You say it's your birthday, August 2043

Round 36: August 2043 (Winter)

Julia Whitney has just entered her second trimester! It's the first child for her but the second for Sam, who already has a son, Zac, from a previous relationship. 

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Little acorns

Round 36: July 2043 (Winter)

last update/next update

Novak 1 household profile

Malcolm Novak is 33, Hope is 32 and Mason is 1.
(Emil is 71, Anna is 65, Rebecca is 34, Nathan is 33, Julia is 32)

Narrated by Hope Novak

For me and Malcolm, the last year has been almost entirely about Mason. 

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Survival car

Round 36: July 2043 (Winter)

last update/next update

Benton 2 household profile

Charlie Benton is 31, Camilla is 30, Everett and Grace are 13 and Eliza is 8 months old. 

(Marcus is 14 and Daphne is 12)

Narrated by Everett Benton

Dad wasn’t really around much when Grace and I were babies - he had just started uni classes when we were born and was living on campus - but he’s really loving having Eliza now.

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Lot tour: Sam and Julia's new house

This week has been a bit crazy and I didn't get the chance to play and write an update for Charlie and Camilla's family like I wanted to. So instead, I bring you a lot tour. Some of you may have already seen this at N99.

Last time I played Sam and Julia, he got quite lucky with the chance cards. Seeing I had also noticed their apartment lot getting buggy, it was the perfect time to move them. Once I moved them to the bin, they had over $100,000 and I immediately thought of Bramble Cottage, which has been sitting in my hood - empty - for over a year. 

I was happy with how I'd decorated it before (which you can see here) but it didn't suit Sam and Julia. So I got to work redecorating. It was so nice to work with no real worry about budget! I'm in the middle of two other decorating projects right now and don't have nearly as much cash to work with as I did here. 

If you haven't read Sam and Julia's latest update, there is a spoiler for it at the end of this tour, if that sort of thing bothers you.

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Download: Business Career Lot

I'm really aiming to get all these damn things from N99's August Goodies up before Christmas, lol! So here's another.

This is the lot I use for my sims in the business career, which you have probably seen in a few of my updates. It was made to share (an embarrassingly long time ago!), so there is very little CC.

More pics after the jump!

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Wednesday

Round 36: June 2043 (Winter)

last update/Jace and Magdalena's last update/Gabriel's next update/next update

Nott-Novak 1 household profile

Jace Novak is 86, Magdalena is 79, Gordon Nott is 47, Lia is 46, Gabriel is 16 and Peter is 6. 
(Maia is 41, Ethan is 37, Annabel and Georgina are 19)

Narrated by Gabriel Nott

For the past few months, we’ve had my grandparents living with us, in Annabel’s old bedroom.

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When doves cry

Round 36: June 2043 (Winter)

last update/next update

Veronica Moretti is 26 and Adelaide Sitko is 25.

(David is 61, Kirstin is 59, Camilla and Lila are 30, Chris is 28 and Sebastian is 27)

Narrated by Adelaide Sitko

I like my job now but I still have the occasional day where I just can’t face it. 

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You say it's your birthday, June 2043

Round 36: June 2043 (Winter)

Chloe Hamilton is now at the tail end of her pregnancy and is spending her days at home with son Cole. 

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I took your name

Round 36: May 2043 (Autumn)

last update/next update

Whitney 1 household profile

Sam Whitney is 33 and Julia is 32. 

(Chloe and Zane are 32 and Zac is 9)

Narrated by Sam Whitney

Julia was really not thrilled with me when I left NKL without another job to go to and I didn’t really blame her. 

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Purple parallelogram

Round 36: May 2043 (Autumn)

last update/next update

Novak 2 household profile

Augustin Novak is 88, Naomi is 68 and Owen is 66. 

Narrated by Naomi Novak

It’s been over a year since we reopened Vestiti at our new location and I couldn’t be happier with our progress.

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You say it's your birthday, May 2043

Round 36: May 2043 (Autumn)

Another month, another first birthday for another little girl...

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Eyes wide open

Round 36: April 2043 (Autumn)

last update/next update

Collins 2 household profile

Rebecca Collins is 34 and Nathan is 33. 

(Trent is 73, Megan is 71, Susannah is 33 and Caitlin is 20)

Narrated by Rebecca Collins

It’s been two years since our wedding and it’s really flown by. It really doesn’t feel like Nathan and I have been married for two years!

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Lot tour: Sullivan Library

Today, I bring you a lot tour! I was planning on getting Rebecca and Nathan's update up first but I had an unexpected burst of motivation last night and just went in and finished this place. 

This is Sullivan Library, which is my makeover of Nexus Library (thanks to laurelcrossing for posting the link at N99 for me), from the Tumbleton hood on Tumblr. It's a great lot as is but as you all know, all Maxis is not my style! So I changed things up a bit. I can't wait to see Lia, Ione and Daniel working here in the future.

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Weak and mean

Round 36: April 2043 (Autumn)

last update/next update

Clarke 1 household profile

Josie Clarke is 41, Troy is 40, Jude is 11 and Andrew is 7. 

(Lake is 86, Kendal is 67, Ryan is 11, Patrick is 7 and Zoe is 1)

Narrated by Troy Clarke

It’ll be winter before we know it so for the last few weekends, we’ve been making the most of the currently mild weather.

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You say it's your birthday, April 2043

Round 36: April 2043 (Autumn)

It's April in Sullivan and time for Zoe Benton's first birthday!

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Brother down

Round 36: March 2043 (Autumn)

last update/next update

Caitlin Romilly is 20 and Annabel and Georgina Nott are 19. 

(Eddie is 23 and Simon is 18)

Narrated by Annabel Nott

When I declared Biology as my major and decided I wanted to be a vet, I don’t think I really anticipated how difficult it would be.

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Sound as ever

Round 36: March 2043 (Autumn)

Brendan's last update/Simon and Matthew's last update/next update

Brendan Lachance is 20 and Simon and Matthew Lane are 18. 

Narrated by Simon Lane

Matthew and I both moved in Novak Hall this year and things are going pretty well for us so far.

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Download: ATS Hacker Office Chair recolours

Today, I have some more downloads for you from N99's August Goodies event! I love using Sandy's ATS Hacker Office chair in my game but have always wanted more colours, so I made some to share. The black is the original colour, the others are mine. Three more colours after the jump!

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Sandpaperback

Round 36: February 2042 (Summer)

last update/next update

Novak 3 household profile

James Novak is 68 and Madelyn is 63.
(Eliot is 57, Maia is 41, Calvin and Aaron are 40, Ethan is 37, Connor and Lila are 30 and Wren is 3)

Narrated by James Novak

I’ll really miss Novak Motors when I finally let go of it but I do finally have some concrete retirement plans.

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Download: Study carrel recolours

At the end of August, we at Neighborhood 99 ran our second annual August Goodies event and I actually got off my butt this year and made several things for it. The event is over now, so I'll be sharing those goodies here now, over the next few weeks or so.

If you're already a member (or if you'd like to become one - it's Membership by Approval but everyone is approved), you can also grab all the other amazing things that the rest of the team shared. I am so excited to use all these things in my game.

But anyway, my Day 1 contribution was these study carrel recolours.

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By my own hand

Round 36: February 2043 (Summer)

last update/next update

Carmody-Halmi-Whitney 1 household profile

Daniel Halmi is 36, Susannah Carmody is 33 and Zac Whitney is 9. 

(Kimberly is 72, Sarah is 38, Declan is 22, Sylvia is 17, Levi and Will are 11 and Theo is 8)

Narrated by Susannah Carmody

Daniel and I are happy in our current building but we’d like to move eventually. If we have another kid or two, it’s going to be a tight squeeze in here.

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Lot tour: Jade's Exclusive Villas

I'll warn you now that there is a spoiler for the last update included in this tour. So you might want to go and read that now, if that sort of thing bothers you.

Anyway, I did this lot fairly quickly over a few days (that's quick for me, for anything that's not a house!). Shannon asked in a comment if there was a Takemizu Village lot I wanted to make over. Yes, all of them! I think the EA vacation lots are so dire and they pretty much all need a makeover. But Takemizu Village is the weakest of the destinations, in my opinion, so I was never particularly inspired to work on any of those lots. Shannon's comment gave me a little prod though and I got to work!

A picture of the original lot is here. I had taken my own before pics but in my longstanding tradition of completely failing at before pics, I accidentally deleted them. Oops! So that one will have to do.

This is what the lot looked like after I was done with it. The first thing to go was that hideous green picket fence. 

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Liebster Award - Laura's questions

If anyone is confused as to what the Liebster Award is, I explain it in my first post here. You can also click the "liebster award" tag to find my answers to other people's questions. 

Shortly after I put up my first round of questions from Maisie, Emma and Shannon, I was nominated by Laura. At the time, I told her I'd put up my end of round updates and then do her questions. That was in May. Um...sorry? But here they are now! 

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Sail to the moon

Round 36: January 2043 (Summer)

last update/next update

Novak-Sitko 1 household profile

Connor Novak and Lila Sitko are 30.
(Josh is 29 and Oliver is 27)

Narrated by Connor Novak

I'm Oliver’s superior at work now, which is incredibly pleasing to me.

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I haven't abandoned the blog!

Just a quick apology for my absence lately. I haven't even loaded my game in a few weeks, because I simply haven't had the time. Then this week, when I did have the time, I got sick and didn't feel like playing.

But I think I'm on the mend now and I hope to play this Sunday. I have some notes written already - not a ton but it should be enough for me to expand on over the next couple of days. The next household is Connor and Lila and I'm really looking forward to visiting them and getting back to my game in general!

Lot tour: Sullivan High School, Version 3.0

So here it is - Sullivan High School, Version 3.0! Or maybe it should be Version 2.1, seeing Version 2.0 never really got finished (due to my hood going kaput) and this is based on what I had done so far and what I had planned if I'd been able to continue. 

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The world at large

Round 36: January 2043 (Summer)

last update/next update

Clarke 2 household profile

Calvin and Aaron Clarke are 40, Amy is 8, Natalie is 6 and Curtis is 4. 
(James is 68, Madelyn is 63, Maia is 41, Ethan is 37, Willlow is 8, River is 6, Alex is 4 and Wren is 3)

Narrated by Aaron Clarke

Amy’s birthday is right after the new year, so we had a party for her here at home, with some of her school friends.

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Assigning hobbies to sims

Ever since I found out how sims get their One True Hobby, I've hated it. The way it's done basically means that all of your sims of one particular hobby will have similar personalities. That makes sense for some hobbies - sims who are into Fitness or Sports should probably also be active, for instance. But why, for example, do Arts & Crafts sims have to be nice? Why do Nature sims have to be playful? A lot of the criteria EA came up with just seems really arbitrary to me.

So I started randomising my sims' OTHs at birth. I was satisfied with that for a while, but after I had been using Starr's careers criteria for a while (which is partly based on interests), I thought I might try tying interests and hobbies together. This was a good while ago now but it's only recently that I decided to fine tune my system.

I'm going to start by showing which interests I assign to which hobbies. Then I'll show you a couple of examples of exactly what I do with that information to decide on hobbies for my sims, using a couple of Sullivan babies as guinea pigs. Babies are sort of blank slates anyway and I'm not yet wedded to the idea of any one particular hobby for them.

Anyway, so on with the interests!

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Lot tour: Emma, Jessica and Lauren's place

This lot serves two purposes - a contribution to the N99 challenge for May/June, which is decorating with moodboards and, more importantly, a place for these girls to live now that they're out on their own. I used a Coastal Bohemian moodboard for inspiration. Very loosely interpreted in places, as is always the case when I use any sort of theme in my decorating.

The girls live in this apartment block, built by Starr. Emma's sister Sophie lives in the same block, though that will change once she marries Oliver.

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You say it's your birthday, January 2043

It's time for another new round here in Sullivan, so of course, we are starting off with January birthdays!

First up is Alex Moretti...

...and Curtis Clarke. Both boys will turn 4 this year and are beginning pre-school. 

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Round 35 Summary

Whew, yet another round down! Here's the run-down:

Births: 6 (Gemma Ashton, Matias Miguel, Zoe Benton, Elisa Hamilton, Mason Novak, Eliza Benton)

Deaths: 1 (Adam Gottlieb)

Engagements: 3 (Oliver Gentry and Sophie Gottlieb, Sam and Julia Whitney, Noah Gottlieb and Brigit Hewitt)

Marriages: 4 (Nathan and Rebecca Collins, Edward and Lucy Lachance, Amar and Adrienne Hamilton, Sam and Julia Whitney)

Break-ups: 4 (Eddie Gentry and Lauren Carmody, Brendan Lachance and Georgina Nott, Matthew Lane and Aurora Moretti, Xavier Moretti and Ashlee Baena)

Graduations: Mitchell Carmody, Eddie Gentry, Tim Lane, Emma Gottlieb, Jessica Royce-Nihill, Louisa Gentry

New residents: Daniel Halmi, Brigit Hewitt

Total population: 71 male, 76 female

Babies: 4
Toddlers: 4
Children: 24
Teens: 12
Adults: 79
Elders: 23

Notes:

• The gender ratio is way more out of whack if you break it down by age group, as poor Ruby is more than aware of. ;)
• Hopefully, Brigit's profile will be up by the time this post is but if not, I've just been lazy/busy - it's not broken!

Memory lane

Round 35: December 2042 (Summer)

last update/next update

Gottlieb 1 household profile

Adam Gottlieb is 87, Athena is 82, Amelia is 53, Wade is 52 and Michael is 11. 

(Linnea is 82, Joanna is 47, Sophie is 29, Oliver is 26, Noah is 24, Brigit is 23, Emma is 22 and Levi and Will are 10)

Narrated by Wade Gottlieb

My sister Joanna hates entertaining, so the big Christmas dos have traditionally fallen to us. We've done them just about every year since we got married. 

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The Liebster Award - Maisie's questions

Please read Tuesday's post for a brief explanation of the Liebster award to see my list of nominees and questions and my responses to Shannon's questions and Wednesday's post for my response to Emma's questions.

1. What is your favorite part of your sims & your neighborhood?

Well, my goal with Sullivan was to create a cohesive hood, where the families were close like a lot of real families (I can't tell you how often family relationships would drop to zero in my old hoods - cannot imagine playing that way now!). So I think that's my favourite thing about my hood. Looking at my sims and being able to think "oh, that's so-and-so's cousin and that's what's-his-face's grandmother" and have those relationships actually mean something. That is really fun to me.

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The Liebster Award - Emma's questions

Please read Tuesday's post for a brief explanation of the Liebster award to see my list of nominees and questions.

Emma's questions:

1. What do you find most gratifying about sharing your Sims’ stories?

Knowing that other people are interested in what I'm doing my little hood really encourages me to improve it. The biggest example is decorating - blogging is why I learnt to decorate properly. I was so embarrassed to post pictures of my terribly decorated lots before, so I started making an effort with it, so no one would be looking down their nose at it (hopefully)!

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The Liebster Award

Wow, so over the past week or so, I have been nominated for a Liebster Award by three other fantastic bloggers - Shannon at Simdale Valley Post, Emma at Around Aleaton and Maisie at Millwood. Thank you so much to all of you!

It's a pay-it-forward sort of thing, so nominees are supposed to nominate others in turn. These are the rules.

1. Put the award on your blog
2. Thank the blogger who nominated you
3. Nominate 5 to 11 other blogs
4. Answer the 11 questions that were asked
5. Then ask the people you nominate, 11 questions.

Let's get started!

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The moon

Round 35: November 2042 (Spring)

last update/next update

Lane 2 household profile

Luc Lane is 49, Asha is 45, Ruby is 15, Marcus is 13 and Felix is 11.

Narrated by Ruby Lane

It’s normally Dad who goes away on tour but Mum recently got the opportunity to do the same and she jumped on it.

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Lot tour: Oliver and Sophie's future home

Another lot tour for you all! For the past couple of weeks on YouTube, I've seen some TS4ers taking part in the 10 minute build challenge. I didn't see any reason I couldn't try it in TS2, so I thought I'd give it a go.

This house wasn't decorated specifically for Sophie and Oliver. I just started decorating based on that couch in the living room and it ended up looking like a good fit for Sophie and Oliver. I'll probably make a couple of changes (the musical instruments from the bedroom will probably go, for instance) but it works for them pretty well as is.

Anyway, so on with the pics!

I set my timer for 10 minutes and this is what I'd done when it started beeping...

Not a whole lot! I'd done the shell but no furniture or deco at all and I didn't even get time to add interior doors. So I set the timer again to see how long it took me to decorate the rest of the house. 

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