Current Mood : Fainting with Happy... (swoooooon)

Spent on Dolls :  $16.10 (and I don't regret a penny !)

What an incredible day today was ! I still can't believe everything that happened ! And I'm so happy...

Today stared like most weekdays - swat the alarm clock a dozen times, nudge Dearest Son awake a dozen times in ten minutes, poke at Beloved Hubby, too. Once everyone was on their way, I gathered up all the donations and packed ‘em in the truck. Two 13-gal kitchen bags, a big Target sack, and Charmin' Chatty. Not bad. Six Barbie-size dolls got dressed, brushed, and bagged up, amid a buncha other toys and misc. outgrown clothes and books and the like. I just can't donate or even mail a nude doll. I got it all over there, and noted that, even though it was just ten minutes past opening, there were already several other bags of donations in the bin. I hope she got some good stuff !

She asked me about Charmin', since she knows a little girl customer who'd love her. So that made me happy. I looked around for a bit, and amazingly, there were new dolls and Barbies. Even new bags of large props ! The dolls were mostly Cabbage Patch clones or hollow-body dress-me toddlers, nothing that caught my interest. So I carefully looked at the two largish bags of Barbie props and the bin of dolls.

The first bag held various pieces - the only thing I could readily identify was the chair/fire grate from the Folding Pretty house. I'd love a second one, but the bags were $5.99 each, a bit high for a small chair, especially when I have dozens already. The other... while it held an incomplete office playset - I think the aquarium and a support post is missing, among other pieces - I knew it was coming home with me.

Because I could see that, inside, was a #1 Ken ! True, his flocked hair was visible only in one patch above his right ear, but his face was in excellent shape, as were his hands and feet. The shirt was probably momma-made, but of excellently scaled fabric, and his grey-green corduroys bore the tiny YKK zipper and the hallmarks of expert tailoring. Also, there was another shirt in there, and it was clearly vintage, and in excellent shape, missing only one tiny button. The ‘Ken ® / © Mattel, Inc' tag was a bright, unfrayed beacon. Oh, heck yeah. Mine.

A quick trip through the snack-baggies of clothes revealed nothing new - and believe me, hopes were raised when I saw a vintage Ken ! - but in the bottom of the bin was a pretty navy blue sailor dress. Simple, but well-made recently (Velcro ^TM closure !) and no tag. The proprietress gave it to me free !

Quickly sorted through mostly familiar bags. But there's a new one. Oh, seriously - it's a Bend-Leg Skipper ! Basically a #2 Skipper doll, with auburn hair ! I was stunned. The dress fit too well to be anything less than vintage, but I couldn't tell, since she was in a $3.99 baggie with two Happy Meal dolls and a Fisher Price ‘Happy Family' Dad doll. I'm normally immune to the charm of Skipper, but this one sort of needed me, so she went into the cart with Ken.

I also scored a computer power strip for Dearest's laptop - $1.49 vs. $6.75 at Mal-Wart ! - and a small-toy grab-bag for the numerous Star Wars kids' meal bobbleheads that Dearest so loves. A bit less than $13. total - for a power strip, some stocking stuffers, and two vintage dolls. Wow.

Now, it would have been a great day if that'd been that. But no, we're not done yet ! Headed over to Mal-Wart for grocery time, and that always includes a quick trip to Toys. Picked up ‘Charlie Checker' from Cars, the Piston Cup official pace car, complete with tiny yellow lights on his roof. Dearest'll love him. Found out that the Dale Earnhart Jr. one I picked up two weeks ago is very rare, and brings about $10. on eBay. We paid $3.50 or so for ‘em.

Rounding the aisle, I saw an endcap-load of the dolls M-W had for $5. special on Black Friday. Hmmm. There were several guys and girls from High School Musical, and various blonde and brunette girls from Hannah Montana. I'd seen dolls from Barbie and the Diamond Castle in the BF ad, and I was interested in them. Unlike the $10. to $15. versions that've been out on shelves for a while, these are the equivalent of swimsuit dolls - very few props, and narrow boxes. It hit me later that, while HSM and Barbie are, of course, Mattel, HM dolls have been from PlayAlong. But the narrow boxes of HSM and HM were so uniform, now I wonder if Mattel made those HMs, too. It's doubtful, but still kinda mysterious as to how closely those boxes matched.

Color coding made it easy to tell the lines apart. HSM - red leather-like box. HM - mottled blues and pinks on top, black on bottom. Diamond Castle girls had deep purple boxes that formed a peak at the top, and the plastic view windows were shaped, like facets of a gemstone. Easily I found the blonde pink and red gowned doll (hah ! When I made pink and red Barbie clothes as a kid, everyone said it clashed !) and the lovely AA purple and pink one, but I wanted the brunette green and blue one ! And after the fourth box, I found her. Very nice ! She went with me to the usual Barbie aisle, where I could barely tell her apart from the $15. doll. Well, the more expensive one had shimmery, gauzier, rufflier fabric in the lower blue skirt and green overskirt, and a huge honkin' blue plastic necklace, but from the hips up, they were identical. Even had the same comb.

Still, the last thing I needed was another doll - I just donated seven ! - even if she did have awesome cool sandals that trailed up her legs, and a gorgeous dress in a favorite color. Plus, there was so little difference between the $15. doll and this one... was I sure she really was just $5. ? They may have raised the price since Black Friday. So I took her to the nearest price scanner.

And nearly fell over. Because the scanner read, ‘Barbie Diamond Castle  Muse Dori Doll $5.00' . Dori ? DORI ? They actually named her Dori ? OMG ! I HAD to get her now ! I kept shaking my head. Had to be short for ‘Dorinda' or something, I thought. There's no way Mattel'd name any doll of theirs Dori. But it kept her in the cart and close to me on the ride home. I still don't really remember doing the grocery shopping...

Once the cold stuff was stored, I hit Wikipedia. And there, under the cast/voice actor list for Barbie and the Diamond Castle was the name... Dori. I know it has not a darn thing to do with me. The character's name is not even spelled like mine at all. But I'm still so thrilled that there's an official Barbie named Dori, with a round face and brown hair, that I just don't care.

Here she is - https://dorriebelle.tripod.com/dolls_of_my_life/dori.jpg . Astounding. I haven't deboxed her yet - I wanna get Ken and Skipper cleaned up first. They have a photo shoot in the morning ! But every time I look at my Dori, I get all... giggly and happy.

I identified the dress Skipper's wearing as one of her first, Platter Party. Ken's tagged shirt is from Lounging Around, and the greenish grey corduroy pants seem to be Pak items. Found out there's an identical shirt that's red where mine's white ! Cool ! Also in Ken's bag was a fluffy pink nylon doll skirt, a Happy Meal Yo-Yo Skipper from 1999 and a Hollywood Barbie, from last month's promotion. Yaay, new Christmas ornaments ! And in the bobblehead bag was a cute Disney Little Princess - size cake. Bonus !

Both Ken and Skipper are in superb shape, but they need a cleaning and hair work, and tomorrow's photo shoot day ! Ken appears to have been a brunette back in his day, so I'll have to look up reflocking directions or just plain painting. He's too handsome to be so mottle-headed ! Skipper's bangs are at a 45-degree angle to her head, so she has a boil perm coming up. Glad I saved the rubber bands from the ‘TV Chef' playset !

Ah, I'm still dizzy. I gotta crash, but it's been such a fantastic day ! Beloved Hubby's new power supply came in, so his new video card is finally installed. Ever Quest has never looked so good. Dearest loves his new toys, and the new pajamas I picked up for him. Glad I got a size up - they're almost too tight on him ! If you know any kids who need long-sleeve two-piece PJs in popular character designs, M-W has ‘em for just $5. !

I may put Dori on my nightstand... just for tonight...

Posted by dorriebelle at 11:41 PM CST

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:51 PM CDT

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Current Mood : Relaxed.

Current Image Notes : Welcome to December ! From here 'til I run out, which should be just before 2009 (!), you get a new Disney Princess holiday/winter image ! They're scans of stickers, window clings, gift wrap, holiday tags, and anything else I can snag, including some internet 'borrowed' ones. Sorry today's pink edges look so funky against the green 'fridge' blog theme, but what can ya do ? Just editing it for today's post took nearly an hour ! But you're worth it !!

Well, it's official. The grandparents gave Dearest Son so much candy at Halloween, we're still eating it in December ! That's not so grand a feat - one year, he got so much Easter candy, we were still eating it at Valentine's. There's only a few mini candy bars left, so it won't be long ‘til they're all gone.

Beloved wasn't feeling well, so he was home today, and I was with him. Only set foot out of the house to run by the bank and pay rent. He wanted company, so I mostly just sat with him today, keeping him company, watching old DVDs. It was kind of like Thanksgiving all over again !

And the postponement gave me a bit more time to get things ready for the Thrift, for tomorrow. Three big bags full, and I'm still not done casting around the Lab yet. Should have it all finished tonight.

Got this updated - again, it was all typed and ready to go, I just got lazy with the images. Shouldn't be much of a problem for this month ! Scanning the stickers is a PITA, but the graphics are so pretty...

So it was a kinda boring Monday - but here's hoping the Thrift got lots of weekend donations and will have ‘em out for me tomorrow !   

Posted by dorriebelle at 11:23 PM CST

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:50 PM CDT

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Current Mood : Easily annoyed

Nice day today. Got to spend it any way I wanted, which involved a lot of Lab and computer time. Also some in-home recycling.  Which includes a bit of image recycling - sorry, but DC looks sooo cute snuggled up to PDorrie ! I was working on her shoes at the time.

For the last few days, I've had my eyes casting around Chez Insanity, looking for stuff to add to the donation pile I intend to take by the local Thrift tomorrow. Beloved Hubby bought a combination white board / cork board for the fridge a few days ago - our last one, a housewarming gift, fell and broke nearly two years ago - so I didn't need the small corkboard I've had over by the cabinets anymore. I had it in the donations box when Dearest Son saw it today, asked if he could have it.

Sure ! I soon had it placed where he indicated, and scared up some pushpins for him. He now has a pair of scissors dangling from it, and a Roary coloring page tacked up. Says he intends to use it with his pretend Kindergarten class, too. How cute !

I dug out our old XM Satellite Radio boombox a few days ago, intending to install it in the office, rather than buy a new radio/CD player. Took a while, but I found an outlet for it, and it's now playing old CDs we rarely ever listen to. It's rather nice. I'm looking forward to some holiday tunes tomorrow. I've been looking for a small radio receiver, so the next time we lose power, it won't be so quiet, which freaks Dearest out a bit, but yard sale season is finally drying up, and I hadn't found a small radio yet. Just midsize CD boomboxes that still need six C batteries. The XM needs ten !

While puttering in the bathroom this morning, I realized that the clock in there is also a small radio - and it runs on AA batteries. We have lots of those. Anyone with a Wii keeps their stock up. This radio uses so little power, I can use ‘dead' batteries removed from Wii-motes to run it ! Yaaay !

Most of the rest of the day, I spent idling through Yard Sale Bloodbath (http://www.yardsalebloodbath.com/) and Manic Thrift Store Shopper (http://mtss.blogspot.com/). Was enjoying Yard Sale Addict, until all the ‘I bought nothing' end lines started to sound like Sgt. Schultz from Hogan's Heroes in my head. And once I found out all the photos and scorn was from a guy doing all this for an art installation, not for fun or shopping or even love of the hunt, I was pretty much done with the site. Might be good for a laugh for ya, though - http://yardsaleaddict.blogspot.com/ .

(sigh) I've been in a mood ever since Friday. Between the stupidness of rabid Black Friday shoppers and the irresponsible ones who killed a hapless temp or themselves, to the accusatory GoodWill, and finishing up with a day in front of a computer with folks who think they're too good for yard sales except for their Art, I just haven't been me in days.

I really need to sew something that isn't for someone else or a way to use up junk !

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CST

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:50 PM CDT

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Mood Check : Still outraged.

A man dies opening a door for rabid shoppers on Black Friday. Two more jerks shoot each other to death at a crowded Toys R Us the same day. *&^% all of you, I'm staying home. Ya'll can destroy each other in your own fashion, (extended expletive parade deleted)s.

Yeah, I'm in a bit of a sour mood. Especially since those who believe in ‘the reason for the season' are gonna be preaching at me for the whole of next month, while I'm sure the idiots mentioned above consider themselves cut from the same believer's cloth as the faithful.

I took it out on that unfortunate angel doll, reducing her to stuffing, dress, and assorted pieces in fifteen minutes. The dress only needed minor alterations to fit Princess Dorrie - I removed the gold collar and hemmed the neckline, replaced the wide, overpowering lace cuffs with ribbon from the also-removed bodice bow, and took it in a bit at the back with folds and Velcro closures. Made ugly, clumsy shoes from the doll's satin feet, which took longer and look worse than anything I'd have made from better fabric, but I wanted to use as much of the unfortunate doll as possible. But in less than two hours, PDorrie had a new dress, a wand, lousy shoes, and a lace crown - and I had a doll head with terrible glued-on, unbrushable hair, a pair of hands, muslin legs, a strip of gold fabric and a strip of lace, a bagel-like halo, and a shoebox of stuffing to use on other projects.

Only problem is, I want to use the doll head on something. I'd have to rip off all the crap hair and redo it with yarn or something, and about all I can think of is a hand puppet. It'd reuse the head and hands, and possibly the bagel-halo, but no one here would want it. And I hate to donate less than my best. While her face still bears a slight stain, her eyes are still too pretty to dump in the trash.

(snort) In the days when life itself seems cheapened, I'm worried about 'wasting' a damaged doll. (heavy sigh)

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CST

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:50 PM CDT

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Current Mood : People-angry (a hyped-up version of 'people-frustrated')

Spent on Sewing/Crafts : $15.22

Spent on Dolls : $5.22

What a day. Dearest Son went to Granny and Granddad's house yesterday afternoon, and Beloved Hubby had a two-hour touch-up job this morning, so I got an early start on my prowls. Got all the way to the bank when I realized I'd forgotten to wheel the trash around. Our usual pick-up is Thursday, but they pick up the next day when it's a holiday. It's supposed to be out at 7:30, and it was 9am, but I hoped.

Got to Hancock's, where pretty much every pattern that wasn't Kwik-Sew or Vogue was 99c or 5 for $5., so the catalog tables were swarmed. Luckily, I'd had my list in my purse for a week, copied from pattern co. websites, so I breezed in, snagged the five I wanted - four doll clothes, one craft (which is also doll clothes, really) - and headed back to the register. Stopped to look at the Yo-yo looms, still at 30% off, and got two, a heart and a flower/star shape. Sewing yo-yos aren't stringed toys, but small gathered shapes, usually a circle, sewn together for various projects. $14. and ten minutes later, I was at the Salvation Army there, a major waste of time. Luckily, I spent more time walking to it than I spent in there.

Decided to check the sale Barbies advertised at Big Lots. Too bad I never found ‘em. Ditto for the ones at Target, but I snagged DVDs of Cars (our first one is DOA) for $12., and The Notebook, Walk the Line, and a three-in-one of Bachelor Party, Back to School, and Weekend at Bernie's, $4. each. They had all the registers open, and since I didn't have a cart, I made the rounds twice and was out the door with my purchases in less time than it took to find legal parking. Of course, many shoppers didn't concern themselves with ‘safe' or ‘legal' out in the parking lot...

Stopped by the craft fair on the way home. Mostly for ideas, it was about the same sale I'd been to earlier this month. Bought two Tupperware miniatures, a prism bowl keychain and an Elphie-size ice-cream scoop, a buck each. Also four magnets you'll see later, including a Betty Boop one for DFIL, for another buck. I was amazed that gift bags made of inexpensive cotton with a ribbon drawstring were selling. They were fairly cheap, but still... again, about half of what I saw, I could easily make m'self.

After lunch, Beloved Hubby wanted a nap, so I was out again, this time to GoodWill. I'm glad I went, I made two great finds, but I ended up ticked off. Store itself was its usual ‘half bare, half overpriced' self, and frankly, the only times I've ever found anything interesting in the last two years, it's been in the bins, waiting for staff to shelve. Today was no exception. I scored another vintage sewing box, a mustard-yellow thread spool and bobbin box, identical to my hunter-green one. I'd been eyeing one at the flea market, but it was fulla thread, and the seller wanted $8. By the time I had the guts to ask if she'd accept $5. for it (and I had $5. for it !) it'd already sold. Oh, well, I thought. I was lucky to have the green one, and it'd just been a buck at that yard sale.

But no, here was its sibling, identical and in perfect shape, $1. No thread, but heck, I had plenty of that in a shoe box, waiting at home. Score ! Another bin came out later, mostly kids' cowboy boots, so I had to wait my turn to poke through it. Another score ! A slightly larger Barbie case, the latest one, in pink instead of black. Nearly new - the tag was still attached, and so was the plastic bit that held the strap together for shipping ! $3., and mine !

Happily, I took my purchases to the register. And watched in dismay as the cashier took a pair of shears from her register and sliced the tag in half, right through the UPC ! WTH ? She explained that she had to, or otherwise, I'd take it back to the store and I could get cash or ‘whatever I wanted' for it.

Oookay. Let's put aside the fact that this case hasn't been made or sold since 2002. But I just got accused of theft at a GoodWill - not that I stole from them, but that I might steal from some poor merchant who donated brand-new stuff to GWill out of the goodness of his register-tape stained heart. Unbelievable !

And here's the thing - this scenario doesn't hold water. When I worked at Disney Store, we had a special clerk who, at sale time, entered the UPCs into the Telson with the new prices. Every week, we'd get lowered prices from Corporate, until the sale was over or the stuff was sold out. Any merch we had left got entered as ‘unknown UPC' and the stuff itself got sent back to Corp for its final destiny. If someone brought it, say, a Mickey blouse they'd gotten during the sale after it was over, it'd scan ‘unknown ‘. With a receipt, they'd be issued a refund or store credit, their choice. With no receipt, we couldn't take it back. If the sale was still on, they'd get whatever price the item scanned as, unless they had the receipt. Simple, clean - from a company that prided itself on positive customer service. We never had a blowout or problem with it.

I sincerely believe that Victoria's Secret and Old Navy, the two examples the cashier gave as companies who donated new stuff, have the same technology, considering I quit DizStore in 1995 ! If VS and ON allow full-price refunds or store credit on stuff they haven't sold in over six years, no wonder both companies are having trouble !

Adding to the fire was the fact that cashier tucked the half she cut off inside the register, as if I was entertaining the idea of taping it back together or something. By now, I really felt like GoodWill saw me as some sort of rip-off skeeve, not a customer. Since when did GW ever care what anyone did with their purchases afterwards, as long as the checks cleared ? And if I've ever seen anything dangling tags at GW, it's because one person donated ‘em that way, not because they got a huge box from VS or ON.

If it's such a problem, why not cut the tags before putting stuff on the shelves ? Because they know the tags are a selling point...at least until the con artist /customer gets to the register ! Snip, snip ! You don't get to keep those ! It's also kinda stupid for companies to donate stuff with active UPC code tags to begin with - or even inactive tags. It may be some time before I darken GWill's door again. I want to understand, but the cashier really seemed to think I was out to rip somebody off, and it was only through her virtuous actions they were spared my evil intentions. No, d@mn it, I'm just a harmless collector who rather wanted the stuff she was payin' for intact. Sheesh.

At least no one accused me of anything untoward at 7-11. And I was in there at a bit after midnight, for snacks. Sad.

I think next year, I'm gonna do Buy Nothing Day, especially after what happened in Long Island. Seriously, is a slightly cheaper crap plasma TV (already considered on the Betamax side of technology) worth a man's life, you idiots ? You know Mal-Wart's gonna say he was a temp, so they're not liable for anything, his temp agency is. Sad. And an utter perversion of what they say the holiday is supposed to be about. I'm sure a rag-swaddled infant born in a barn would be impressed by your shopping prowess for ‘his' holiday, there, morons. I hope they catch and publicly humiliate you for the rest of your days. There's my 'not in synch with the reason for the Season' moment.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=6353623

I'm just upset - not at you, I know you wouldn't trample a man to death for crap electronics. But the people-frustration's gotta go somewhere... (teary sigh)

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CST

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:49 PM CDT

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Current Mood : Quiet 

Current Image Notes : Here's the front cover of Adventures in Conversation - I just love the 'how do I get away from this guy' look on her face. The table setting is perfect for the holiday... as are other things about this image !

Happy Thanksgiving ! Dearest Son and I spent about two hours after a big bacon breakfast cleaning the living room this morning - what a job ! We've decided that all his toys are now staying in his room, having a toy box in the living room simply isn't working. He'll put toys away at day's end, after his shower, but before Story Time. And I get to clean his room over the holiday weekend, he can't complain when Happy Meal toys and broken pieces vanish, since he wasn't willing to clean it himself. Should have a big donation for Monday. It'll actually be easier on me, since I won't constantly be on his butt to get stuff done.

Otherwise, it was a quiet day. Dinner at Gramma's was nice, and I had seconds on pumpkin pie. Read and poked and played - and got ready for tomorrow ! There's a pattern sale, a craft fair, and Black Friday to get through - and I'm sort of excited about it all !

But it was a day to think and hope, too. I hope yours was filled with the bounty of the season and the gift of appreciation.

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CST

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:49 PM CDT

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Current Mood : Growly and unsettled

I was reading over at Fark.com about how food pantries are becoming overtaxed lately. One story got everybody stirred up - the applicant interviewed hung around until the pantry closed, because he was sooo embarrassed to ask for help. ‘I have a master's degree,' he said. ‘I shouldn't have to do this'.

This got up some people's noses. I know I'd feel a lot more sympathy towards the guy if he'd shown up when the pantry was open and dealt with his crippling embarrassment. The ‘I shouldn't' may have been out of context or misunderstood, but to me it just reeked of entitlement. My pride and my useless degree can take a backseat if Dearest and Beloved are hungry, that's fer darn sure ! And if he has all day to hang around a food pantry, why not volunteer ? Earn it, and you won't be so humiliated, Mr. Sheepskin ! I'd have been there early, before they opened, ask if I could work out a trade - I help for the day, I get a bag of groceries when they close up shop. If they didn't need my help, but I sill needed the food, I'd make friends and talk to the other folks in line. I might learn something about using rice and beans and economic cooking. And I can always use a new friend. Social class to the nethers ! Hunger is hunger, and pride isn't a part of it.

Suffice to say, the story's been bugging me. Especially since tomorrow's Thanksgiving. I'm all excited about a pattern sale Friday, too. But how easily it can all vanish...

Unsettling thoughts. But they may keep me in a better mood tomorrow. Gratitude is a rare thing, and I need more of it these days.

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CST

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:48 PM CDT

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Current Mood : Lazy 

Spent on Dolls Saturday : $17.18

Current Image Notes : This is the back of Adventures in Converstation, a booklet ad I snagged in the Big Box o' Sewing and Trash last week. Ya just gotta love an evening gown with a shoulder strap that starts right at your bustline...

Forgiving a slight design flaw, it's still a cool image. Dated 1963 and 1968 on the flyleaf.

Not much of a day today. Cleaned house some, puttered a bit. Dearest's off for the rest of the week, and we're going to Gramma's - my DMIL's mom's - for Thanksgiving. Left to ourselves, we'd sit around and watch movies all day, pig out on good sandwiches and junk food. We swear we'll do that next year, every year, but we always end up at Gramma's for three to four hours after we're told that dinner will start.

Oh, forgot to tell ya - Beloved Hubby got a bonus on one job, and Saturday he told me to snag either that Advent or ‘TV Chef' set, my choice ! Hmm... much as I liked the idea of little surprises throughout December, I went with the Chef set. It's actually cooler than I thought. The oven/fridge set I thought I wouldn't want, I'm keeping. It's so cute - put the included  ‘unbaked' cake in the oven,  close the door, open it, and poof ! Cooked cake, ready for doll consumption ! Yeah, the bottom panel flips between the two plastic props, but it's cute. The fridge and oven are one piece, but I can always use it as a ‘vacation fridge' in the castle.

And it was still on sale at Target ! Whoo-hoo ! I'm donating that doll, though. I don't know of a single chef, TV or not, who cooks in four-inch heel knee-high boots !

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CST

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:48 PM CDT

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Current Mood : Antici....(say it ! Say it !!) pation. (wild cheering) 

Spent on Dolls today : $1.57

Got today off to a running start - I forgot the groceries Dearest Son was supposed to take to school as part of some sort of Stone Soup activity. So as soon as his little butt was on the bus, I was on my way to the IGA down the street. Got the items (a can of Parmesan cheese, bag of frozen corn) and dropped them off, and left the school building in time to see his bus pull away. Darn. Well, I am a distraction for him, so sometimes it's best he not see me there.

Today was Big Shopping day. I had to hit Sam's Club and the usual Mal-Wart run. And the Thrift, but that goes without saying. Didn't get that much beyond our usual snacks and frozen foods at Sam's, but still burned through $114. there. One of the scores was a set of 36 restaurant-grade forks for $7. They're plain, but nice, and while we didn't need so many, the price was unbeatable. Forgot to  pick up Kleenex while I was there, so I'll be back next week, darn it. I like Sam's, but it's like a giant time sink for me in there.

I finally got to see the Hanna Montana Malibu Beach House, Sam's had it for $149., including an open model displayed behind Lucite. It was smaller than I thought, and just didn't seem to be worth it, even if it had all of Hannah's TV-portrayed appliances and furnishings. You know me, I hate to pay a premium for licensing, and if this was regular Barbie, it wouldn't more than $100. Probably $75. So that's off the list, not that it was ever really on my list to begin with.

So, I came back home to drop off frozen/cold items, then hit the usual Monday places. The thrift store owner virtually repeated last week's complaints to me today, and I promised to drop off stuff next week. It's about all I could do, my purchases today totaled $2.02 ! Scored a Barbie ‘Favorite Tales' storybook, it's ‘7 in 1 !!'. Well, seven previously published stores collected into today's 99c omnibus. It's about as thick as one of Dearest's Disney storybooks. Ordinarily, I'd leave it for a kid, but I liked the dioramas inside, and I can tell ya, darn few Mattel products besides dolls and clothes were in the photo stories. It's kind of inspiring.

Other purchases were a star-shaped ornament, covered in iridescent silver glitter, and an angel rag doll from the 50c plush bin. Used to be the 25c plush bin, but... anyway. The doll wasn't anything special, a cheaply made dress-is-the-body toy that probably came from a claw machine or carnival (Cuddle Wit frequently stocks both), with a slightly stained face, but something about her dress reminded me of the current ‘Enchanted Tales' versions of Disney Princess merchandise. Basically ‘the girls' are shown in gold and white versions of their signature gowns, heavily jeweled and tiara'd, even if the character's never been shown with a crown before. Even if this doll's dress is cheaply sewn cheap nylon, it still intrigued me. So I invested the two quarters and hope to soon have a gold and white holiday dress for Princess Dorrie.

After Sam's, the grocery funds were limited, so I stuck to just what foods and such we needed. Had $10. left ! Stored the new Christmas ornament in with the DPrincess wrapping paper and the gift tags on the back of some Little Debbie gingerbread men cakes. Silly, I know, but they print ‘em, I may as well use ‘em. Besides, I love those darn gingerbread men, and they're only sold at holiday time.

Sorted through the big sewing notions box a bit more today. If there was a place to sell vintage buttons, I'd probably have a big score in my lap. But I doubt I could sell ‘em, they're fantastic ! I wanna make clothes just so I can use these buttons !

And once I get the ironing board set up for the PDorrie angel dress - there's several little places on it that need to be straightened into a better shape - I can test all these transfers ! They're so cool...

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CST

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:47 PM CDT

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Current Mood : Pleased 

Beloved Hubby gave me the most wonderful gift this morning ! Stuff I already had ! Best gift of all, if ya think about it. I mean, you know the person you're giving it to wanted it at one point !

Seriously. I've had numerous computer programs that date back to Windows 95. Dragged ‘em around for years. But when our Win98 computer got upgraded to WinXP, I never tried to re-install them. I worried that if I tried, I'd mess up the whole operating system and crash the computer. But I still kept the programs because (all together now) I paid for the blasted things !

I especially mourned the non-use of Real Clothes patterns - the great Barbie and Ken patterns I bought on CD-Rom from Carol (of perestroika.ca fame) back in '01 or '02. And it got worse when the XP got hit by lightning last year and we had to replace the whole computer with a Vista machine. I figured there was no way I could run the software now, and Carol's site didn't mention Vista compatibility. And after vanishing for several years to get over some things, I didn't feel right about showing up just to ask. It seemed rude to me.

Well, we were putting the finishing touches on Dearest Son's early Christmas gift - I made a bow from the Hilary Duff doll's otherwise useless red wrap, and decorated a card with Disney Princess ornament stickers - when I found some software he might like. And next to it was the old, much-missed stuff. I sighed when I mentioned it to Beloved, that I wished I could still use those programs, and that a non-pattern version of Barbie Fashion Designer was now out for Game Boy DS.

He showed me an install wizard - in Control Panel, under Programs - that would adjust the settings to run the older stuff. And it wouldn't interfere with anything currently on the computer or the OS ! Wow ! Unfortunately, Fashion Designer, The 3-D Adventures of Sailor Moon, and MasterClips still didn't work, but Real Clothes did ! Yaahooo ! Now I have all those patterns back, and it's like getting them new all over again. But better, since now I know how to sew !

For some reason, the pattern disc for the Traveller in Thyme series I bought a year or three ago wasn't in the software drawer. So I hope to find that later. I hardly ever used it.

Posted by dorriebelle at 12:01 AM CST

Updated: Monday, 2 May 2011 11:47 PM CDT

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