Disco Diva!

Hi to all the Dancing Queens and Bad Girls reading the blog today.  It’s Julie here to tell you about a neat way to make your clothes look like you just came from skating down at Venice Beach.

I saw these far out jeans in the Sears’ catalog.  Can you see there is a real shoe lace on the skate?!

These are the greatest pants ever, but I don’t think they come in my size.

Jen saw a great way I could get a similar look.  She found these patches at Michaels.

The roller skate looks just like my dream pair of tennis shoe skates!  It sticks right to your jeans.  If you can’t have a patch on your back pocket, a knee is an OK choice too.  Some kids like to sew their patches to a zip front sweatshirt.

Jen here – I really love this little patch.  It isn’t very sticky and would need to be sewn down for long-term use.  I would love to find Julie a blue zip front sweatshirt (Etsy!) and make a permanent home for the patch on it.  I remember kids in school who would get patches from state and national parks and sew them on the back of sweatshirts.

 

 

 

Julie’s Hoop Dreams – Product Review

It’s pretty rare for me to see something in the AG catalog and actively pursue it.  Sure, there’s endless neat things for the dolls, but most of it I can carry on without.  Julie’s basketball outfit was not one of those things, however!

Every now and then I will check Amazon to see what is available for American Girl dolls via Prime shipping.  Amazon has most of the items for Melody, Julie, Maryellen, Gabriela… and probably more I haven’t searched on.

So, when Julie’s basketball outfit came up on Amazon, one click had it on the way to my house in two days!  It arrived in the usual Beforever box.

I hadn’t fully appreciated that the trim on the outfit was such a cute green and white stripe.

It comes with 70s style tube socks, and thick ribbon ties for your pigtails, naturally.  Shoes fit with ease!  It also comes with a basketball that is somewhat useless since Julie can’t hold it.

Never mind about the basketball, though, when you look this awesome!  Julie’s open for a pass!

I liked the careful sewing as the trim runs around the armhole.  The outfit it soft and comfy and easy to get on and off.  Definitely appropriate for kids.  This outfit is $34.00 new on Amazon.

I hope to bring you some stories about Julie and her hoop dreams soon.

We Say ‘No’!

I feel I can’t move on to Valentine’s photos and stories until I briefly share my thoughts on American Girl’s decision to ship dolls with permanent underwear that is a part of the torso fabric.

The true reason for this decision has yet to surface… cost savings?  Plans to expand in the Arab world? modesty when Logan releases with his boxer shorts? Royalties on the existing body design?  I hope these sneaky changes aren’t to get out of some of the obligations that originated with the sale of Pleasant Company to Mattel, such as the Madison Children’s Museum (Charitable) Benefit Sale.

First and foremost, this brand has a history of supporting the cognitive development of girls through creative play.  The “perma panties” send a subtle message that being a girl is shameful.  Do you swim with your underwear on?  Julie’s bathroom is about to be released at a cost of $175.00 and she is supposed to shower with underwear on?!

Young children are going to want those underwear off, and I predict some ripped dolls.  

I encourage you to view this photo story from our friend Flo.  We urge American Girl not to limit the way girls play.  JUST SAY NO TO PERMA-PANTIES!!

OG Review: Perfect Strike!

I don’t usually pay a lot of attention to Our Generation doll items because I can never find them at Target, nor are they always available for shipment.  We were at a Target on vacation (ironically about 10 miles from American Girl headquarters) and I happened upon the “Perfect Strike” outfit.

I was less interested in the bowling theme than getting a nice, casual outfit that I knew would get used a lot.  We can always use some pants, because lately it seems AG outfits only come with short skirts.

Julie is here to model the outfit today.

The jacket easily fit over a t-shirt and the arm cuff was wide enough to clear Julie’s fingers and hand.  It has a real zipper and the peach knit fabric has a lace/mesh overlay that must be very on-trend because some of the new TrulyMe separates coming out in January also feature it. The lace on the front of the jacket is delicate and should be kept far away from other clothes with Velcro.

The pants are standard-issue jeggings, but in a pleasant pale blue color that reminds me of the 80s.

Bowling shoes!  So cute.  These OG shoes fit well, and if I could find Julie’s pompom socks, I think there would be room for them.  The shoes are made of a flexible plastic and the tan portion has peach glitter flecks mixed in.

Laces are a bit long!

The bowling ball has three finger holes, allowing the ball to stay on Julie’s thumb.  It is possible the other two finger holes might align with an Our Generation doll hand.  I appreciate that the bowling ball actually can be used – some of the American Girl sports balls aren’t really functional because the doll can’t hold them.

Comes with three bowling pins

This set was 12.99 – I felt I got a lot of value for that small amount of money!  I think it’s a good look for our California girl.

 

Ivy Rumor

You come across the most interesting things on American Girl’s Facebook page.  

The question asked is, “Is Ivy coming back?”  Usually AGs response would be something like “We have no plans to re-release friend dolls at this time.”  Their reply to watch for announcements was new to me.  

On one hand, I can see that the rumored doll “Z. Yang” from the American Girl stop motion YouTube videos could be confused with Ivy because they are both Asian.  The name “Z. Yang” and “Popcorn” (dog) have been trademarked.

On the other hand, there is a new Julie mystery “Message in the Bottle” coming out in February and some have speculated that new items for Julie have been seen on eBay.

What do you make of this?  It seems to crazy that 2017 would bring Felicity’s re-release, Gabriela McBride 2017 GOTY, Tenney Grant and her drummer Logan, plus additional dolls?

On Trend for Fall – It’s Julie Again!

Julie has been getting a lot of pixels lately on the blog… and now I know why.  Julie is very “on-trend” for fall!

I saw these jeans for women at the Gap:

Chicken or the egg… Did Julie inspire these jeans or did jeans like these inspire Julie’s character?  I bet on the former.  Probably a millennial in the Gap design department whose sister had a Julie doll.

This is an ad at the MAC cosmetics store:

Troll dolls are a part of Julie’s story too.  Ivy is afraid of a street person in San Francisco whose orange hair resembles a “troll doll.”  He turns out to be Hank, a friendly Vietnam vet who periodically stops into Julie’s Mom’s store.  There is a Troll movie being released in November by Dreamworks.

If you have any “Julie” fashion sightings, let me know!

 

Julie: “Let Girls Play, Too!”

Words are taken from Chapter 5 “Let Girls Play, Too” of Meet Julie by Megan McDonald.  “Dakota” is standing in for Julie’s best friend, Ivy.

“Saturday morning Julie was reading her horoscope — “Don’t hesitate; today’s the day to jump in” — when she heard Ivy’s knock.

“You’re here!” Julie said, leading her friend into the living room.  The two girls pushed boxes into the corner so that Ivy could show Julie her latest floor routine.

“Did you know Olga Korbut was the first person to do a backwards aerial somersault on the balance beam?” Ivy asked as she turned her handstand into a back limber.

Julie tried to copy the move, but as soon as she got into a handstand, her feet clomped to the floor.

“Girls!” called Mom. “What’s going on?  Sounds like a stampede of elephants in there.  Julie, please tell me you’re not bouncing that basketball inside.”

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Olga Korbut was a former Soviet gymnast who won 4 Olympic gold medals and 2 silver medals.  Today she is 61 years old and a US citizen living in Scottsdale, AZ.  I don’t think Olga would approve of Ivy doing handstands in Dr. Scholl’s sandals!

Postcard from Julie

“Maryellen, did you see the postcard from Julie?”

“Yep, she goes on a trip and sends a postcard to remind us to take care of her responsibility!” protested Maryellen.

“At least the chore is cute and furry!” said Addy.

The girls packed up Nutmeg and took her out for fresh air and green grass.

Nutmeg usually stayed at Julie’s Dad’s house, but this summer she relocated to live with all of the girls — there was always someone around to give her attention.  If Nutmeg got bored, no lamp cords or computer cables were safe!

Nutmeg always preferred to nestle in a laundry basket.  Julie’s Dad made sure the laundry basket went where Nutmeg went.

And, just to make sure no other bunnies claimed her bed, her cushion was embroidered with her name.

I got Julie’s bunny and basket quite a long time ago and am just now sharing it with you.  The basket has real ribbon interwoven around the outside and Nutmeg’s cushion is embroidered on a denim cushion.  Nutmeg herself leaves a bit to be desired.  Maybe her “velvet brown” color makes it hard to tell what kind of animal she is.  Hey, at least she isn’t a “pet rock”!

 

 

The Land of Waterfalls and “Yoopers”

By Julie

What is this amazing place, so far north?  We are in Munising, Michigan–the “Upper Peninsula” of Michigan, and our house is right on Lake Superior!  I snapped a quick selfie on our beach… Can you see Lake Superior behind me?

This area was once the home of the Anishinaabe people (or Ojibwa).  I read all about their culture in “The Birchbark House” by Louise Erdrich.  Many French traders also came here, so there is a French influence in the names of cities like Grand Marais.  

The first night I slept so soundly in my log cabin room with Lake Superior’s waves lapping outside the window.

I woke to a beautiful sunrise.  I couldn’t wait to see everything!

The area is famous for waterfalls… There are even some as you drive along the highway.  Here is a waterfall we saw that flows into Lake Superior.

The water in Lake Superior is so clear and very cold.  You can see shipwrecks in the water right from the side of a boat!

This is the hull of a ship about 10 feet below the surface of the water.

Everywhere you go you hear about “Yoopers.”  I thought it sounded like the name of a candy bar!  “Yooper” is a term for a person who lives in the Upper Peninsula …”U.P.”

Marquette is a university town nearby, and it has its own history between fur trading, Native Americans, iron ore, and shipping.  We went to a museum in Marquette and saw a trunk that could have belonged to American Girl Kirsten.

This belonged to Sofia Larsson who came to Negaunee, Michigan from Sweden.

At nighttime we had a campfire and enjoyed the amazing sunset over Lake Superior.

This city slicker is ready to head home to some sushi, the public library, and all my sisters at home.  Lanie would love this place!

Bye for now!

Jules 

P.S. You can rent a Lake Superior House too!

Northern Stowaway

By Julie

Have you noticed that Jen and Brianna have been nowhere to be found this summer?  Brianna’s been at Girl Scout camp and Jen busy reading and painting Brianna’s room.  Would you believe that for a while Grace and Isabelle were in the…. gulp….basement?!  It’s serious, guys!

I saw bags being packed and I took matters into my own hands…slipped on my summer dress, grabbed a swimsuit, and jumped in a backpack!  I crossed my fingers that we were going somewhere good!

We drove north, north and more north.

We stopped to stretch in a city called Peshtigo, Wisconsin. It has a sad history of having the entire city burn down on the same day as the Great Chicago Fire in October, 1871.  It had been a year of drought, and swirling winds picked up a fire and made something like a fire tornado.  People and animals had to seek shelter in a river, but a river in Wisconsin in October is very cold, and many people who survived the fire died from hypothermia.

We stopped at the museum commemorating this sad event.

By this time the cat… Er… Doll was out of the bag, literally, so I got my picture taken.

We kept driving north and I started to wonder whether we were going to see Santa and Elves! Just then we turned down a forested gravel path called Reindeer Road  (so we were at the North Pole!) and  look what was waiting for us!  I’ll tell you more about this amazing place in my next post.