Sasha Festival 2015 - post 1

When I started bringing Boo along to the festivals I had lots of spare time every evening to write a daily summary post while she was asleep. Now Boo stays up late (much too late this year - boy is she tired now) so my festival evenings are spent having fun with friends. Last year I uploaded a quick photo at the start of each event so that people could still get a little instant gratification festival fix. It worked, but it was also work. This year I've returned to my original format of thematic posts and a slideshow/album, all after the fact. Maybe waaay after the fact, but hopefully worth the wait.

The best part of festivals isn't the Childrens' Fund Auction, the Dress-A-Sasha contest, the sales room, the workshops and presentations, or even the dolls ... all of that will come in future posts. The best part of festivals is the people. See how happy I am to be spending time with these ladies!

With Tina.

With Tina and Melissa.

Can't forget the kiddos.

With Doris.

With Ann and Dorothy.

With Phyllis (who I finally met after hearing her name for years).

These are just the people that I have a picture of myself with ... pictures of many more Sasha friends will be included in my slideshow/album.

Meet Nixie

My second birthday girl is also jumping the queue. Two self-presents this year seemed a bit extravagant, but I couldn't resist either one. Nixie joins my growing group of no-navels. Ultimately I'm hoping to have at least one each of the 12 possible hair/eye/year combinations - still four to go. :-)

Nixie is from 1969, with the thicker style of eye paint. She replaces Nola, who moved on to a new home when I was in need of dollie funds. Her hair is gorgeous, as is her eye paint.

The no-navel girls look a bit older to me than the early English girls. And often bashful. Or pensive.

Meet Josephine

I haven't posted much recently so there are several dolls still waiting to be introduced. This girl is jumping the queue -- a birthday present to myself that is too special to wait.  She is a 1966 np with the developmental eye style whose brows have silvered. She makes my heart flutter. I have decided to call her Josephine, Jo for short.

Apologies for the lack of posts the past year or so, but work, kids, and pets are keeping me busy. I don't have much free time, let alone free time when there is good light for taking pictures. These are rushed photographs with overcast skies, but I was too excited to wait to share. More/better pictures will come eventually (please don't hold your breath waiting though), including hopefully some with Jessica.

A Very Gregor Christmas

All of Boo's dolls were dressed in red and green on Christmas Eve, awaiting the arrival of Santa. Little did they (or she) know what was in store on Christmas morning.

Boo asked if she could decorate a little tree for the dolls, and I agreed (this saved me having to do it myself once she was asleep, because I had a surprise planned). Here is how the tree looked when she went to bed, with a stocking for each of her dolls. The gifts under the tree are empty boxes just for show, but she put a few old items in the stockings: coins, a hat, a toy car... I intentionally rushed her so that she didn't have much time to set out gifts because that was part of my surprise.

Here is how the tree looked when I went to bed, with the addition of two Gregors, two more stockings, and lots of doll-sized wrapped packages.

Boo glanced at the little tree when she woke up, but didn't seem very excited. In fact, she was a bit miffed that I'd removed what she put in the stockings. She thought that the Gregors were mine and that I had created a scene for my blog with empty packages. Boy was she surprised to discover that the boys were hers and the wrapped packages all contained gifts for her dolls! I had labeled the packages with their names, so before she unwrapped her own gifts from under the big tree, Boo helped the dolls unwrap their gifts from under the little tree.

Unwrapping some new clothes for the boys from etsy shop A Passion for Sasha:

Kitty and Kelly helping to unwrap their gifts (with a view of both our trees in the background):

The babies in their new sleepers from etsy shop Nomacustom:

The boys redressed, getting acquainted with the girls:

And yes, the discovery that the boys can also become short-haired girls when desired.  :-)

When she told me she wanted a Gregor "some day", Boo came up with a list of prospective names: Daniel, Ethan, and Trevor. Of course she decided that none of those worked once she had dolls in hand, so names have not yet been determined. The current front runners are James for the brunette and Caleb for the blonde.

She has been playing dolls with a friend from the neighborhood the past few days, and having fun with the added dimension that males add. They can be brothers, boyfriends, husbands, fathers, kings, and even male house servants (apparently the girl dolls love having the boy dolls wait on them).