Speaking at the Doll Club

Hi everyone!  Hope you're all having a wonderful week.  Are you all looking forward to Thanksgiving?  I know I am. :)

As promised, I wanted to share a little bit about my speaking engagement on Wednesday morning.  For those of you who don't know (or don't remember), I had the opportunity to speak at a meeting of a local doll club.  I was invited by a fellow member from my writing group.  

My mom was able to go with me, which was really fun.  We started our day with a quick trip to Goodwill after dropping off the kids and then headed off to the meeting.  It was great to have a full day with my mom...it's been a while since we've been able to do that. :)

I was very excited to have the chance to share a bit about my dolls and to meet other collectors.  And, I have to admit, I was a little nervous, too. ;)  

My nervousness melted away the minute I arrived.  Never have I felt more welcome and at ease!  It was like finding a roomful of long-lost family members. :)  There's something about doll collectors...we just instantly understand one another. ;)  

I've loved "meeting" all of you so much through the Internet, but I'm sure you can all agree that there's something special about meeting other collectors in person and having that face to face time.  Then there's the added bonus of seeing other people's dolls in person. :D  I so enjoyed seeing our hostess' doll room as well as the dolls that the other members brought to show to us.  

Most of the members of the doll club are collectors of older, antique dolls.  Some of them are dolls I've never even heard of!  Nonetheless, they were all very interested in hearing about my dolls.  The picture above shows which dolls I brought with me.  I tried to bring a selection that gave a good idea of the types of dolls I collect, so I brought my Pre-Mattel Felicity, my Gotz Tess, my Karito Kids Elena, my Alexander Girlz Maggie, my BFC Ink Calista, my Disney Store 2010 Belle, and my Hearts 4 Hearts Nahji.  The My AG #26 in Cecile's Meet Dress is my mom's doll that she brought. :)

I shared about my blogs and then took the time to talk a little about each of the dolls I brought. I also brought a mini photo album with a few of my doll pictures.  Oh, and at my fellow writer's group member's request, I read an excerpt from one of my books I'm working on.  They all liked it, which was a relief. ;)

After I spoke, I had the chance to sit and listen as some of the ladies shared their own dolls and stories.  What a rich wealth of knowledge is in the group!  These dear ladies know their stuff. :) 

When the sharing time was over, we sat down to a delicious lunch and had even more chances to visit.  I loved every minute. :)

That morning made my whole week. :)  I'm looking forward to getting together with the group again, which should hopefully work out.   If any of you gals happen to be reading this, I just want to thank you for making my mom and me feel so welcome, and for giving me a wonderful morning that I will remember with fondness for years. :)

In closing, I thought I'd share two random factoids I learned Wednesday:

1.  Did you know that "Gotz" is actually pronounced "Gertz"?  That's going to take me a while to get used to. :}

2.  In a phone conversation with the hostess after the meeting, I learned something new.  If you have to store your dolls with sleep eyes in their boxes for long periods of time, it's best to store them on their tummies.  Storing them on their backs keeps their eyes closed, which adds weight to the eye mechanism.  Over time, this can be harmful to the doll's eyes. 

See, you learn something new every day! ;)

I'm in the middle of several doll reviews that should be published within the coming weeks, so stay tuned. :)