AG's New Twins: Nicki and Isabel

AG's brand new twins from 1999 (Nicki and Isabel) are here, and because you're my faithful blog readers, you get to see all the photos I took while exploring Seattle with the two of them! It is always so exciting when American Girl comes out with dolls set in my state, and since I live about an hour outside of Seattle, taking a day trip there to photograph these two in their hometown was a no-brainer. Which picture is your favorite? 

Lucy and the Wardrobe

Narnia was always the world I wished I could combine with my love for American Girls. They were my two loves growing up, and though I adored them both ardently, it wasn't until this last month I finally took on my dream photoshoot combining the two. 

Here's the collection of photos I took of Lucy seeing the wardrobe for the first time. My mom created the perfectly replicated wardrobe, and I hand knit Lucy's sweater and designed the room. 

I'm also realizing that I've sequenced these photos in reverse order. Ahh well!

 

Wednesday

I actually haven't seen Wednesday yet, but I love all the promo images that came out for it. Have you seen the show? I'm not sure why I've been putting it off; probably because I'm afraid it won't hold up to the hype. But Jenna Ortega seems like the *perfect* Wednesday, and her costuming is absolutely amazing. 

Josefina Saves the Day

It's always fun to try to figure out how to recreate an old AG book cover. For this photo, I made the door by painting several lath boards and hot gluing them to a piece of cardboard, unfortunately, everything warped a bit before I took the photo, but it turned out fine 😅 My mom made a couple adobe walls 5 or 6 years ago out of giant foam pieces, and I've been using them regularly for my Josefina recreations ever since. I adore how this photo came out in the end!

 

Maddie

When I first started this blog, I had a had an ardent penpal named Maddie. This is Maddie meeting me for the first time after 10 year of letters and letters and letters and letters. I still have every one. And now I have postcards of our memories from one perfect 36 hour day.

 

Sneak Peek

 I just found this blog again after not hopping on here for years. And low and behold, I was still signed in?? So though I don't think anyone will see this, if there's a loyal blog reader out there who cares to see-- here's an unreleased photo of a shoot I've had in the works for years. Will be sharing on my instagram in the coming days. But until then... 🥰

(also, should I come back to the AG photo blogging world?? Blogger is 100% more user friendly than it was when I started this thing. I'm kinda thinking this could be fun. Like a private journal that is technically public but has no reach, so in theory, still private 😂)

Bucket List Update 10 years later

Red marked by me as of today (Feb 9, 2023). I have new bucket lists now, but I didn't really want to adulterate this relic by messing with the actual Bucket List page. That would feel sacrilegious at this point. So in red is what I've been able to cross off this list in the last five years since I last logged on here. I still have plans to go camping (hopefully this June/July), and galloping on a horse should be #1 on the list. Maybe I can kick out two of these in one go and take horse riding lessons this summer, learn to gallop, and cross out "take a class I've always wanted..." That counts. 

I think I wrote this list when I was 15. I wish I could hug her. I was so damn lonely. Things get better, little Syd. Promise. And hey, look! I'm still into dolls! 

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Bucket List

1. Fly in a plane
2. Ride a trolley
3. Visit some European country
4. Sing with a Big Band (This should be #1)
5. Take Swing Dance lessons (and then have a boy ask me to dance with him)
6. Knit a doll sweater
7. Knit mittens
8. Knit a chicken sweater (seriously)
9. Meet a famous actor (preferably one I like)
10. Bake good gluten free bread (emphasis on good)
11. Camp in the woods (...)
12. Gallop on a horse (hair flowing back into the wind)
13. Read Pride and Prejudice (because, you know, you should)
14. Attend a ball (and not step on my partner's toes)
15. Finish NaNoWriMo
16. Make a cape
17. Ride in a horse-drawn sleigh
18. Have a snowball fight
19. Sleep in a tree
20. Take pictures of a squirrel in another state
21. Have a perfectly clean room...
22. Read 50 books in a year
23. Bake peanut butter cookies
24. Do something worth noticing (this is the most pretentious thing I've ever seen, but I know I wrote it when I was 15 and super lonely, so I'm cutting a girl some slack)
25. Visit a castle
26. Jump off a dock into a lake (voluntarily)
27. Collect postcards from around the world
28. Own a hedgehog at some point in my life
29. Attend a bonfire
30. Host a 40s Party
31. Finish college without dying first
32. Make a scrapbook with my favorite quotes
33. Meet some people who like dolls as much as I do
34. Attend a photography workshop
35. Take a class I've always wanted to take, but haven't had the time for
36. Find someone who loves me for all of my weirdities and idiosyncracies 
37. See Hamilton on Broadway
38. Visit Prince Edward Island