My Thoughts on Blaire Wilson, GOTY 2019

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a great one and aren’t too exhausted today. I did stay up late (nothing new there), but I wasn’t celebrating, just making peppermint bark with my mom. We ended up denting our rolling pin and wooden island from whacking the frozen chocolate to break it up . . . whoops?

Anyway, the New Year always brings a brand new Girl of the Year doll. I didn’t hunt for any leaked images or information this year, so Blaire Wilson was a complete surprise to me. Keep reading for my thoughts and opinions of 2019’s Girl of the Year!

Blaire Doll & Book

First impression: She’s honestly super cute! I love love love her dress; it gives off relaxed early summer vibes, and I wouldn’t mind wearing something like that myself.

Story-wise, I’m not too impressed. Blaire lives on a farm in New York where she helps her family run their inn and restaurant — and, get this, her hobby is cooking. That’s great and all, but Grace Thomas, GOTY 2015, was also all about food. This is just like having a dancer GOTY in 2014 (Isabelle) and then another one in 2017 (Gabriella). There are so many unique interests they could have picked for Blaire, and it just seems like a waste to make another chef so soon.

She’s diagnosed with lactose intolerance in the first book, and I am here for that! I also can’t eat dairy products without getting sick, and I’m glad that it’s being brought up. Maybe having lactose intolerance as a part of Blaire’s story will help readers with the same problem realize what’s going on. I didn’t know what was wrong with me until high school, when I read about dairy intolerance online, and I wish I had figured it out earlier.

Blaire’s Accessories

As far as accessory sets go, this isn’t anything too special, but I do think the color scheme is gorgeous. Apparently she uses the pink tablet to run her food blog, and I might have squealed when I read that. Lea had a travel blog, now Blaire has a food blog — it makes me think that American Girl has realized that a lot of their fans are bloggers and are trying to appeal to them. That makes me happy. :)

Gardening Outfit

Bridesmaid Dress

In Bloom PJs

Floral Flair Outfit

The Gardening Outfit is the CUTEST thing omg. I’d genuinely consider buying it. I love short overalls (I actually own a pair for myself), and I can see myself mixing and matching that with a bunch of clothes from my doll collection. Overalls might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I live in a fairly redneck area, so this set is definitely my thing.

I feel like the clothes in Blaire’s collection are a bit more grown up than previous GOTYs. Less neons and busy patterns, more pastels and simple designs. And I’m living for it, honestly. I don’t hate any of her pieces so far.

Garden Accessories

My dad and I are both gardeners, and neither of us ever wear aprons or gloves while digging through the dirt. So while this set is adorable, it doesn’t seem practical, and the different patterns and color schemes on the apron and gloves clash.

Blaire’s Garden

As someone who grew up weeding in our garden and gathering chicken eggs, this set makes my heart happy. The plants are surprisingly realistic, don’t you think? Not sure about that chicken, though. It looks like it’s in need of a haircut.

Lamb

Piglet

I wouldn’t have guessed that the piglet was a piglet??

I’m happy to see that American Girl is continuing to branch out and give their GOTYs more unconventional pets!

Family Farm Restaurant

Party Decor

I really appreciate the muted colors in her collection and how put together everything is. I think these larger sets will appeal to the target audience by being fun to play with, but will also catch the eye of older fans thanks to the aesthetics.

Overall, I adore Blaire Wilson’s collection: the colors and clothing designs are beautiful. Not sure about her story yet, but I hope it’s better than the synopsis of her first book makes it sound! And while I don’t plan on purchasing Blaire herself, I’m hoping that a few of her outfits will find their way into my dolls’ closet sometime.

What’s your opinion on Blaire Wilson? Is there anything in her collection that you’d love to have?

xo
Loren

P.S. A Doll-op of AG is hosting the Paisley Awards this year, and I’d love it if you’d vote for me! You can nominate your favorite doll blogs here.

My Thoughts on Luciana Vega

Luciana Vega Doll & Book

I have a lot of feelings about Luciana and pretty much all of them are good.

First of all, we got another POC GOTY (she’s of Chilean descent)! Second, I’m thrilled that she’s into STEM. AG has been making a lot of their characters like the arts, and while I love that kind of thing myself, it’s refreshing and inspiring to have one of them passionate about science.

As for the doll herself, I think she’s adorable, and if I weren’t growing out of my dolls, I would buy her right away. I love the purple streak in her hair, and, of course, those amazing boots. The galaxy print on the dress is a bit too much for me, but I’m sure it appeals to the target age.

Luciana’s Accessories 

I’m loving her holographic theme, it’s so cute. I don’t think her accessories are that great, but I’m glad that they gave her a backpack instead of the usual purse. If she’s at space camp, she’s definitely going to need a roomy bag.

Flight Suit

I’m a huge fan of sewing patches onto everything, so A+ for that. I also really like the black shoes. They make my secretly emo heart happy.

Mars Habitat

This is insanely cool and I am completely here for it. It comes with dumbbells, a toy 3D printer, petri dishes, etc.

According to this report, women in the U.S. held only 24% of STEM jobs in 2015. I love the idea of young girls playing with this set, becoming interested in science, and going on to up that percent. Push that feminist agenda, AG.

Maker Station

My favorite part of this set is probably the container of succulents sitting on the top shelf. I know I’m completely missing the point, but I just really, really love plants.

Luciana’s PJs

SHE’S WEARING SPACE BUNS.

I don’t particularly care for this one, but it’s still cute.

Telescope Projector Set

Apparently the telescope “lights up and projects space scenes.” That’s pretty sweet, and I am always a sucker for space. I think the blanket is a bit ugly, but it’s still a nice set.

Robotic Dog

Robot pets will always be better than real ones because you don’t have to clean up after them.

Stellar Outfit

I like some of the pieces separately, but in my opinion, it doesn’t work together that well. But I love the jacket, I think it’s those patches drawing me in again.

Visitor Center Accessories

I don’t care that this is mostly just paper, I am 100% ready to drop $20 to get that NASA shirt. I have one in my size and I need my dolls to match.

My overall thoughts on Luciana:

I like that they gave her some feminine elements (pink, dresses, pretty hair) instead of making her a complete tomboy to match the male-dominated science field. Also, when I was younger, I wanted to be an astronaut, and although my plans have since changed, I am still in love with space. So Luciana is making me rather nostalgic.

I’m not a huge fan of the galaxy print found in most of her sets/outfits, but I understand why it’s there. AG was just tying everything together with a common theme.

I don’t know much about her story, but Luciana is already one of my favorite GOTYs from AG in awhile. Even though I’m not as into dolls as I used to be, it would still be nice if I could get her and a few things from her collection someday.

What do you think of Luciana? Are you going to buy her? I’d love to have a discussion with you in the comments, but please remember to be respectful to others. :)

xo

Loren

Blog Update // My Girl Eve

 

WHO GOT THAT NEW BLOG LOOK, YEEEAAAH. *dabs into the next dimension*

I think I like those pictures of Saige in the cherry tree too much. Oops? Oh well. I like the new look, it’s a lot simpler and easier on the eyes. But now I have to update the rest of my blog to match it. Ugh.

Anyway! Pictures of Eve that I took around Christmas. She looks so cute in Molly’s sweater. ^.^ I freaking love her hair, it’s so soft and curly and the highlights are gorgeous.

Time for some shameless self-promotion! :D Anyone recognize the fence in the background? It was used in a photostory series called Road to Pamel that I did two years ago. You can read it here, if you haven’t done that already. And you should really check out my personal blog, let’s be lost. I’ve been posting on there a lot recently, and it’s pretty great, if I say so myself (I’m just kidding, it’s a trashy blog. Would you expect anything else?).

xo

Loren

Not Dead // Saige is Cuter Than Me

Her freckles. ^.^

Her little buns are so cute, I love it.

 

 

The bokeh. Look at it. I‘m crying because it’s beautiful.

Apologizing would be appropriate, since I haven’t posted since April . . . but I’m not going to do that. So here are some pictures instead of an apology. Yay.

Saige’s hair has been like this since January, probably, and I kept meaning to take photos of her. I just never got around to it. But today, instead of working on my other blog, I finally got that done. (And I’m actually kind of proud of these pictures? Yep.) They were taken out by one of our sour cherry trees, with a ladder and a really adorable tiny box as props. :)

“You keep disappearing! You’ll post a couple things and say that you’re not leaving, but then it’s a month before we hear from you again!” I can sense all your angry and bitter thoughts through the internet, so I’m going to address that now. I really am not planning on quitting. But I don’t want to feel pressured to have a consistent blogging schedule, since I’m not as into dolls as I used to be. So I’ll just post my pictures whenever I have inspiration. That probably means that you’ll get clusters of posts, and then silence for awhile. But that’s pretty much what I’ve already been doing. It’s just official now.

I love you guys. :D I love these pictures more, though (just kidding).

xo

Loren

GOTY 2017 Debut

Hey, guys!

The GOTY debut was a lot of fun. I drove up to D.C. with my dad, walked around the store for quite a long time, made fun of the sets I didn’t like . . . I also got to meet Izzy from Sew Sweet Dollies (a private blog). Getting to meet you was amazing, Izzy! You’re also incredibly cute.

If anyone is wondering, I don’t know what the free debut gift is. I didn’t get one, and I don’t even know if there was one this year. Does anyone know?

Anyway, here are my pictures from the store.

Gabriela McBride

The new Girl of the Year, Gabriela McBride. I like her pants and shoes.

The AG community has been requesting an African-American GOTY for quite some time, and I’m glad our wish was finally granted. Maybe I’m being picky, but I would have liked Gabriela a lot more if there was something more unique about her. She looks just like the African-American Truly Me dolls. If American Girl had given her a feature that made her stand out, I would have considered buying her.

They gave her box a completely new style . . . interesting.

So Gabriela is into the arts, right? Dancing, painting, music, poetry. That’s cool and all (I freaking love the arts), but didn’t we just have a dancer GOTY in 2014? And isn’t Melody a singer? I guess AG has been running low on GOTY ideas.

Super sparkly outfit. I like it, actually.

THE LAPTOP AND THE HEADPHONES. I LOVE THEM.

Her cat creeps me out.

Truly Me

The new Dream Pajamas.

Adorable doll food.

Mix-and-match set.

Ice skating set.

A lot of you have been asking if I bought anything. Well, duh, of course I did. :P I’ll be posting tomorrow, hopefully, about what I got.

And, yeah, I did get a doll.

I wasn’t planning on buying her, but she came home anyway. XD Any guesses?

-Loren

I’m Going to the GOTY Debut

Hey, darlings!

I’ll be at the D.C. American Girl store on January 1st. My dad is taking me (how many dads are willing to take their daughter to a pink store filled with dolls and excited girls?) and I’ll be getting lots of pictures of the new Girl of the Year, Gabriela McBride.

Are any of you going to be at the D.C. store for the GOTY’s debut? If so, I’d love to meet up with you! It’s my dream to meet my internet friends in real life.

Anyway, on the first, I’ll either post something new or update this with more information, like what time we’ll be arriving, what doll I’ll bring, etc.

I really hope I get to meet some of you. :D

-Loren