11. store visit and a new addition: february 18, 2017

Last Thursday my roommate went to the Seattle store to see the new release items, and was so angry upon discovering that Tenney and Logan had taken over half of Gabriela's display that she bought not only a Gabriela of her own, but also a #58.

As you may recall, I had been planning to buy Gabriela. However, now that my roommate has one it felt like having two in the house would be too many (especially since we've begun more or less seeing our collections as one giant overlapping collection) and I was able to compare her more extensively to Melody and realized that having two dolls who so closely resembled each other would be less fun for me than the chance to add a more unique doll to my collection.

It sent me back to the drawing board: I had more tax refund money than anticipated, so I could afford another doll, and while I'm very upset about the fallout from the revelations about American Girl's upcoming permapanties bodies I'm also very upset about this Tenney and Logan nonsense. I'm a believer in voting with my dollars, so if Tenney and Logan dolls are going to be flying off the shelves then by goodness I wanted to be responsible for at least one doll of color finding a home at the same time. But which one?

I've always been incredibly drawn to #62, but that would make a third Sonali mold in my collection and I didn't want to have another modern who seemed too old to fit in with my much-beloved Youngji and Winifred. I've also liked #53 for a long time, but so does my roommate's three-year-old daughter, so we already have plans to get her one a few years down the road, when she is ready to own and take care of a full-sized AG doll. (She's really good when it comes to leaving our dolls alone when she's not supervised, and playing gently with them when she is, but we don't want to have a doll that we know she really, really wants around to tempt her when she isn't ready to have it herself yet. It seems unfair.) 

My third option was #31, who I've always thought was cute in store displays but only recently began to seriously consider buying. Other points in her favor were that she's an Addy mold doll, and I love the Addy mold, and she looked like she would fit in well with Winifred and Youngji. 

So I went to the store last Saturday and considered my options...

10. barbie fashionista review: leather and ruffles

Quick post for this weekend: a review on one of my Christmas doll gifts, 2016 Barbie Fashionista Leather & Ruffles!

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.

8. barbie fashionista review: blue brocade

When the 2016 Fashionistas were unveiled last year, there were three I immediately knew I had to have: Leather and Ruffles, Blue Violet, and Blue Brocade. Blue Brocade was my tax refund indulgence last year, and remained my only Fashionista for months. (In large part because I couldn't locate Fab Fringe anywhere offline but Wal-Mart, yes, but that is a story for another day.) She rapidly became my favorite out of all the Fashionistas, and remains so even now that my collection has expanded so much.  

So I was beyond disappointed when I saw that she was one of the Barbies being offered for clearance this year. As of last week, my local Wal-Mart was offering her for as low as $4. I quickly decided that we were due for a blog review, so that we could explore how amazing she is together!

7. backstory: my ever after high collection

Today's post: my Ever After High collection!

6. barbie fashionista review: polka dot fun

One of the topics this blog will cover is reviews of various Barbie Fashionistas. I really, really love this line for all the variety it provides. The dolls all look so pretty and so distinct and have so much personality. You really can't go wrong! I started out wanting three and currently have seven, and have my eye on several others, as previously discussed. My roommate, restringingorder, has four more, so I will feature hers as well. 

The first Fashionista: Polka Dot Fun! She is part of the Spring 2017 set. I purchased this doll on Aurora's behalf at Kohl's on Black Friday. I have also seen her at Target and Wal-Mart, and she is of course available from Mattel and Amazon if you prefer to shop online. Her typical price is $9.99, though Wal-Mart has her for $7.94.

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.