"I've got winter madness."

It snowed last night!!!

It brought me the feeling I had last year when I had just gotten Aury, was snowed in, and started this blog. I was happy and took my Vinter Arden out immediately. Then I settled on a name for her, finally. I felt bad she was nameless for so long. Her name is Klara. I had a handful of names in my mind, but none of them really stuck; I got Klara from thinking about the book Heidi. It means "clear" and "bright."

I took both Aury and Klara out into the snow, since they are dressed for the cold weather. My first Blythe and my most recent, both winter girls at heart -- Ice Rune and Vinter Arden! Of course they had to go out to play in the snow.

I love Aury in her Reve de Rui dress and jacket, coolcat boots, and her rust-orange bear-eared hat that I crocheted a while ago!! I have the biggest, mushiest soft spot for Aury. (All the other girls know, and they are okay with it.)

My Takara Shoe Cruise Day set got here today, too. I tried out all the shoes immediately. First impression: they smell really, really plasticy... and I'm not sure how I will pair them with the clothing my girls have right now. But I like them and maybe they'll open up more clothing options! The light blue Mary Janes are very cute.

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lovebox day

I got belated Christmas gifts in the mail from my friend L today. She puts together what I have come to term "loveboxes" because they are boxes filled with 100% pure love. Inside the box were new clothes for Aury, Beatrix, and Plummery... I have been wanting a pomme-pomme dress for Beatrix for a long time, and in addition to that, she got some geeky specs and finally looks a whole lot more like the Beatrix in my brain looks, and Aury and Plummery are decked out H2T (that's a Tyra Banks-ism, because they're that fierce) in rêve de Rui*. Gavin got a new necklace and still has a new dress on the way.

I woke up with a cold and spent much of my day in a fort made of out Kleenex, but then the lovebox arrived and now my spirits couldn't be higher. I toted all my girls outside into the cold for an updated family portrait:

Yay!! My girls!! Vinter Arden doesn't have a name yet (there are some rattling around in my brain, but she's almost too dreamy to pin down), Petaline doesn't yet have her very own dress, and I'm really kind of still surprised that my family has grown and am still getting used to my newbies, but... I'm very happy! I have no idea how it works that some people can have more than six Blythes and fit them all into a picture though.

It's a goal of mine right now to buy more Blythe clothes, because I have more girls to clothe now and really sort of a small wardrobe. They do share outfits but I also like for each of them to have at least one thing that I got just for them, that suits them well in particular. I also am ever in need of socks and shoes; it seems like I always take pause when I'm dressing up my girls to wonder about tights and socks and shoes. I decided to buy this Takara shoe set:

Mainly because of the Mary Janes; I like the style of them very much (more than the "retro" style with the stacked heels) and I think they're the same mold as Very Vicky's. I got the "day" set but I think if I like any of these shoes enough, I'll buy the "night" set too.

I'm expecting it in the mail any day now.

I also must enthuse about the clothes from rêve de Rui*, for they are already some of my very favorite dresses ever!! They're just PERFECT for my girls and the quality is so nice. I can tell I will be buying more of *Rui's stuff ASAP.

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Happy New Year!

Greetings, loved ones! Nothing like a little innocent piracy to cap off the year. I put together this playlist for myself of songs that I either listened to a lot this year or that represent something to me, something I did or moments shared with others.

Hot Summer Jams 2010
(eta: Blogger has made me take down the music, but I'm leaving the image.)

I don't really make resolutions. I don't think I can resolve to do something for an entire year! And I feel like if I make it a "thing," then I'll be all the more likely to give up sooner and feel like I have failed. Simple ideas work more for me.

In 2011, I'd like to...

wear dresses more often

keep practicing my knitting

be sure to do things for fun and not just for work

build up my Blythes' wardrobes a little more... six girls and not near enough dresses to go around!

Anyway: I'm really excited that Pretty Little Liars will be back on January 3!! It's so campy and fun (think of a mash-up of Veronica Mars, Gossip Girl, and perhaps something like Degrassi -- I've never seen Degrassi so I'm not positive about that, but there's drama and Canadian accents and Emily is hot for girls!), great eye candy, and my fave actress Alona Tal will be joining the cast to wreak havoc upon my least favorite character, Aria.

I'm so stoked! In the first episode, Hanna is carrying this super-cute bag from Payless, of all places:

It doesn't appear to still be available online (it's listed on the website still, but when you go to the page, it says "No inventory is available for the selected product"), but I drove to the store this morning and snatched up the very last one on the shelf!! YAY! $15 well spent!

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