Liv'n Travel Set

I got this Liv'n Travel set for free when I purchased the Liv Making Waves Alexis doll. I just love free stuff, don't you? This set of accessories came with a suitcase, shoes, bracelet, earrings, and a doggie hoodie.

Here's a look at the back of the package. 

One of my dolls travels more than all of the rest, and that's Calista. She has been my travel companion on all of my recent trips, so she is the natural choice to receive this set of goodies. Oooooh, she may get to leave the country next year and go on her first cruise!

Calista is extremely excited to have this set and to be able to pack her own bag for the first time!

She opens the suitcase and yep, there's plenty of space for everything that she wants to take on her next trip! Now she has her eyes set on the rest of the accessories.

The shoes are a great fit! She is so glad that she can wear both flat and heeled shoes. She searches the stash of Sparkle Girlz clothes to see if she can find an outfit that matches the shoes.

Ummmmm, she'll have to keep searching. This is not a good look for young Calista. She does love the shoes and bracelet, though.

Since Calista's ears are not pierced and I have no plans to pierce them, she generously gives the earrings to someone who can use them. Sashabella Paws is appreciative of the gift. Meanwhile, Calista found a necklace in the Sparkle Girlz stash that she likes and that looks good with her new bracelet.

Sashabella shows off her new earrings. She'd better enjoy them while she can, because I have a feeling that her head will be swapped soon.

As for the doggie hoodie, there are no Liv dogs here, so Only Hearts Club Briana Joy's dog Longfellow gets this accessory. It's a little too big for him, but he doesn't seem to mind.

Okay, back to the packing. Calista will definitely need a swimsuit for her next trip, so she finds one in the Sparkle Girlz stash.

With everything packed, Calista is ready for her next adventure.

Goodbye for now. Oh wait, don't forget your new shoes, Calista!

As Calista demonstrates below, the handle is adjustable. Calista extends it so that she can easily wheel her luggage as she walks (the wheels don't really work, but that's okay because she doesn't really walk).

Ok, she's really leaving now. Until next time!

Calista In My Life

A couple of months ago, I was telling my husband that one of the local museums was having an AG tea party and inviting people to bring their dolls for tea.  I told him that I almost considered going, until I saw that the admittance was $25.  I could buy another doll with that, I'm not paying that for a silly event.  My husband told me that I could've taken Calista and Bob to the event.  I said "Bob is gone for the summer, remember?"  My husband cracked up laughing and said "I like it that you're so consistent."

On Tuesday, we were in the car and my husband said out of the blue "Well, it's the first day of Fall, do you know what that means?"  I thought about it for a few seconds and didn't know what he could be referring to, so I said "No, what does that mean?"  He said "It means Bob is back!"  I cracked up and said "Yeah, Bob is back."

Well, Bob may be back, but Calista is not there.  Calista is currently spending as much time as she can on Biloxi Beach.

Wednesday, she spent the day in New Orleans.

I will let Calista describe her trip when she's ready to post her next diary entry.  I just wanted to tell you the story about my husband, and also to show you these cool beads that we got while in New Orleans.  I saw the ones below and I immediately thought that the instruments attached would make pretty decent instruments for some of my dolls.

When I saw the beads below, I initially thought that the footballs would be way too big for 1/6 scale dolls.  I was going to give these to someone as a souvenir.  But when I posed Calista with these, well I think she looks adorable holding that football and I'm afraid that I'm going to have to keep these for myself, also.

I just have to take a moment to express my appreciation for my husband.  Not only does he listen to me talk about dolls, he actually keeps up with the storylines that I write, and he encourages me to keep doing what I want to do.  And as if that weren't enough, he has no complaints about me bringing a doll along with me every time we take a trip.  He smiles as we walk along streets, eat at restaurants, spend time on the beach, etc. all while having a doll along and snapping photos.  He did protest a little bit about me bringing my laptop on our trip.  He knew that I'd be working and blogging while on vacation. :)

Calista's Diary Entry - Summer Travels

Dear Diary,

My parents are really cheap.  Sometimes for our "vacations", we all travel with my dad on one of his business trips.  I remember a previous summer where we "vacationed" in Huntsville, AL.  There was not much to do.  My dad worked the whole time.  I went swimming, shopping, and hung out in the hotel room a lot.  There was a concert taking place on the grounds outside of our hotel one night, but my parents did not want to go out and they would not let me go alone.  Luckily, I could hear the music (it was really loud) and I could see the bands from my patio.

This year, my dad's company sent him to Denver, CO.  I was not thrilled at first, but my parents promised me that we would have a good time.  I got to thinking, I'm a little older now, so maybe I'll have more freedom and be able to do more things than in the past.  While waiting on our flight at the airport, I started to feel excited.

I didn't bring my camera with me on the trip, but I took a lot of photos with my cell phone.  They are not my best photos.

Our room in Denver was really nice.  It was like a little apartment. 

It had a living area and a full kitchen.

I had my own bedroom.

On our first night there, we went to the mall.  They have an American Girl store!  I wanted to go in, but my dad didn't want to.  "You're not going to buy one of those dolls, so why do you want to go there?"  I told him that I just wanted to see a huge store full of dolls.  I just had to look at them through the window, though, because we did not stop there.  I asked "When are we going to do something that I will enjoy???"  My parents told me that they had a surprise for me.

My parents told me that they were taking me to the Breckenridge Fun Park.  They said that there is a rollercoaster that goes down the side of a mountain!  And Segway tours!  And a SuperBungee Trampoline!  And a bunch of other fun stuff!  Ok, this has the potential to be the BEST VACATION EVER!

It was a long car ride from Denver to Breckenridge.  We made a quick stop in Idaho Springs.

It was such a beautiful day, and the views were spectacular! 

We finally arrived in Breckenridge, and it was breathtakingly beautiful!

My dad had started feeling sick in the car on the way there.  We stopped for lunch, and he was so out of breath just walking into the restaurant.  We thought he would be fine after he had something to eat, but he just kept feeling worse.  We tried walking around a bit and he started to feel faint.  Luckily, there was an oxygen bar nearby.

After talking with the workers there, my dad got the maximum amount of oxygen - 45 minutes.  While he did that, me and my mom went shopping in Breckenridge.

There were so many little shops within walking distance, and beautiful scenery all around. 

The weather was wonderful.  The high was 72 that day.  I talked to some other girls my age, and they told me that they had just come back from the fun park.  They said that there was still a little snow up there.  Snow in the summertime?  I couldn't wait to see!  They said that we would have to ride gondolas up to the peak.  I couldn't wait!

After about an hour, me and my mom met my dad back at the oxygen bar.  My dad told me that he was sorry, but we had to leave.  He just was not getting enough oxygen, and he felt sick.  He said that we would have to go back to Denver right away.  WHAT?  BOOOOOOO!

I mean don't get me wrong, I felt bad that my dad was sick.  I could tell that he really did not feel well, but this was the thing that I was looking forward to the most.  We spent all that time driving here just for this.  I was just really disappointed, and I had a hard time hiding it.

All the way back to the car, I kept asking questions.  "Can't Dad just stay at the oxygen bar while we go to the fun park?"  "Can you just leave me here and I'll go to the fun park alone, and Mom can drive Dad back to Denver and pick me up later?"  "Can't Dad just drive back to Denver alone, and Mom can rent a car and drive us back to Denver after we go to the fun park?"  These sounded like reasonable questions to me.  Every question I asked, I was told "No!"  I was so disgusted.

My mom drove us back to Denver.  So I knew it had to be really bad, because my dad always drives when the 2 of them are in a car together.  As we were driving away, I said "I don't see why we ALL have to suffer just because Dad is sick!"  My mother pulled the car over and turned around and looked at me and said "Calista Clementine Knight, shut.your.mouth.right.now!"  Well, I still had stuff to say!  I said "But..." and my mom said "Not another word!"  The way that she looked at me when she said it, I knew that I would be in big trouble if I kept talking.  I plugged my earbuds into my phone and listened to music all the way back to Denver.

The next day, on the way to the airport, we stopped by my Dad's job.  You can see the mountains from there.  If I had an office with this view, I would spend my days gazing at the mountains.

Then it was off to the airport, where we rode the train to our terminal.

I'm still a little disappointed that my trip did not go exactly the way that I wanted it to, but I'm appreciative of the things that I did get to do and see.  I had never been to Denver or Breckenridge, so it was all new to me.  I feel bad that I made my dad feel worse than he already did about not being able to take me to the fun park as planned.  I know that it wasn't his fault that he got sick.  He was so apologetic and he told me that he would make it up to me one of these days.

Calista's Diary Entry - Play Time

Dear Diary,

As the summer began, I spent most of my time relaxing and watching TV.  I didn't want to do much of anything.  It was just nice being able to hang out in my pajamas and relax.

Well, the longer I did that, the more agitated my parents seemed to become.  I heard my dad talking to my mom, saying something about me regressing.  One Saturday, I was in the kitchen fixing myself a bowl of cereal for lunch, and my dad said "Don't you think that you're a little old to be playing with toys?"  I said "What, this?  This isn't a toy, it's my teddy bear.  And I don't play with him, I just..." and then I couldn't think of anything that I could say that would erase the frown from my dad's face.  My dad said "You've been carrying that thing around everywhere you go."  My mother came in and patted my dad on the arm and said "It's alright, I'll talk to her."

My dad walked away and I fixed my cereal really fast, hoping that my mom would walk away too.  But she followed me to my room and closed the door.  I tried to hide my eye rolling from her.  She said "You really do miss that boy, don't you?"  I said "Who?"  My mom didn't even try to hide her eye roll from me.  She said "Bob.  That's the boy who gave you that bear, right?"  I nodded hesitantly.  My mom continued "Yeah, we talk to his dad Brad sometimes at church.  Brad said that his son would be gone almost the entire summer.  Calista, he will be back before you know it."  I said "Ok.", hoping that would end the conversation.

My mom said "In the meantime, we are not about to let you spend your summer moping around and hugging on a stuffed bear.  You need to find an activity."  I said "Isn't it a little late for that?"  My mom said "No, there's still plenty of things that you can do.  If you can't find anything, your dad and I will choose something.  Hey, Vacation Bible School is coming up next week..."  I said "No!"  I didn't mean to say it so loudly.  I said "I'll find something."  My mother said "Ok, you have 1 week."

I went to the Community Center that same day to try to find something to occupy my time this summer.  As I expected, there wasn't a lot left to choose from.  But something did catch my eye.  A local musician was offering music lessons.  I've always wanted to learn how to play an instrument, so it seemed like a good idea to me.

I called the number from the ad and I set up an initial meeting.  When I arrived, I was surprised to see that the "local musician" was actually an older boy from my school named Jay.  He didn't recognize me, even after I told him that I had been on the Junior Spirit Squad.  I recognized him right away.  He performed in school talent shows, and he's really good.  He also has a bit of a reputation for being a jerk.  And from what I've heard, he skips school and drinks.

I told him that I thought I needed to find an instructor who was a bit more mature.  He told me fine, he didn't need my money anyway, and that the lessons were for my benefit and not for his.  He said that he was trying to share the gift of music with someone who was willing to work hard.  I told him that I am no stranger to hard work, but I need to make sure that I get someone who is reliable, and I shared my concerns about him skipping school.  He told me "So what!"  He went on a rant about how music is his life, his passion, and when it comes to music, he does not cut corners.  He works really hard, he's good at what he does, and he does not disappoint.  He told me that it was up to me, but if we chose to work together, I would definitely be impressed.  He said that I would not find another person who was as passionate about music, especially within my budget.

I told him that I would give him a chance.  He told me that he would give me a chance also, but that he would drop me if I didn't work hard.  I said "Drop ME?  I'm the one paying!"  He said it didn't matter, he didn't want to waste his time on someone who wasn't serious.  He said "Are you serious, Clarissa?"  I said "It's CALISTA, and yes I'm serious."

So he showed me his instruments.  He asked me if I was interested in playing the drums and I told him no, and that I thought that was too easy.  He told me that there's a lot more to it than what I think.  He let me play his drums, and I sounded awful.  Still, I wouldn't want to pay anyone to teach me to play the drums.  That seems like something that I could learn on my own. 

Then he let me play his guitar.  He showed me how to play a couple of chords.

I liked the guitar, but I knew that I wanted to take lessons on the keyboard.  Jay said that the guitar is more his thing, but that he can definitely teach me to play the keyboard.  We agreed to have my lessons on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.  He told me that I needed to practice 2 hours a day, 6 days a week.  I said "2 HOURS!"  He said "Hey, you said you were serious, and not a stranger to hard work, right?"  I replied "Right."

I played Jay a song that my dad had taught me on his keyboard when I was a little girl - Chopsticks.  Jay said that I would be blown away by the songs that I would be able to play by the end of this summer.  I hope he's right.

Calista's Diary Entry - Summer Separation

Dear Diary,

Since we had so many snow days this year, we had to make up some of that time at the end of this school year.  For a while I felt like the school year would never end, and I was so anxious to start my summer.  If I had known then what I know now, I would have been happy to spend the extra days in school.

Bob told me that he needed to talk to me, so I met him in the hallway after class.

He told me that he wanted to talk about what was happening this summer, and I was excited, thinking that he wanted to make plans to hang out together.  Instead, he gave me the upsetting news that he is going away this summer.  He told me that he was leaving for a vacation with his family the day after the last day of school, then boy scout camp, then sleepaway camp.  Sleepaway camp?  Really???

I asked him how long he would be gone, and he told me that he would be gone almost the entire summer.  What???  My shock and my unhappiness must have shown on my face.  Bob took me by the hand and told me that it would be okay, and that the time would fly by.  No it won't!  I'm used to seeing Bob almost every single day.  I look forward to seeing Bob.  A summer without him seems like an eternity!

I asked him how long he's known about this, and he told me that he's known for a few weeks.  Weeks???  My sadness quickly turned to anger as I asked him why he didn't tell me.  He told me that he thought for a long time about whether or not to tell me, and he said that he did not want me to be upset for that amount of time, and that he just wanted us to enjoy ourselves at school, on the field trip, and just hanging out.  I said that he should have told me!  Bob gave me a big hug.

He apologized for upsetting me, and told me that he really thought that he was doing the right thing.  He asked me if I had enjoyed the time that I've spent with him over the last few weeks, and I said yes.  He asked me if I would have enjoyed it as much if I had known that he would be gone for the summer.  I said that I probably would have been upset the entire time.  He gave me a kiss on the cheek.

Bob put his arm around my shoulders and smiled at me, and he tried to get me to smile, too.  I didn't feel much like smiling, but I tried.

He told me that he needed to see that smile, and needed to know that everything was okay, and that I wasn't going to stay mad at him for 3 months.  I told him I'd see him later.

I stood there and watched him walk away.  I wanted to just grab him and ask him a million and one questions.  I am so confused and angry and hurt and disappointed.  I did not grab him, I did not tell him everything that was on my mind, I just watched him walk away.  And when he was out of sight, my feelings erupted.

You just don't know how long I've been wanting him to hug me again, and to hold my hand again.  I've really wanted him to kiss my cheek.  But all this affection, what does it even mean?  He's leaving!  Is that good-bye?  Is that how he says see you later to his buddies?  I hate this uncertainty so much!  He didn't even say that he'd call while he was away.  He didn't say much of anything!

What it all comes down to is that I really care about him a lot, and now I have to prepare myself to be without him.

Calista's Diary Entry - The Cut

Dear Diary,

The time came for the tryouts for next year's Junior Spirit Squad.  For an entire week, there were practice sessions which lasted for a couple of hours every day after school.  Girls from the Varsity Spirit Squad taught the Junior hopefuls a brand new routine, and we all had a week to learn it and practice for the tryouts.  I was pretty confident that it would be me, Kana, and Briana Joy again.  I missed a couple of days of practice because I felt that I could learn the routine fast, and that I had an advantage in knowing all of the old routines and already being a member of the squad.

Besides the three original members of the squad, Jenna, Big Janet, Gabriella, and Kiara also tried out.  I was shocked that Big Janet was able to tear herself away from her boyfriend Dylan long enough to try out.  The tryouts took place in the gym, and the Varsity SQ girls watched and judged, along with Miss Jones, the squad sponsor.

They split us into small groups and had us perform the routine.  I knew the routine well and I did a good job.  Big Janet did a pretty good job from what I could tell.  Gabriella was awful.  I felt kind of bad because I know that she worked really hard.  But I knew that she wouldn't make it.  Big Janet and Gabriella were cut after the first round.

For the second round, I performed the new routine with Kana and Briana Joy.  We all did a good job, and I had no doubt that it would be the three of us together again next year. Then Jenna and Kiara performed the new routine, and I admit that they were really good.  I still felt like the 3 original members had a big advantage, though.  Then Jenna announced that they wanted to perform some additional routines.  They performed some of our old routines, and they were great!  I had seen the 2 of them hanging around at our practices, but I had no idea what they were up too.  Me and Briana Joy looked at each other, and our jaws just dropped.

The VSQ and Miss Jones got together to go over the scores that they had given each of us, and to discuss their final decision.  It seemed like they talked forever.  I could hear their voices but I could not make out what they were saying.  Finally they came back, and Miss Jones announced that she would call out a girls name.  She said that the name would be for the girl who was eliminated from the squad, and that the girl should leave the gym immediately.  I was standing there thinking that it would be a hard decision on who to eliminate between Jenna and Kiara, because they were both so good.  I was absolutely shocked when Miss Jones called Briana Joy's name.  WHAT?  Briana Joy looked so sad as she walked out of the gym.  I knew that she would be crying later.  I was SO MAD!  How could they do that to her?

I stood there furious for a few moments, and then I heard Miss Jones say my name.  I looked at her.  She said my name again.  I didn't understand why she kept calling my name.  I heard some of the girls giggling behind me.  After calling my name again, she came over to me and said "Let's go."  That's when I understood that I was also cut from the finals.  I did not make the squad.  It felt like my cheeks were burning up and I felt humiliated.  As Miss Jones escorted me out, I turned around and looked at the other girls, and Jenna was smiling and waving at me. 

Once I was outside the gym, I heard Miss Jones announce "Congratulations, Ladies, you are the next Junior Spirit Squad to represent this school!"  I heard squeals of delight.  I looked into the small window on the gym door and I saw the girls jumping up and down and hugging.  Kana looked a little too happy if you ask me.  How could she be that excited when her 2 best friends had just been cut?  I was so mad.

I have been reeling from the experience ever since, feeling shocked, saddened, and angered all at once.  And then I heard that the girls would be performing at our final assembly of the school year today.  WHAT? Shouldn't they be performing NEXT YEAR?  What is the rush?  And how could they even have a routine together that quickly?  I sat in the audience and I felt sick as I watched them perform the new routine that we had learned for tryouts.  It was almost surreal watching them wear the uniform that I used to wear.  I was the one that was supposed to be out there performing, not sitting in the audience observing.  How did this even happen?

So I'm just thinking about all of the time and effort that I put into that squad.  What am I supposed to do now?  What does this mean for my friendship with Kana and Briana Joy?  We spent so much time hanging out on the squad, going to games, etc.  I mean, I'm just so sad about this and I don't know what to do.