Melody Valerie- Ivy Cape

Melody Valerie Couture- The Ivy Cape

An absolutely wonderful piece of couture, Ruthie quickly claimed it. Melody Valerie does not disappoint! The Ivy Cape is made of lovely, dark green fabric with a shiny silver lining. The clasps are beautiful, pearly white buttons with loop holes, and the hood has amazing detail.

I (Brooke) took Ruthie out into the woods today. We *finally* have a a somewhat substantial amount of snow, and she was glad to have her warm cloak! She is wearing this over her Holiday Dress, if you're wondering.

Hope you enjoy the pictures! Thanks, Melody Valerie!
-Brooke

One Year!

Today is our one-year blogoversary, and I almost forgot to post! As I'm typing, it's already 11:32 PM! Just a busy day, and it slipped my mind. Well, the 27th (or was it the 26th?) was met with the first real photo of the Lanie doll! I think she looks very pretty, and her story is nice. Plus, I really like her outfit ;) But Brooke isn't too sure about the wig, she says it looks "funky" from the pictures. In my opinion the sidebangs are cute, but real-life photos will help. Brooke said if the wig was right, she might use her as a base for a custom doll. But the side bangs kind of ruin that plan. I don't know if Brooke would have even went through with the custom doll anyways, though. She says she doesn't think she'll be getting Lanie now, but I don't know how true that is :P But really, we have enough dolls around here, and Brooke is still contemplating whether to order some Chrissa items before the end of the year. Uhhh, I hate the feeling of "I have to have everything". It just makes collecting AG's no fun. The amount of $ is absurd. But I guess this is Brooke getting to my head, and more her words than mine.

Anyways, I can't believe it's been a year since I first started the blog. So many things have changed, it's hard to fathom. 2009 has flown by so fast, in just a few short days we'll be entering 2010! It's so exciting, yet kind of scary.

~Avery~
Blogger of One Year who currently has 33 followers and 178 posts! I thank you, my readers, form the bottom of my heart!

Holiday Loot

Well, here's the mandatory "What I got for Christmas" post! :) I, Avery, got a few presents:

• snowflake pajamas

• a hand crafted, needle-felted purple and green dragon

• a holiday shoe set, consisting of a pair of snowflake tights and a pair of shiny, red shoes

• an "IM-Me" (an instant messaging thing, LOL, almost like texting)

I had a really good Christmas, I hope everyone else has, too. Uhhh, but I'm so full from eating big meals!


Brooke got a few AG things for Christmas, too:

• Chrissa's warm-up set
• Chrissa's sundress
• Chrissa's PJ's
• Ruthie's holiday dress
• JLY Adventure outfit
• JLY Licorice Play outfit

I don't have any pictures of these outfits just yet, sorry. Brooke also ordered a piece of couture as a "gift to self" kind of deal. I think she ordered something else with her holiday gift money, but she's not admitting it :P

Well, I hope everyone had a great holiday, and Happy New Year! (PS-Tomorrow, the 27th, is our one year blogoversary!)
~Avery~

Christmas Eve

It is Christmas Eve! I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday, I know I am! :)

And, in the spirit of Christmas (not trying to be religious here, sorry), a poem:

Evergreen boughs that fill our homes
With fragrant Christmas scents,
Hearts filled with the loving glow
That Christmas represents;
Christmas cookies, turkeys stuffed,
Festive holly berry,
Little faces bright with joy,
Loved ones being merry;
Parties, songs, be-ribboned gifts,
Silver bells that tinkle,
Christmas trees and ornaments,
Colorful lights that twinkle;
Relatives waiting with open arms
To smile and hug and kiss us;
These are some of the special joys
That come along with Christmas.

-By Joanna Fuchs

Happy holidays, everyone!
~Avery~

Ruthie

Doll Focus: Ruth Anne Smithens

Meet Ruth Anne, more commonly known as Ruthie; a fantasy-loving dreamer from Cincinnati. Ruthie came to live with us in July 2008, much to the delight of her best friend Kit Kittredge. Ruthie loves princesses, fairy tales, and playing pretend. She is known for her great imagination and fun personality. Ruthie is originally from the 1930's, but occasionally time travels. She has curly, red-brown hair and gray eyes. During the holiday season, Ruthie's favorite thing to do is bake cookies, go sledding, and decorate the Christmas tree. This is her second holiday with us, and she is happy to spending time with her friends.

Not a good day

Brooke's American Girl order is seriously messed up. Very complicated. Frustrating. I'm not even going to try to explain.

~Avery~

Winter Photo Shoot

Today I took Erin, Nellie, Nicki, Avery, Mia, and Ruthie outside in the snow to take some photos! :) They're all dressed for winter! Last night we received a dusting of snow, just in time for the holidays.
Check out the video with all the photos here.
Here's a preview shot:











Happy Holidays, everyone!
-Brooke

The surprise!

I'm posting this late, but, as promised, a post on our surprise items! Picture heavy post to follow.

The surprise was... couture! Two Heritage Clothesline dresses to be exact. Brooke ordered Samantha her ice cream dress and Jess a lovely, red frock. Both are stunning, and we are so happy to have these two new dresses for the holidays!


First is the ice cream dress, inspired by book illustrations.

It is a lovely, crisp, and white with beautiful black ribbon detailing. Very, very pretty! Amazing quality, and looks just like it does in the book! This has to be one of the prettiest Edwardian-era dresses I've seen, even better than those made by American Girl! Samantha looks so beautiful with her dark hair and eyes against the white dress. This dress seems to work for both winter and spring, which is very nice. Samantha is so happy to have her new dress!














Next is the Toy Soldier red dress, which was promptly claimed by Jess. I think it looks very nice on her, red looks very great with her coloring. The dress is made from a rich, red fabric that has white lace detailing. Everything is absolutely gorgeous! This is a great holiday dress.














Well, these aren't the greatest pictures. Sorry for not posting much these past few days!
-Avery

Sierra's Snow Day!

This afternoon it warmed up some, so Sierra headed outside to play in the snow! We don't have much snow, just a dusting, but still, she had fun!
We don't have much snow, but yet it is freezing! That's what bugs me the most... If it's going to be this cold, there should at least be more snow.
Anyways, enjoy the pictures! They've had a little picnik magic worked on them to have the "snowing" effect.
~Avery~

Edited to add: The surprise got here sooner than expected! Post coming soon!

Sorry for being some-what absent...

Sorry I haven't posted at all in practically the last week. Life is so busy! We've got a dusting of snow here, everything is really pretty. But it has been absolutely freezing these past few days! The temperature has been in the teens, plus like 20-30 mph winds (not joking). Yesterday I went out to the pond, which had frozen over! Mia will be out there ice skating soon, once the wind dies down. Yeah, it's cold. I've been staying inside for the most part. I wish I had a warm Melody Valerie coat to keep me warm (hint, hint, Brooke!)

Anyways, it's been pretty crazy, but I have a surprise which should be coming in the next few days!

~Avery~

Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree!

*picture heavy post!*
Today we set up our doll sized holiday tree! :) It was so much fun. We put on the lights, garland, green and gold bulbs, and other ornaments as well. We couldn't find a star for the topper, so we just used a red bow instead. We also placed a few presents underneath. I think it turned out very nice. We're really in the holiday spirit now!

Brooke has also been working on a project the week or so- a fire place! She just finished it today, and it's perfect for the holidays. It isn't the greatest, but it looks good in the room. It makes everything look so warm and cozy, just like winter! It really finishes the scene, if you know what I mean. Plus, it was really simple to make (if anyone wants to know how to make their own, comment and I'll tell you! It is insanely simple and can be a one day project! All you need is cardboard or wood and some paint!) Us dolls scavenged around the house to find some things to put on the mantle. We came up with two candles, a mirror, a snow globe, and a clock. There's also a nativity scene at the base of the fire place. I told Brooke we need to find a menorah, so we'll have to get that soon. If you don't know, I'm 1/2 Jewish, so I celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah (which starts December 11th)

After everything was done, Erin, Chrissa, Sonali, and Mia put on their holiday dresses and posed for some photos! Don't they look pretty?
Well, without further ado, here is our finished holiday set up!


And here are their Holiday 2009 portraits:
We hope you enjoy!

~Avery~

Jasmine, and looking back

Beautiful #26... She's been with us almost a year! She came from American Girl Place Chicago, handpicked, on January 2nd, 2009, along with her friend, Sonali Matthews. This poor girl, her name and story have changed so many times... She's been named Noelle, to Sasha, to Jocelyn, and now Jasmine. She hardly has a story, and even so its always changing as well. Lately she's been hanging around with Kit and Ruthie, but now she's becoming modern again. This girl needs to make up her mind! She needs to tell me where she fits.
I've been intimidated by her hair and haven't done much with her, only changing her clothes once every few months. But now she is ready for the holidays! :) This picture was taken in front of our Christmas tree (more holiday portraits coming soon!) She is wearing the Sparkly Plum dress from American Girl. I think the purple color suits her, and really sets off her lovely skin-tone and eye color. #26 really is a beautiful doll, her hair is just a pain! I've hardly touched her (she's been a "sit and look pretty" display doll) and her hair is SO frizzy! I guess I'm just not used to it, but even so, she is my favorite JLY doll. Her look is so unique, and those gorgeous amber eyes are to die for!

Well, that's my spiel about this stunning dollie!
And, guess what, this blog is almost a year old! It was created on December 27th, 2008. Looking back at all the posts, I can see how much myself and my dolls have changed! My photography is loads better (partially thanks to a new camera), my blogging style is different, etc.
It's crazy to think its been a year since I started sharing Avery's story with the world! :) I'll be having a huge post on the 27th to celebrate.

Happy Holidays,
-Brooke

PS- I've added music to the blog. It's Christmas music (Carol of the Bells) and Harry Potter (Hedwig's Theme). I tried to make these appropriate for everyone, but if you wish not to listen to them, most computers have a "mute" button ;)

Winter

Fall has came and went, and we're now heading into winter! 2009 has flown by so fast, it has all been a blur! I've been so busy lately, and haven't had much of a chance to post on the blog. Sorry about that!
Anyways, it is steadily growing colder and snowier, and before you know it Christmas will be here!

Also, I have re-done the blog design (again, I know! Sorry!) Inspired by a snowy winter night!

~Avery~

I can't believe its December already!

I just can't believe how fast time has gone by! I'm so busy lately, sorry for not posting. One of the main reasons I'm not posting is because Brooke hasn't had time to take pictures, and I hate posting without pictures.
~Avery~