Birthday

So, this weekend, I celebrated my birthday! I'm 13 now! Cool!
Anyway, I was surprised with a trip to Florida - Disney World, to be exact! I went there on Saturday and we were going to go back on Sunday, but it was raining, so instead, we decided that it would be the perfect day to take a trip to AGP Orlando! It was a bit far from Disney, but not too far, so we went!
I had such a good time, and I was so excited to get to go! I wasn't planning on getting anything (after Cyber Monday, I'm pretty much broke XD), but my aunt bought me......................................................
                             GRACE!!!!!!!!
I know, I'm kind of freaking out, but there is a lot of reason to, right? Along with Grace, I got an AGP shirt from Orlando (the AGP exclusive) and Kit's Photography outfit (I didn't like it online, but in person, it was stunning and bright!)
It was between Grace and Rebecca, and I chose Grace, just because I knew right away, as soon as I saw her in person, that I loved her. I was right! I now have 15 dolls, which my parents say is my limit (which is okay with me - as long as I got Grace!).
Grace may not look that amazing on the website, but in person, she is the best GOTY ever. Take my word for it; you need her.
In celebration of getting her, I did a small photo shoot just to give everyone an idea of who she is and what she looks like in person. I am already planning a photo story to welcome her, but with my busy schedule, the lighting in my house being pretty bad lately (overcast winter days), and all that stuff, I do not know when I will get the story up on the blog. 

Here she is! Grace has decided to "grace" our presence" XD She is just so, so, so stunning. The main attraction for me is her freckles (I love freckles and her freckles are slightly light like mine and in the same places too - twins! XD)

A profile sort of view of her face. The way her freckles dot across her nose and cheeks is SO cute! Her teeth seem a bit bigger than the other dolls.

More of Grace's amazing face.

This shirt I got a while ago from the "Create-a-tee" activity at AGP really fits Grace's personality.

Some shoes.

I  must admit that online I was never the biggest fan of Kit's photography outfit. While I still don't think it is completely "1930s", it is still really cute, bright, and cheerful for a modern day girl. Grace looks great in it!

Grace's hair is brown with blonde-ish/dirty blonde highlights throughout. It is so unique and stunning, and if you look closely, the highlights can be seen running throughout this braid on the side of her head.

The top of the dress is really cute.

I love the print of the dress. It is bright and cheerful, but not too bright, if you know what I mean. XD

A better view of the print!

The cut around the neck of the dress is cute, and suits Grace and the others very well.  

She comes with a charm bracelet (I originally thought you had to buy it separately, but thankfully, that was not the case.) The dog "BonBon" charm is really cute and probably my favorite out of the charms (a suitcase, postcard, heart, and macaron).

Grace with a bow.  

The sweater with the photography outfit is a nice and soft cable-knit. It slings easily over her shoulder when she is not wearing it.

And looks very cute when she is.

Grace is so, so special and I love her so much. I also really love the new outfit I got and I'm excited to incorporate them into some really cool photo stories that I am planning/working on.

Do you have Grace? Do you want her? Why or why not?

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Sisters: a Photo Shoot

I absolutely adore my new winter chalet! I'm still obsessing over it! (Yes, really)
Well, I decided that I just had to do my first photo shoot in it and what better time to do it than around the New Year?
The photo shoot is centered around Shola & Molly, who are not really sisters, but she is living with the McIntire family for now, just because her mother thought she was safer over here. Despite never living in America, Shola knows good English because her mother did once live over here in America.

Shola is not wearing her headscarf in this photo shoot, just because she looks beautiful with it off too and I wanted to showcase her beautiful, thick, layered hair this time.

Gazing at the fire (which is not actually on in this photo, sorry XD) 

Together.

Shola really looks up to Molly as a big sister.  

Looking through the window!

Sisters + a doll   

 

Rebecca

The three sisters!!!

Shola with one of her Christmas presents; Rebecca, the newest sister.

I think this is my favorite of Shola. It really showcases her shy and quiet yet mysterious and inquisitive spirit.

Olly Molly & "Sho" (her nickname is "Sho")

Love.

The girls love doing each others' hair. Since Molly's sister Jill won't let her do styles on her hair, Molly can do styles on her younger sister's hair instead!

More styling in the chalet!

Sho is now braiding Molly's hair. She loves braiding since Molly taught her!

Twins!

 

I really, really want some feedback on these pictures! I am still trying to improve my photography, and I wanted to do this photo shoot and today was not the sunniest day (it is pretty cloudy). I did not use flash on any of these pictures. 

Lessons Learned From the Shoot:

Doll Posing: I used a ponytail holder to get Shola to hold Rebecca, and I experimented with many different ways and chose the best way (using the holder). I know the perfect way to pose dolls holding things now!

I'm on a new posting schedule this year where I try to do at least 10 posts a month. I'm pretty busy, but I think that I should be able to post at least 10 times a month (except during June & July).

Let's hope it actually works!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I Got For Christmas!

I got a lot of great stuff for Christmas and from everyone else's blogs, it seems like they did too! I hope you all had great holidays and will have great holidays to come!
I got three AG things (one is really, really big and could count as about 5 gifts! XD) and I'm so, so happy and grateful for each one!
First, I got Josefina's Classic Meet Outfit & Classic Accessories. My Josefina did not come in her original meet outfit and I've been wanting this for a long time.

First, in the accessories, is this beautiful necklace. I LOVE it. The dark center is just so mysterious and I love the gold chain it is on. It really does look kind of like an heirloom sort of thing.

Then, the belt tie is beautiful. I love how they did the woven braid at the tips of the ties. It's beautiful! I have to hand it to AG for the attention to detail in this outfit!

The pattern on the skirt is very nice and fancy. The rebozo really matches it nicely even though I could never quite see the match in the catalogs or online. I suppose I never looked at it in person in the store.

Here is the whole outfit. It even comes with a pamphlet on how to tie the rebozo several different ways. I like this way best so far.

The rebozo is great!  

Her tiny pouch is great and extremely easy to open and close! Nice! Her tiny coin fits in there nicely.

Next, I got the Our Generation coat set. I don't have a winter coat for dolls yet, so I was really excited to get one! Especially one as beautiful and good looking and well made as this!

The orange is so vibrant and the coat has a nice texture to it that goes throughout; even on the collar and buttons. The scarf looks great with it! (there is also a matching set of mittens, but they aren't shown in this post)

The boots are kind of like UGG boots only they lack the hard soles, which is fine, because now they can walk around and sleep easier in them. The fur feels realistic, but the boots can't close all the way around the AG doll's foot, but as you can see from this pic, it still works.

Next up is my big surprise. Can you guess what it is from this picture?

Can you now???

Yep, I received the winter chalet! I was just soooooo happy, surprised, and excited!

Obeserve the image for a minute. XD

Kit can sit on her stool and look out the window. It is rather dark in the chalet, but the window lets in a nice amount of light. Cabins are never overly bright anyway, are they?

Continuing to gaze out...

The shutters can close, which is a huge, huge plus and adds a lot more play value! However, it does make it a bit darker in the chalet, but not that much more!

I love the fireplace (we don't have AAA batteries at my house currently and haven't had time to get them, so it does not yet light up. I love how the wood floor turns into stone around the fireplace, there is just such attention to detail! 

As you can see, two dolls fit into the chalet perfectly. It is a bit snug, but that is how cabins do tend to be, right?

The wreath above the hearth has a tag on it that is nearly bigger than the wreath itself. They always tend to put those annoying, pointless things in just about every wrong place imaginable!

Josefina and Kit love the chalet and on behalf of the dolls, are telling you what a great Christmas they all had!

Happy Holidays!!!

 

As the new year comes, I also want to give a little note to my page viewers, followers, and commenters (most will fit in more than one of those categories).

I love you all so much. I have 41 followers and over 21,1000 pageviews. No one can even know how special this makes my dolls and me feel. Really. I may not respond to every comment, but I take the time to read each one more than once.

I look at your blogs. All of your blogs. I go on hundreds of blogs a month, so many I can barely keep up with them. I absolutely love seeing everyone's creative side and I've yet to find an AG blog that I didn't like. I love them all!

Thank you for sitting through my rants on new doll clothes and hearing my opinions. Thanks for commenting that my photostories are good, even when I feel like I've had a blurry photo or flawed picture put up. For the awards I was nominated. Thank you for making me a better blogger.

So here's to a New Year of blogging, a new year to get better at this and to provide everyone with the perfect blog to sit down and read.

I'm going to try to do that, to fulfill that New Year's resolution.

It starts now.

~Ellie and the dolls

(corny I guess, I know, but I felt like I had to say all that! You guys really are special to me!)