SQUUUEEEEEAAAALLLL!!! The Story of Laura and Blythe: Part 2

I told you this story would be continued, didn't I?  Well, exactly one week ago I took THE PLUNGE and ordered myself a Blythe doll!!  Online ordering is a dangerous thing because it's so easy to just click and purchase.  However, I have waited at least three years before allowing myself that "click", so I guess I do have self control after all.  I had some money from Etsy sales saved up and decided to treat myself. 

Thanks to the wonders of the internet, I was able to track my Blythe doll as she made her way across the Pacific from Hong Kong to California, then on east until she reached me here in Iowa on Thursday.  I bet you think I immediately ripped the box open when it arrived, right?  Well, that's not quite what happened.  Since this is a day I've looked forward to for a while, I'm going to document the details of how this all went down.

First of all, we have just had new siding put on our house and garage.  Everything has been in disarray outside with all the construction gear and what not.  Also, I've been busy like crazy getting things ready for a Holiday Boutique that I participated in on Thursday.  Most of my extra minutes on Thursday went into last minute details for the boutique.  I knew from looking online that she would probably arrive on Thursday, but also knew I'd be SOOOO busy.  Anyway, I was rushing to get my oldest son to his piano lesson around 2 p.m. and quickly walked out to get the mail.  As I walked back to the house with the mail, I looked through it to see if there was anything interesting besides bills and catalogs.  That is when I noticed one of those slips from the mail carrier telling that they've left you a package.  It was a nice day and usually they just leave it right by our door.  However, the slip said it was in the garage.  I quickly checked and, sure enough, there was a neatly wrapped brown package in the garage.  I knew from the Hong Kong postmark that it was HER!  BUT...........I had to get to a piano lesson.  So I put the box in the house and headed on my merry way.

AFTER the piano lesson, I had just a few minutes to load everything for the boutique, change clothes, then drop the boys off at my mom's house and head to the boutique venue to set up.  NO TIME to open the box.  Truthfully, I would have had time, but I knew I wanted to savor the moment.  So I was determined to wait until later.

I had told my youngest son about the Blythe doll coming and he knew she was here.  He REALLY wanted me to open the box, but I told him "later."

After the boutique I went to my sons' Cub Scout pack meeting and picked them up.  When we got home, my youngest asked me again when I would open the "Blythe".  I told him "later."  As I put him to bed he REALLY wanted me to go get the box and open it with him.  I told him I really wanted to do it by myself and that I'd show him in the morning.  I really knew from the moment the box came that I wanted to wait for a special quiet time to open it all by myself.

SO............at about 10:45ish p.m. I finally went down to my craft studio where I'd stashed the box.  I took along some nail scissors to cut the tape and got busy.  As you may well know, it takes a LONG time to get toys out of their boxes and Blythe was no exception.  I took several photos to document this process.  They did not turn out great since it was at night with flash photography and no natural light.  But it is what it is.  The photo below shows the return address on the box.  My oldest son who loves geography thought it was cool that we got something from overseas.  (I did too.)

The package was very neatly wrapped in brown kraft paper and taped very securely.  After removing the brown paper, there was a brown cardboard box inside.  The photo below shows what was printed on this box.

After slitting the tape on the cardboard box, I could see the pink end of the Blythe box.  I slid it out and below you can see my first glimpse of my new Nicky Lad Blythe doll.

The next two photos show the back of the box.  All the Blythe boxes are different and I love the retro colorful graphics on this box in particular.  I also love all the Japanese (or maybe it's Chinese?) writing on the back of the box.  The second photo shows this close up.

After photographing the box, I opened it and slid out the insert.  As expected, everything was securely taped inside.  There was only one of those annoying wire tie things though, which was nice.  I took my time in removing all the accessories in their taped bags.  I didn't want to damage the yellow cardboard insert.  After I carefully removed all the accessories, I finally retrieved Blythe herself from the box.

One of my first observations of her right off the bat was that her legs were more rubbery feeling than I expected.  Her torso, arms and head are a hard plastic, but her legs are more rubbery.  They're still rigid, but have a different feel than the rest of her.  I also noticed (and loved) how silky her hair is.  I really love her hairstyle.  She is SO cute.  Of course one of the first things I did was pull her string to change her eye colors.  You have to pull kind of hard and her lids close, then there's a distinct "click" sound and her new eye color is revealed.  My favorite is her green eyes which are in all the photos below.  I really apologize for the crappy photos.  I can't wait to try to photograph her in natural light tomorrow.  In the photo below she is propped on my treadmill which is in the craft studio. (Blythes all come with a stand which is really nice since they can't stand on their own.)  She's wearing a dress I made a few weeks ago before I even had ordered her.  I was really happy that it fits perfectly.  I think it's very sweet on her.   I just need to sew some snaps on the back.  Another observation I made when taking these photos is that her head is slightly tilted down (and I couldn't figure out how to tilt it up anymore) which meant that I had to lie on the floor to get photos of her.  Otherwise, I don't think her face would have shown in the photos.

This next photo is her "meet" outfit.  It's pretty cute, although you can't tell in the photo.  ACK!  Flash photography.  It's a polo shirt with little white denim shorts.  She also has these bulky gray socks (which I don't care for and which are hard as heck to  put on) and bright pink high-top sneakers.  I love the sneakers.  Probably won't use the socks much for her though.

She also has a pair of hot pink glasses and a yellow "raincoat" with pink trim.  I will try to get a better photo of her tomorrow in natural light.  

After playing with her a bit, I set her on the table behind my sewing machine and did some other things in my studio.  It made me VERY happy to look over and see her there.  I am SO glad I am finally a Blythe owner.  I definitely don't want to stop at just one!  Now I know why they're so addictive.  I LOVE HER!!!

Oh..........I'd decided to call her...........Talia.  Many years ago when I taught in a Montessori school in Iowa City, I had a student named Talia and I've loved that name ever since.  I never had a little girl of my own to name Talia.  I was thinking of naming her Talia but wanted to "meet"  her to see if it suited her and I think it does. 

Well, I guess that's all.  For now.  I'd better go to bed as it's 1:00 AM.  I may just pop down to the studio first to say 'night to little Talia.