Emma's Editorials: Bollywood Night at Mimi's! :D

As any of you who read Mama's blog know, last Friday night there was a Bollywood party at Mimi's.  When I heard about it, I asked Mama if I could go too...and she said yes!!  I was sooo excited!  I haven't had a chance to see a Bollywood movie in a while, and Mama said we'd be eating East Indian food too.  Plus, I'd get to visit with Piper.  I couldn't wait!! :D

So here I am in Mimi's kitchen, waiting for Mama's friend to arrive.  Mama and Mimi wore salwar kameezes (at least, I think that's what they're called!) that they found at Goodwill.  I was a little bit disappointed that I didn't have one to wear myself.

To cheer me up, Mama did my hair in a braid and found this really pretty silver barrette to fasten at the top.  It looks a little bit Bollywood-ish, don't you think? ;)

I was so happy to see Piper!  I haven't seen her since Christmas, so it was great to catch up.  

Mimi set up a couple of pillows on the fireplace mantle so that we would be comfortable.  You probably remember that Piper is a Bollywood fan too.  We both couldn't wait to watch a movie or two! :)

We started with "Dil Bole Hadippa", which stars Shahid Kapoor (Piper's favorite Bollywood actor).  Rani Mukerji looked lovely in this!  (Just to let all of you know, this isn't really one we can recommend...Mimi had to fast forward several parts for us.  Too bad, because it's really got some cute parts.)

After the first movie, we took a break and got dinner from Mimi's favorite Indian restaurant.  Piper's been there before too.  I was a little bit nervous about trying food that I wasn't familiar with (I've never tried food from another country before!), but Piper assured me that it was delicious!

I had rice, chicken tikka masala, and naan (which was basically like a really yummy tortilla with garlic and spices).

There were lots of other things to choose from (Piper kept telling me how good the raita and aloo gobi were), but I decided to play it safe my first time. ;)

We finished off with an AMAZING dessert called gulab janum.  It was basically like a doughnut hole dipped in a sweet sauce.  Yum!!!

Here's a closer look!

After dinner, we watched "Rab Ne Bana di Jodi", which stars Shahrukh Khan (eep!!).  I think it's pretty cool that both Piper and I got to watch our favorite actors in one night. :)  (Oh, Mama said that I could remind all of you about her review of "Rab Ne Bana di Jodi" in her Bollywood Reviews Post HERE.  There are few things in it that are not recommendable, but overall it's a good story.  Of course, "Veer-Zaara" will always be the best Shahrukh movie out there.  At least, that's what I think! ;)  

It was pretty late when we got done with the movies (most Bollywood movies are 3 hours long!), so when "Rab Ne Bana di Jodi" was done, it was time to go home again.  I really enjoyed myself, though.  I hope we have another Bollywood night soon! :D

Breaking News With Maggie: In Which Maggie and Rachel Discuss "The Avengers" :D

Hello, this is Maggie Wilson of "Breaking News With Maggie"...again. :}  I'm here with my special guest, Rachel Benson, to discuss the most amazingly awesome movie of 2012 so far:  The Avengers! :D

M:  So, Miss Benson, when did you see the film?

R:  Um, 2 weekends ago...remember?  You were with me.

M: (trying to remain patient)  Yes, I remember, but we were going to do this in interview form, right?  Work with me here.

R: (slightly embarrassed)  Right!  Sorry.

M:  What were your thoughts on the film, Miss Benson?

R:  I thought it was wonderful!  Well worth the wait.  The writing, the acting, the special effects...everything was great!

M:  I see you brought your Thor action figure with you.  I'm assuming he's your favorite character?

R:  Definitely!  Although, as you know, I also really like Captain America.  And, I have to say, after watching this movie, I really enjoyed Hulk, too.  I was never a Hulk fan before this, but I think that Mark Ruffalo brought such a lovely humanity and vulnerability to the character.  It made it easy to empathize with him, even in his monstrous state.

M: (panicked)  Keep it down, will you?  If you keep talking like that, Emma will hear you and think you're talking about Rumpelstiltskin, and I am SO not going to turn this into an interview about "Once Upon a Time"!!  She's been on a Belle and Rumpelstiltskin kick ever since Mama let her watch that one episode.  (Shaking head)  Just what she needed...another obsession!  She already torments us with Bollywood music night and day...isn't that enough?

R:  (laughing)  Sorry!  I just meant that I really enjoyed Mark Ruffalo's portrayal of Bruce/Hulk.  And I know you enjoyed Iron Man.

M:  Iron Man is awesome!  He's the coolest action figure out of everyone, too!  Seriously, I loved how he kept his sarcastic, egocentric humor, but you saw softer sides of him in this film.  For instance, the way he reached out to Bruce, or his sacrificial decisions towards the end of the movie. (That's not a spoiler, people!  Superheroes can make sacrificial decisions with a variety of outcomes, okay?) It was neat to see him grow as a character.  And Captain America was pretty amazing, too.  Oh, and Hawkeye...well, really, they were all pretty brilliant!  And seriously, how cool was it to finally see all of these characters together?  I loved the way they all played off each other.

R:  No kidding!  What I also loved was the way they all changed for the better as a result of knowing and working with each other.  I really appreciated the themes of teamwork, selflessness, and sacrifice that were displayed throughout the movie.

M:  And of course, there were some great laughs, too!

R: (grinning)  Definitely!  My favorite parts were Loki and Hulk, Hulk punching Thor across the room after they'd just worked together, Thor's line about Loki being adopted, and Iron Man's line about hoping no one had kissed him.  I'd say more, but I don't want to spoil it for those of you who haven't seen it yet.  Hopefully those of you who have will know exactly what I'm talking about and have a good laugh remembering. ;)

M:  I think one of my favorite movie quotes was from Captain America, talking to Black Widow about Thor and Loki (I don't think it will spoil anything to quote it):  "There's only one God, Ma'am, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that."  Classic! :D

R:  I loved that line too! :)

M:  Now, unfortunately, we can't recommend this movie for everyone.

R:  (shaking head)  Sadly, no.  There's a whole lot of action violence, and while it's not unnecessarily gory, it's still very intense and a lot of characters get hurt.  There is one fatal injury for a somewhat majorish character.  Oh, and Natasha wears some pretty tight and low-cut clothing.  Plus, some of the alien bad guys are pretty creepy-looking!

M:  (chuckling)  Yeah, Tess wouldn't sleep for a week if she saw this movie!  It also has some swearing and a few innuendos, which is sooo annoying!  Movies do NOT need that garbage to succeed!  I wish Hollywood would realize that!  Anyway, if any of you would like to know more about the content of the movie before watching it, you can check out Plugged In's review.  They're a Christian movie review website affiliated with Focus on the Family that lists all possible objectionable content in movies.

Now, in closing, we thought we'd show you what we got for our birthdays (in addition to getting to see the movie together).  Mama and all the dolls pitched in and got us these totally awesome Avengers Movie Edition Squinkies!!  We were totally geeking out over these. ;)

Aren't they just AMAZING?! :D

Here we are with the whole crew (sorry about the lighting in this pic...I'm not sure what happened there!).

This set includes Iron Man (yay for me!)...

...Captain America (still looking a bit tubby in his Squinkie form, but not quite as bad as Rachel's Christmas one!)...

...Thor (yay for Rachel!)...

...Hulk (smashing, as usual) ;)...

...Nick Fury, shown here on top of the S.H.I.E.L.D. ship (boy, someone really goofed on their proportions!)...

...Natasha, aka Black Widow... 

...Hawkeye, shown here on the nifty Avengers platform that came with the set...

...and the platform by itself, just so you get a better look.

The only one we could have done without was Loki.  And speaking of which, I've just gotta say, this has to be the dumbest looking bad-guy outfit of all time!  I LOVE how Iron Man called him "Reindeer Games" in the movie.  It totally fits that ridiculous helmet!  Still, I suppose having Loki around gives our Avengers someone to battle. :}

Well, that's about it for now.  Thanks for tuning in.  Rach...I mean, Miss Benson, any final words?

R:  Um, not really.  Thanks for having me, and I hope you all enjoyed the post! :)

M:  This has been "Breaking News with Maggie".  This is Maggie Wilson, signing off.

Both:  "Avengers, Assemble!"  

(M:  How come they didn't use that line in the movie?  Just sayin'!)

P.S.  Sorry this post has been so long in coming.  Now that all 3 of Mama's girls are home all the time, it's super hard to get to the computer without being spotted!  They're so unexpected, too!  They seem to pop up out of nowhere! :}

Oh, and you also probably noticed the lack of pictures of our day at the movies.  Let's just say it was one of those days that we were so busy enjoying the moment that we didn't do a great job documenting it.  Plus, our one pic turned out really fuzzy.  Oh well!  Such is life! ;)

Breaking News with Maggie: Uh...Almost Ready!

Hi folks, this is Maggie Wilson of Breaking News with Maggie.  Just here to let you know that we're, uh, experiencing some technical difficulties...so that's why my promised post is late.  I'll get it up as soon as possible.

How embarrassing! :{

Maggie's Memos: A Quick Note

Hey everyone!  Rachel and I are working hard on our interview post...just didn't want all of you thinking we'd forgotten it.  We should have it up either sometime this evening or sometime tomorrow afternoon.

That's all I have time for now...I've got to get back to work! ;)  By the way, Rachel's really excited about being a part of the post, so I hope you all give her a lot of encouragement.  This is a big step for her. ;)

Talk to all of you soon!

Breaking News with Maggie: The Avengers Have Assembled! ;)

This is Maggie Wilson with an important update:  RACHEL AND I FINALLY SAW "THE AVENGERS" TODAY!!! 

All I can say is: Best. Movie. Ever!!!  Well, okay, it was pretty intense with a lot of action violence (I think Mama's fingers were sore from gripping the arms of her theater seat the entire time!).  And unfortunately, there was a bit of swearing and two innuendos that I caught (why do they always have to stick that stupid stuff in there?).  Because of that, I definitely wouldn't recommend it for our younger readers.  Overall though, it was AMAZING!  It was funny, inspiring, beautifully filmed...oh, and just seeing all of them together on screen and the way they reacted and played off of each other was really fun.  Papa even said that it was one he wouldn't mind watching again...as in again today!  This is big coming from him.  A movie has to really impress him to make him interested in seeing it a second time, especially on the same day! ;)  

I don't have any more time to post now, but I will definitely be doing a follow-up post later with some pics of our fun day!  Oh, and good news for all of you who requested it:  Rachel has agreed to do the post with me, so you'll get to hear her thoughts on the movie, too! :D

Until then, this is Maggie Wilson, signing off.

(Hmm, I wonder if we could convince Mama and Papa to take us to see it again?) ;)

Tess's Tidbits: The Ladies Spring Event

I'm so tired, but I wanted to get this post done anyway.  What a day we've had!  Maggie, Hayden, Belle, Hailey, and I, along with some of Mama's other dolls that I don't know as well, all got to go with Mama to her church's Ladies Spring Event this evening.  Mama was the special speaker, so we got to be her visual aids.  I wore one of my best dresses and my favorite cameo necklace.  Maggie, of course, opted for her favorite outfit.  She's not one for dressing up, even when it's a formal occasion.

I didn't get many pictures from the actual event, since I spent most of it in a tub with the others, waiting for our big reveal at the end of the evening.  It wasn't the most fun thing I've ever done, but I knew it would be helpful to Mama, so I tried to wait without complaining.  Maggie, on the other hand, probably won't speak to Mama for weeks! ;)

It's really a shame we were stuck in there the whole time, because the food smelled delicious!  We did get a front row seat for all of the entertainment, though.  There was this girl who did the "Doll on a Music Box" song from the movie "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", and four high school girls who performed "The Wedding of the Painted Doll".  I'd never heard that full song before, but I recognized the beginning of the song from a montage in "Singin' In the Rain" (that was Ella's favorite movie, and she used to watch it ALL the time).  Mama's girls sang too, and Mama's oldest daughter was in a skit with another girl.  It was great to see everything up close. :)  Oh, and a couple of the ladies read stories that some of the ladies from the church shared about special dolls in their life.  It was really fun hearing all of their fond memories.

Mama really enjoyed giving her devotional at the end.  And of course, my favorite part was when she took each of us out one at a time and introduced us to all of the ladies (and a few gentlemen...there was a man there making sure that all of the microphones worked properly and a photographer who, along with his wife, took pictures of all of the guests).  There were a lot of people smiling, so it seems like they enjoyed what Mama had to say.  Several people came up to get a closer look after everything was over, too.  I put on my prettiest smile and stood up straight and tall...which wasn't too difficult since Mama used doll stands to hold us in place.  My goodness, those things are atrocious!  I'm so glad Mama doesn't usually use them on us at home!  I started feeling a bit claustrophobic by the end of things!

Goodness, I've rambled on much longer than I was planning to.  Here are some of the pictures that Mama and I got when she was setting up earlier in the day:

Mama didn't keep us set up like this, but she had to check and make sure we would all fit on the little table that was provided.  I think we look very nice together, don't you?  That's me in the left-hand corner (well, your left...my right!).  Then there's Elena (Mama's Karito Kids doll), Calista (a BFC Ink doll that we've barely spoken to since she arrived a few weeks ago), Nahji, and Maggie.  Then, in the front row we have Mindy Lou (who apparently was Mama's doll when she was a little girl...we'd never met before today), Hailey, Felicity, Hayden, and Belle.  

The rest of the room was full of beautiful porcelain dolls.  We don't have many of them at Mama's house, so it was interesting to see some new faces.  (Shhh!  Don't tell Mama, but after she left us there, we climbed out of our tub and went around introducing ourselves to some of the others.  They were all very polite, but they couldn't come down and play since most of them are made of porcelain.  Apparently it's pretty breakable stuff!)  Would you believe that they all live in the same house?  Can you imagine how amazing it would be to have that many friends around you all the time?  Mama said not to get our hopes up.  She didn't think Papa would go for having that many dolls here. ;)

Here are just a few of the fun dolls we got to meet:

Aren't they lovely?

One of the fun things that happened were the doll giveaways.  There were two big shelves full of dolls wrapped in plastic that were all given away to different guests!  It was done by random drawing.

I must confess, the thought of being trapped in plastic like this was rather horrifying to me, but the dolls all seemed to bear it quite patiently.  I think it helped that they knew they were going to new homes very soon. :)  I hope they all enjoy their new humans. 

There were even dolls above every window!  We weren't really able to get acquainted with them, for obvious reasons. ;)

Here's a view of the entire room.  Isn't it just beautiful?

Close-ups of the lovely table decorations.

The dolls who got to be centerpieces were especially pleased.  It was great fun for them to get to observe the humans from such a short distance.  Plus, they had unlimited access to the snacks. 

Would you believe these beautiful plates are all paper?

The yummy snacks.  What I wouldn't give for a few of those Reese's eggs!  One unfortunate disadvantage of Mama joining Weight Watchers is that we don't have stuff like this around anymore.  Ever.  Sigh.  I wish the rest of us didn't have to sacrifice our sweets, too!  (By the way, I apologize that Blogger randomly decided to upload this picture sideways...but you still get a good picture of the heavenly chocolate!) ;) 

Just for fun, I decided to see what it felt like to be the special speaker like Mama. ;)

And here we all are, waiting for our turn!  This is how we spent the entire Ladies Spring Event.  Good thing we all get along!

More waiting.

Here we are on stage after Mama's devotional.  We got to meet a lot of interesting humans.  It was so much fun!  I'm so thankful that Mama needed some visual aids.  I hope we get to do something like this again sometime! :D

Oh, and do you remember the doll giveaways I talked about?  Well, apparently Mama got a special doll as a thank you for doing the devotional, so now we will have a new porcelain friend in the house! :)  We haven't got a picture of her yet, but when we do, we'll have to introduce her to all of you.

Okay, that's all I can do this evening.  I can't believe I stayed up this late to do this post! :}  Hope you all enjoyed it!  We'll be in touch again soon. :)

Maggie's Memos: Sigh...Still Waiting to Assemble

Yep, it's true...Rachel and I still have not seen "The Avengers".  The tentative plan is to go see it on Saturday, as long as Papa is not working.  I suppose I can wait that long. :}

Oh, and for those of you who haven't read through all of the comments, the official verdict is that Mama wants us to wait to see "The Hunger Games" until it comes out on video so she can discuss it with us.  Double sigh.  I know she's trying to take care of us, but it stinks having to wait that long.  She also said that it's possible that we might not be able to see the second and third movies, depending on how they're filmed.  She was very thankful for the way the director chose to film the first movie, making it less violent than the book, but apparently the same guy won't be directing the next movie.  Mama doesn't want to commit to anything until she hears more about it.

She did read all three books in the series and is leaning towards not having us read them yet.  I'm not really sure how long "yet" is, since we don't ever age so we'll be perpetually 13 and 14.  Who knows?  I'm just thankful that I (eventually) get to see the first movie!  I'll take what I can get.

Some of you may be wondering why Mama is letting us see "The Avengers" when she's worried about the violence in "The Hunger Games".  I asked her about this too.  She explained that the violence in "The Hunger Games" was especially concerning because it involved young teens being forced to kill each other for sport.  Of course, it's not glorified or necessarily condoned, but it's still tough to read about.  While she doesn't enjoy violence in any type of story, there was something especially saddening and horrific about this type of violence.  She said the books were well-written and were an interesting commentary on our society, but she still wishes that they'd been aimed at an older audience, and she wonders what some of the kids who read them will come away with.  Then she said she almost wished she'd decided to watch "The Avengers" with Papa before deciding whether or not Rachel and I could see it, so I decided to drop the subject before "The Avengers" was off-limits too!

It's tough being interested in something that everyone else likes but you're not allowed to see yet.  Mama said that's just part of life and I have to get used to it.  She also said that I need to trust that she's trying to do what's best for me.  I don't really like it, but I'm trying to think that way.

In other news, the next few days will be pretty quiet around here.  Mama's preparing her devotional for the Ladies Spring Event at the church this Friday night.  Apparently, Tess and I get to go with her.  We're going to be "visual aides", or something like that.  Cool.  Anything involving free food and meeting other dolls sounds fun to me!  Besides, it's about time I got some recognition around here!

I guess that's about all for now.  Counting down the days until Saturday!

Oh, I almost forgot.  Mama said that we'll probably celebrate Rachel's birthday on Saturday instead of Friday, since she'll be really busy getting ready for that evening.  So we'll have a big, cool birthday post either Saturday evening or Sunday evening, depending on how much time we have for typing. ;)

Breaking News With Maggie: Avengers, Assemble!!!

This is Maggie Wilson of "Breaking News with Maggie", here to tell you that THE AVENGERS ARE HERE!!!!!!  :D  Seriously, the movie opens tonight with midnight showings all over the nation.  But will Rachel and I be a part of that fortunate group that gets to stay up late, eating candy and getting hyper while waiting for our favorite super heroes to light up the screen?  That would be a no.  Apparently, Mama and Papa have something against staying up that until the wee hours of the morning and joining the crowds.  Of course, it doesn't help that Papa is still at work and Mama is fighting a cold.  Still, though...

I must confess it's going to drive me crazy waiting to see this movie!  I mean, we've had to wait for it to come out, but it will be even harder knowing that it's playing and we could technically be going.  It stinks being so dependent on the humans.

In other movie news, Mama is still undecided as to whether we'll be able to watch "The Hunger Games".  She's currently in the middle of reading the series (she just finished "Catching Fire" this afternoon) and is worried that it might be too violent for us.  I tried reminding her that Rachel and I are not really 13 and 14...we're much older in doll years (see THIS POST if you're confused), but she's still hesitant.  She said she'd like to finish the series and then make her decision.  Pooh.  I hate being patient.

I guess that's about all the news for now.  This is Maggie Wilson, trying to be patient, and signing off.

Emma's Editorials: My Very Early...or Very Late...Christmas Present! :D

Oh.My.Goodness.  I am completely hyperventilating right now!!!  I just had the best day EVER! :D  

It all started earlier today, when Mama called me out to the living room.  She said she had a surprise for me. I hurried out to see what it was, trying to guess all the way there.  Mama has been doing a lot of shopping at Goodwill lately, and she's found some great little things for us.  I figured it must be some fun little trinket of some sort.  

But when I got out there, I was shocked when she handed me...

...a box from American Girl!

Then I was so excited that I shrieked out loud and dropped the box.  It was a MINI ANNIVERSARY CECILE!!!!!

Some of you may remember that last year, what I wanted most for Christmas was the special 25th Anniversary Cecile doll, but they sold out before Mama could get one for me.  Since then, they've been going for unheard of amounts on eBay.  I pretty much figured that there was no way that Mini Anniversary Cecile was ever coming home to me.

I sat down and immediately started opening the box.  

"How did you find her, Mama?" I asked breathlessly as I stared at my new doll's lovely face and beautiful dress.

"It was actually Grandmama," Mama explained.  "She found her on AG Playthings for you."

"Oh!" I gasped happily as I picked Cecile up.  "Please tell Grandmama thank you for me...a million times over!"

Mama laughed at my dramatic sentence.  "You can tell her yourself the next time you see her," she informed me.

Me with my new Cecile.  Isn't she PERFECT?!?! :D

So I guess Mama and Grandmama were thinking about giving her to me for Christmas this coming year, but they were too excited to wait1 ;)  I have to admit, I'm glad they didn't.  I'm so happy that I get to enjoy her now. 

Soon after I opened up Cecile, I decided that she and my Ruthie doll needed to meet.

I think Cecile and Ruthie will be great friends, don't you? :)

Posing with my two girls.

Wow, I can't even tell you what a great surprise this was!!  I've been bouncing off the walls ever since (and supposedly talking non-stop, too, according to Maggie!).  I think that I would eventually like to get Cecile's special dress in my size so that I can match her. :D  Mama says that the reds, greens and blacks would look great with my coloring.  What do you think?

P.S.  Tess wanted me to thank all of you for being so patient with us.  It's been really hard to post regularly lately, but we're hoping that things will slow down a bit here after school is out for Mama's daughters.  We'll have to be a little more sneaky about getting out to the computer, but we should have a better idea of when the humans will be home and all that.

P.P.S.  Oh dear, I've got to break the news to Maggie that we've lost a follower! :(  Maybe I'll just wait and let her find it out for herself. ;)  She tends to be one to "shoot the messenger".