Christmas Special

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I hope everyone has had a wonderful time with family, friends, and loved ones! 

Though I'm personally not a fan of winter, I do love this particular time of year and if anyone asked me what my favorite holiday is I'd say without hesitation that it's Christmas. There's just something almost magical about this time of year.

I also love to give gifts and as Christmas drew closer, I started to plan what I could do as a gift to all of you wonderful readers. I decided to look at what I did last year, but was shocked to find I didn't post anything last year! Unforgivable as far as I'm concerned. :) I of course then felt the need to do something extra special!

So my Christmas gift to you comes in three parts: 

The first is a Christmas/Winter photoshoot with George and Steph.

The second is along with the photoshoot, is My Favorite Things which reveals some of George's and Steph's favorite things (something I usually hold of on revealing until the character studies at the end of each generation).

The third is a sneak peek which I'm placing at the end with enough warning that if you would rather not see the revealing pictures, you can go on your merry way before seeing them. :)

I can't thank each and everyone of you enough for reading and supporting this story! Thank you and Happy Holidays!!

♥Sandybeachgirl♥

My Favorite Things

George

Favorite Color: White

Favorite Music: Indie Music

Movies or TV Shows: He doesn't watch much TV but his guilty pleasure would be Real Housewives (he loves trying to figure out what their issues are and then figuring out how he can help them)

Favorite Time of Day: When he comes home from work and first sees Steph.

Favorite Food: Goopy Carbanara

Favorite Drink: Hot Tea

Steph

Favorite Color: Purple

Favorite Music: Jazz

Movies or TV Shows: Anything on Food Network

Favorite Time of Day: In the morning when she and George are cuddling in bed as they wake up.

Favorite Food: Salmon

Favorite Drink: Hot Tea

Sneak Peek

Here's your warning, if you don't want to see what's coming up next, don't continue past this point. There are no characters in these pictures but they are sets that I've been building for the upcoming chapters. The first one is from the very next chapter and the second is from the one after that. 

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Are you ready?

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Here's my final Christmas present to you

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Happy Holidays!!

♥Sandybeachgirl♥

Trev's First Chapter

As promised, I'm providing a link to Trev's first chapter. I'm so excited to finally share it! From here on out, I won't be sharing new chapters for his story on this story. I will share future chapters on my WordPress site, my Simblr, and on the Sims site.

Hope you enjoy!

Chapter One: Go the Distance

George and Steph's Apartment: A Tour

One of my favorite things to do is to build and decorate lots. It just makes me happy and allows me to let out my creativity in a different way.  Once George let me know that he wanted to move in with Steph, he nicely asked if I would start working on their apartment. I was more than happy to and for the past two months I've been fussing about what to place in it and where to place them. Even changing some things up until the day before revealing their new place in the latest chapter.

I'm one of those people that is very visual and I love seeing where other sims live/work. It fascinates me! As much as I wanted to share every square inch of George and Steph's apartment, I didn't want to take up valuable space in the chapter to do so.  But George and Steph are more than willing to give us a tour of their place, so let's take them up on their offer and step inside their happy home:

We step off the elevator and into a foyer where George and Steph have displayed several photography pieces. They both enjoy photography and chose several of their favorite pieces to share here. But most people don't notice them, they're looking at the view that awaits once one steps through the glass doors.

We step through the doors into the living area and immediately George is offering us a cup of coffee or tea. I for one would love a cup of tea to sip as we continue on our way. George and Steph can be found here most nights, cuddling on the couch and reading a book.

In case there was any question about who lived here. . .One discovery that was made in the renovation of their apartment, was that the previous owner had covered up original brick work. George and Steph both agreed that it was much better to leave it exposed.
 

Turning to the right, there is a small reading area underneath the stairs. This is one of Sage's favorite spots to catch a cat nap.

There are two doors off of the living/reading areas that lead to a downstairs bathroom (right) and George's office (left). Let's step into George's office. . .

At first sight, George's office looks very simple. A desk, a computer, and a nice view.

Turning to the right though, reveals the touches that Steph added to remind George of his hometown of Appaloosa. There are items scattered throughout the apartment that reference the feel of Appaloosa but the biggest collection can be found here.  George usually steals several moments for himself here every night to collect his thoughts and to briefly go over any patient files he needs to review for the next day at work.

It also allowed a space to store some of his and Steph's extensive book collection. (And there's also a beautiful view out the windows).

Stepping back into the living area, we have a clear view from one end of the room to the other. One of the best decisions that George and Steph made was to remove the two walls that separated these rooms.

Walking forward, we come to the dining area. This, like many rooms in the apartment, shows how both George and Steph combined their decorating tastes. She enjoys items that look like they've been passed down from generation to generation, he likes more modern pieces.

From the dining room windows, we have a lovely view into the kitchen. One of the first items that George and Steph agreed on was that they wanted a large kitchen. A hard thing to find in a city apartment, but they were fortunate to find it in this one. This was the first room that they discovered the covered brick and that led to the discovery of more walls.

George wanted to make sure that Steph had every gadget she could have imagined needing (he's still convinced that one day she will follow her dream and open up a catering business) and she has it in this kitchen.

One of George's favorites is the deep fryer and he has been known to sneak downstairs at night and indulge in a fried treat.

And just like every other area of the downstairs, the kitchen also has access to the incredible views of the city.

We walk back through the dining and living areas and out the terrace door to take in the amazing view. They live on the outskirts of the city, but that gives them the incredible view of the whole city.

There are several sitting areas and on the nights where it's not too hot or cold, George and Steph will sit and relax together. At the end of some of the more stressful days, George will convince Steph to join him in the hot tub.

We make our way back into the apartment and up the stairs Where we are bombarded with choices; do we go down the hall? There's a door. . .should we go through it. Perhaps, but first, let's take a look at the area off to the left.

Giving a nod to the Hobble ancestry roots, George and Steph decided to make this little area off the stairs into a reading nook with all things British. They had a fun competition going while they looked for items for this room; who could find the best item for it. George was forced to concede when Steph found the rug.

Moving down the hall a little, we come across two photographs that Bridge had reproduced for George as a housewarming present. George and Steph hope to someday add some new family photos to this and other walls. . .

Once we walk through the door on the right, we happen upon the guest room It's the only room with a fireplace and it may have been a miscalculation on their part. They've had several guests, including Bridge, who have wanted to stay in the bed snuggled under the covers while watching the fire.

Walking back into the hallway, we see that there is another one to the left that has three doors off of it.  Let's venture into the one on the left.

We find the guest bathroom. There were a couple of rooms that George and Steph wanted to wait to really decorate and this was one of them. Partially because of the room next door. . .

The empty bedroom; perhaps George and Steph will one day hear the pitter patter of little feet coming from this room. . .

Walking back into the hallway, we look back and see the one door we haven't entered. The door on the left is calling to us.

This is George and Steph's favorite room. They love snuggling in bed while looking out at the city.

There's a closet area that leads to their very spacious master bath.

And with that, we've come to the end of our tour. George and Steph thank you for stopping by and hope you'll do so again very soon!  They are in need of some cat sitters since they're going to be on vacation for a week at Paradise Island. . .any takers?

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Downstairs

1. Foyer

2. Living Area

3. George's Office

4. Half Bath

 5. Under Stairs Reading Nook

6. Dining Area

7. Kitchen

8. Terrace

Upstairs

9. Reading Nook

10. Guest Room

11. Guest Bath

12. Empty Bedroom (Cat playroom at moment)

13. Master Bedroom

14. Terrace off Master Bedroom

15. Master Bath