Ho-Ho-Holidays

I hope your holiday season is off to a good start.  The months just fly by, don't they?  I can't believe it is now December.  My favorite holiday is Halloween, followed by Thanksgiving.  I love Thanksgiving because I get to spend it catching up with family members I don't get to see too often, and the food at our Thanksgiving potluck is always wonderful.  It's become somewhat of a holiday tradition to go shopping on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.  We're never ones to get too crazy, though.  It's more of a family bonding experience for us.

Now I like Christmas, but it's also somewhat of a stressful time for me.  I try my best to not let it get too bad, and it helps to stick to a budget and not give elaborate gifts.  I start playing Christmas music from November 1st all the way up until Christmas Day.  I've been baking up a storm of holiday treats--cookies, fruitcake, chex mix--but I still feel not-quite-right.  Things out of my control contribute to the craziness of the season.  I've noticed that drivers get extra careless and reckless from November on.  I also seem to encounter more rude people.  One lady came into the library and she was so unpleasant.  I wish I could tell her that she needed to remove her Santa hat if she was going to be that nasty.  I have to tell you that my heart isn't really in the holiday spirit this year.  I think it's definitely true that depression is more common around the winter holiday season.  I think I've got some of those holiday blues.

My dolls continue to be a source of comfort for me.  Even though I can go months without touching them, when I do sit down to fix them up, my mood definitely starts to lift.  One thing that I do is to participate in holiday swaps.  For a few years, I've joined the Holiday Swap at the Dal House forum.  That one is a Dals only swap--and since I've had just two Dals for the longest time, they'd alternate years.  In September of this year, I added two more Dals from ebay (one of them might be headed out, though).  I think I only can handle at the most three Dals at a time.  Anyway, I thought the new girl, Misa the DRTa would get a turn. 

 
Basically, you pick your Dal and then come up with a theme of some sort.  Misa is a little girl who has an odd fascination with skulls.  She's into skull-reading, and she thinks that Jack of The Nightmare Before Christmas is the coolest ever.  Anyway, you pick your Dal and theme, then another participant secretly picks you or is assigned as your sending partner and gets to work making or shopping for things that fit your Dal's theme.  That way, you can be sure that you'll get something you'll like instead of just random castoffs that you have no use for.  It is really fun, at least I think so anyway.  The dollar amount is $25, but I usually go over that since I like to spoil my partner.  Misa's swap parcel arrived yesterday, but since it was late when I got home, I couldn't open it.  I think we'll get around to it on Sunday.

This year, the Dollchemy forum came into existence.  Because I'm also quite active there, I thought I'd love to participate in Dollchemy's 1st Holiday Swap!  It was pretty much set up the same way as the Dal House swap, but all 1:6 Groove Dolls were welcome to join (no Ai Dolls, Pang-jus or minis).  Since my two Isul boys hardly have any clothes between them, I thought this would be a good chance to build up their wardrobe.  I decided to enter Kaz the Mori Motonari.  

Kaz received his swap gifts from Mollie the Melize & Lilcurly, all the way from the U.K.!  I took lots of photos and posted them on my flickr account https://www.flickr.com/photos/justlikewasabi/, but here are a few quick snaps.

Kaz was surprised by the avalanche of gifts!


 
I didn't expect so many little gifts for Kaz, but I think he was really happy about it since this was the first swap he ever participated in.  He'd always been a tad bit envious of Moe the Jolie and Tekka-Maki the Tezca getting swap goodies year after year.

I was most excited for these chocolates!  I've heard so much about Kinder Surprise, that I was thrilled to finally get the chance to try it for myself.  All expectations fulfilled and surpassed.  The Toffee Crisp was also really delicious.  I'm pacing myself with the others, but I'm sure I'll enjoy trying all the different varieties of U.K. sweets.


 

Kaz got so many cool things!
 
Lilcurly made a lot of the items--the Minecraft creeper felt toy, and all of the t-shirts, not to mention the Umbreon hoodie that Kaz is wearing.  I felt that she went above and beyond fulfilling the swap requirements.  She's a true treasure, that girl--and she's one of the reasons that the Pullip Hobby is so awesome.

Bonus Shot of me being a Pokedork in my own Umbreon hooded jacket.  I made that one year as a Halloween costume.

My Busy October

I always think of October as the official start of the Holiday Season.  I tend to get busy with holiday-ish activities and projects around this time, and this is one of the reasons why my blog posts have been sporadic.  I looked back and saw that there was just a single blog entry from me for October.  I've been keeping busy with lots of forum stuff, so my online time hasn't been as free.  I volunteered to be a judge for the Dalicious! photo contest on Dolly Market Forum.  It's almost over, and I can't wait to see who actually ends up as top winner.  I do know that the top 3 finishers in the contest will each take home a full-size Dal doll (Tina, Vendettina, or 6th Anniversary Jouet ), donated by PullipStyle and JPGroove.  Seriously, had I known those were the prizes, I probably would have signed up to participate instead of serving as a judge.  Although I have to admit, my photos cannot hold a candle to the players in this round of Dalicious!  Competition is fierce and the bar has been raised!

The Dal House forum is seeing a resurgence in popularity thanks to True Fan's efforts in reviving the forum.  For the month of October, members would visit the forum daily and make a post to earn an entry to win a full-size NRFB Dal.  If you started a thread/topic, you would earn an extra entry for the day.  There were a few bonus days where if you posted on the forum, you would earn 5 extra entries.  The Dals that the winner willl choose from are Monomono, Gloomy Bear, Kanaria, Lipoca and Pinocchio.  The Dals are generously supplied by True Fan.  The drawing will be in a couple of days, so it's interesting to see which Dal House member will snag a brand new Dal!  Is it selfish to hope it will be me? 

Another contest going on at The Dal House is the quarterly photo contest.  It used to be a monthly contest, but since participation had been dwindling, the contest was changed to 4x a year rather than 12x a year.  And since it took place in October, it benefitted from the recent Dal House resurgence.  There were 12 entries this time.  The theme of the photo was "Fall".  It's Fall here in Hawaii, but you'd never guess that because it's so hot and muggy.  It feels like summer, so I had to create Fall for the photo.  Here's what I went with...

 

I put Moe the Dal in the most Fall-appropriate outfit I could find.  The plaid top is a Moxie Boyz shirt and I found tiny fall leaves confetti at the craft store.  I made the rake out of floral wire, and the trash bag full of leaves is a little jewelry gift bag.  The mini pumpkin is from Pier 1, I think it was an old napkin ring--I just pulled the pumpkin off.

And then we have the newest forum that I'm a part of--Dollchemy!  Dollchemy also hosted a contest during the month of October.  This one was a Halloween doll costume contest.  Members would submit the photo via email to the organizer of the contest, and then the entries would be posted anonymously for Dollchemy to vote on.  The one with the most votes would win two packs of unopened, mysterious Rement.  This was my entry...

It's Akari the Spider Queen!

 

Akari is my pullip with a face-up by Buffdolls.  Akari rarely gets any photos, and spiders aren't her thing, but they sure are mine!  I'm happy to say that Akari's costume got the most votes, and I won!

 

At work, my co-worker organized a pumpkin decorating contest.  It could be any type of pumpkin used as a base--but you had to have done something to it for it to be eligible.  The finished entries were put out on display and the library patrons would vote for the ones they liked the best.  The entry with the most votes would win.  Here's what I did...

 

I basically got two smallish artificial pumpkins.  I had wanted two black ones, but could only find the one.  I suppose I could have painted the orange pumpkin black, but that would have required another trip to the store and I really wasn't feeling like it.  I used floral wire, tons of chenille stems, hot glue, embroidery floss and some eyes from my reject stash.  And my pumpkin spider took 1st place! 

 

While winning certainly is nice, to me, it's more important to participate.  I don't take these things very seriously, it's more fun for me than anything else, and if I win, then that's cool, but similarly, I would be totally fine with not winning.

 

Halloween was overall very quiet.  Not many trick-or-treaters showed up for candy--I think my son said there were about 25 kids.  I brought my daughter to the mall for trick-or-treating.  She was the only Princess Bubblegum there.  Tons of Queen Elsas from Frozen, though.  Here's a little shot of my two monsters in costume:

And lastly...I managed to snag these two cuties on ebay for a song--$62.99.  I always wanted a Drta and Monomono.  I put in a lowball offer expecting to be outbid by the auction's end, but it didn't happen.  The Drta is almost full stock--she's missing just her card & school bag.  The Monomono came without her monkey hat, but another boardie sold me one, so she's totally complete.

 

 

I hope October has been good to you.  I can't believe how fast the time is flying.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Everything with chopsticks

I've been thinking a lot about my diet lately.  I've been wanting to drop a few pounds for a while now.  I joke that I'm trying to lose the baby weight that I gained from my two pregnancies.  It wouldn't be so bad if my two "babies" weren't already 7 & 9 years old!  And now that I've hit the 40th birthday milestone, I think if I don't start trying something now, I can see how as the years go by, the weight will just pile on.  It seems that the difference between my pre-mom weight and my weight after I became a mom is 20lbs.  So sure, I'm a little heavier now, but my weight has been roughly the same for about 7+ years. 

My thyroid issue sure does complicate things, but I think that just means I need to work harder.  I just wish exercise wasn't so boring.  I hate the treadmill because I keep walking and I'm not going anywhere.  I don't like Zumba, and I'm very self-conscious of exercising in public, such as at the gym.  I'd take yoga, or pilates, or some other kind of class, but the ones in my area are all during my work hours.  I guess they are designed for stay-at-home-moms.

So basically, the rules I've now set myself will be to:

1. Journal every single thing I eat.  It's tedious, but making myself accountable for everything I eat has really opened my eyes.
2. Watch my portions.  I can fill half my plate with a tossed greens salad.  My grains (a garlic bread if having pasta, or typically brown rice) will take up a quarter of my plate.  The main dish will take up the remaining quarter.
3. If I want seconds, I can have another serving of the tossed greens salad.
4. Snacks are also carefully meted out and I can only snack twice per day.  That's a hard one for me as I realize that I like to snack.  I never realized how much I snacked before I began writing everything down!  I need to cut back on the processed snacks and incorporate more 'healthful' snacks like plain popcorn, fruit and veggies, nuts, cheese.
5. Eat almost everything with chopsticks.  This is a strange rule, but I've been carrying a pair of hashi wherever I go.  It's wrapped up in a nice furosiki so it doesn't get dinged up in my handbag.  Obviously, I cannot eat soup and breakfast cereal with chopsticks, but everything else, I'll take out my chopsticks to eat.  I found that it really slows me down--I used to be a really fast eater. So now, the chopsticks force me to take my time and register feeling food in my stomach. 

I do not know if I can sustain this during the upcoming holiday season, which is right around the corner.  But I figure that I can at least try this out until then.

A phobia of my own

Here's a little something about me:  I cannot stand the sight of my own blood.  I'm not sure when it all started; perhaps I had always been like this.  The very first time I knew that I was averse to seeing my own blood was when I was a freshman in college.  There was a blood drive on campus, and I thought I would help save lives and donate blood.  It was a spur-of-the-moment thing, but I don't remember feeling nervous or stressed about it.  I filled out the form, and one of the blood drive staff members pricked my finger to get a drop.  It was fine until I was actually up on the gurney.  I watched, first with fascination, as the collection needle was inserted in my arm.  Then I watched all this dark blood collect in the bag.  It was the color of chili powder.  That's when I started feeling strange.  My breathing got shallow and rapid, and when the collection bag was full, the needle was removed, and I was told to sit up, but then I swooned, and the next thing I remember was the smell of ammonia and people standing over me with concern.  I was allowed to rest for 30 minutes, and afterwards, I had a doughnut and some Sprite.

About a decade later, during my stint as a Children's Librarian, I was at work prepping the storytime craft activity.  I was using the paper-cutter / guillotine and somehow nicked a bit off of skin off of my thumb.  Blood everywhere, and I did my best to cover it quick with a paper towel and hold my thumb above my head.  My thumb was throbbing and again, rapid and shallow breathing.  It felt like I couldn't get enough air.  It eventually stopped bleeding, but I was a wreck for most of the day.  I'm amazed I could even do storytime that day.

Fast forward to today.  Because of my thyroid issues, I periodically need to get my blood drawn and analysed.  This time, in addition to seeing if my medication was at the correct dosage, my doctor also wanted to check my cholesterol and blood sugar levels, so the lab would need a little more blood than usual.  I didn't think it'd be a problem--most of the time when I get my blood drawn at the lab, there is some minor discomfort, but I'd never done anything like pass out, like I did when I donated blood.  Today I went to the lab, and a phlebotomist whom I had never seen before serviced me.  I told her that I have tricky veins, so I asked if she could use the 'butterfly' needle.  She told me that it wasn't necessary.  She tied the elastic on my arm, and instructed me to make a fist.  I could tell that she couldn't see my vein.  But she pricked my arm anyway.  Nothing.  She told me to relax and then to make a fist again.  Once again, nothing.  And then one more time.  This time, the needle hit something, and it hurt like way more than usual.  I held my breath, which I know I wasn't supposed to do and I had to consciously tell myself to breathe.  The phlebotomist asked me if I was OK.  What I should have said was that "No, I'm pretty far from OK." but instead, I did the passive Asian thing I always do and said, "I'm OK, it just stings a little."  Her response was to shrug and say, "It's because the needle just hit the side of your vein.  I'll move it forward a little."  More pain.

It seemed to take forever, what should have been a routine collection of a few vials of blood.  And my poor arm...it is really bruised up, and it hurts.  If she had just used that flexible butterfly needle like I requested!  I'm dreading the next lab appointment and I will run for dear life before I let that particular phlebotomist work on me again.

I'm not afraid of needles.  I don't mind horror movies, and blood on other people.  It's just my own blood that I can't stomach.  I have one other phobia, but I'll write about that some other day.  Do you have any phobias or things that you are averse to?

My September update

I can't remember when I last posted to this blog! It's been far too long, and once again, it was probably illness that kept me from updating. So pardon me while I wipe away the layer of dust that has accumulated on my keyboard. There! Much better.

What have I been doing lately? Reading--I've just finished a couple of YA (Young Adult) titles. There's Noggin by John Corey Whaley, which was about a teen with a terminal illness who gets a second chance at life by having his head sawed off and transplanted onto a donor body. It sounds like an outrageous premise, but it was really enjoyable. I sympathised with the main character Travis because he wakes up healthy on his new body five years after he consented to this last-ditch path to survival and finds that everything is different and his friends are no longer 16-years old like he is. The other book I finished is Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige, in which your average teen outcast Amy Gumm is swept away in her mobile home during a tornado and wakes up in Oz, except that Dorothy has become corrupt with power and Oz is threatened. As a librarian, I find it helpful to read titles from a variety of different genres. No matter how many titles I cross off my list as I read them, it seems that I'm always adding more.

I've also been playing Animal Crossing New Leaf on my 3DS. This game is seriously addicting and it's been over a year since I've been playing it.  I've been working hard on making my town thrive. I've seen animal villagers come and go. I try to play at least a little every day since the few times I misplaced my game card, when I did eventually play again, I found that my favorite villagers had moved away. It might seem a bit strange that the loss of these fictional pixelated characters would affect me, but it did. In my town, I'm currently working on completing my bug and ocean life encyclopedia. I have only two more bugs to catch--a mole cricket and a dung beetle. I have about 6 more things to dive for and 6 fish to catch with my fishing rod. Eventually I want to get Katrina the fortune teller to open up shop on my town's Main Street. I've had the opportunity to play online with Vadafade whom I know from Dollchemy. She's visited my town and I traveled to hers...and one of her former town residents has relocated to my town.  I hope to play again with more dolly friends in the future.


I should add that I'm consciously going to try to improve my health and take better care of myself. I find exercise really boring, but I know it's a necessity because my job is more sedentary than active.  I take the stairs whenever possible and during my lunch break when I run errands, I walk more than take my car.  I have a couple of fitness DVDs that I will genuinely give a chance to. I use the treadmill but that is seriously torture to me. I've tried watching movies while I walk/jog on the treadmill, but I find myself wanting to just sit on the sofa and finish the movie without the pesky exercise getting in the way. I used to use the wii board with my Nintendo wii, but I think something is wrong with it. I know that weight loss is more dependent on diet than exercise, so I will try to be better about what I eat. Portion control, not eating as much processed foods, etc. I know what I have to do, the hard part is doing it! And not making excuses, but my underactive/non-existent thyroid is a huge factor in all this. Also contributing to my difficulty in weight loss, I believe is my IUD.

In my doll hobby, I always say I want to downsize or at least not get any more. I would like to free up unnecessary stuff, and for the most part, I have been slowly listing wigs and clothes up for sale. I need to do more of that...but it's just kind of hard to sell things these days. I've noticed things sit around for months with no bites from interested parties. And no matter how much I swear I won't get any more dolls, two dolls recently made their way here.   These are the two that have snuck their way in. On the left is Dice (Daisuke). He is the Taeyang Chosokabe Motochika who actually started off here in Hawaii with me when I pre-ordered him from PullipStyle in 2011. About a month after I got him, I needed some quick funds, so I let him go to a buyer in Chile. I always regretted having to sell him. But then in June 2014, I saw him up for sale from Chile--of course I had to get him back; I paid the same price I sold him for. I consider him a doll version of a homing pigeon. (He and Arashi--who I also sold and bought back). The pullip on the right is a custom Nahh-ato who first belonged to Miss Edith and then Vanie. I had always wanted a Nahh...but failed to get one when she was in stock, and then she was sold out everywhere or on sale for a price I was not willing to pay. I only really wanted a Nahh so I could have someone customize her, so when this pretty little thing with her Myufish face-up became available, I jumped on it. I'm glad I did, and I have no regrets.

The truth is it is unrealistic to go "cold turkey", but I just have no words. I made a list of things I would allow myself to buy earlier this year, and it seems I forgot about that. I guess I fell off the wagon a bit there; and I'm only human.  *grins sheepishly*

Here is my revised list of purchases for 2014:

• Mister Super Clear or Volks ZM spray (to finish off my Blythe & Yeolume customs)
• Tiny brushes (to finish off my custom dollies)
• Volks shine pearl (more customizing supplies)
• A secondhand Blythe to send away for custom face-up (I would like a pretty custom doll from Bee's Dreamland)
• A Makie doll

Let's hope I have the will power to stick to my newly revised list as we close out the rest of the year.

Check out Dollchemy.com

Do you like your dolls with a heavy dose of customization? Do you like to sew for your dolls, or create little props for them? You might want to check out the forum Dollchemy.com! It made its debut in early June. When the co-owners of Dollchemy approached me to be a part of the moderating team, I happily accepted. Dollchemy is growing slowly and steadily, and I don't know how unbiased I can be since I'm a moderator and of course I'm going to think it's awesome, but I seriously believe that. I think with this brand new forum, we each have the opportunity to contribute to a wonderful resource and hangout for members of the doll hobby, so no matter if you love BJDs, Pullips, Blythes, Monster High, My Little Pony, Pinky Street...all are welcome, as long as they are not recasts/bootlegs/clones/knockoffs/factory or TBL. So if you are looking for a new dollie-centric forum to hang out, or add to your list of virtual haunts, then please consider registering at Dollchemy.com. I hope to see you there!

Beni makes an appearance

I'm shockingly bad at maintaining my blog. I think that one of the main obstacles with this is because if I do anything that requires regularity, I start to view it more as a chore rather than one that I find fun. Another reason why I may not blog as regularly as I like is because my time is spread out over the internet at various sites. There are the usual haunts--Dolly Market, Blythe Kingdom, Den of Angels. And other time-suckers such as ebay and etsy. I also periodically check facebook for new posts and I also have to catch up with Flickr, ipernity, Tumblr and Twitter. I'm one of the few people who STILL does e-mail. In addition to all this, I'm currently taking an online course through my public library & Gale Education about becoming more assertive. Yes, it's true--sometimes I can be a real doormat; but I think a lot of that can be attributed to my culture and upbringing (Japanese-American), but that's a whole 'nother blog entry. Today I'd like to show you one of the projects I've been working on for weeks. It was my intention to take in-progress photos as they happened, and put them here and on various photo websites. But that just never happened. Sometimes I just couldn't find my camera, and other times, I just plain forgot. I'd get caught up in working and if I stopped for photo-taking, I probably would have lost creative momentum. Anyway, some background--I began wanting a Yeolume of my own ever since PODO was first released. This feeling intensified when I got to host Penny the Traveling Yeolume in April. I shopped around and when I found another collector getting rid of her Yeolume PODO for $60 shipped (even to Hawaii!), I pounced. There are a number of things that I didn't especially like about PODO when I saw her in person. I thought her lips were too pursed, for one thing. I wanted her to be more of a happy girl. Here's my one and only "in-progress" photo! And here's Beni all put together again. By no stretch of the imagination is her face-up in anyway perfect. It's decent, sure--and for now it suits her fine. Maybe later, depending how the face-up is holding up, and if I can find a face-up artist within my budget with open slots, then I would consider sending her out for a new, professionally done face-up. There are some areas that just don't seem as crisp and clear as the face-ups I've commissioned others for. For the face-up, the supplies I used were: Faber-Castell pastels, acrylic paint thinned out with water, and Prismacolor watercolor pencils. The sealant I used was Volks Zoukei-Mura powder spray. I used these insanely tiny brushes for her eyebrows and lashes. And Tamiya gloss for her lips. Looking at these photos, I think what I need to do is spray-matte her one more time with the ZM spray, and then give her lips another coat of gloss. I want those lips to really shine. This is pretty much the first face-up I did which I'm mostly satisfied with. I think that I could get better with practice, but I don't have a whole lot of blank heads to practice on. And no, the answer to that dilemma is not to buy more dolls.

Nanami of the Seven Seas

When I started in the pullip collecting venture, I just wanted one pullip and one taeyang.  And for a while, that was all I had.  I was happy to let them chill in their boxes.  But then I saw photos on flickr and I discovered doll forums and I knew that I needed to de-box RIDa and Timulus from their boxes--they wanted freedom.  But then they started "telling" me to go find their friends and family members.  And before I knew it, I had amassed a group of them.  Not only Pullips, Taeyangs, Dals, and Isuls, but also little teeny tiny BJDs. 

During this active collection growth phase, I wasn't content to just let my stock dolls be as they were out of the box.  Nope!  The part that I found most fun was customizing them to get them to look like how I wanted them to.  Change their hairstyles, their clothes, and wigs.  Find new bodies to put the pullips on so they could wear Barbie & LIV doll clothes.  Send them off to get new face-ups.  Give them eyes that look real.  All of that took money, and that's what I had been focusing on--making my dolls look like one-of-a-kind, special, unique things that I would truly love.  There were a couple of dolls that I've always wanted but because I had my hobby money earmarked for my customizations, I figured I'd get around to picking up those dolls later.  I never dreamed they'd sell out.  Nahh-ato?  And Veritas?  I was surprised when the dolls sold out...I remember that Nahh had been at $72.95 for such a long time.  I'm kicking myself that I never bought her from PullipStyle when I had the chance.  And Veritas...I can't remember what her price was at PullipStyle but when she was about to sell out, she was going for $160 not including shipping.  Too high for me.  So I shelved those dreams of ever getting either of them.

But recently, I was able to finally acquire a Veritas at a reasonable price.  A long-time collector on DollyMarket is downsizing and unloading many older dolls.  I've dealt with this collector before--she used to organize many GOs, and I've always liked her, so I felt comfortable approaching her when I found out that she was soon to be listing her Veritas for sale.  I made an offer and it was accepted!  I could hardly believe my luck. 

The whole time after I paid, I was anticipating something going wrong.  Would the doll have undisclosed damage in some way?  Would the postal system be careless in their handling of the box?  It took less than a week from when I paid until I received Veritas, and I'm happy that the worst I can say about her is that there is a slightly smoky smell emanating from her wig.  This doesn't bother me in the least, though--it reminds me of how the hotels in Las Vegas smell, which to some might be problematic, but it's a non-issue for me.

Veritas came almost fully stock--but rewigged.  The wig she came with is a Leekeworld wig that is close in color and style to the original.  I love her blushy face-up, and except for her eyechips, I'm totally pleased with her look.  Sometime later, I think I'll be re-chipping her, but for now, I'll just be enjoying her as she is.  I've named her "Nanami", loosely translated to "seven seas"....because of her nautical theme.  Cutest pirate ever!


Unfortunately, I had to let one of my tiny BJDs go. Since I am determined to stay in this expensive hobby, there needs to be limits, and rehoming dolls in order to afford other wants is an important part of this. The BJD I sold was a Pukifee Luna. While I will miss seeing that little cutie on my doll shelf, the truth is that I wanted a Veritas even more. It's all about prioritizing, isn't it?

Happy May!

I forgot my coffee at home today.  It's sitting in the microwave oven, since I had been warming it up to pour into my travel mug so that I could take it on the road with me.  I guess I got a little side-tracked before leaving the house, hence the coffee is now growing cold in the microwave.  I was already halfway to my workplace when I remembered.  I hate that feeling.  I suppose I could have stopped by Starbucks since there's one near the library, but it's always really crowded in the morning and I don't want to ruin my tardy-free record!  Just between you and me, I think my coffee tastes better than Starbucks anyway.  I really don't like functioning without my morning coffee, though.  I always get the meanest headache without my caffeine fix, and that makes me one grouchy librarian.  I wonder if I should pre-emptively take a Motrin to ward off any headaches?  My uncle says that the headaches brought on by lack of coffee is all in my head.  I wonder if it is?

Over on Dolly Market, the big buzz is that Groove Japan unloaded a bunch of older Pullip & Friends dolls onto PullipStyle.  Mike from PS is being nice enough to offer them to Dolly Market users first, and that thread is going live in a little under two hours.  When I first heard about it on Saturday, people were calling dibs on various dolls, and I didn't think it was all that fair, but overall, it never got really ugly and vicious.  I'm lucky in that I don't think there are any dolls in that lot that I would want--if there had been a Rovam or Veritas or Coral, I think I'd have been in trouble.  It's not like I am made of money, after all, and Rovam/Veritas/Coral aren't on my list of allowable things to buy for this year.  I guess if I did break my own rules, I could always find someone to sell, though I'm loathe to sell any of my beloved dolls.  Even when I'm not fawning all over them and they're just sitting pretty on my shelf, I still love having them around.

I'm so excited for Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, but that doesn't come out until November!  Other than that, I've mostly been playing Rune Factory 4 on my 3DS.  There are lots of things to do in RF4--save the town's dragon, farm crops, forge weapons and armors, mix medicines, cook.  And date.  The character I'm playing as is a tough but sweet fighter girl...and so I figure she needs some pampering, which is why I chose the attentive butler-in-training for her.  They've been on quite a few dates by this time, but I find that between the farming and the dating and cooking and participating in the town's festivals, there isn't a whole lot of time left for saving the dragon!  I guess it's really a game that teaches one to prioritize and learn time management.  Maybe I should have my two children play this game--they might learn a thing or two. 

I've also been reading--right now, it's Zoo by James Patterson.  It's a fast, easy read.  Suspenseful and fun, but nothing deep.  Until next time...

2/3 of 2014 to go!

Can you believe that it's almost the end of April?  That means that we are about 1/3 of the way done with 2014.  Amazing how fast time is flying by.  In about two days, it will be my birthday.  I haven't been excited about birthdays since I turned 21 and could legally drink alcohol.  I don't know why, though, since I had been drinking my way (responsibly) all through college with (practically) no incidents.  There was one time where I was out with friends, and we did bar crawls.  By the end of the night, I don't remember how I got to my dorm.  I don't remember many things about that night, like where my favorite MAC lipstick ended up, or what happened to one of my shoes.  The main thing is that I got home alright.  There was another incident where I had too many drinks at a nightclub, and they would not let me on the dance floor.  Which is good because I don't like to dance, so I'm not sure why I was trying to get on the dance floor anyway.  (?!)  That's the worst that's ever happened to me, and nowadays, when I have any alcohol, it's maybe one or two beers a week.  An occasional glass of merlot maybe a couple times a month? 

I thought it would be a good time to review my resolutions from the new year.  Remember those?  If not, you can simply read my New Year blog entry, or I can summarize.  My first resolution was to be more punctual and to come in on time or early to work.  The good news here is that I've been doing exceedingly well with that!  I've been late maybe once since I made the resolution.  The second resolution was to not take things personally; I'm still trying to work on that.  I'm getting better, though.  The third resolution was to lose some weight.  That one, I haven't done much.  It's hard because food is a common way for my family culture here--it's the way we bond!  We bake, we snack, we go eat at different restaurants.  Family parties involve lots of good eats.  Very hard, but I've been implementing the "No going back for seconds" rule and I've been trying to not snack as much. 

My last resolution was to stop spending money unnecessarily on my doll hobby.  I even made a list of the items I was allowed to buy, so I wouldn't have to go "cold turkey".  Let's take a look at my progress.

Yeolume.  (I just bought one secondhand for cheap.  She hasn't been shipped yet, but I hope all goes well).

Four doll wigs.  A few of them didn't look the way I envisioned in my mind.  But I plan on selling the ones I'm not using, so maybe that helps a little.

Three doll face-ups.  I've got all three of my dolls back from their face-ups and I love them.

So it looks like I bought whatever was on my list.  I could stop here and call it good, but I think it's best I be truthful.  Here are some other things I've spent money on:

• Two Dal dresses from an etsy seller.

And this is what I've got on my wishlist:

• A Pure Neemo XS body for my incoming Yeolume.
• A wig for my incoming Yeolume.

It's obvious that an incoming doll leads to outgoing money.

In other news, I've had Penny the Traveling Yeolume for almost a month now!  I haven't put as many photos here in my blog, but you can find them on flickr.  It's almost time to send her back, it was such fun to have her around.  I will admit that having her around spurred me to purchase one of my own.  Gah!  What a cutie.

A very special guest has arrived!

Gah! Has it really been about a month since I last updated my journal? I can't believe I let the entire month of March slip by without writing another entry. I'm not sure why it is so hard to keep up. I always think about posting something, and then I don't. In late fall of last year, pixachii on Dolly Market put together a Traveling Yeolume project. Penny is a Yeolume Podo, who has been customized by Myufish. Stock Podo is cute, but once Myufish put a little smile on her face, the little doll became darn near irresistible! Penny's travels kicked off in December--she headed to her first host in California, then to her second host in Florida, and then she returned to California to stay with her third host. I'm happy to announce that she's here with me for her Hawaii home visit. Penny arrived on April 30, and I get to have her around for approximately a month before I ship her to her next host.

I am not sure what I will do with Miss Penny while she's here.  My main problem is that by the time I get home from work, it is late, and then crappy indoor lit photos are my only option.  I do want to get some beachy shots in...I just hope the weather cooperates with my plans.

Tsubaki returns home

Earlier this year, I made a list of what I am allowing myself to spend my hobby money on.  So far, I've bought two more wigs than I had said I would, but the reason for that is because the first ones I bought didn't work out right for the dolls I bought them for.  It would be so much easier if there was an actual wig shop so that I could try before I buy.  I figure I could always sell the wigs that I'm not using to get back a little bit of what I spent.

Other things in my list were face-ups for three of my dolls.  I got the one from Buff back a little while ago, and this past week, my pullip head returned from ~Akai Arashi~ in Spain.  Spain already has Poison Girl & Sheryl Designs.  I think ~Akai Arashi~ is making quite a name for herself as well.  I'm very happy with how my pullip turned out.  Here's my newest addition, Tsubaki....


In November, I impulsively added another Taeyang to my collection.  I was captivated by Ruka from the Nightmare Set, and once I knew he would be a permanent fixture here, it was just a matter of time before my adherence to the even-number-of-pullips-and-taeyangs would come into play.  I stick to my own rules, after all.

I found this dent-box deal Alte in PullipStyle.  She had a busted eyelid, but it wasn't too bad of a fix.  I suppose I could have just bought one of those MIO blank pullip kits, but I really like the old, three-part heads with the rounder face shapes of the old girls.  

I think they are hitting it off quite well!
In other news, I was doing some grocery shopping and found hair dye with Blythe on the box. It was interesting to see Blythe hawking hair color. There were many different colors, but I didn't get any.

Who's watching the Academy Awards tomorrow evening?

Before I became a mom, I used to go to the movies at least a couple of times a week.  It used to be my personal goal to see all the contenders up for Academy Awards so I could have a legitimate opinion as to whether the winners deserved the award or not.  Unfortunately, after my children were born, my "free" time became less free, and less mine.  These days, free time is devoted to running errands, or keeping up with housekeeping, or watching my kids perform in their golf game, ballet recital or judo tournament.  I can proudly say that every lunch hour at work is all mine--that's when I eat lunch and play pokemon on my 3DS or catch up with my reading.  Sometimes if I'm really desperate, I'll take a power nap in my car. 

I am planning on watching the Academy Awards tomorrow evening--though I don't know if I can stay up for the entire thing.  I watch it every year, but once again, I've only seen a handful of the movies up for award contention.  I have a small contest going with two of my uncles and my husband--just to make it more fun.  My family really enjoys making small wagers.  We bet on the Superbowl, or who we think is going to win The Voice or American Idol.  Which team will win on Amazing Race or who will be voted Survivor.  It's not really anything big--most of the time, it's varying amounts of money (anywhere from $5 to $50), or a six-pack of beer, or a drink from Jamba Juice or Starbucks, or lunch.

For the record, here is my list of picks for the Academy Awards:
BEST PICTURE:  Nebraska (haven't seen this, but it sounds like an interesting story)

BEST ACTRESS:  Meryl Streep (doesn't she always win if she's nominated?)

BEST ACTOR:  Leonardo DiCaprio (why has this guy never won an Oscar?  IMO, he should have won for his performance in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?"  Hands down my favorite actor, and he's the same age as me.  OK, I'm about 6 months older.  Total Leo fangirl right here).

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:  Julia Roberts (Haven't seen her performance, but my sister said she was good in the movie).

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:  Jonah Hill  (I only recognize him from his comedic roles--I LOVED the movie "This is the End" and I'm hoping he wins for his performance in the Wolf of Wall Street).

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:  The Wind Rises (Sad but true--I've seen mostly all the contenders in this category.)

BEST DIRECTING:  The Wolf of Wall Street--Martin Scorsese.  (Come on!  Scorsese is THE BEST director, right?!)

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:  Star Trek.  (It was hard to choose, but I went with this one...even though I was also torn between Gravity and The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug).

We'll see how I do!  I'm probably gonna tank really bad, but that's alright.  The main thing is that I'm invested because I have a small wager going on, and the possibility of winning a free drink makes the Academy Awards show more fun to watch.

Happy Mail Day!

The dolls are starting to return from their spa days.  Since I have limited myself as to what I can spend my money on, I really enjoy getting happy mail.  Yesterday, one of my doll heads came back in the mail. 

This is my custom Pullip, based on Tifa Lockhart of Final Fantasy VII.  She was originally a baity Craziia head that I purchased from someone (no longer active) on Dolly Market.  This doll has been on many different bodies--from Obitsu to Volks EB Beauty to a female action figure body.  I finally decided on this Dollmore plastic fashion doll body.  It is pretty, but also very frustrating because the strung elastic and the oversize pullip head makes for a poor combination.  She flops around like crazy and getting her to sit is maddening.  However, she stands up fine, and for the most part, I am fine with it. 


Sorry, I was having fun playing with the different effects on PicMonkey, hence the over-edited photo. I don't have photoshop, so please just bear with me. It's been a hair over two months since I'd sent this doll head to Buff (buffdolls.net). I imagine there must have many dolls on Buff's worktable and some needed time off during the holidays. Ordinarily, Buff takes about a month or so to work on and send the finished doll head back. She's always really professional and drama-free. With her, I don't have to worry about my doll head being kept or sent to the wrong address.
 

I wasn't the only one happy to have my doll back home--her Taeyang counterpart (custom based on Cloud Strife of FFVII) was glad to see her return. Here he is with a "Welcome-Back-&-Happy-Belated-Valentine's-Day" bouquet. Yeah....my doll shelf is looking closer to being complete! I'm looking forward to having every one of them back home.

A dolly update of sorts

Can it be--a second blog entry from me in February?  I'm entertaining houseguests again, but I managed to steal away a little bit of computer time.  Here's a short doll update of sorts:

Tekka-Maki participated in a Valentine's Day swap over at The Dal House forum.  The Dal House isn't as busy as Dolly Market which in turn is not as busy as the Den of Angels.  I spend most of my online time at Dolly Market, but The Dal House is my second home.  It's more cozy there--and the active members are all wonderful.  I try to participate in the monthly photo contest several times a year, and I definitely make it a point to get involved with the swaps.  I just feel like it's a place where I trust everyone...I've been burned in swaps on other forums before but *knock on wood* not at the Dal House.

 

 

Here's Tekka-Maki modeling her sweater from Byronic Heroine and Soraya.  Soraya is pictured in that photo over there on the right.  Look at her tan--I'm jealous.  I've been coveting one of these hand-knit sweaters ever since I saw Byronic's own dolls wearing them.  Saying that I'm happy with the sweater is a total understatement.  I also love the way the sleeves are long and cover Tekka-Maki's hands--it's a very cute look on her.  This is the third time Byronic Heroine has been my sending swap partner, and she's all kinds of awesome. 

 

A few months ago, a couple of my dolls suffered some sharpie marks on their faces courtesy of my cousin's toddler.  It was painful wiping the custom face-ups off, but I didn't want the sharpie ink staining the pullip plastic and making a bad situation worse.  The next thing I did was contact a few customizers.  All of them were willing to work on my dolls' face-ups. 

 

This is the photo I got back from Buff.  She was kind enough to try to replicate the original face-up she did back in 2010.  I supplied a photo, and Buff did a great job on recapturing the face-up that I love so much. 

 

One of the rules I have for my collection is that my dolls MUST be paired up.  And since I acquired Ruka Taeyang in November, I felt like he should have a Pullip to keep him company.  I found a good deal on a dent-box at Pullip Style, and asked ~Akai Arashi~ if she'd be willing to work on my doll.  I recently got the progress photo back and I think that Ruka will be happy to have such a lovely girl as his other half.

 

And  now there's just one more pullip who needs to get her face-up fixed.  She's on her way there as I write this.  I have a soft-spot in my heart for Pullips and Taeyangs with custom face-ups.  Funny how I think Dals and Isuls look just fine with their stock face-ups.  Do you have any special rules for your collection?  Who is your favorite customizer?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Am eye sick?

So I've let another month lapse by without updating my blog.  It's mid-February now, and this is my first entry for the month.  I wonder if this is going to be my regular pace of blogging...one entry per month?  I guess my lack of updates is because there hasn't really been any "blog-worthy" news.  I've been spending lots of time taking care of my ailing family--in the middle of January, my two children came down with nasty, hacking coughs.  Then my husband caught it.  He went to his doctor and got anti-biotics straight away, and I also had the kids see their ped, who made them go on antibiotics as well.  I was fine all this time and feeling rather smug that I was immune to their bug.  However, maybe I spoke too soon?  I've been coughing so much, and it feels like there's a sea urchin in my throat.  I just have this prickly feeling when I swallow--it's not painful, just a bit itchy--and when I cough, it goes into this coughing fit.  Other than that, I feel alright.  I've been popping Halls cough drops like they're candy.  That seems to help with the coughing.  I don't feel like I need to see a doctor just yet, but maybe I'm just in denial.  I'll see how I am next week.  If my cough gets worse, I'll definitely make an appointment, but at this point, I'll just wait it out.

Part of why I'm hesitating on seeing my doctor is because I don't know if it's some kind of bacterial infection or virus, or if it's just the way my body is being affected by the vog.  Depending on the way the winds blow, the vog (volcanic ash smog) from the Big Island of Hawaii affects me differently.  Usually, if it's really bad, my sinuses feel tender and there's upper respiratory congestion.  Sometimes I get this prickly feeling in my throat (similar to what I have now).  The coughing makes people around me think I'm sick...but I'm not, the vog is just being mean to me. 

In dolly-related news, I just donated a sizeable batch of eyechips to PUDDLE.  I wish I could go--this year's theme is RAINBOWS.  I feel so isolated here in Hawaii.  It would be neat to meet up with other doll collectors.  Unfortunately, I cannot afford travel to IL right now. 



I seriously wish I had a doll for each different pair of eyes I have.  I enjoy making the eyechips, but it takes a lot of time to get them centered and bubble-free.  Also, filing the taxes is a pain. 

New Year

We're actually 22 days into the new year.  It's been over two months since I last made a blog entry.  I said I wouldn't abandon this blog like so many of my other ones, but old habits die hard, evidently.  At least I came back.  Since I'm on the subject of habits, and the year is relatively still new, maybe this is a good time to put down in writing what I want to work on this year.  I dread to use the word "resolutions" because it seems that once I state my resolutions, it's already destined to fail.  So here are my non-resolutions--things that I'd like to get better about:

1)  Coming in late to work.  It's hard for me to come in on time.  I can get to work in about 20 minutes, 30 minutes if there's traffic.  My commute to work goes against the flow of traffic, so that's not normally a problem.  It's just that I get caught up doing so many things that I lose track of time.  I do as many housekeeping chores as possible before I leave for work--dishes, folding laundry, vacuuming, general tidying up.  And then I always fail to factor in the time it takes me to lock up the house, walk to the car, get out of the parking lot and on the road.  My supervisor is a bit pissy about my tardiness, and I really am going to do my damnednest to get here on time.  I figure if I arrive here with lots of time to spare, I can always catnap in my car in the parking lot at work, or play some Animal Crossing or Pokemon X before my workday begins.

2)  Healthful habits.  Yes, I could stand to lose some weight, exercise more, eat more healthfully.  Yes, I have a thyroid condition where gaining weight is almost a given.  No, I will not make any more excuses.  I'll just suck it up and do it.  So far I've been drinking fruit/veggies smoothies in the morning and I will be participating in a run next month (it'll be a walk for me, though).

3)  Stop taking things personal.  It's not always about me, but for some reason, I just think it is!  Whether it is a friend who I haven't talked to in a long time or some random comment in an online forum, I get paranoid that something I did made this person upset with me.  It usually eats me up inside and then I find out it so wasn't the case.  I have to work on not giving a flying fig and stop thinking things are worse off than they seem.

4)  Stop spending money on unnecessary stuff.  The biggie here is my doll hobby.  Spending here tends to get out of hand, and it can happen quickly since the dolls, wigs, eyes, clothes are all pretty pricey.  It's not uncommon for me to be prone to impulse purchases because of things I am unable to resist.  So I'll make a list of the things I am allowing myself to spend on this year:

• Yeolume.  The newest member of the Pullip family.  She's adorable, and I just want one...
• Four doll wigs.  I can think of four dolls that I need rewigged--three of my tinies (Kissa, Koko, Yume) and one pullip.
• Three doll face-ups.  One from Buff, one from Myufish and one from ~Akai Arashi~.  The dolls have already been sent to Buff & Akai Arashi.  I've contacted Myu, but she hasn't replied yet.  I know she's busy, probably swamped with doll heads, so it's understandable.

That's about it.  It may seem like a short list, but that's a lot for me to work on during the year.  I can only hope I have the fortitude and will power to stick it out.  I'm sure I'll be updating on my progress (or lack of) in the coming months.