How Kincaid Got Famous

The Story of Kincaid and How She Got Famous.

One day Cambria Angel's family and her best friend Kincaid's family decided that this summer it would be fun to all go on vacation together for the summer. Cambria Angel and Kincaid were so excited because even though they had been best friends for a long time, they had never gone on vacation together, their families had always gone on seperate vacations.

They were going to the beach. So the drove and drove and it took a long time and Kincaid and Cambria Angel got really hot in the backseat and they got bored too, playing all kinds of stupid car games they knew, and sometimes they even got sick of each other.

But at last Cambria Angel's dad said, "We're here!" and they arrived at the condominium building that they were staying at for 3 weeks.
Kincaid's parents were driving their car behind Cambria Angel's parents, so they stopped too. Everybody got out and lugged their suitcases inside. The air conditioning felt good in the hot Florida sun.The girls went all the way up to the 11th floor where they were staying. They had a nice condo with 3 bedrooms. Their was a big open kitchen and a sunny living room in the middle, and the bedrooms were on either side of the main living area. Their was a big bedroom and bathroom on one side and the parents decided to toss a coin for it, and Cambria Angel's parents won. So Kincaid's parents took the small room on the other side of the condo, the one that had a double bed. Kincaid and Cambria Angel shared the other small room on that side too, the one with twin beds. They unpacked and went to the beach right away, with Kincaid's parents.

Cambria Angel's parents went into town to do grocery shopping for the week.On the beach Cambria Angel and Kincaid swam and even took a surfing lesson when they saw a sign posted nearby that said free beginner surf lessons today. Neither of them were very good at it but they tried hard and they had fun and laughed a lot.

That evening they showered and dressed and went into town for dinner at a crab restaraunt. Cambria Angel and Kincaid both do not eat meat, so they just had fettucini and salad, but all the parents ate seafood. They walked around the little seaside town after dinner shoping and sightseeing and they even found a little carnival to go to.
They had fun being at the beach.

After a couple weeks, something interesting happened.Cambria Angel and Kincaid were allowed to go to beach by themselves for the first time. It was early in the morning. No one was out except for a camera crew setting up equipment on the beach. They waited a while and they seemed to have trouble and finally the guy in charge was yelling into a cell phone. Cambria Angel and Kincaid were very interested in what was going on so they tried to listen without appearing nosy.

So they could hear the man saying, "They're not coming at all? But we're all set up here. What are we supposed to do now? If they can't come, we've lost all the money on this shoot!"

When he got off his phone, Cambria Angel and Kincaid approached him. "Sir, is there anything we can do to help you?" Kincaid said politely.

The man looked annoyed to see two kids standing there, "No, nothing....we just got all set up to film a commercial, and we hired two sisters to be in it. But the agent of two actresses just called and said they're sick and can't come now. So now we've got all this stuff set up and our whole crew out here and nobody to act in the commercial. If we don't film today, we'll have paid the crew for nothing and we'll just have to pay them again to come out another day. So no, there's nothing you two little kids can do to help me. Now get lost."

The director of the commercial was so grumpy! Cambria Angel stepped back, intimidated.

But Kincaid was not a bit shy or afraid. She said brightly, "I bet we can help. WE could act in the commercial. Couldn't we?"

The director's expression changed. He looked them over. "Hmmm. Maybe you could be in our commercial ....that's not a bad idea, actually. Of course, you'd need your parents permission. If you can have them sign these papers, it might work."

He gave them papers and they ran as fast as they could from the beach up to the condo. They burst through the door and woke up their parents who were still sleeping. "MOM! MOM!" Cambria Angel yelled, "wake up!"

Both girls got their parents awake enough to gather in the kitchen. They were all sleepy and in their bathrobes. The parents all looked over the papers while Cambria Angel and Kincaid bounced around back and forth excitedly.

Finally both parents agreed to sign, but Kincaid's parents said, "We'll go down there with the girls and watch the comercial so we can meet the director and see what this is all about."

So the girls ran downstairs waving the papers in the air. "They said yes, they said yes!" They yelled.

"But my parents want to come meet you and watch us film," Kincaid said to the director.

"That's fine, we can wait a few more minutes," the director said. "You girls will have to get hair and makeup done anyway. What you're wearing will be fine for the commercial."

Cambria Angel and Kincaid got some light makeup done from the hair and makeup artist and she also fixed their hair the way it was supposed to look for the commercial.

Kincaid's parents came down and met the director and asked questions about the commercial. The director told them it was for sunblock and the girls would be paid $150 for the two hours of filming and would also get residuals each time the commercial aired. Everything sounded okay to Kincaid's mom, who didn't know much about the business but was interested, and so her parents said okay and they began.

The director told them what to do. They were supposed to just act like normal kids playing on the beach, and then there would be some shots of the sunshine. Then an announcer would talk about the sunblock and they'd show the bottle of it, and then they'd pan back to the two girls, and the director told Cambria Angel a line she should say at the end.

Cambria Angel was very nervous. She had been in a few school plays, but she didn't really know how to act, because usually she had just been in the chorus in the back.
She was excited at the thought of being on television, but the actual filming process was sort of scary to her.

When it came time to say the line she had at the end, she got really nervous and kept forgetting what she was supposed to say.
Kincaid tried to help her by whispering the line, but that wouldn't do because you could see it on camera.
Cambria Angel just couldn't get it.
Finally Kincaid whispered to her, "Do you want to switch? Maybe if we ask, they'll give me the line instead?"Cambria Angel was VERY relieived. "Yes, please do" she said gratefully.

Kincaid asked the director, "Do you think maybe I could be the one who says the line instead?"

The director agreed, "Yeah, lets try that"

Kincaid got the line perfectly the very first take, and the director said "That's a wrap!"

"Wow," he said, "That was great. Ok, I think we're done here. Thanks girls. Here are your checks."

Cambria Angel was very glad when it was over. It was a neat experience and she was glad to have done it, but she didn't want to do it again.

Kincaid, on the other hand, was pumped. Wow, she thought, what a feeling! I think I am in love with acting!

Kincaid couldn't stop thinking about being up in front of a camera or onstage.

Unlike Cambria Angel, Kincaid had never been in any school pays or anything like that. So Kincaid was not used to acting or anything.

Later they went home and it was time to start school. Kincaid and Cambria Angel were excited for school, especially because the commercial had been on tv a couple times and some of their school friends had seen it.

Kincaid was really excited because she had decided to look for opportunties to perform.

The first thing that came up was their towns local pageant.

Kincaid asked her mom and dad if she could enter the pageant. They said okay. It was the Junior Miss County Fair pageant. It was advertised for girls in the county who were between 8 and 12 years old. Great! Kincaid thought. I am 12, so I'm just the right age to be in it! Kincaid would need to do Interview, Formal Wear, and Talent Competition for the pageant.

Cambria Angel didnt want to enter, and a pageant was not the sort of thing that her parents would have let her do anyway, but she was excited for Kincaid and helped her friend get ready for the pageant. They went shopping for the clothes Kincaid would need and Cambria hekped her practice.

Finally the big day came. There were twenty-five girls in the Junior Miss County Fair pageant. Kincaid was pretty nervous but she tried not to think about it.

First was interview. This was not done onstage, it was backstage in a little room with the judges. After introducing herself, Kincaid had to answer questions like "Why do you want to be the new winner?" and "What do you think you can do to be a positive role model for girls?" and "Tell us about an achievement you had in school." Kincaid got over her nerves because she was excited to talk in front of people.

But all too soon the interview was voer and it was time to get ready for the opening number. That's a dance routine that all the girls in the pageant do together. It is not judged, it is just for fun. Kincaid and the other girls would all be wearing red white and blue outfits and dancing to a song from the 80s. Kincaid had so much fun dancing in the opening number that she forgot to be nervous.

Next it was time to do her Talent routine. That was going to be judged, so Kincaid got a little nervous. She put on her sparkly dress and went to the microphone. Lots of other girls had sung too, but at least no one had sang the same song she was singing. Kincaid started out singing softly but her voice got stronger as she got more calm and her nerves started to go away. Her song was Popular from the musical Wicked, and the audience really liked it. Kincaid grinned as they all clapped. How exciting! Kincaid hoped she had done well.
There was Cambria Angel, cheering for her in the front row.

As soon as she got done with Talent, she rushed backstage to get her dress on for formal wear. That was the last event. After that, it would be time for the winners to be announced!

For formal wear, Cambria Angel had loaned Kincaid a beautiful hairband, and Kincaid's mom had shopped with her for a new dress.

During formal wear, first all the girls came out together at once in a row, then they had to come back onstage one by one. They looked like a bunch of princesses, all standing in a row in their fluffy dresses.

Kincaid tried to look calm and smile a lot, she felt nervous but she didn't want her nerves to show. So while she walked onstage she thought about how nice her best friend was to help her out. Thinking about her friendship with Cambria Angel always brought a huge smile to her face.

Before she knew it, formal wear was over.

They took a short break to calculate the scores, and then it was time for awards.
Kincaid and the other contestants were allowed to go out and see their family and friends during the break.

"Did I do okay?" Kincaid asked, worried. There were 25 girls in the pageant and they had all done very well in their talent routines.

"Okay ladies and gentlemen we're starting up again, so we need all the contestants backstage. It's time to see who is our new Junior Miss County Fair!"

Kincaid swallowed the lump in her throat. She got up and started for the backstage area. It was time to see how she had done in the pageant.

Kincaid started for backstage, but Cambria Angel grabbed her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze first. Kincaid smiled back gratefuly.

As Kincaid lined up onstage with the other girls in the pageant, she started to wonder if she would even win anything at all. The Junior Miss County Fair pageant was for girls 8-12, and Kincaid was 12. She was one of the oldests, and she was taller than the little kids. There were a lot of 8 and 9 year olds in the pageant this year... so maybe the judges and audience would like them better since they were cute little kids. Maybe Kincaid was too old and awkward to win.

They started by giving every girl a participation trophy for being in the pageant. Kincaid was happy because she thought, "Oh well, if I don't win anything at least I will have a trophy to take home with me".

Next it was time to call the Top 10 out of the 25 girls who enterred the pageant. Kincaid's heart thumped. She was the VERY LAST person to be called out of the Top 10. She thought she might faint when she heard her name as that final tenth person.

All the ten girls called for top ten came to the front and stood in a line holding hands.

The fifteen girls who had not made it into the top ten were each given a prize bag from the director of the pageant. They stayed onstage because they still had a chance to get some of the extra awards that would be given out now.

The announcer read off his paper who had won the extra awards.

There were lots of them so every girl won an award. Kincaid was surprised to hear her name called for three awards.

They gave out trophies to different girls for things like prettiest outfit, prettiest smile, etc. Kincaid got a trophy for having the prettiest eyes in the pageant. Kincaid's mom always told her she had pretty eyes, but she didn't think anyone else ever noticed them, so she was surprised and delighted to be chosen for the prize.

Then she was given a trophy because out of all the girls in the pageant, she had done the most volunteer work in the community (Cambria Angel let out a big cheer for Kincaid when that award was announced).

Third, she got a trophy for getting the highest score in the Talent competition. WOW! Kincaid thought. I guess I did ok after all! They really liked my singing. She smiled.

"And now", the announcer said, after all the extra trophies had been given out, "It is time to announce our runners up and our queen...may I have the envelope please?"

A judge handed him the envelope and he opened it as a drumroll played. There were four big trophies onstage, ready for the runners up.

"The fourth runner up is Caylee James," He said.

We know her from school! Kincaid and Cambria Angel both thought. Caylee was only 8, but they sometimes played on the playground with her and her friends. They were happy she was a runner up. Caylee grinned excitedly and skipped over to where the big fourth runner up trophy was.

"Our third runner up is...Eliza Adkins!"

The girls did not know Eliza Adkins, but then remembered she was from a different town in their county. Eliza smiled shyly and went over to stand by her big trophy.

"Our second runner up is...Michelle Harris!"

Michelle! Michelle was just their age and was even in their class at school. Michelle was new so they didn't know her very well, but they were glad she did well in the pageant and they each hoped that being in the pageant had helped her to make some friends here in town.

Kincaid was thinking about Michelle when the announcer said, "Our first runner up is..."
and thats when she realized that there were only two names left. Would she be called? Or not? She didn't know. She didn't think so. It seemed she had done well, but there were also probably a lot of mistakes she had made, and Kincaid was pretty hard on herself.

Oh well, she thought. I am just thrilled that I got into the Top Ten and I even won some awards. That is enough for me. I don't have to be a runner up or the winner. I am happy with what I got.

With that resolution, Kincaid decided to just enjoy the rest of the pageant and not worry about winning or losing. If any girl won Kincaid would be happy for her and not worry.

"Celeste Lindsey!" The announcer called. "Celeste Lindsey is our first runner up!"

Cambria Angel made a face to Kincaid from the audience. Kincaid tried not to giggle. Celeste also went to their school, and she was well known for not being exactly nice. Celeste was very pretty, and bragged to everyone that since she was five years old she had taken private ballet lessons from a retired prima ballerina from the Russian Ballet...which is probably why she enterred the pageant, so she could show everyone how pretty and how talented she was. And Celeste WAS pretty and talented, Kincaid agreed. But, Kincaid thought, the problem is, she never stops telling everybody how pretty and talented she is!

Kincaid was surprised to see that far from being happy with her big trophy, Celeste looked annoyed. She took the big trophy and stomped off the stage.

"She's probably angry that she was a runner up instead of the winner," Kincaid realized. "Thats so silly....there were 25 girls in the contest...any one of them would have loved to be a runner up...I think a person should just be happy with what they got."

But there was no reason to think about that anymore.

Kincaid listened as the announcer said, "And our new Junior Miss County Fair is...."

There was a drumroll.

Kincaid winked at Cambria then, to say hi to her best friend in the audience.

Kincaid by now was getting tired of being in her dress and thought some comfy PJs would hit the spot just about now! The pageant was lots of fun, but now she just wanted to see the new winner get crowned and then go home and have some fun.

"Kincaid!" The announcer said. Kincaid just stood there.

The other girls in line with her started to poke her. "Kincaid, that's you. You won!" They said.

"What?" Kincaid asked.

It wasnt sinking in.Cambria Angel was so excited she was about to burst.

"KINCAID!" She yelled, hopping up on her seat. "HEY EVERYBODY, THATS MY BEST FRIEND!"

The audience laughed, and Cambria Angel's cheeks turned pink and she slid back down in her seat.

That broke Kincaid's spell.

She suddenly realized what had happened.

"Oh my goodness!" She exclaimed.

Last year's winner came toward her. She put the sash on Kincaid, that said JUNIOR MISS COUNTY FAIR.

Then she put the beautiful tiara on Kincaid's head and handed Kincaid a big trophy and a bouquet of flowers.

Kincaid couldn't believe this was happening.

Of course she enterred the pageant hoping to win something, but she never expected to win the main award. Anyway she mostly just enterred because she wnated to have a chance to perform on a stage.

Kincaid started crying and was totally surprised at her own reaction.

All the other girls in the pageant came over to hug her and Congratulate her. Kincaid felt like she was walking in a dream.

Cambria Angel hopped onto the stage and raced up to her friend and gave her a huge hug. "You did it!" She exclaimed.

Kincaid's mom got out her camera and took a picture of the two girls together, grinning.

"Take another one please, mom, but this time let Cambria Angel be the one wearing the crown!" Kincaid asked, yanking off her tiara and popping it onto Cambria Angel's head.
Cambria Angel giggled as they smiled for the picture.

"Excuse me, excuse me," A young woman in a blue business suit said, inching toward them. Her business clothing was odd for being at the county fair, so she kind of stuck out.

She outstretched her hand toward Kincaid. There was a business card in her hand.

She turned to Kincaid's mother and began talking."I'm Bernadette Ralph, owner of the Metropolitan Area Modeling and Talent Agency. A woman named Mrs. Lindsey asked me to come out here to the pageant and watch it to see if her daughter Celeste had enough talent to be signed onto our agency...but I'm more interested in Kincaid here, when I heard her sing I thought we could defintely market her as a singer, and probably as a model too. Perhaps even acting, what about that dear, do you have any experience acting?"

She spoke very fast and Kincaid felt overwhelmed.

Kincaid answered, "Well- I- was in a commercial this summer- for sunblock!"

The woman laughed. "Well, we'll see then. Here's my card. Do get in touch!"

She was swept away in the crowd, and Kincaid and Cambria Angel just stared at each other with big round eyes.

Me? A singer? A model? An actress? Kincaid thought.Where do I sign up?!
To be Continued....

Harry Potter dolls

These Tonner dolls are Harry Potter characters. Tonner also has lots of other Harry Potter characters besides the ones I have, like Draco, Lucius, Snape, and even Voldemort! Plus they have accessories and clothes and stuff....but I don't have any of that, I have Harry and Hermione in their school outfits and that's it. Maybe someday I will be able to collect all the characters and their stuff. I'm not sure how I feel about Ron, though. I feel they gave him Bozo hair.

Tonner also makes similar dolls for other movies too, not just Harry Potter. They have Twilight, Titanic, and lots more. You should check out Tonner Dolls.

These pictures are kinda old, I got Harry back when he first came out (after the release of Goblet of Fire- that's Year 4, in case you don't remember the titles). In case you are wondering why he has blue eyes instead of green, it's because the dolls are based off the movie actors, not the book characters. Also, the Harry dolls hair is very long because in the 4th movie his hair was long, and these dolls all came out after the 4th movie so their "look" is all kind of reflective of that movie.


So anyway, when I got Hermione...well, let me tell you a funny story about when I got Hermione.

I had gotten Harry before, and so for my birthday I asked for Hermione. This was years ago.

Well anyway my mom had wrapped the Hermione doll in birthday wrapping paper and then left the box that the doll came in someplace in our house (I don't remember where).

My dad knew I had Harry, so when he saw the box my mom had left someplace, he thought I was getting rid of my box that Harry came in, I guess. So he brought the box to me and said, "Don't you think you should keep this box to put your Harry doll in?"

So he's holding it out toward me, and there's this *giant label* on the end of the box (the end that was facing me) and the label said, "HERMIONE DOLL".

Lol. Poor clueless daddy.

I said, "Gee, I guess I know what I'm getting for my birthday!"

Haha!

My dad turned the box around and saw the label and got this silly look on his face and said, "....Oh."

:-)

I mean, it wasn't a huge surprise, I *did* ask for Hermione for my birthday, after all....but still...you don't always expect to get something just because you asked for....I mean, maybe my parents didn't buy Hermione. Maybe they had bought me some other doll thing. They know I like dolls. They didn't *have* to buy Hermione just because I wanted her. They could have gotten any old doll thing.

So it was a birthday surprise that bit the dust.

Not only was I spoiled getting this great birthday present, but I was literally *spoiled* by my own birthday present.


Here, take a look at my pics if you want... I know I took too many, but I had so much fun with them. They're not American Girl dolls, but they have a lot of playability to them (including the ability to look as if they're walking or dancing) and their faces are so realistic that it makes them very beautiful.

Oh, they each come with a wand but I didn't have it in the picture....the wands are so little that I didn't want to lose them so I usually just leave them in the box. The wands are the only "accessory" they come with, other accessories you can get are sold seperately. The coolest accessory, I think, is Harry's Quidditch set. It costs too much but I can't help wanting it!

See for yourself:


I love how expressive she looks:

Harry looks kinda weird up here:

I don't know why she isn't wearing her tights:

I would never ever brush this hair:

I just love her face. Emma Watson is too pretty to be Hermione. The fact that Hermione is supposed to be "not pretty" is actually one of the things I enjoy about her character:

Practicing for the Yule Ball? :

fancy-schmancy practicing for the Yule Ball:

For some reason Harry's face is all fuzzy in this:

This one's not much better but at least he's got pretty eyes:

Hermione's a bit fuzzy too, maybe I just zoomed in too close:

Hermione looks like she is smiling more in this one:

I didn't mean to put this one on here, 'cuz it came out bad, but then I couldn't get it to be removed for some reason:

Best Friends:

Best friends stick together through thick and thin:

Hermione, profile:

This is Hermione's school uniform without her sweater and robes, which I took off:

Harry and Hermione are like brother and sister, not boyfriend and girlfriend. That is because they are not supposed to end up together. J.K. Rowling has a different idea for both of them:

Harry looks kinda evil in this:

Hermione looks reflective in this...oh, there's her sweater, by the way:

Hermione looks kinda mad when the light is turned down:

Is this a double post? I can't tell:

Matching school sweaters. If they look too big on top, it is because I didn't snap the sweaters in the back. I was too busy playing with them to bother to dress them correctly:

I was trying to make them look like they were just standing around talking, but that didn't really work, because look at their feet...they have poseable feet, and I didn't exactly do any posing, lol:

Okay here I got the poseability thing down. I love that you can make them look like they're walking:

Hermione sitting down, too dark:

Hermione sitting down, too light:

No they are not dating and I don't want them to date...but I couldn't resist makin' them hug like they do in the movies. :-)

When I took this picture, I had no idea you could see up Hermione's skirt. Thank goodness for thick leggings.

Here they are- this is how they look when you buy them. They come dressed in their unform and their robes and wands are included.
Here they are sitting on all the HP stuff I had at that time-

The Harry and Hermione dolls,

The first 6 Harry Potter books,

Plus the two "textbooks" they made from Hogwarts School,

And the first 4 harry Potter movies.

(Now I also have the 7th book of the series, which by the way is the last book sadly!

And I also have the book Tales of Beedle the Bard, which is like Harry Potter fairy tales.)

Kirsten 1854 Minnesota

FAREWELL, KIRSTEN

Kirsten Larson, pioneer girl character, is now gone from the American Girl website and will no longer be sold in the catalogs, online, or in the stores. You can see her picture up in the American Girl Archives because she is now at last retired. Kirsten was one of the orginal three American Girl dolls introduced in 1986 (along with Samantha and Molly).

Here is my Kirsten, which was my grandmother's.


My grandma bought her for me in either late 1994 or early 1995, and she was supposed to be a birthday gift.

I had been wanting Molly for a long time, and when my grandma found out which doll I wanted, she just kept Kirsten for herself and bought Molly for me.

As a kid I never knew this, my mom didn't tell me until years later, after my grandma died.

I mean I knew grandma had a Kirsten doll, but I just figured, "Oh, grandma must like Kirsten", nobody ever told me that she had bought the extra doll because she found out that the one I really wanted was Molly, not Kirsten.

But for whatever reason she kept her.

Kirsten is now retired, and because grandma kept her, I have a very nice old Kirsten that is in brand-new condition despite being old now.

Grandma kept Kirsten in mint condition, only removed her from the box once in a while, so Kirsten still looks new.

As for collecting stuff for Kirsten, I did not do much because I did not not think Kirsten would retire, so I wasn't worried about it, and if I had known I probably would have tried to collect her things faster. I like Kirsten things a lot...but I didn't buy too many of her things in the past because I was worried about other things retiring, so I'd buy them instead.

Here (below) is Kirsten in her underwear set. It seemed silly to buy an underwear set but I'm glad I bought these because they are very, very nice, and not long after I bought them, they were retired. The make her feel more... "pioneer-ish" to me, because they're flannel and they're quilted, so I can imagine her needing them on those cold winter days out on the farm.


Here (below) is Kirsten in her "extra" dress (originally, each doll had two extra dresses). Kirsten's were this green dress, called her work dress (although it looks too nice to be for work!) and a dirndl outfit (highly sought after, I unfortunately do not have).
I forgot to buy the shoes that go with this dress...now they are retired so I probably won't get them, at least not for a long time, but anyway I decided to just leave her in her socks for this picture because her other shoes don't go with this dress.

Here (below) is Kirsten wearing her work dress and sitting at her table and chairs.
If you notice, the table and chairs are the old kind. Later they switched to a lighter wood and put a design on the table and chairs. I am glad I have the old kind because I like it better than the new kind. But, I do not have the orginal dishes set that goes on the table. I have the newer set of dish things..so my dishes don't exactly match my table, haha, oh well.

Here (below) are pictures to show the difference from the old table set to the new table set. I have the old table, but all the stuff that goes on top of the new table....so mine is mis-matched. Oh well.


Here is what the two different table sets looked like:


OLD TABLE (mine):
OLD DISHES SET TO GO TOP OF OLD TABLE (don't have these):NEW TABLE (do not have): NEW DISHES SET TO GO ON TOP OF NEW TABLE (mine) :

So in total my Kirsten collection includes:

-Kirsten in her meet outfit
-Table and Chairs (old version)
-Holiday Baking Set (thats those new dishes)
-her doll Sari (see photo at top of post)
-work dress
-flannel underwear set
-plaid shawl outfit (see photo at top of post)
-Bed
-Bedding and quilt kit
-Trunk

Every Kirsten thing I have is pictured in the photos I put up- except, I don't yet have photos of her bed, bedding, or trunk.
I hope to take some soon and put them up. I love her trunk a lot (as some of you know, the trunks are usually my favorite part of a doll collection!)

I am very glad I got all her furniture at least (well, I didn't get her desk but that's okay) because I figure furniture is the hardest thing to get once it's retired.

My advice is that you should get the doll's furniture first. If things are retired, the furniture will be the most expensive on Ebay.
(Because the price is high anyway even when it hasn't been retired, so once it's retired it will really skyrocket).

Oh, by the way, the outfit in the photo at the top of this post- the plaid shawl outfit- is, I have to say, one of the two BEST outfits that American Girl has made. (The other is Molly's Aviator Outfit). The reason I say that, is that these days American Girl's quality seems to be going down. Those two outfits are spectacular in their quality, so much so that they surpass even the older AG outfits from the 80s and early 90s. That's how good they are. They are made of quality stuff, and they are made well, and they are very detailed. So if you could only get one or two doll outfits, I would say get Kirsten's Plaid Shawl outfit and Molly's Aviator outfit!