Man, I've been in a funk for a couple of days. It's weird because it's not all the time, just a few hours here and there. I'm blaming my period and the flea explosion downstairs. I think it's getting under control but still... one bite and I'm itching for weeks.
I mention this only because it's why pictures and Nanea squee have not appeared yet. I opened Nanea... Sunday? Sunday, I think and didn't take her out of the box because have you seen what she comes in? White shorts in dust and cat central? No ma'am. But I did want to make sure there wasn't some big, glaring problem that would require talking to CS (I gather their phone lines are seriously understaffed at the moment.) and so I had to do battle with the box. I guess when they changed the packaging for just about everything at the start of the year they also started using those little plastic seals on the doll boxes, too? Meh.
K. Nanea's mold is like if Josefina and Marie Grace had a little baby. I specifically used those two because Josefina's got the surprised brows that Nanea seems prone to and well, only MG has used her mold. So far. Maybe one day, AG. Maybe one day. I remember when MG first came out and people started getting her, people were obsessing over her eyes and the placement and whether there was a weird crimp or something near the sockets. I remember this because once I heard about it and saw a particularly funky one, I had to spend ten minutes eye-balling my poor MG. Yeaaaaaaah. Nanea's got a similar thing in that her eye sockets are SO round that you can see
for miles what feels like the whole eyeball and it's disconcerting. Really disconcerting if you're not prepped for it, honestly. My attention went straight to her eyes and then a little to the left and I was staring into her dolly skull and it was not a good time to be had. So I put her back in her box and told her we'd try this again later because clearly I was In A Mood.
Yesterday, I attempted to pop her out of her box. That took some work, lemme tell you. Mostly trying to get the book out without it getting damaged. Wtf, AG. I shouldn't have to destroy the box to get the book out. I really miss the little book tray they used before. I'm old and set in my ways, doll company. Work with me! And also really, if I had to work that hard to not fuck up the book, what do impatient kids do? I assume the new packaging is a way to save money (and adhere to the laws in say, Mexico, Canada, and perhaps whatever European expansion they keep hinting at) but if you have to replace borked books, that's not saving money.
I will say that her hairnet didn't really get caught up in anything, which was a first and so there I was. Face to face with Nanea and her eye sockets of doom. No, no, I kid. But I sat there, apparently in a funk once more, and wondering if perhaps I had made a grave mistake.
FF a few hours and some chocolate later and I went back to Nanea. Third time is the charm, dammit.
So I changed her outfit. Her Meet is one I like in pictures and I like the way it feels and looks but those white shorts basically scream "dirt magnet!" and I stress. So of course I put her in Melody's new outfit because white tights are so much less of a dirt magnet, right? *eyes roll out of head* It took a bit but Nanea and I eventually managed to make friends. Mostly because Ozma was very, very interested in Nanea. She flumped down next to us and just looked at her like, "and you will be my new friend and you can start loving me any time. Thank you."
( Nanea! )Onward. I read her book and really, really missed the illustrated books. Keep them in the giant collected forms, AG, but throw me a friends and family picture at the front or back, ok? Also, I am cheesed that her book cheerfully announces that it's available as an e-book. No, no you aren't. Not yet, anyway. Sigh.
Nanea and Maryellen would get along rather well. Both act before they think and both mess up. A lot. Their hearts are in the right place but don't leave a bucket of paint around either one. I am really pleased that there wasn't a big, huge friend fight in her first book. They had a disagreement but it wasn't a huge thing and it made sense. And reading the book made me really want Nanea's dog. This rarely happens with the pets, especially the dogs, but uh, yeah. That's a reunion that's going to happen.