12. outfit review: plaid to be here by our generation

I didn't spend much of my birthday money on doll things this year, but I did buy one thing with it: Our Generation's Plaid to be Here outfit!

I've wanted this for several months now, since I saw a few people buy it for their Melody dolls. Every Melody I've seen wearing it looked absolutely adorable, so I was sure mine would, too.

I had to order it online, since it's never been in stock at our local Target, and it was delivered to the store in less than a week. This was the first Our Generation outfit I had ever purchased, so I was very curious as to what I would think of it when it arrived...

9. backstory: how each doll joined my American Girl collection

The story of how each of my current dolls joined my American Girl collection! Featuring lots of pictures, including lots of terrible, low quality pictures taken on my former phone.

5. 2017 projects

After the last few months of crafting and collecting, I have a lot of ideas and plans for 2017, including sewing and display projects.

2. seattle store visit: january 1, 2017

It's January 1, which in the world of American Girl now means two things: it's both the annual debut date of the new Girl of the Year, and the birthday of Civil Rights era BeForever doll Melody Ellison! Both of these factors played into my visit to the Seattle store: I received a beautiful Melody as a Christmas gift from three dear friends, so I wanted to pay some extra attention to her today, and I've been very interested in the thought of adding 2017 Girl of the Year Gabriela McBride to my collection for the past few months, so I wanted to see her and Melody together to compare them.

So my roommate (@restringingorder on Instagram), her family, her new doll, Melody, and I hopped into the car and spent the afternoon running errands, including a trip to the Seattle store! 

(Thank goodness Melody and #64 have such easy to fix hair, right? I try to never post pictures of the dolls looking so disheveled, but I was charmed by this picture, since something about the road trip hair just seemed so true to life.)