Woah, it’s been a minute since I’ve been here. If you’ve checked the about me page you’ve seen that I started school part time. Part Time school + Full Time job = no spare time! I had a few more things I wanted to post about the Christmas Founder’s Reunion and now seeing that there is going to be a Valentines Reunion/OB I need to hurry up! 

So let’s travel back to December. It was the final day of the reunion and luckily I had gotten everything done. I was prepared to take it easy and help anyone that needed to complete quests. Little did I know that I was going to be the one needing all the help. Surprise, it’s a last minute event (torture device?) called Designer Depot. Guilds can custom design t-shirts and hats which is really, incredibly awesome, but here’s the catch, you have less than 24 hours to get everything together.  Ummm, what? I’m going to be completely honest, it was horrible for me! I was the only guild representative online and I felt that put me in the leadership roll. I immediately panicked about everything that needed to happen. Our entire guild needed to make a group decision about colors and a design, except, there were only 4 of us online. We came up with a pretty basic design concept that the 4 of us agreed upon, but would everyone like it? Did we have time to wait? That’s how it was pretty much all day. People coming into the game and me having to explain the t-shirt thing over and over. Everyone having different ideas. People not being able to afford what we came up with. Plus, the pricing and rules were crazy complicated! I hope I did the math right! ::crosses fingers:: Then I had to stay on my farm most of the time so people could bring me money. (Not to mention I felt like I had to stay in game all day) I am most definitely happy to help my guild in any way I can, but these last minute things really get to me! I am a planner and organizer by nature, and this was chaos. Please HKO, no more!!! Give us time to make something decent! We (and when I say “we” it was me and whoever was in game and responding at the time these decisions were made) decided just to do shirts and save the hats for when/if they do this again. Our shirts are going to be light blue with a pink design. Our design is the word “cute” and a cloud (to represent our guild mascot cinnamoroll). Luckily Sej knows her way around photoshop and was willing to put some visuals together for us to vote on. Thanks again Sej! I know it must have been maddening!

Now the good thing about having to collect money meant everyone ended up at my farm. Which means this:

turned into this:

We all ran into my house and started taking pictures. This has got to be one of my favorite traditions, the last day screen shots! Hey Alesana, get off SaigeMorrow!!

That’s better! ^__^ From here we decided we needed group pictures in New York. It took some of us a little longer to get there than others seeing as how some people had come to my farm from New York and some from Londan. I had come from Londan.

We met up at the Empire State Building. I missed out on some of the fun due to my long cross country trek. There was a girl from another guild there. She came and sat with us, but never said a word. I wish I had gotten her picture!

Next we went to the ice rink in Central Park.

 YAY!! A Sugar chan and Cricket screen shot. We have been real life friends for over 20 years now, so it’s always fun to hang out together.

I think the dinosaur just farted on us and ran away!

A few of us went to visit Santa and sit on his lap. He should probably come with a weight limit. We are crushing him!

Sometime during all of this I had to run all the way back to Londan to turn in the t-shirt money.

I think I was the last one because it took me so long to get there. GM-Zel was super nice.

Then it was all the way back to New York for more screen shots. I must have lost 5 lbs. from all the hiking!!!

Coming back from the Santa picture we discovered a massive group of people standing in a line,

so we jumped in. I believe there was some caroling, done mostly by me.  Then the line kept getting bigger and bigger till there was no line at all.

I kept trying to ask this girl  where she got her sweat shirt. (Oh man, I just noticed her super sweet shoes!) There was nothing like it in the item mall, but she never answered me or my PM’s. Oh well.

With the giant influx of people my computer started lagging like crazy and I’ve never been a big crowd kind of girl. I politely excused myself and went back to the ice rink. I sat there and read everyone’s last minute goodbyes and then HKO Founder’s Reunion was over.

I’m really happy we had the chance to go back. It was a fun experience, really insane quests and good times with my guild. I’m looking forward to more of the same with the Happy Hearts Valentines Event. I probably won’t be on as much because of school, but I look forward to seeing everyone soon!

 <3

Once I learned that the Founder’s Reunion was going to be all about Christmas I knew I wanted to get presents for people. Then it hit me, why not arrange an in-game Secret Santa? My brain usually goes to the extreme and I was originally going to open it up to the whole Sanriotown forum. Don’t get me wrong, I adore my guild, but I also like interacting with new people. I thought something across guilds (and involving the guildless) would be fun. However, when I started mapping out how to go about this I started considering time zones and varying schedules and realized if I opened it up to everyone I could easily get in over my head.

So instead it became Super Cute Secret Santa.

 ”Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas!”

I was a little embarassed after I posted the idea. What in-game presents could people possibly need? As lame as I felt my idea would be in practice, 7 people expressed interest and excitement. This in turn got me excited and I felt a whole lot better!

To put it together I had everyone that was interested email me. Then I wrote down names and did a random drawing. I emailed my guildmates with the name of the person for whom they would be Secret Santa. Next, everyone posted their wishlists in the forum. The most sought after items were those for the Christmas quests. People also listed seeds or things they collect. No one was looking for anything outrageous and I was truly grateful that all involved were in it for fun. 

I kept tabs on everyone to make sure things were running smoothly. I think there were only 2 problems. The first one was easy enough. I emailed 2 people through forum email and at least 1 of them didn’t receive my email. However, it was a small problem and took little time to fix.

I discovered the second problem during the random name drawing. If someone were going to be my Secret Santa it wouldn’t be a secret. It was with a heavy heart that I realized I wasn’t going to be able to participate. Halfway through the reunion I voiced my sadness to Sugar chan and Astroasis. Both encouraged me to make a wish list and post it on the forums, so I did.

I asked for:

Christmas Stars, Mistletoe and Candy Canes because they were so cute.

Snow because we needed so much!

and snowman seeds because I <3 the snowmen. Hopefully I’ll still have my seeds when OB starts!!

Once again, my guildmates proved themselves to be the most awesome people in the world!

 Well, one day Astroasis shows up on my farm bringing tons of snow, 20! snowman seeds, lemons, oats, strawberries (and probably some other things I’ve forgotten). I was floored! Throughout the reunion she gave me at least 500 snow. It was amazing! I am so happy Astro decided to join Super Cute! (and not just cause she gives me stuff!) She is super hilarious and definitely a good friend. She’s been there for my venting when dealing with one thing or another. ^__^ Astro: You were the best Secret Santa ever!

Petal also showed up bringing Christmas items from the monster drops. (stars and canes and mistletoes) I was shocked and so happy! Pheona gave me 100 lemons which I split with Kimberly and Kimberly gave me the bee stingers guide. I know the bee stinger wand is low level, but I want to know how to make everything! ^__^ I’m pretty sure other people helped me out too, I need to write these things down.

So, a very special thank you to Sugar chan, Astroasis, SaigeMorrow, Alesana_Kitty, Petal, Kimberly and Kireu for making the Super Cute Secret Santa a great event and super fun time! You guys are awesome!

I hope everyone had a nice holiday. I spent Christmas with my family and got loads of cool presents. ^__^ The one I’ve been using the most is my new Nintendo Ds. (hurray hurray) My students will be excited because I promised to bring it in (if I got it) and show it to them.

 Now on with the tour!

I cashed my paycheck and went off to buy gifts. I couldn’t quite figure what to get everyone, but I did my best!

  Pandaba loved the new skirt I got her. (him? I can never tell!)

 I went to take Badtz his present and accidentally walked in on the dress rehearsal for his new show “Badtz Man Group.” Having heard about my unforgettable performance in “El Fromage” he asked if I would come up and do some improv with him. We had a lot of fun! He asked me to join him in performance once I had finished my quests. Wait? Quests??? What quests????

 ”Oh yeah, there are tons of new quests. To boil it down, you’re going to need 120 Lemons, 120 Oats, 180 Strawberries, 120 Honey (watch out for those stingers), 90 meats, more copper and clay than you can shake a stick at and enough water to flood New York.”

” O__o This is punishment for all the complaints about Burry Balls, isn’t it?”

“Oh and I almost forgot, 1,250 pieces of snow. Merry Christmas!”

::passes out::

“Ummm, excuse me sir. I need 1,250 pieces of snow. Would you mind if I harvested some off of you and your little boy here?”

“Get away from us before I call Mr. Policeman. Quick, run Jimmy run!”

I realized that begging in New York is useless. If I wanted to finish these quests in time, I was going to need more money. A lot more! Going back to my job at the Empire State building wouldn’t be enough, so….

I kidnapped the New York Yankees and held them hostage! Once their ransom had been paid I was able to finish the quests and even do some looking around in the mall! I can’t wait until they have home furnishings in stock!

And what Christmas tour would be complete without a visit to Santa?

 ”Ho, ho ho. Have you been a good girl this year?”

“Yes!”

“Really? That’s not what the Yankees tell me!”

>__<

I hope you enjoyed my tour through New York. I really did enjoy the quests, even if they were punishment! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and had time to spend with your loved ones.

PS: This was just for fun, no Yankees were hurt in the making of this story! ^__^

Merry Christmas everyone! A trip back to Sanrio Land was the perfect way to kickstart my holiday! I had a wonderful time. As usual, I took a lot of pictures but was too focused on the game to post them. Here is my tour of New York City!

 I stopped by the tennis courts to pose with this completely humble tribute to Badtz-maru. It’s good to see he has a level head on his shoulders and doesn’t think too highly of himself. ^__^

I also stopped in to see Pochi.

Oh really? You don’t say. Pochi fancies himself a comedian…a gluttonous comedian.

It was a little chilly outside so I popped into the Metropolitan Museum of Art to warm up. I enjoyed looking at the sculptures. My favorites were “A Panda’s Malaise” and “The Booger Escapes.”

Next up was Grand Central Station.

“One ticket to Beijing please.”

“Sorry m’am, the trains aren’t running today.” 

::sob:: “I’ll never get those feathers to Lily!!”

With my travel plans on hold, I decided to do a little Christmas shopping.

It would appear that all the stores have the same name. That must be confusing for tourists. “Meet me at Badtz-maru. No, the other one, no the pink one. Next to the toy store, arrrg, why are they all named the same!!?!?!”

Man, I wish I had that bike to ride through Sanrio Land!

Finding myself low on funds, I went looking for a job. Luckily they were hiring at the Empire State building. I sold tickets, gave tours and worked the info. desk. Finally I earned enough money for Christmas presents so I quit! People can be really rude when they need information and I was only making minimum wage!

I’m just getting started with New York! To be continued in part 2!