I don't remember where I first saw the Journey Girls but I was enchanted by them. Although I hoped I could find one at a thrift store, I knew it wasn't likely so I actually bought one brand-new! First Auntie Berman and I made a trip to Toys R Us to look at them. Surprisingly, I wasn't attracted to Kelsey, the red-haired one. Instead I liked Dana. I wasn't totally sure I needed a new doll, but Auntie Berman convinced me I did and offered to advance me the money, since it wasn't yet payday. So we went back the next day. (Auntie Berman was thinking about getting Callie, the Asian girl, for herself but she was Out of Stock and apparently wasn't going to be restocked.) Dana was $32.99 and I had found a 30% off coupon, so that paid for the sales tax and then some and she was only $28.43 total.
We rushed her out to Auntie Berman's van and eagerly unpacked her. The first thing I did was remove her glasses, because dollies shouldn't have to wear glasses. Meanwhile, she (Dana) had told me that her name is really Belinda. Then we needed to dispose of her box, because I didn't want Husband-Like Person to know about her (that I'd bought her new, not that he would have said anything because he's always buying himself bicycle things, but still . . . ) The box stayed in Auntie Berman's van for quite a while, until we were able to dispose of it discreetly.
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| Belinda and Merry |
Meanwhile, we had found a horse at Goodwill Bargain Bin! He was very battered and had obviously had a hard life, but we couldn't bear to think of him going to the glue factory so we got him. We named him Laredo. The girls all love him. It looks like he has eyebrows but actually that's where his "skin" has rubbed off.
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| Belinda on Laredo |
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| New dress |
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| Lorraine is not terribly pleased with her new sister. |
In the last couple of months I have found two more horses! Both came into our store and as soon as I could (remember, I have to wait 2 days to buy things there) I bought them.
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| Pally, Laredo and Durango. |
Pally is a palomino, of course. (Pally is an old family horse name from my father's side of the family.) Durango seemed like a good Western sort of horse name to go along with Laredo. These horses have articulated ankles, although I'm not sure why.
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| I suppose I'll have to get them saddles now. |
The girl on Durango is my latest doll. She is a Tollytots. We got ten or twelve 18 inch dolls at our store and at first I wasn't terribly impressed with them. They were all Tollytots and Battats, most of them not very cute. Then I read on someone's blog about how they turned a girl doll into a boy doll and I briefly thought I might do that. So on our Thrifting Tuesday last week, Auntie Berman and I looked over the remaining dolls. I had second thoughts about gender reassignment at that point and decided I liked this girl a lot. Auntie Berman found a similar one (with sausage curls that need work), so we both got a doll that day. I still haven't named her and I wish she didn't look so frightened all the time, but I'm sure she'll settle in soon.
I do like your technique for hiding Belinda's box. Your ponies are gorgeous and I like Laredo the best. Maybe if you got your Tollytot's dollie to wear her hair around her face rather than tied back it would soften it a bit.
ReplyDeleteLaredo is my favorite too, I think because he's obviously had such a hard life. I will experiment with the Tollytot's hair--good suggestion.
DeleteI had to laugh at your box-hiding escapade, too. Belinda is lovely and her real name is much nicer than, Dana. You really hit the jackpot with your horse finds, and I love the way you posed them outside. The garden fence is a perfect backdrop...looks just like a horse pen. I get so excited each time I see that you have a new post. Till next time....
ReplyDeleteIt's funny but I've never especially liked or disliked the name Belinda but it just seemed the perfect name for her. And everyone I've said that to says they once knew a Belinda and really liked her!
DeleteThat little fence is the perfect size for the ponies. If I had more room I'd build them a stable. Right now they are living on the porch.
And now I have to confess about the final end of the dolly box. After it had been in Auntie Berman's van for a few weeks (raising many complaints from Auntie Berman, although really it was hardly in her way), we were at a grocery store and were unloading things into the van and one of us said something like "Let's leave the box in the shopping cart." I was horrified at first but then thought it wasn't a bad idea--the grocery store people wouldn't know we had done it and would just throw it away.
ReplyDeleteSo we stowed it in the bottom of the cart and I pushed the cart back towards the store and suddenly the wind started blowing really hard and the box went flying across the parking lot and into the parking lot of the Chinese restaurant next door. And we jumped in the van and drove off.
But I felt guilty about it because I'm not normally a litter bug.
Thank you for posting the rest of the box story. My daughter & I sat at my desk & laughed & laughed as we read it.
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