My So-Called Life

Yes, hurrah, we are having a planned power outage tomorrow, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

Obviously it would be nice if I could just sleep through the whole thing, so to that end I will be eating more than one weed baked good tonight.

Also tonight, I want to wash my Sanrio Halloween blanket. It isn't dirty or anything, I just really want to snuggle under it after it has been freshly washed & dried. 

I have plenty of stuff downloaded so that I can watch without power. I'll be sure to get my laptop and Kindle fully charged while we do have power. Another thing I might do tomorrow (if I'm not sleeping) is put together that new potions kit! And, of course, I have plenty of books I could read even though I have not felt like reading much lately . . .

Today's Advent Calendar Surprise was Golden Kuromi! The only figures I have left are one more Kuromi, a second Keroppi, and two more Hello Kittys. I recently ordered a similar but smaller set of nine Halloween figures, which I am very excited about.

Allegedly, three Amazon pakidges were left in a parcel locker yesterday: Black Widow, Rachel Summers, and my pink Halloween wrapping paper! (The purple arrived a few days ago, so I could actually spend a chunk of My Weekend wrapping presents.)

Ah, eBay also says they delivered a doll!

And then I have one more Amazon pakidge (maybe more than one? Multiple items, so it's possible) arriving in a day or two, plus one more present from eBay --- and after that, I truly want to take a small break from shopping for toys for a while. I don't know how long "a while" is, but if I order any more stuff online it will be cannabis, SNACKS, something really useful for my room, or something fun that is really really really worth the money.

Seriously, I do need to order some snacks very soon.

I still have not jumped ahead with my Advent Calendar, which is getting more and more difficult, because the rude jerks at Jazwares gave me a non-figure surprise yesterday and then did it again today! Obviously I still love the figures more than words can say, and I know there will be six days when the surprise is something other than a figure, but those days are still disappointing. I wish I had last year’s calendar so I could still open a figure every day.

Obviously, I’m pretty dang obsessed with Sanrio at the moment. A sticker set should arrive in a few days, and I ordered a My Melody plush bag clip with a current delivery estimate of sometime between the 18th and the 31st. I also really want some sort of pencil case (either just My Melody or several characters) to keep in my bag, but haven’t picked one yet.

1. Collecting Barbies: vintage and Dream Besties
The thrill of collecting vintage Barbies is so fucking obvious that talking about it is kind of like explaining the difference between water and fire. I suppose if I absolutely had to try to explain it, I would say something about how, because being an adult in 2025 is so fucking awful, the ritual of finding and purchasing a toy that I remember from childhood is seriously soothing.
As for Dream Besties, clearly they are not The Best Barbies Ever or anything, but Child Me would have been obsessed with them and that is enough for Current Me to be obsessed with them, but if I do "need" to find any more of a reason to love these dolls so much, as a casual collector who is vaguely aware of the web series but has only ever paid attention to the dolls, I guess I could say that
* while it is wonderful that Barbie can be anything from a baker to an astronaut, it's also really nice when Mattel lets her just be a teenager having a sleepover with her best friends
* it's very fun how they found a way to shake up the usual formula of "Barbie the blonde white girl and her three ethnic friends." Like, for real, this is so simple but so brilliant. I love that the line is centered around two best friends named Barbie, neither of whom are actually called Barbie.
* this is specific to me, but every Dream Besties doll that I add to my collection will be a witch
So yeah, I love these dolls so much that I am already imagining future photo shoots and thinking about buying one or more playset that can easily be folded up for storage. I also really want to get them a bunch of the Make It Mini Hello Kitty foods.

2. Sanrio Advent Calendar
This thing is more fun than words can say. I'm very into Sanrio characters in general right now, so opening a new one every day makes it much easier to avoid buying way too many of them. Badtz-Maru has been my favorite since the late nineties, and of course I vibe with Kuromi, but right now I am "most" into My Melody and Cinnamoroll --- who, by the way, was today's surprise! When this particular Advent Calendar is done I will definitely be ordering another set of figures

3. Native Skincare
I don't really remember how this brand's face wash first got on my radar, but I tried it a few months ago and loved it so much that I now use their shampoo and hand soap every day.

4. Spicy Ranch
Whenever I get a free meal at work, I make myself a side cup of ranch and pour several shakes of Tapatio on top. It's SO GOOD. 

5. Gilmore Girls
There's nothing new to say about how much I love a show that is literally one of my top three all-time favorites, but I've been watching it a lot lately, and it still blows my mind.

Honestly, Christmas hasn't really been my thing for over twenty years, and being a dish drone in the middle of the desert doesn't really inspire me to get into the spirit, but I am trying a little to get into the spirit anyway. Of course, my Advent Calendar is a big part of this. So far, I have opened Tuxedo Sam, My Melody, Badtz-Maru, a stupid shoddy cardboard sleigh that I had to assemble, and Keroppi. Don't know who I will get tomorrow, can't wait to find out.

Anyway, the other thing I'm going to do is wrap some presents. My pink and purple Halloween paper should arrive in a few days, and if there is enough of it I intend to wrap:
* Batman Returns Catwoman, Robin, possibly one more figure if it will arrive in time?
* Dream Besties Renee, Teresa, Ken, posssibly others? (I know I want Skater Malibu, but need to choose one Brooklyn and ideally order them together)
* various TMNT toys - some Mutant Mayhem, some not
* Pizza Party Skipper and Courtney
* Babysitter Skipper and Courtney
* Beyond Pink Barbie
* Ruby Sunday
* Doctor Fifteen
* Elphaba
* maybe a book or two? even a notebook?

If I think about it, I can borrow a mug and a hot chocolate packet from work. After I survive whatever hell shift is going to happen, I can come home and have a long hot very hot shower, then put on some pajama pants and a TMNT shirt and have some hot chocolate while I open presents and watch the Berenstain Bears Christmas Special and then some Doctor Who or maybe a movie