American Girl Saige and My AG #55 Comparison (a Few Pics with Felicity, too) ;)

My mom recently had the opportunity to purchase an American Girl Saige doll secondhand from an AGPlaythings member.  For those of you who don't know, Saige is the Girl of the Year for 2013.  

Because she was purchased secondhand, Mom didn't get Saige's meet outfit or accessories, so for these pictures she is wearing Gwen's sundress (Gwen was one of the GOTY dolls from 2009, along with Chrissa and Sonali).  

Here's Saige!  Such a cutie.

I have to admit, when Saige was first released, I thought she was cute, but not really distinct enough from my other dolls to make me interested in her.  I figured she would be too similar to Hayden, my #55, to make it worth getting her. 

I was wrong.  For one thing, pictures just do not to this gal justice.  I mean, sure, she's another freckled classic mold with blueish eyes and reddish-brown, curly hair.  But the shades of her hair and her eyes are both stunning.  Her hair is a deep, coppery red, quite similar to Felicity's. Her eyes are amazing, too!  They're a beautiful blue that almost looks like aqua. 

 I thought I'd start with a few pics of Saige and both of our Felicitys (one Pre-Mattel and one Mattel):

Here's a Pre-Mattel Felicity, Saige, and a Mattel Felicity.

As you can see, there are just slight variances between their hair.  

Pre-Mattel Felicity's hair is a bit lighter...

...but Saige's is just slightly lighter than Mattel Felicity's.  It's such a slight difference that sometimes it's hard to even see it. 

So here is Saige next to Hayden, my #55, and as you can see, my fears that they would be too similar were unfounded.  I love the way Saige stands out next to Hayden.  Wouldn't they make great sisters or cousins or something?  Similar, but unique enough to be complimentary.  I wouldn't object to having a Saige in my collection, except for the fact that there are other dolls I want more.  Besides, now that my mom has her, I can enjoy her every time I visit but not have to worry about finding space for another doll. ;) 

Here's a full-length shot of both dolls.  Fun fact: Mom and I had Hayden and Saige both dressed in Gwen's sundress without even realizing it.  I thought it was fun for the pictures, though. :)

And here they are from the back.  As you can see, Saige's hair has a lot more red to it and is also much longer.  Her hair is very similar to Hayden's though, more wavy than curly.  I've had great success with Hayden's hair, so I'd imagine that Saige's would be the same.  It might be slightly more high-maintenance since it's longer. 

Two cuties. :)

I also thought I'd mention that I read the first Saige book and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Some of the friendship issues Saige was dealing with were similar to the issues Oldest Gal is having right now, so it was a very good discussion starter for us. :)  I haven't read the second book yet, but I'm looking forward to doing so.

Do any of you have Saige?  What do you think of her?

Last Day to Vote on #55's Name! :)

Hey everyone!  I've officially decided that YOU get to be the ones to name My AG #55. :)  Just a reminder, it may be a long time before she joins my doll family, depending on the success of my evil scheme of getting AG gift cards for my birthday and Christmas. ;)  Because I want to start working more on her personality and name, I'd like to have the name decided soon. 

So, if anyone hasn't voted yet on a name for #55, please submit your votes by Midnight tomorrow, PST.  On Wednesday, I'll announce my doll's official name. 

At this time, the votes are as follows:

First Name:

Hayden-  4 votes

Holly-   3 votes 

Hannah-  2 votes

Hazel-   2 votes

Middle Name:

Brooke- 10 votes
Edith-  1 vote

And just for reference (no votes required) ;)
Last Name:
Hathaway

So, what name do you think suits #55?  Your vote could be the vote that changes her name forever! ;) 

Holding Out for Hayden/Holly/Hannah/Hazel and Other Random Thoughts

So, for those of you who don't know, I've officially fallen in love with My AG #55, one of the three My AG dolls recently released from American Girl.  I love her brown hair (which is pretty close to my own shade), her hazel eyes (also similar to mine), her cute freckles...just everything about her! :)  I think she'd be a great addition to the Hathaway sisters.  :D  I mean, she's got Emma's curls and a similar hair color, and Charlie's freckles, eye color, and hair length.  She's the perfect doll to tie the two of them together.  I think Piper would still work in the mix, too.  I may possibly make Piper a cousin to Emma and Charlie instead of a sister.  Piper would be a sister to my mom's Ruthie doll.  Or, I may just go for craziness and have 4 sisters!  I'm still deciding.

Thankfully (sort of), I have lots of time to decide.  After taking a hard look at our finances again, I've realized just how much I need to change things.  We have monthly school tuition payments starting in August for our 2 older girls, and even before that we're already needing to make some spending changes.

So, what does that mean exactly?  Well, for one thing, no new doll for me any time soon.  My birthday is coming up in September, so I'm thinking of asking for gift cards to American Girl if anyone needs present ideas.  I might put gift cards on my Christmas list, too.  My hope is that by sometime after Christmas, I'll be able to add #55 to my doll family. :)

Our financial situation also means that I won't be doing as many reviews of new products, since I'm going to need to cut back on my spending.  I'm going to try to stay away from eBay as much as possible (although I currently have some eBay bucks that I get to spend) :), and even thrift stores will have to be a no-no for a while.  See, my problem has always been to nickel and dime my money away.  I'm usually pretty good about big purchases.  It's all the little purchases here and there that get me into trouble. :(  And since I LOVE finding little goodies at thrift stores, I figure I need to just stay away for a while until I've gotten used to no impulse buying.

And all of you, feel free to keep me on task!  If I start doing all sorts of reviews of things I've purchased again, feel free to comment and put me in my place. ;)  I'll probably need it.  I would also appreciate your prayers as hubby and I try to rework things a bit.

Please don't worry, though.  There are still lots of posts I can do without spending money...so I won't leave you all in the lurch.  I may not have as many posts in the next few weeks, since VBS is looming on the horizon, but after that I should be back on track.  Also, my mom has really gotten into dolls, so I can do reviews of the stuff she finds. :)

Okay, and while I'm confessing things, I should probably give you another weight update...or lack thereof.  The bad news is, I'm back up to my starting weight.  The good news is, I've stayed at that weight for a couple of weeks now, so at least I'm not gaining more.  It's been pretty discouraging.  I've had a lot of stress in my life lately, so that doesn't help things either.  I'm thinking Pita may be doomed to forever live at my mom's.  :(  I may just be inconsistent and bring her home and try another motivational tactic (I REALLY want to do my doll comparisons post!!!).  I'm not sure...but I would really appreciate your prayers in this matter as well.

On to happier subjects.  I just finished Round 3 of The Doll Wardrobe's Photo Contest last week.  It has been a lot of fun being a part of things.  I'm not really expecting to win, especially since my hubby already won a doll from her (Emma last Christmas).  It's been enjoyable coming up with photo ideas, though.  Everyone has done an excellent job taking creative photos for each round.  You really should go check it out for yourself.  Here's Charlie's pic from this round (the theme was "Fashion"):

I had so much fun designing this fashion magazine cover. :)  It's worth being a part of things just for the creative aspect.  Winning is not important.   

And just in case you guys think it's rude of me to enter since my hubby won before, the main reason I entered in the first place was to get a Kanani doll for my aunt.  She's fallen in love with Kanani and can't afford a new doll. :)  If I managed to get one of the runner-up prizes, I'd probably save the gift card towards a #55 and use the summer clothes from the grab bag, as recently I've discovered my complete lack of summer doll attire.  There's not much danger of me winning, though.  Like I said before, all of the entries have been fantastic!  It's been really incredible seeing how creative everyone is. :)    

 Okay, moving on.  I'd  like to ask you all for an opinion.  If I do manage to have enough in gift cards by Christmas or so, I'm trying to decide on a name for #55.  She is going to basically be me at 12 years old, personality-wise, that is.  ;)  She will love horses and have a Breyer horse collection.  Her favorite movies will be "Beauty and the Beast", "Aladdin", and "The Princess Bride".  She will also be into vintage Strawberry Shortcake.  Her hobbies will be singing and drawing.  She may also possibly be into Lady Lovely Locks, but I'm still deciding on that.  Just giving you a little background. :)

So, here are the names I'm considering:

First Names:    

Hayden

Holly

Hannah
Hazel

Middle Names:

Edith
Brooke

Last Name:

Hathaway (sorry, no vote on this one!) ;)

So, readers, what do you think?  Which name do you think suits her best?  Leave your comment and let me know. :)  

I hope you all have a wonderful week! :)

P.S. I almost forgot!  I'm up to 85 followers!!!!  Thanks so much, everyone!  Just 15 more now until I reach my goal of 100 followers!!!! 

Okay, that was waayyy too many exclamation points for one paragraph. :}