New year, new dolls

Ah yes, 2020 is dead and 2021 is upon us.  

Yeah.  It's like that.  A couple'a my family members are cautiously optimistic about the coming year, but I am dubious about it being any better than the last.  The Spanish flu pandemic spanned at least two years, and the Black Plague lasted even longer than that, so I doubt this coronavirus crap is going to be over anytime soon, poorly-tested vaccine or no (I'm usually pro-vax, by the way, but I don't trust this new one yet).  With that lovely little thought, time to debut my newest American Girls.  Yep, I've got two more, one of whom was new in the box.  See, see, SEE?

Alright, y'all, quit that photobombing!  I will admit that those bright colors are a sight for sore eyes, so I probably shouldn't ream these girls for photobombing too much.  I do want a clear view of the box, though...kinda like I'd like a clear shot of Molly's face without her glasses throwing back a glare (I hated that with my own glasses).  Here's the box anyway, or rather, who's in it.  A new face in AG's historical lineup!

I was hoping that I'd be able to order straight from American Girl and get some extra things to go along with this doll, but guess what?  The website only takes credit cards, and I tend to avoid credit cards like I avoid spiders, New Years' resolutions, and RORO ferries, so I settled for my old friend eBay and got a secondhand Courtney.

"A secondhand Courtney already???  She's only been out a couple of months!"  a lady on Facebook exclaimed.  Well, I do suspect that this eBay seller was hoping to turn a profit since she had several Courtney dolls, but I don't care.  I got her new in the box and I'm not going to gripe.  Despite the fact that I have derided eighties fashion as "cheesy" and eighties music as repetitive, too heavy on synthesizers, and too obsessed with helium-voiced, scantily-clad girls (Madonna), I felt a strong pull towards Courtney when she was released.  She incorporates a lot of the things the eighties got right, stuff like video games that emphasized fun over gore and violence, toys that were both cute and relatively simple, clothes that were both colorful and reasonably modest, and women that were strong and intelligent but not obnoxious.  Courtney's mom is running for mayor of her town (the fictitious Orange Valley, California), and Courtney herself is working on a video game that has a female hero (there weren't many of those in 1986).  She also is something of a nerd, as she likes Star Wars and is excited for the launch of the space shuttle Challenger...uh-oh, I think we all know how well that went!  Courtney's book does address that, and it'll be interesting to see how it does it.  Mama told me that Daddy used black humor to get through Challenger's destruction (I witnessed this firsthand when Columbia shared a similar fate), but I doubt somehow that Courtney will go that route.  Not everyone is slightly twisted like my family and I are.  Anyway, I was lucky enough to find a Courtney doll with pierced ears, which were a must since one of her accessory sets offers earrings.  Look at her little studs!

The seller sent the extra earrings too, complete with dangles!

I don't understand why one of Courtney's accessory sets would incorporate earrings since her ears aren't pierced by default.  Courtney does get her ears pierced at one point during her story, but it still seems a little weird that the doll wouldn't just come with her ears pierced and be done with it.  It just seems a little counterproductive, and a little like a cash grab on AG's part since getting the doll's ears pierced costs sixteen extra bucks.  Anywho, I also grabbed this off eBay, since Rainbow Brite was big during Courtney's day...

...and also this, since Strawberry Shortcake was also big in the eighties.  I'd have liked to have found a less mainstream character like Orange Blossom or my old friend Lime Chiffon, but Strawberry's all I could find.  These two outfits came from the same vendor on eBay, by the way.  They also have an Etsy shop where pieces of these outfits are available as separates.

I also got her this Vans-themed outfit for summer (now she needs some Vans to wear with it)...

...and I managed to find her accessories.

I also added my own little touch.  This necklace was supposed to be a bookmark, made for me by one of the library's younger patrons, but it didn't serve that purpose well so I'll be using it as a necklace for Courtney.

Someday I also hope to get the miniature Molly doll for Courtney, since that's such a special item to her and since I own a Molly doll myself.  I guess I could just ask my full-sized Molly to help me get Courtney out of that box.

Doesn't look like I'll have to beg her too hard.  Courtney looks just a hair leery of those scissors, LOL!  Unfortunately they will be necessary, because look what's holding Courtney in her box.

Bummer, those are plastic ties.  Two for each arm and two for each leg.  I should've expected this since Z had 'em, but I had a brain fart.  Be back in a trice!

The ties weren't cinched tightly, so cutting Courtney out was a breeze.  Here she is, all decked out in accessories and the bead necklace.

Molly has already admitted that she prefers Courtney's hair to her own, as Courtney has the curls Molly always wanted.  Courtney, meanwhile, has her eye on Molly's Halloween costume, which I've left her in for the foreseeable future because screw political correctness, that's why.

Courtney:  "I don't remember seeing that cute costume in my catalog."

Molly:  "It was released in 1989, if I recall correctly."

Courtney:  "Tubular!"

Molly may like Courtney's hair, but I'm regarding it with trepidation.  Curly hair is not my best friend, and because curly hair is not my best friend I've never owned an American Girl with hair like this.  I don't have Miss Emily's penchant for completely annihilating curls, but we still don't get along.  Not usually, anyway; I've manipulated Rael's curls quite a bit and they still look nice.  But then again Rael's curls are quite a bit shorter than Courtney's.  

No they aren't!!!  Rael's curls LOOK shorter than Courtney's, but only because they're tied up and not dangling on Rael's shoulders!  Anyway, I've already run into a tiny bit of trouble with Courtney's hair, as some of her curls got squished in the box and are now a bit frizzy.  This one on the left side of her head gave me the most trouble.

Oh well, a spritz of water and a gentle once-over with my dog brush will tame those frizzies.  That method always works with Rael.  I guess my issue with this hair is that super-tight ringlets can't be easily finger-combed (that method NEVER works with Rael).  When I inherited my sister's Samantha I was able to run my fingers through her loosely curled hair to make it look nice again, but I doubt that'll be a possibility with Courtney.  However, Courtney's hair is not as tightly curled as Cecile's hair or the wigs on some of the Just Like You and Create Your Own dolls, so maybe we'll get along okay.  Seriously, Cecile's hair scares me.  Cecile is a beautiful doll, but her curls are super-tight and look temperamental!  Maybe I need to stop focusing on the texture of Courtney's hair and look at how thick it is or isn't.  Remember that Z and Julie both have visible scalps when I part their hair.  I suspect that Julie's hair may have seen some hot and heavy brushing during her past life, but Z's hair is just plain thin.

To pound my point further into the wood, here's Molly's part again.  Hers is well-executed.

I've also seen some complaints on American Girl's official site about thin hair on the new dolls, particularly on two of the new dolls with fantasy hair, #87 and #88.  My favorite of the fantasy-haired dolls, #86, appears to have dodged the thin wig bullet, but I don't have her so I can't say for certain.  Courtney's hair is so curly that I can't see any bald spots even if they do exist.  Since I don't want to mess up my doll's curls, let's just assume that her hair is not as thick as Molly's and hope that it's thicker than Z's.

Since everyone and their dog wants to compare Courtney to Maryellen Larkin I'm going to touch on that subject.  It's true that the two dolls do favor each other somewhat.  They're both Caucasian girls with the classic head mold, and they both have blondish hair with right-handed side parts and short bangs that are pushed to the left.  However, there are enough differences to tell the two apart.  Eyes are the most obvious difference, as Courtney has blue eyes and Maryellen has...hazel eyes?  Brown eyes?  Dark green eyes?

According to the wiki Maryellen's eyes are "dark hazel," a special type of hazel that emphasizes the brown in her eyes...kinda like my grandmother's eyes, and my mom's eyes too, for that matter.  Not that it matters what shade Maryellen's eyes are, really, since AG's hazel eyes vary a lot.  Some Rebecca dolls have eyes that are almost green, for example, even though she's supposed to have hazel eyes.  Anyway, Maryellen's hairstyle is also drastically different from Courtney's, and from what I've read the colors are different as well; Maryellen's hair is strawberry blonde, while Courtney's hair is described as "honey blonde."  There's a very slight red cast in Courtney's hair, but "honey blonde" still sounds like a fitting description to me!  And by the way, I do b'lieve I see a thin spot.  A quick perusal of AG's sales pages for Courtney revealed that a fair amount of these dolls have wigs that are thin, dry, frizzy, or some combination of those (thin was the main gripe).  These wigs certainly aren't what they used to be.

Since I don't have Maryellen Courtney's perceived similarities to her shouldn't be such a huge deal, but I thought I'd point it out since a lot of folks have brought it up.  It should be noted that collectors who have both Courtney and Maryellen were able to find plenty of differences between the dolls, especially when they were photographed in full sunlight.  Maryellen does make a convincing Courtney when redressed and with her hair permed, but the eyes still give her away.  For me personally the issue is not Maryellen, but Kirsten, who is blonde and blue-eyed and has a classic face.

Of course I'll have no problem distinguishing the two due to their distinct hairstyles, but just for the heckuvit let's look at them together anyway.  Since my particular Kirsten is an older doll she has straight eyebrows (Courtney's are feathered).

Kirsten's hair is also a different shade of blonde, just like Maryellen's is.  Courtney has a little bit of red in her hair, Maryellen has a lot of red in hers, and Kirsten has no red at all.

I want to take a closer look at eye color since Courtney's publicity pictures suggest a slightly darker shade of blue.  Kirsten and my other blue-eyed AG doll Lindsey have light blue eyes...

...while Courtney's are...don't they look darker to y'all???

As far as I know American Girl has only two shades of blue eyes in current use:  light blue, as seen on Kirsten, Lindsey, the Create Your Own crew, and God knows who else in the Just Like You line, and dark blue, utilized by Nellie, Kit, JLY 27, and the Create Your Own crew.  I've also learned that Pleasant Company-era Kirstens have lighter blue eyes, so maybe that explains Kirsten's light shade.  My point of this tangent-ridden tirade is that Kirsten and Courtney could pass for distant family members, but I shouldn't have to worry about telling them apart.  Indeed, I'd have to take Kirsten's braids out and give her a perm before she'd look even remotely like Courtney, and even then I could tell them apart.  As an aside, Saige Copeland, Caroline Abbott, and Marie-Grace Gardner all got unique shades of blue eyes that have not been used on other dolls...except for custom jobs.  More on that later.

Another quick side note:  something weird is going on with Kirsten's left eye.  See that whitish stuff near her pupil?  And yes, I know my little pioneer needs some canned air.  All of my older dolls do.  But do y'all see that by her pupil?

Nuts, I hope that's just glue and not the beginnings of silver eye.  Kirsten is one of the dolls that can develop it, after all.  I don't mind my Molly having silver eye, and I actually like Silver Bird's eyes the way they are, but I'd prefer that Kirsten keep her blue eyes, thank you too much.  It could be the beginnings of bubble eye, a variation of silver eye that doesn't look as attractive as silver eye.

Now that that's out of the way, I'm going to take a brief look at Courtney's face paint, because her lips are a slightly different color from what I'm used to.  Most of my older dolls are pretty faded, but Z hasn't faded yet.

Is it just me, or do Courtney's lips have an orange tinge to them?  The last American Girl I can name with markedly different lips is/was Grace Thomas, and her lip color was modified to suggest lip gloss.  I can't say as I'm in love with Courtney's lip color, but as with Grace there's a good reason for it.  Y'all probably know why since Courtney's not exactly new news anymore, but I'll explain the reason why later anyway.

Much to the chagrin of both Courtney and Z I'm going to disrobe these two and show a crucial difference.  Z is dressed for New Year's Eve and is not thrilled with having to take off her hanbok, but I promise I'm making a point.  Z is from the permapanties era, and Courtney is...well, not!  Pardon Z's necklace, LOL; she refuses to take it off.

It's super-old news now that permapanties are no longer a thing, and I'm pointing it out because I'm only now learning is that the bodies with permapanties are a little slimmer than the regular American Girl bodies.  I know there's a difference between Pleasant Company bodies and Mattel bodies (Silver Bird and Denise are Pleasant Company dolls and thus have trouble wearing certain outfits), but I didn't know there was a difference among Mattel bodies.  Since Z has one of the slimmer permapanties bodies, it's time for her and Courtney to trade clothes!  Don't worry, Courtney, you can keep your own panties.  You'll be wearing Z's meet outfit instead of the hanbok. 

That actually went better than I though it would.  Z's skirt is just the teensiest bit tight on Courtney, but then Courtney's skirt is tight on Z so it evens out.  Some of my fellow AG fans have complained that the clothes get tighter and tighter with time, but with these two it's not such a big deal.  However, I will note that Z's hanbok is an Etsy find, and it's an eensy bit big on her.  Not ridiculously so, but it's a little loose around the neck. 

A chunkier doll like Silver Bird would probably fill it out better, but I can't put a Vietnamese-American doll in a Korean dress.  The lovely ao dai is what Silver Bird would wear, and I had hoped to find a nice ao dai for her to wear tonight, but all of the ones I found are shades of brown.  I love brown, but I don't want Silver Bird to look like a field mouse while Z looks like a twelve-wired bird of paradise.  The right ao dai will reveal itself if I just wait...but waiting is hard for me to do (LOL).  Carpatina DID have one, but to my great dismay they appear to have discontinued it.

Back to Courtney now.  Before I put her meet outfit back on I want to show y'all her neck.

It's old news that these dolls' necks close with zip ties rather than the old strings, and indeed Courtney is not my first doll with a head that attaches this way.  Z isn't either, really; that title would go to my little My Twinn doll, Xenia.  I don't guess Xenia really counts since she's not an American Girl, but I never pass up an excuse to drag Xenia into a review.  Look, Ma!  No strings!

I think American Girl phased out the string neck ties right around the time that 18-inch My Twinns became a thing, so I guess these three are a little relevant to one another.  If nothing else they make a cute trio.

I think that takes care of Courtney.  Not much to say about her except that she's an American Girl doll and she's cute.  With Courtney out of the way I want to take a closer look at her accessories.

Cool, she's got a walkman!  I haven't seen one of those in years.  It opens and closes and the buttons push, though they don't actually do anything.

The back of the walkman has a plastic loop that theoretically allows Courtney to hold it...

...but the loop kept slipping off her hand so I tied it to one of her belt loops instead.  I think I'd have preferred that it hook to her skirt anyway, since my dad's old walkman attached to his belt.

The headphones are made of metal, plastic, and foam like real headphones are, and they feel a little fragile but show no signs of breaking.  They fit over Z's ears better than they do Courtney's.  I'm not sure if that's because the Jess head is wider than the classic head, or if it's because of Courtney's fuller hairstyle.  Either way, here's what the headphones look like.

My favorite thing about these phones are the mismatched colors, which I would've wanted on my own set of headphones (LOL).  The cord attaches to the walkman by virtue of a plastic knob (on the walkman) and a cone-shaped attachment site (on the end of the cord on the phones).

The connection is surprisingly very solid.  I was expecting it to be loose, but it's not.  Overall this is a good little walkman (I especially love the fact that the buttons can press in), but what good is a walkman without a cassette tape?  Courtney has one, plus the case that it comes in.  From what I've been told the tape will apparently play tidbits of music when put in the boom box in Courtney's sleepover set.  The walkman doesn't have this feature, but oh well.  Here's a better look at the tape.  It has Side A and Side B, but otherwise the two sides are the same. 

It fits into the walkman "upside down," just as real cassette tapes do.

The case that the tape comes in does have some writing on it, but again I don't recognize any artists.  Courtney has a fondness for mix tapes, and in her book her father gives her a tape of Huey Lewis and the News songs, but that's not who's on this tape.  Bummer, I like Huey Lewis and the News.  NONE of Courtney's mix tapes are the Huey Lewis mix, in fact.  Maybe American Girl couldn't get their permission to use their music???  I dunno.  Julie's sound accessories include small records with snippets of "Love's Theme," "Shining Star," and "Saturday in the Park" (yay, a Chicago song!!!), so I was a little surprised to see that none of Courtney's tapes have any eighties artists that I recognize.  The American Girl wiki makes note of this as well, noting that while Rebecca's phonograph set also has authentic music the songs are in the public domain (Julie's songs are not).  I may have to find that for my Julie so she can have some fun.  Anywho, Side A appears to be something positive and upbeat, and Side B is...oh puke, a workout mix. 

I probably shouldn't puke too much since I had my own "workout mix" in college, though my workout routine usually consisted of walking to and from class with my iPod blaring ("Unchained" and "Run Like Hell" were my two favorite songs for speed-walking), or dancing like an idiot with my roommate.  No joke, I almost broke my hand while dancing to "867-5309/Jenny" one time, and now every time I hear that song I can't help but laugh at my collegiate shenanigans.  Regarding Courtney's playlist, something like "Billie Jean" or "Rio" or "Don't You (Forget About Me)" might do for her mid/late-eighties self, though in retrospect "Rio" and "Billie Jean" aren't exactly the most appropriate songs for a kid to listen to.  If Courtney is anything like I was at her age then she probably just listens to the rhythm and the beat...and like me, in ten years she'll look back on the lyrics to "Billie Jean" and think "Good grief, I had no idea that song was about something so heavy!"  Courtney herself states that her favorite song is (predictably) "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," so that song will definitely be in her lineup, even though I have never been a fan of the song, myself. 

Right, then!  Next piece.  Courtney's necklace excites me, as it's a tube of Lip Smackers lip balm on an adjustable cord.  I suspect it's also the reason why Courtney's lips have a slight orange cast, since the flavor is orange...no, my mistake, the tube says peach!  

I wonder...if Courtney preferred green apple (my flavor of choice) would her lips have had a green cast?  LOL, I doubt it, but I can't help wondering.  Regardless of the flavor I approve of this little accessory, as I can't go anywhere without a tube of lip stuff.  I also like the fact that Courtney's necklace actually serves a purpose instead of hanging there and looking cute.  Of course Courtney's lip stuff isn't real, but it certainly looks the part.  The cap comes off!

I freaking love this accessory, though I hope that cap won't loosen with time and end up getting lost.  That might be an issue if Courtney is ever around small children.  My doll won't be, but another one might so keep the small pieces rule in mind.  As an aside, were Lip Smackers really that big a thing in the eighties?  According to their website these made an intro in 1973, so I wonder why Julie doesn't have a tube?  Maybe because Lip Smackers were originally marketed towards skiers and Julie didn't ski?  According to the same site tropical flavors were introduced in 1986, so maybe that's why Courtney has a tube.  But then again, peach wasn't one of the new flavors then.  Oh well, it doesn't matter much.  It's a cute accessory, one that I can't recall ever seeing in any past American Girl sets.  Isabelle and Grace both had lip gloss available at some point during their reign as Girl of the Year, but it wasn't a particular brand, and it wasn't in a cute little tube that could be hung around the doll's neck.

Courtney's other accessories consist of four plastic bangles of varying colors, and a campaign button.

I used to wear bangles like those myself, from junior high all the way up to college!  I'd pile them on and they'd clatter around so much that I'd have to take them off during class!  It didn't help that two of 'em were brass and were EXTRA loud.  These are tricky to put on, by the way; they have slits, but the plastic isn't very flexible.

Though I appreciate the bracelets and their accompanying stroll down Memory Lane, Courtney's campaign button is what interests me the most.  Campaign buttons, especially presidential ones, are little pieces of history, and this one would be no exception were it real.

So much for the early fan theory that Maryellen might be Courtney's mom.  LOL, some folks tinkered around with that idea early on, as much as the two dolls supposedly favor each other.  No, Courtney's mom is the Maureen named on the button, and as I noted above she's running for mayor of their hometown.  She is the first woman to do so, to the irritation of some Orange Valley residents.  Indeed, Courtney witnesses the sexism of some residents firsthand when she helps her mom hand out these badges.  Usually badges like these pin onto a garment, but Courtney's button clips on, I assume to avoid damaging her clothes.  Melody's civil rights button clips like this too.

So far so good with the connection; Courtney's button slides from side to side but appears to be in no danger of falling off.  It didn't even fall off when I put Courtney's clothes on Z, but y'all will have to take my word for it that it stayed put, LOL.

When I was a child all the American Girls' accessories were pretty predictable.  They'd have a hat, a purse, a small amount of period currency, a necklace, and for the historical girls a snot rag of some stripe.  Kirsten had a spoon instead of a coin, but for the most part the pattern was pretty predictable.  Now the accessories can vary quite a bit, and Courtney's accessories reflect that.  She has no money on her (even Julie had a form of currency), and no purse either.  No complaints, though, as these accessories sum up eighties life pretty well; life wasn't as practical, maybe, but people had more fun with their style!

I s'pose I should say a few words about the accompanying book, Courtney Changes the Game.  The story was engaging enough to make me giggle and roll my eyes more than once, and it even made me choke up at one point.  Courtney's older stepsister Tina spends much of the book being your typical psychotic teenage girl, but it turns out that she's being a bitch because she desperately misses her deceased mother and feels out of place in her now-blended family.  True to life Challenger blows to pieces during the later chapters, and the aftermath provides Tina with an opportunity to open up to Courtney and explain her feelings.  As I predicted no one resorts to black humor to cope with Challenger's demise, not even Courtney's smart-a$$ classmate.  Instead there's a lot of discussion, more than a few tears are shed, and wounds are healed.  As to Courtney's personality, she  is revealed to be an imaginative, quiet, somewhat shy girl who thinks before she speaks and prefers to work alone on projects.  She has a good relationship with her mother, her father, and her stepfather, and she adores her younger half-brother.  She loves Tina too, but as I noted above their relationship is strained for most of the book.  She has two close friends (fellow gamer Kip Tomatsu and outspoken Sarah Barrett) and a rival (Justin Wilson, the aforementioned smart-a$$ classmate).   Like most American Girls Courtney has a pet, but she breaks the cat/dog/horse mold by owning an orange and white guinea pig named Parsley, whom Tina initially can't stand.  AG has dabbled in pet diversity in the past, but for the most part they seem to be stuck in a cat/dog/horse rut...though granted, cats and dogs ARE popular pets.  Courtney Changes the Game retains the multiple chapters that the more recent dolls have (originally the books had four to six chapters), but it also has illustrations.  This is significant because illustrations disappeared from the books during the BeForever overhaul.  Overall I enjoyed it way more than I did The Real Z, though I may be a little biased since I've always liked the historical books better than the modern ones.

During the days leading up to Courtney's release I saw an article titled "New '80s American Girl Is Making Us All Feel Like Antiques!"  Do I feel like an antique???  Well, seeing as I was born in 1987 myself and subsequently missed most of the eighties...no, not really.  I mean, I DID find my first gray hairs on my 33rd birthday, and I have the beginnings of some crow's feet when I smile, but I still don't feel like an antique.  Indeed, I was kinda tickled to find those silver hairs, since my mother has beautiful silver hair and I hope some day to have hair like hers instead of the mouse-brown crap I've got now.  No, when AG releases a doll representing the 90's, THEN I'll feel old! 

But we're not through yet.  Earlier in December I went browsing for a bald AG doll with the hope that I could have some fun with wigs.  My first result happened to be this young lady, who had already had some work done on her face.  I've chosen to name her Justine-Marie Beauregard.

Poor love, I forget how long she was in the post!  I was s'posed to have her by December 11th, but she got held up between Knoxville and St. Louis and didn't get here until the 21st.  I've really felt for our mail carriers and workers this holiday season, by the way.  They've been short-staffed due to this coronavirus crap, and they had a record number of packages (also partially due to this coronavirus crap).  Anyway, Justine-Marie used to be a Marie-Grace Gardner doll, hence the hyphenated, French-flavored new name.  As I noted above she's had some modifications done to her face paint, something that I would've frowned on at one time (I don't usually like overly made-up AG dolls).  Just look at these freckles!

Lots of American Girls have freckles now, but not very many of them have freckles like this!  Justine-Marie even has a really big one on her upper left cheek.

Her lips are cranberry-colored and are extra glossy, but at the same time not ridiculously overdone.  And I thought Courtney's lips were bright!

A detailed face-up like that would be enough to make Justine-Marie a special little doll, but she also has Caroline Abbott's eyes.  Normally these are found only on Caroline, and NOT Marie-Grace.  Thus Justine-Marie has had an eye swap!  I wonder whose eyes the old Caroline doll got?

I've always been a little on the fence about the Marie-Grace head, but seeing it with Caroline's unique eyes was the clincher for me.  Lissie and Lilly calls these eyes "sea foam," while the AG wiki calls them "aquamarine."  Marie-Grace had aquamarine eyes too, but they were a different shade from Caroline's and didn't have lines in the iris.  Regardless of all that Justine-Marie has Caroline's unique and lovely eyes and Marie-Grace's unique and lovely face, meaning that she truly is one of a kind.  To sweeten the deal I got her a nice new wig from Dollofakind on Etsy, one that brings the bobbed 'dos of Kit Kittredge and the redesigned Just Like You #57 to mind. Mama supplied the clothes, and that's all she needed to be complete!

We've had some bitterly cold weather here in the Bootheel, perfect for heavy sweaters and coats, but we've also had some unseasonably warm weather, complete with highs around sixty degrees and copious rain.  No snow for us, thank God, but Justine-Marie is my little snow bunny anyway.  Mama got her a snowshoeing outfit (seen above) and this skiing outfit that arrived at the eleventh hour.  And yes, she does have skis to go with this, but I didn't take a picture of those for some dumb reason.

Mama and I have both also bought her some things to wear for warmer weather, but my favorite of those hasn't arrived yet either (it's a nautical-themed romper).  Until they do arrive I've got this Finding Nemo/Finding Dory set...

...and this set, which I've piecemealed together.  Y'all will have to take my word for it that I bought that shirt before Kailey Hopkins I mean Lanie Holland I mean Kira Bailey came along.

Okay, okay, Kira isn't that bad.  Indeed, I find her rather cute!  She just...seems like yet another rehash.  Anyway, Stacey Morgan Studios offered this shirt last summer to benefit an Australian family who lost their home during last year's fires.  I forget exactly who Stacey's shirts were benefiting, but I think it was a relative of YouTuber AGOverseasFan, whose channel I adore.  As far as I know, the shirt is no longer being made yes it is!  It's being offered again with shoes in honor of Kira!  When I first got the shirt I put Julie in it and those fringed jeans, but the look didn't really suit her.  But then again, she didn't have shoes to wear, not shoes that will stay on, anyway.  Justine-Marie does.

I wish I had a pair of shoes like those!  They're just the kind I like for summertime:  light, airy, neutral in color, and completely lacking arch support.  LOL, and I wonder why my feet ache during warm weather!

With that, my happy little group of AG dolls is up to twelve.  I wish I could get them all together for a group picture, but I lack a large staircase so a picture of Courtney and Justine-Marie will have to do.

Actually, if I count Xenia, Crissy, Ana Ming, and my Madame Alexander pair then I've got more than twelve dolls this size!  I need to think of something creative to do with them; with a number like that I could start doing storylines like some other bloggers do.  Hey, if Froggy can do it, so can I!

Happy (I hope!) New Year,
RagingMoon1987