Blythe! Blythe! Blythe!

I haven't posted on here in forever and trust me, it is for good reason (i.e. getting married, honeymoon in Hawaii, business trip in FL, my brother's wedding in CA, swine flu, new mario for the wii and working thru the most hellish holiday season in retail history to name a few) but I am going to make a point to try to be more frequent as blogging is probably a lot saner than talking to myself. At least with blogging I can pretend there is an audience listening/reading.

If you know me, you know that I get obsessed with things pretty often (be it actual objects or projects/hobbies). And not just the "oh I would like to have that" but the straight out feel-like-I-am-going-to-die-if-I-don't-have-it kind of obsession and i run the gamut of things to be obsessed over. In the last few months things I have coveted have been:
*Coach purse: Brooke in cherry
*Coach Sunglasses: tasha in burgundy (they are so hot!)
*Laura Mercier Creme De Pistache body lotion & scrub, and her neroli perfume
*A plethora of Aveda products
*Crocheting
*Embroidering (especially with patterns from Sublime Stitching)
*Owning a Cricut Machine (and I will own one someday and make die cut everything!)
*Redecorating our family room (this encompasses searching for a new TV, coach, recliner, coffee table, etc.)
*Redecorating our bedroom
*Decorating my office
*Dieting/detoxing
*My hair (trying to find pictures of the perfect cut and color)
and these are just the things I can remember off the top of my head (and are in addition to the things I just am generally always obsessing over). I know I drive my husband and friends crazy with the way I bounce around from object of desire to object of desire and they most likely get sick of all the talking I do about them (and the stupid wistful look I get on my face while doing said going on and on) but it is one of the "quirky" things they love about me (right????!!!!). Typically, after checking web pages of objects daily (sometimes even multiple times a days) I either purchase the item or find something else that replaces it and/or steals my attention (I have a very short attention span anyway). I know I have just outlined the definition of someone having an obsessive/compulsive disorder but frankly my dear, I just don't give a damn.

This brings me to my latest object du jour....Blythe. Blythe was a doll that Kenner manufactured for 1 year (1972) and then was pulled from production because the doll was deemed "too scary" for children (she has a fairly large head and giant peepers that change color and direction with the pull of a string). Fast forward to the late nineties/early '00s, when the doll was reintroduced into the Japan market and became a smash with a cult-like following. I first saw one of these online a few months ago and had to know what it was. I thought she was cool and such but felt no instant, overwhelming desire to possess a Blythe of my own. I did however, catalog it into my general obsessions categories and would do random searches for her when I couldn't think of anything else to surf for. And that's how i found her....the Blythe doll I have to have or I will die.

See, Blythes come from the factory all cute and such but a lot of people out there take her and customize her by repainting, handmade clothes, new eye chips, etc. and it is these custom ones that fascinate me (and make me green with envy on their amazing talent). The Blythe I have picked out makes me squeal (yes, I am using the word squeal) with delight every time I look at her pictures. She is my doll soul mate and we need to be together. The auction (currently I am the reigning high bidder) doesn't end until Saturday and the anticipation is driving me crazy. And J too (well, technically I am making him crazy as is the thought of my paying the high price tag for something he finds slightly creepy). I just have to win this doll or I think the world is going to end.

I am fully aware of how ridiculous this all sounds. I am 30 years old and just rambled on and on about a doll that was originally manufactured for groovy seven year olds. A doll that didn't even interest its primary demographic long enough to make it a year on the shelves in the US (which honestly boggles my mind. what kid wouldn't want a doll whose eyes change colors???!!! It beats the hair growing dolls by a long shot). I even bought Haute Doll magazine tonight at Powell's because it had a whole spread on Blythecon '09 in it. My obsessions have reached new heights and I can honestly see myself surrounded by Blythes. There is no help for me. I am following my grandmother and my great grandmother's footsteps and becoming a doll collector. It starts with one and next thing I know I will have a custom built doll cabinet with a crap ton of dolls crammed in it. It is in my DNA to do this. And while I may have dabbled recreationally in toy collecting in my past, when it comes to dolls, Blythe is my gateway drug.

No other family member in my generation have shown symptoms of possessing the doll collecting chromosome. I just hope that when J and I decide to procreate we have a girl. That way the hereditary doll collecting hobby will not die with me and I can have someone I can leave all my future dolls to.