Nikki and Kendra Have Lunch

Remember Kendra?  I introduced her back in May.  She is Darius' sister and is married to Dr. Burke.  You can read a little about her here.  She and Nikki are meeting for lunch at a nice little Japanese restaurant to discuss their upcoming ski trip.

"This is one of my favorite little restaurants. Darius and I usually come at dinner time/"

 "Nate loves sushi, so I will have to bring him here soon." 

They continue chit chatting, while waiting for their drinks.

"So I just secured our lodging at a place called Chateau Eau Claire.  I just can't wait to hit the slopes. I desperately need a vacation and Aspen, CO is calling my name.  Darius won't admit it but he is running on fumes these days."

"I'm surprised you got Mr. Workaholic to go away for a week.  You know he thinks everything will fall apart if he isn't running things.  I don't know what I'm saying, Nate is exactly the same way."

"It wasn't easy.  It involved some major coaxing, if you know what I mean."

"Well I'm hoping that Nate and I will leave as a couple, and return as a family.   My doctor thinks we are too stressed out and that's why I can't get pregnant."

"Nothing like cold snow and a roaring fire to bring a couple closer together."

"How are you doing over there Dr. Anderson?"

"Just fine, Kimoko."

"Can I get you something to eat?"

"I'm waiting for my wife.  We have a lunch date."

"That is so sweet that you two still have dates. One second. I will be right back."

"Here are your drinks.  Your bento boxes will be out soon."

Ayami and Sunni are enjoying their lunch. 

"Here's to a wonderful, romantic weekend in Aspen, Co!"

"Here, here."

"Are you sure you aren't being stood up?"

"She wouldn't dare.  She's notorious for being late."

"Oh, there's my gorgeous wife, now."

"Honey, this is Kimoko. She's been keeping me company."

"Hi Kimoko.  I hope my husband hasn't been talking your ear off."

"No. He's a real sweetheart."

"Ladies, lunch is served.  Can I get you anything else?"

"No. That will be it for now.  Thanks."

Nikki and Kendra end up taking a little longer than an hour for lunch.  Dr. Anderson heads back to his dentist office for a few afternoon appointments.  The Coopers (they were first seen in the Pediatrician video), finally sit down for lunch.  With three little ones under the age of two, Mrs. Cooper is just happy to get an afternoon away from the chaos.  Sunni goes to pick up the girls from daycare.  Kimoko readies the restaurant for the evening crowd.

Adele and Sydney are Headed to Morristown (New Video)

Wow, two videos in two weeks.  With all the wedding stuff that has to happen, I have to speed up this process.  Adele and Sydney got the honors of being some of the first passengers on the Friendship Plane. 

Roberta, the stewardess is from the Rebelde High School dolls.  I got her head earlier this year in a trade.  I love this doll, and I am happy to finally be able to use her.  I meant to put some ribbons in Sydney's hair, but spent too much time getting earrings on Adele and totally forgot.

I love High Brow Adele so much more in person, than in the pictures I saw.

Double click on the YouTube icon to see the video in full view.  Much better to see the script this way.

Happy Thanksgiving from Morristown

Happy Thanksgiving from everyone in Morristown.  We hope you had a safe, healthy, and happy holiday!

Well many of the ladies here were up all night cooking their dinner.  Let's check in on a couple of the families. 

The Taylors had a wonderful dinner with Antoinette's two sisters and Darren (the little brother), China and Taylor, their daughter.

The youngest sister favors Antoinette, but sports a head full of red hair that seems to be from her great, great grandfather.

The oldest sister rearranged her schedule to make sure she could attend.

What is Thanksgiving without a children's table?

Antoinette's menu:  Turkey, collard greens, baked macaroni and cheese, homemade cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy, candied yams, dressing and cornbread.

(At the last minute I was finally inspired to make Thanksgiving dinner. The cornbread was already done, and I made the cranberry sauce a week ago.  Everything else I made yesterday and today.  They almost had a vegetarian meal.  The meats were next to the last thing I made. I threw the green vegetables together last.

"Honey we need to say grace before you carve the turkey."

Everyone gathers around the table, holding hands, as Tony blesses the meal.

Meanwhile......a couple doors down, Danielle has just set her table.

 

"Rod, dear, I really think we need to get on with dinner."

Danielle is serving country ham, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, whipped yams, dressing, biscuits, cornbread, and canned cranberry sauce. (You can't have Thanksgiving without canned cranberry sauce showing up somewhere.)  Looks like she forgot to put out the special vegetarian dish she made for Paulette.

I am most proud of my ham.  I made it right after I made the turkey, and I was exhausted by this point. I wasn't going to make the pineapples, but I pushed through.  The collards were my next biggest triumph. I had no idea how I was going to make them.  I took a nap.  Woke up and made it happen.

I nade the cranberry sauce last week, and the biscuits were done a couple weeks ago.  The green beans were the absolute last thing I made right after I made the collard greens.  I was a happy camper.  I felt the same elation when I used to stay up all night and cook for real people.  All the items I made were first time attempts.  There are some things I will do differently next time.  I will make those improvements for the Christmas dinner. LOL.

The guests have been waiting patiently, but Julian is finally getting a little antsy.

Paulette has been keeping Jacob busy.  They have gotten a lot closer since she babysat the other day.

Ian came to dinner solo. 

"Mom, is it time to eat yet?"

"Yes, Julian.  It's time. Can you please help people to their seats?"

So it was a successful Thanksgiving day in Morristown. 

I've Met Another Amazing 11 year old

Through my YouTube videos, I have met some wonderful young people.  I have had several 10 and 11 years old that have reached out to me and communicated with me on a regular basis.  I have been really impressed with some of them.  Many have expressed being inspired by my videos.  That is a constant reminder of why I spend countless hours doing what I do.

Yesterday one of my subscribers sent me the following message:
"Hi, it's me again. Listen, I started making my doll series, I've got 4 down so far. I was wondering if you would like to see them? And if you like them, maybe you could tell peple? I'm only eleven, and I don't have many friends on youtube. Your like, the only person I would ask for this because your so nice. If you have the time I hope you respond or at least look at my videos. Thanks! <3"

I regularly get requests to look at someone's channel.  I always look, and provide feedback.  This time when I looked, I was immediately touched by what this young 11 year old had created.  First of all, it is mostly vintage dolls and playsets.  Amazing.  I watched the fourth video first, then went back and looked at the rest, starting at the beginning.  That's when I realized she was telling the Barbie story, from birth.  She had great storytelling. Not one misspelled word or punctuation out of place (as far as I could tell).   Again, I was impressed.  I clearly see a movie producer in the making. 

So I introduce to you SuperMuffyDuffy.  (I am very careful about my communication with young people on line, so I never ask their real names.) She is 11 years old and her doll collection was handed down to her by her grandmother.  She watched all of the 50's Barbie commercials as part of her research.  I don't think you will be disappointed when you see what she has put together.  If you like them, please double-click on the YouTube icon and leave a comment directly on the videos, so that she will get the recognition for her hard work. 

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It's Time To Hang Out At The Den - A New Video

As promised, I finished the new video.  I really hope you guys enjoy your time at The Den.  If you missed the post yesterday, about The Den, you might want to read that one as well.  I have to apologize in advance for Shantavia's earrings.  I never got around to changing them, and they clearly do not go with her outfit.  Leslie's dad is currently more hands on since The Den is new.  Now that The Den is staying in Morristown, I think he is going to hire someone to help run the spot.  These pictures were taken in very low light.  I was testing the camera on auto to see how it handles low light.  Some of the pictures turned out a little grainy. I think next time I will try to program the settings to see how it does.

Better when viewed in Full Screen  Double click on the YouTube logo for more viewing options.

  

A Glimpse At The Upcoming Video

I don't know if you heard, but Tracy is having video withdrawals.  So I got up early to shoot the new video.  I don't know how she could be having video withdrawals with all that relationship drama happening over at Dolls and the City.  I decided she didn't need anymore stress, so by tomorrow morning there should be a new video posted.

The new video will take place at The Den.  The Den is a new little spot that Leslie's father owns.  He was a jazz musician back in the day, and always said that when he retired he was going to open up a little jazz spot.  I had no intention of keeping this dio up, but I just love it, and I think it needs to be a permanent part of Morristown.  I think there will be other things happening at the Den.  This is a much better spot for the bachelor's party and probably a few other wedding functions. 

Here is a peek inside.  A special thank you goes out to Vita Plastica for blogging about those LED tealights from Big Lots.  They make perfect flickering candles on the tables.  Just in case anyone is wondering, the tabletops are made of cardboard with a hole in the center for the tealights. As you can see the decor is not quite done.  It will change as time goes on, but we can't hold up video production for that.  You guys know me by now.  What's my motto?  Gotta keep it movin'!

This lady and her husband were just coming to hear the jazz.  They are friends of Darius and Nikki.  As I was setting things up, I noticed she and Chris (Kara's husband) had very similar features.

See the resemblance?  So....they are now brother and sister.  I just love when these things happen.  I wasn't even trying to get a connection there.  But now that means that Kara and Chris now have a distant connection to the world of Darius and Nikki.  I wonder if they will ever meet?

Houston, We Have a Hotel and A Wedding Planner

Do you guys remember when I bought this?  It was November 2010.  I bought it for $5 from the doll show.  It just happened to be from the same woman I bought the airplane from this year.  This has been sitting in the corner waiting for me to figure out what to do with it. 

Well, I decided to turn it into a hotel room.  I can't have people jetsetting across the country without a place to stay.



I plan to fix it up a bit.  I'll make some nice bedding.

Add some towels and toiletries.

There are so many different ways I can set this up.  I can put a little sitting area in front of the bed.  I can put a little round table or a desk in front.  I can hang a little chandelier over the bed.  I can even install mirrors on top of the bed. 

Meet Adele.  I have been waiting on her arrival for her to get this wedding going.  Initially, she was going to just be a wedding planner that Danielle hires.

I think she will still handle the wedding planning, but I've decided to make her one of Danielle's close friends that she grew up with.

She has a daughter, named Sydney.  Right now she is a stay at home mom, at least for another year.  She is not at all thrilled about it.  She loves her daughter, but she would be lying if she didn't admit that she was looking forward to getting back to work.

They currently live in Chicago, but her husband's job is relocating to the Maryland area in the next six months.  She and Sydney will be spending time in the area, trying to figure out where to live.  She will also be trying to secure a teaching position for the 2013 school year.

For those needing a Darius fix...

The hotel will be a traveling hotel. So when Darius and Nikki hit the slopes in Aspen, they too will be staying in the hotel room.

As you can see, they are doing quite well even though they haven't had much camera time lately.