My Saige doll arrived...

In my last post, I touched on my American Girl doll collection, and how I'd purchased a Saige 2013 Girl of the Year doll. The doll arrived, after a bit of a snafu with the address, and is probably the one of the cutest GOTY's in the line. Saige does look a lot like the 2007 GOTY, Nicki-- both have "Western themed clothing" and both "girls" in their stories like horses and have a horse as part of their collection. Both have red hair, although Saige's is darker and Nicki's is more of a strawberry blonde. Both also have freckles and are the AG "Classic Face Mold."

My doll collection, on a shelf at my Longview, WA home-- (from left to right): JLY #21, Josefina, Via-E Alexis doll, and Nicki, 2007 GOTY.

Dolls here in Azusa-- TOP (L to R): Kailey, DOTY 2003, wearing Saige's dress; Saige, GOTY 2013, wearing Josefina's Harvest Outfit; Julie, wearing Ivy's Chinese New Year dress. BOTTOM (L to R): JLY #1, and JLY #37. 

The Saige doll has really pretty dark auburn hair, with lighter red highlights. It's probably closest in color to the now-retired Felicity doll, although it is a different shade. Her eyes are a medium aquamarine shade, unlike any I've seen on any other AG doll. Her meet outfit is a dark bluish purple (American Doll Wiki calls it "indigo"), and the "belt", which is separate in the girl sized outfit, is integrated into the dress. Her underwear is a turquoise blue, which is roughly the same shade as the faux turquoise (really plastic) ring. She also has her original earrings, but I plan to get the sets AG still has which so happen to be her accessories and clothing, renamed with generic AG names, no mention of Saige.

Her ring is quite cute, but it's also an accessory that would get lost very easily in routine play. If I, as an adult collector, can manage to lose the ring for a few days when the doll is just being displayed, I can only imagine in a child's hands its play days would be numbered. I guess if parents with kids want the ring to stay around, super gluing it to the doll's finger is always an option!

In addition to purchased clothes (there are many cute options on Etsy), there's Josefina's Pretty Clothes patterns, AG Pattern PDF files, which I can use to sew for my Josefina, Nicki, and Saige dolls, and a plethora of Pixie Faire patterns which would be "Saige approved." Pixie Faire's Trendy Slouch Cardigan, Free 18" Doll Tank Top 18" Doll Leggings,  and 18" Doll Gladiator Sandals are a pretty close approximation of Saige's Sweater Outfit (picture below). This fabric-- Tribal Print Geometric Knit Fabric would be good, as would several others using the simple Etsy search parameter of "geometric knit fabric."

Saige's Sweater Outfit, from AG

 Saige's Sparkle Dress is a little harder to replicate, but this one-- Pixie Faire Monday Morning Dress -- is pretty close, except for the pleats (which could be taken out).

Saige's Sparkle Dress, from AG. 

A couple of her other outfits-- the Tunic Outfit, and her Pajamas, are still available from American Girl, at slightly reduced prices. 

Reflections on collections....

One thing that has been maligned by my "fan club" (really a group of snarky, insecure, and disturbed women) is my collection of dolls. I'm far from the only grown woman in the US who collects dolls, or who enjoys them. I've found, though, that what I do, even if it's a shared hobby, pastime, collection, etc. with other women around the globe, AUTOMATICALLY is abnormal, because I AM DOING IT. And since THEY, in their infinite wisdom, think I'm "off my rocker", anything I do, even if it's completely banal, is automatically wrong. Fuck that reasoning, bitches.

They're Facebook psychologists, by the way, and were relentlessly torturing me at a VERY LOW point in my life. My life was their entertainment. I couldn't do or say anything without it being analyzed to the nth degree. I have definite sympathy for other victims of stalkers; I know what it's like to worry someone's watching and want to withdraw from everything in life due to not knowing who's watching and ready to pounce. I was often nauseated, had bad stress rashes, and my anxiety over it, and worrying what horrible thing would be done next was immense.

It was bad enough several of them lived close to where I did (and where I'll be moving back (with my husband) to before the end of the year), and had "threatened" to come by the Home Depot store where I worked. When I saw that, I told my front end supervisor (an awesome guy), whose wife worked for the neighboring town's police force. He was concerned enough to bring it up at the next department head meeting, and because we knew what these individuals looked like, due to their photo posts on the forum, there was an informal BOLO on them. They were de facto banned from the store by our then manager. Everyone rallied around me and I'm thankful. I'd thought I was possibly overreacting, that I was somehow to blame for their (illegal) actions. To my knowledge, they never showed up at the Longview, WA Home Depot store. And yes, if they HAD shown up, they would've been arrested.

Cyberstalking is even more troubling in many ways to offline stalking. They share many elements, though offline, in person stalking tends to be someone the victim has known or come into contact with. In my case, I have NEVER met any of the people responsible. Our only contact was via the now-defunct Facebook game Sorority Life. Yes, I was STALKED due to a GAME. I received hundreds of nasty messages on my in-game "message board", I received nasty messages on Facebook, and in what was the most disturbing incident, friends and family received messages from a few of them, warning against having contact with me. There is showing concern for someone, and there is criminal behavior. This crossed that line-- an attempt to isolate me from friends and family?  WHAT THE HELL?!? Who the hell are you that you think that's okay in any way, shape, or form? The harassment has continued since late 2010 on this particular forum. When I married in 2013, my marriage license, with my name and city and my husband's name and city, was published there on the site. Why they think that's okay is beyond me... I'm NOT in the public eye (not a celebrity, politician, etc.), and because of that, I'm entitled to privacy. It serves NO PURPOSE to publish my personal info like that-- except to harass and alarm me. MY LIFE IS NOT THEIR ENTERTAINMENT AND THEY NEED TO STOP MAKING IT SO!

And now, even my collection(s) are subject to ridicule. Yes, I collect American Girl dolls. I have several (ten with my dolls down here and the ones in Washington state), including my most recent purchase, a 2013 Girl of the Year Saige doll (I'm also bidding on a retired Marie-Grace doll, which I don't fully want, so by Murphy's Law as it relates to eBay, I WILL AUTOMATICALLY WIN IT). I also have two "Just Like You #21" dolls (AG JLY #21), a Kailey doll, a Julie doll, a Just Like You #37 (JLY #37), a Just Like You #1 (JLY #1/African American), a Josefina doll, the retired Just Like You #4 (Just Like You #4/Asian), and a Nicki (also a GOTY) doll. The Josefina doll, JLY #4 doll and the Nicki doll were gifts from my Mom, who likewise collects dolls. I also have a non-AG, but very well made Alexis by Via-E doll (see Alexis O'Shay Dollfriend). I must admit to coveting the now-retired Ivy doll, the Jess doll, the McKenna doll, the Sonali doll, and present GOTY Isabelle. I'll no doubt get Isabelle before she's retired.

I enjoy sewing, both for my (growing) doll collection as well as myself. I probably could be considered a collector (or hoarder) of sewing patterns. I have enough patterns that I could sew something new EVERY week until I'm 50 (and I'm 33 presently).

I also collect (mostly) eclectic salt and pepper shakers. My favorite is this one-- Dog and Fire Hydrant. I covet this one-- Toilet and Urinal Salt and Pepper Shaker.

But until I grow my salt and pepper collection, I have my doll collection. Which will no doubt grow. As soon as habibi and I move, or possibly before, I'll be going to AG Place-Seattle with my step-niece (my sister Melissa's stepdaughter). My awesome Mommy has pledged to buy me and her step-granddaughter a doll... it should be fun.

And because I'm moving into an AWESOME house, I'll have a "gardening/flower bulb/vegetable/fruit" collection. My yard is big enough for an extensive garden, as well as what I want to do with the flowers in my front and back yards. There's a raised flower bed that I'd love to do a stacked herb garden in, and probably also put seasonal flowers like crocuses, daffodils, tulips, and lilies in (Purchased ONLY from Holland America Bulb Farms). I plan to put an arbor/trellis along the west side of the property, and then have climbing roses covering it (my favorites are the Handel rose, CI Rise and Shine rose, and the virtually impossible to find Cajun Sunrise rose). There's a brick barbecue and a fire pit in the backyard, and I want to build a gazebo over that area so my husband and I can enjoy barbecuing food year round and not have to worry about the rain! I love the vintage, retro 1970's kitchen; we won't be changing that at all (but the wallpaper in the office area off the master bedroom has GOT TO GO-- it's pretty hideous). I'm torn between two mixers, both KitchenAid, one vintage and one modern. The vintage one wins slightly (somewhat due to color), because the older models are known for "being built like tanks" whereas the more modern ones are not noted for the same stability.

And now, a meme, of my two houses...

(From my Facebook page; Images are a screenshot of my present residence in Azusa, CA from Google Earth, and my new house in Longview, WA-- my own iPhone pic, other pics are available here-- My house in Longview). 

 

And yes, my Mom bought the house for my husband and I. Due to some sage real estate holdings (and their sale in the Phoenix, AZ area) of my family, and my late grandparents' extreme penny pinching, let's just say... it was possible.