*Note from the MIA Author*

Hi everyone, yes I am still alive!

Sorry to those who may read my legacy, I know it’s been an extremely long time since my last addition to the story. I’ve been pretty busy as of late with vacationing and now college, so much so that I haven’t played with Karina or any part of the game in ages! Now that I am going through Sims withdrawal, be expecting to see posts showing up here soon. Thank you to everyone who has commented and to those of you who still check back here from time to time. It is all very much appreciated!

<3.

Chapter 3: Snow White vs. Mini-Katarzyna

Three Four very important tips for the reader:

1. Never buy a discount twin-sized bed at a store called Cheap Charlie’s.

2. Never sleep on aforementioned twin-sized bed. The springs will poke you in places you never knew existed.

3. Never try to roll over on the twin-sized bed in question. You will end up on the ground in pain, although, admittedly, the ground may be a bit more comfortable.

oh, wait, how could I possibly forget the most important tip of all ……

 4. NEVER SLEEP ON CHEAP TWIN-SIZED BED OUTSIDE! Squirrels and birds will find you interesting and decide to lounge about on you.

I kid you not, I woke up the next day with various woodland creatures surrounding my bed. What am I freaking Snow White? After screaming my head off and cursing my life for about 30 minutes, I poured myself another disgusting bowl of non-sugary Corn Flakes and sat down on my toilet, trying to figure out what to do. I had to get back to SimCity. The only problem was money, or my lack thereof. *sigh* I was going to have to get a job .. a real job. I hadn’t had one of those in, like, ever. Then again, I’ve never been exiled to HickTown and ousted from my modeling career either, I thought bitterly. I may be a bit spacey from time to time, but even I knew I was going to need a job to survive, let alone get out of Riverview. I caught a cab to the local hospital to begin my jobhunt. Working at the hospital would be a piece of cake, I watch Grey’s Anatomy religiously, and, hey, maybe Riverview had its own McDreamy. Seated behind the front desk was a pretty blonde with an unfortunate haircut.

“Hi, my name is Karina Lovelace,” I said, tossing my hair (which so needed washing, by the way, ugh) “and I really need a job.”

She looked at me with a bored look on her face and turned up her nose before completely turning away from me and to her computer screen. Now I’m sure you all have noticed by now that I have my moments where I can be a bit snobbish. At least I have plenty of other redeeming qualities, and I’m like, totally nice to (most) people. Well, okay, maybe- wait, this isn’t about me, don’t mind me, I’m a little Absent-Minded. Anyway this woman was totally rude, especially to have such an atrocious hairstyle. Well, two could play at that game. I tapped my fingers on her computer monitor.

“Excuse me, I was speaking to you,” I said in my snobbiest voice.

 She looked up with a surprised look on her face, which quickly turned to annoyance. “Oh, excuse me, I must have looked right past you,” she said haughtily. I realized that she reminded me of a less attractive version of Katarzyna, which made me dislike her even more. “What are your skills?” she asked.

“Oh, I’m a model,” I said, proudly. Suck on that, Mini-Katarzyna.

“Really, I would have never known by looking at you,” she said, snarkily. “What are your skills?” she asked again.

Was this witch deaf? “I’m a MOD-UHL,” I enunciated slowly. “You know someone who gets paid to look pretty and take pictures? Or maybe you wouldn’t know,” I shot back. To my surprise, instead of responding with another putdown, she cackled loudly.

“A model? I’d hardly consider that a skill,” she said between laughs.

“Yeah, well with a nose like that, I’d like to see you try it, Pinocchio.” I retorted.

Satisfied by the shocked look on her face as she covered her nose, I turned on my Simce and Gabbana heel and strutted out the door. What a cow! She and Katarzyna were obviously related. I walked over to the Doo Peas Corporate Tower, my confidence slightly lowered.

This time the receptionist was a cute guy around my age. This would be easy. I chatted him up and flirted a little, and voila, I got the job. Things were finally looking up and I was one step closer to making it back to SimCity. One tiny step, but a step nonetheless. Feeling ripe, I took a cab to the gym so I could take a shower and wash my hair . I figured I may as well make some friends while I was there, and I was in dire need of some male company to boost my spirits.

This guy’s name was Don Lothario, and let’s just say he was so not the type I typically go for. We were at the gym, what on earth was with that pimp-suit? He flirted so much it was like it was his job. He couldn’t stop checking me out, and I could practically see the thoughts of WooHoo-ing me dancing around his head. Hello, goodbye, creep.

Next, there was Hal Breckenridge. Man, was he a cutie. And his body was straight out of an Abercrombie ad.

We chatted for a little while, but I soon realized he had Commitment Issues, and the last thing I needed was another heartbreak to add on to my recent drama. Oh well, I thought as I turned to leave, It’s not like I need a man to … my train of thought was derailed when I saw him.

He was just standing there watching me from across the stairs. I could tell he was on his way to the pool because he was in his swimming trunks, and can I just say I appreciated the view? I walked over to introduce myself. His name was Rodrick and he was just about the sweetest guy I had ever met. And boy was he adorable. The cornrows were a no-no, but I could deal with them for now.

 

 

We chatted for about an hour, in which I learned that he was a Natural Cook, very Artistic, and loved gardening. How adorable is that? The next thing I knew it was dark. Knowing I had to be up early for work the next day, I gave Rodrick my number and flirtatiously told him to call me sometime. As I walked away from him with an extra sway in my hips, I found myself hoping and praying that he would call. God, I was already smitten.

  That night, my cornflakes didn’t taste quite as disgusting and bland.

I even found myself smiling as I relaxed on top of my sucky little twin bed.

Of course, that could be because I was thinking of my favorite subject …

…. but I’d like to think Rodrick had something to do with it too.

Chapter 2: The Call from Hell

After my breakdown I decided to run into town and see Rex Doofenschmire. It was only then I realized that in my excitement I forgot to ask Natascia where to find him. Damnit. Could this day get any worse? (yes, it could and WOULD, but I didn’t know this at the time) Oh well, I sniffled, it shouldn’t be too hard to find a noted fashion photographer in a rinky-dink town like this. I called for a taxi to take me into the “city” of Riverview, as the driver called it. Riiiight, “city”. As we rode through the ghost town I looked out the window and omigosh ….

ME!! One of the first pictures I’d done for SimLove Chatline a couple of years back was right there on the side of a building! It was a big shock, not that I’d never seen a billboard with that picture, I just hadn’t expected it here.

“Hey, thats me on that billboard!” I yelled, excitedly, to the cab driver.

He rolled his eyes. “Congratulations.”

I sat back in my seat. What is it with these rude cab drivers? Whatev. I took the billboard as a good omen; things were gonna be fine. He let me off at the center of town where nestled between the buildings there was a park, in which there were a few people milling about. So there is life in this town, I thought. I decided to ask around to see if anyone knew where the modeling agency and Rex Doofenschmire were. I walked up to the first girl I saw that looked to be around my age. I can’t remember her name, but, god, did she need a fashion intervention. White stockings? Gag me with a spoon. I tried to strike up a conversation with her, but she didn’t seem much to want to talk to me.

I tried to discuss my favorite topic with her. I told her how I’m a model and I complimented her hair. I explained my outfit to her (Gucci animal print cropped tank, Swarovski crystal-studded True Religion jeans, and Simce and Gabbana shoes, in case you’re wondering) and told her how I was here to meet Rex Doofenschmire, noted fashion photographer, and asked if she’d heard of him. Her response was to yawn in my face and look away rudely.

Whatevs. Her outfit was hideous anyway. I walked across the square, taking in the sights as I did. I was able to scope out a library, a supermarket, a museum, and some other places. Hello, where were the malls around here? I walked into an important looking building (which turned out to be City Hall) and inquired about Rex Doofenschmire. Erin, the woman at the front desk, looked at me blankly.

“Rex Doofenschm- huh?” she asked with a puzzled look on her face.

“Yeah, you know, he’s like a famous photographer … supposed to be prety eccentric?” I explained further.

She shook her head slowly. “I’ve never heard of him … are you sure he lives in Riverview? I mean, Riverview is a pretty small town and I think I would have heard of a … Rex Doofenschmire.”

“Well, can you point me in the direction of the modeling agency, then?” I said impatiently.

She shook her head again, “There are no modeling agencies in Riverview, of that I am certain.”

I looked at her blankly, then turned and walked across the lobby to the sitting area. I sat on a bench near the large picture window and dialed Natascia’s number.

“Hello, EliteSim Modeling Agency, Lorel speaking,” Natascia’s receptionist Lorel answered.

“Lorel! It’s Karina, I need to speak with Natascia, like, yesterday.”

She paused. “Oh … Karina … how are you?” she said haltingly.

Fishy, much? I repeated that I needed to speak with Natascia pronto.

“Natascia’s out with Katarzyna….” Lorel said in a tone of voice that I couldn’t identify.

Out with Katarzyna? What is my agent doing out with Katarzyna, my enemy? “Doing what?” I demanded to know.

Lorel sighed, “Why are you calling here, Karina?”

“What do you mean, why am I calling? I’m calling to speak to my agent….. what’s going on with you?”  I questioned impatiently.

“You mean … Natascia didn’t tell you?”

“….. Tell me what?” I asked, turning towards the window to avoid the gaze of Erin, who’d been watching me since I walked away.

“Oh, how do I say this? .. I’m sorry, Karina, you’ve been dropped.” Lorel said gently.

“Dropped? What do you mean dropped” I asked, incredulously.

“Dropped from EliteSim. Natascia is no longer your agent, and you are no longer a model here. Katarzyna is now Natascia’s main model. I’m so sorry, Karina.” Lorel said sympathetically.

My blood ran cold. My hands began to shake so bad that my BlackBerry slipped out of my hand and clattered to the shiny, hard floor.  My life was over. My career was over.

“Ma’am? MA’AM? Are you okay?” I could hear a voice calling to me. I shook myself out of my thoughts and looked up to see Erin coming from behind the desk and walking towards me. Humiliated, I picked up the pieces of my phone and hightailed it out of there, tears streaming down my face. In the cab on the way back to my “house” I put together all of the pieces of the puzzle in my mind. It was all a lie. Rex Doofenschmire, the modeling opportunity, all of it, a lie concocted in Natascia’s evil mind to kick me out and bring in Katarzyna. No wonder I couldn’t sign into my ModelMayhem account; I no longer had one. How long had Natascia been planning this? How could she do this to me?How could I be so stupid? So naive? My mind was a whirlwind of questions. I could barely breathe as I bawled my eyes out. The cab driver took pity on me and didn’t charge me for the ride. Thank God, because as we pulled up to my empty field of a house I remembered that I had no money. I collapsed onto the grass and cried.

    I don’t know how long I laid there but when I opened my eyes it was getting dark. My stomach was growling and my body was sore from being sprawled out on the ground for so long. I needed to at least find a bed, and some food while I was at it.

A small bed, a toilet, and a refrigerator. That was all I could afford, and I had to sell my Gucci bag to bring in some more money.

For dinner, a bowl of Corn Flakes, (ick, not even Frosted flakes!) eaten while sitting on the toilet, since I have no table and chair.

Now do you see why this was the day from hell? Betrayed by my so-called friend and agent, ousted from my modeling contract, and left penniless and homeless. Now that you’re up to speed with all that happened to me today, please come back for more tomorrow as I struggle to put together the pieces.

Chapter 1: Misunderstanding

Today has been easily the worst day of my life.  I mean, I’ve never been through something so … UGH! Okay let me start from the beginning…

Here I am in the taxi cab to what I thought was going to be the most incredible modeling opportunity of my life. I’ve done a spot for Abercrombie and a few small-time magazine and billboard ads, but this photoshoot was going to launch my career. This was my opportunity to get my face out there. It would send me well on my way to my goal of modeling for the big names and strutting down the catwalk of Fashion Week. At least thats what my evil agent Natascia Matheson led me to believe. The cow called me to her office at EliteSim Modeling Agency yesterday and told me she’d set up the “opportunity of a lifetime” for me in a small town called Riverview, 5 hours away from SimCity. If I wanted to make the big bucks I would have to uproot my life and move to Riverview where I would be taken under the wing of some obscure yet highly noted fashion photographer Rex Doofenschmire.

 ”Dahling, there’ll be modeling gigs galore just waiting for you,” Natascia said.

“But it’s hours away,” I whined. “And I’ve never even heard of Riverview or Rex Doofenschmire.”

Natascia tossed her long brown hair and sat down the issue of SimFASHION magazine that she’d been thumbing through. “Look, sweetie. Do you want to be doing advertisements for SimLove Hotline your whole life? I didn’t think so. Now do you trust me? I’ve been your agent since you were 13 years old. It’s time for you to grow up, dahling. If you don’t take this opportunity, I’ve got scads of other models who will, and they’ll be making the big bucks and strutting the catwalks while you sit here doing SimLove ads.”

Inwardly, I fumed. I knew that those other models she spoke of included Katarzyna Risputo, the new long-legged blonde waif at EliteSim who had been taking all of my jobs recently, including my Abercrombie spot. No way was Katarzyna getting Rex Doofenschmire.

“I’ll take it,” I said firmly.

Natascia sat back and smiled. “Excellent. You’ll be leaving tomorrow.”

I rushed home to my apartment with visions of grandeur floating in my mind to pack and find a place to live in Riverview. I called the Riverview Real Estate Agency, and secured a lot in the most exclusive residential community. I come from a rich family and would never settle for less. Besides, I’d been living in near squalor in my penthouse apartment at the PlumBob Hotel ever since daddy cut off my credit cards, and I deserved to live in luxury again. So I bought the most expensive house I could find, which at 14,700 simoleons, was like way cheap. Suddenly, I was extremely excited and couldn’t wait to get started on my new life in Riverview.

The next day i climbed into the taxi with nothing but the clothes on my back and my new Gucci purse.

I couldn’t wait to see my new beautiful house. I couldn’t wait to meet Rex Doofenschmire and dive headfirst into my new modeling gigs. God, I was the luckiest girl in the world. Beautiful looks, a lean model’s body, and a promising modeling career. Could life get any better? The cab driver seemed to get a little annoyed with my chatter after the first half an hour, so I shut up and turned my attention to my BlackBerry.

Not even a cranky, balding cab driver could ruin my high. I browsed through the latest happenings with my fellow models from my ModelMayhem page. I saw that Katarzyna updated her page to brag that she’d landed a print advertisement with Simce and Gabbana, Ugh! How could a brand new model even land such a deal?! Not to be outdone, I went to sign in and tell of my new adventure with THE Rex Doofenschmire (whoever he was), when I got a strange message.

Huh? I’d been a member of EliteSim and its ModelMayhem hub since i was, like, 13. What’s that about? I chalked it up to signal troubles and placed my BlackBerry in my purse. I turned my head to look out the window. Yikes. We were driving through East Nowheresville or something. I saw a barn, a real barn, for Christ’s sake. Cows, grass, trees, and … was that a llama? I shook my head. Nothing like SimCity, that’s for sure. I couldn’t wait to get out of this podunk town and to fabulous Riverview and my fabulous new house.  Wait a second … did that sign just say ‘Welcome to Riverview’? No way. I pressed my nose to the window in disbelief. THIS was the Riverview Natascia had boasted about? It was nothing like she’d described, that’s for sure. Oh well, maybe this was the poor side of town. I’m sure my home was in a more upscale, city-fied area. We rounded a corner and started to drive up a hill. I looked around and noticed the houses were, thankfully, becoming more substantial in size. My house couldn’t be too far now. I sat forward in eager anticipation.

Ooh! There it is! God, it was gorgeous, look at the palm trees! I watched as we drove straight past the beautiful house. Oh .. guess that wasn’t it. OMG, that must be the one!!

We drove past that one as well. Wait, we were slowing down now. I closed my eyes wanting to be surprised at my new home.

“Here we are, Miss.”

I opened my eyes…. to see nothing. Absolutely nothing but green grass, a mailbox, and a trashcan.

“No, this isn’t it, you must have made a mistake,” I said, confused.

The cab driver pulled out the paper with the directions. “Nope, sez right here, 345 Riverblossom Hills Drive.”

This had to be a joke. There was no house here. What was going on? Was I being Punk’d? I pulled out my BlackBerry and furiously dialed the Riverview Real Estate Agency to speak to Ramona, the woman who’d sold me the house. She answered cheerfully and my rage boiled over.

“Hello, Ramona? This is Karina, WHERE IS MY HOUSE?!” I demanded.

“Ms. Lovelace? Calm down. You didn’t buy a house, you bought a LOT at 345 Riverblossom Hills-”

I cut her off in the middle of her sentence. “WHY WOULD I BUY AN EMPTY LOT?! I BOUGHT A HOUSE! I’M GOING TO SUE YOU SO HARD YOUR GRANDCHILDRENS’ GRANDCHILDREN WILL BE PAYING!!”

“Excuse me? I suggest you calm down and think rationally, Ms. Lovelace, I specifially remember selling you that empty lot and I have the records here to prove it,” she said icily. “Did you really think you were buying a house in an exclusive gated community for 14,700 simoleons? Give me a break! Good day, Ms. Lovelace.”

I punched the End button on my phone. Oh My God. What was I going to do. I only had about 1300 simoleons to my name. All of my money had been put into the “house” I bought. I burst into tears. What was I going to do??

I wiped my tears and looked around.  Oh well, I still had Rex Doofenschmire and my modeling gigs to look forward to … or so I thought then.

 

*Writer’s Note: Sorry about the extra long post being all on one page. I haven’t figured out how to break it down onto separate clickable pages yet*

Introducing Karina Lovelace

Karina: Um, hello? Could you have chosen a less flattering picture of me? Take another one!

Trust me, there’ll be plenty of time to take pictures Karina. Right now I’m just trying to introduce you to the people.

Are you kidding?! Haven’t you heard that first impressions are everything?? You could’ve at least warned me! My angles are all wrong! Doing photoshoots for Abercrombie and SIManthologie  taught me much better than that. We’re taking another picture. Now, where on earth is my MAC makeup bag?

*pointedly ignoring* Hello everyone and welcome to the Lovelace legacy blog. This *ahem* lovely young woman is our founder Karina. She is 19 years old and an ex-model. She’s flirtatious, excitable, a huge party animal, a tad bit absent-minded and ..

UGH! What kind of hick town is this?? Is that a bale of hay?!! Omigosh, kill me now! How is a model supposed to live under these conditions? I mean, really -

… she can be a bit of a Snob.

Hey, I heard that!

*moves farther away* So anyway, this begins the Lovelace legacy. Will Karina be able to find love? Will she be able to function in such a small town?  Will she fold under the strain of her humble living conditions? Only time will tell.