the third one was 150 prims, and it exceeded the max link limit. So there are two.




Eupatorium - You guys wanted more flexi, here ya go! I'm actually pretty happy with how this one came out. I'm still not a flexi fan, but this one's okay. I'm really pleased with the bangs.




Lotus - I really like this one. I had actually just read Memoirs of a Geisha for the first time when I made this one. I guess I was inspired. The hair sticks are color change, and are attached to the hair. I thought about doing them as a separate attachment, but Haedon said they should be part of the style. She was right, so they are. And with 140 colors to choose from for the sticks, you can match just about anything!




Monarda - This one, just a plain old French Twist, sans octopus. I'm a big fan of the Linden Lifestyles blog, and couldn't help but indulge Salome in her search for "classic octopus-free French twist". Especially since I happened to agree with her.




Peach Blossom - I love this one. Super cute, flexi ends, braids, 4 scripted color-change bows with 140 color options, and you can change the bow color for each bow separately. What more can a girl want?




Petunia - This is one I was really iffy on, so I asked the Calla Update group for a hand. (I actually blogged about this one a while back when I'd finished it. It looks great on everyone. Seriously, I've yet to see anyone who doesn't look fabulous in it.




Stephanotis - Another of Haedon's, which I think is great. The hair clip is color change and it's just a really fun, laid back kinda style. It's perfect for jeans.




Sunflower - This one, I am so proud of. I completely reserve bragging rights for this one. It was really a challenge, but I love how it came out. I'd found this picture and loved the style.

So I decided I'd try it. I'm so happy with how it turned out. Especially since I had no back to look at.




Sweet Alyssym - This one is actually a smoother, more sophisticated Yellow Rose. (Actually what happened was my husband said that I looked like I had horns when I was wearing Yellow Rose, and he said it'd be prettier if it wasn't so flippy. So, for him, here's less horns.)




Sweet Pea - PIGGIES! Aren't they cute?! This one is Haedon's and it is so adorable. High piggies, with color change bands. Again, 140 colors! Woot! And the bangs on this one are so perfect for this style! She did an awesome job. Love it.




Vinca - Another of Hae's, and more flexi! I have to say, for flexi, this rocks. I really love this one, it's probably one of my top 10 favorites. The bangs on this one, to die for. Color change bands, 140 colors, flexi and so long! This one's gonna be a hit.




White Mulberry - A really sweet friend of mine, Phia Vaughan, and her SL hubby Sampson, own the most awesome jewelry store ever - Simply Spoiled. Which was formerly *SS* Creations. Which I read about on the Linden Lifestyles blog, a really long time ago when I first started playing, and have been in love with their stuff ever since. Anyway, Sampson just made a beautiful tiara, and I asked if they'd care if I made hair specifically for it. So, White Mulberry is what became of that. I'd actually found another picture that I used for this one:


The tiara is not included, but we will be having them put it up for sale at our shop, so you can grab it when you get the hair. It's really a beautiful piece, and has earrings and a necklace to match.




Yellow Rose - I had so much fun making this one, it grew from Petunia, and became a long tousled curly look, with a little bit of sass.




Zinnia - And last but certainly not least, Zinnia. This one is Haedon's and definitely tops my current list of favorites. I absolutely love it. She said she finished it because she knew it would look great on me. And as you can see, it so does! Had she tossed it out, we'd have all been missing out on this one.

So, there's the list! The sim's been crazy with all the grid issues, so if you can't teleport anywhere, at least you can look at the ads here!

Have a wonderful weekend, and again a big thank you and congratulations to all who participated in our slogan contest. You guys rock. We really have the most awesome group.

Calla... We got something!

Well, the contest went extremely well. Entries poured in daily, and every day we were greeted with the most awesome slogans. You guys crazy creative, I love it! Not only that, but we got some idea of what you really think of us. The words that were used to describe our hair... sophisticated, beautiful, stylish, pretty... those words made us feel REALLY good about who we are, and the work we do. So a huge thank you! to anyone that submitted an entry. We wouldn't be anything without our [fantastically beautiful] customers.

Of course it was not an easy decision... there were loads of great ones. But we finally came to an agreement on what ones really stood out. So, I present to you our winners of the Calla Slogan Contest:

In Third place we have Ysera Nyanda with:
"Calla, Blossoms of Beauty"

Second place goes to Mishi Li (just for having the balls to submit it) with:
Calla, We're just better.

And our First place winner, with our new Calla Slogan is Sonne Greene with:

Calla, Discover Your Style!

Congratulations to all of our winners, and thanks again to all who submitted an entry. We'll be contacting you guys soon with your prizes.

~Hae

The best laid plans...

So I had all these plans for what I was going to do today. My husband's grandparents have been here the last 4 days, so I've been mostly absent doing RL things. Today, I was gonna be back hard at work on all the goodies we have coming this week.

Until my mom called. I haven't really talked to her in the last 4 days (my mom calls and wants to talk for like an hour every day) since we had company here. So she talks for an hour, kids are screaming because grandma and grandpa are gone and life just isn't as fun without them. And because they're 3 and 1 and that's what they do best.

So finally mom's off the phone, kids have cookies and are at least somewhat entertained for the time being (yay for coloring books!) so I go to fix myself some breakfast and the phone rings again. It's my husband, who needs me to bring him contacts. I'd taken him to work today so I could run to the store for a few things we needed.

So he says, "What're you doing?"

"I'm fixing breakfast."

"What are you doing for lunch?"

"Umm...I don't know."

"Want Mexican?"

"Okay, you want me to come out there for lunch?" (We're like 20 minutes from anything. So this isn't just an around the corner kind of deal.

"I need you to bring me contacts."

/me sighs

"Okay."

So now my morning is shot. And probably most of my afternoon by the time we get back, and then I have to go get him again from work this afternoon. And maybe do laundry and put away the dishes at least.