‘The Real Z’ Book Review

I just finished reading “The Real Z” by Jen Calonita.  I know Z came out a while back this year, but I just kind of brushed her off, thinking she was just a reused, uncreative doll.  While her doll looks just like Truly 64, except with a different part and a mole, her story surprised me.  In a good way!  I really enjoyed it!

The story is about Suzanne “Z” Yang, a stopmotion filmmaker in Seattle, Washington.  When she gets a chance to enter a film contest, she is super excited!  But then she finds out that it’s very different from anything she’s ever done before, and she feels pressured and a little discouraged when her friends don’t like her first try.  Will she be able to express ‘the real Z’?  Can she save her Camera Club, buying a new camera with prize money?  Will she maintain good relationships with her family and friends?

Read the book and find out!

Now for some spoilers.  *evil grin*  Don’t read anymore if you want to be surprised with the book.

What I liked in ‘The Real Z’:

-One of her BFFS is in a wheelchair.  It’s good for girls (and everyone, really) to read about people with disabilities, so they aren’t intimidated or scared when they come across them.

-All the Korean-American traditions incorporated in the book.  I learned new things!

-The fact that Z uses AG dolls for AGSMs(American Girl Stop Motions), and she’s 13.  I appreciate AG reaching out to girls who are above the 8-13 age range, portraying doll photography as something cool and interesting, instead of creepy like many people think it is.

-The stress put on online safety.  A lot of girls post their personal info or inappropriate things.  I like how supportive and tuned-in  Z’s parents are.  🙂

What I didn’t like in ‘The Real Z’:

-Z was a bit immature in her fights with her friends, and when things didn’t work out.  But it wasn’t bad!

So, if you are thinking of reading it, I encourage you to do so!

Have you read Z’s books?  What do you think of Z?

❤ , IrishAG

Tropical Morning – By IrishAG

Hello world!

When we went to the Lea movie premiere, I bought Lea’s Rainforest Dreams Pajamas.  Here’s my mini review:

I ❤ them!  They are soft and cute.  The slippers are so fuzzy!  There’s nothing I dislike about them.  I give them a 5 out of 5 star rating.

Now for a photoshoot!  I think Addy looks gorgeous in this with her dark coloring.  😀

I also tried cornrows on her for the first time!  I LOVE cornrows.  Especially the rope braid kind.  Next time, I’ll probably make the braids smaller.

❤  ❤   ❤

Another look at her hair.  🙂

In case you needed proof that the slippers are the cutest…

Have you ever tried cornrows on yourself or your doll?

❤ , IrishAG

Lea Movie Premiere Review – By IrishAG

Hello!

On Friday, Mom, Gymnast03, Curiousgeorgefan and I went to American Girl Place Chicago for the Lea movie premiere!  It was so fun!

The movie is called Lea to the Rescue.  Maggie Elizabeth Jones plays Lea Clark, and she is really cute.  The movie is set after the book series, which I love.  Zac is still in Brazil, and is missing.  Lea and her Mom go to Brazil to help look for him.  Can Lea save the day and find Zac?

I really enjoyed the movie.  From the preview, I thought Lea would be totally whiny.  Not so!  And the sloth……….. adorableness!  😀  My Mom liked the movie as well.  It was pretty much nonstop intensity, but it was well acted.  Really little kids might be disturbed by it, but it all ends okay.  🙂

I think it was $10 a person, and that included the movie, popcorn, a Capri Sun or water bottle, a goody bag, crafts and photo ops!  That’s a really good deal for AG.  We checked in at the AG store in Chicago and got our goody bags and wristbands, then walked a block down to the Museum of Contemporary Art for the movie, crafts, concessions and photo ops.  It was crowded, I think it was sold out!

 

Here’s a picture of Addy waiting for the movie to start in the theatre!  She and I both wore black and white dresses, and Tauriel braids in our hair.

Now I’ll review the goody bag!  It says American Girl on it.  Inside, there’s a Lea movie poster, girl and doll passports and doll-sized pineapple juice and popcorn.  I was most excited about the doll food.

So there you go!  Also, AG released the Wellie Wishers and some new doll stuff today!  Go check it out on their website.  🙂  My favorite Wellie Wisher is Willa.  Willa the Wellie Wisher!  🙂

Have you seen the Lea movie?  If so, what did you think of it?

❤ , IrishAG

Review: Addy Walker Doll & Accessories – By IrishAG

Hi readers!  Happy Memorial Day!  I haven’t posted in a while, because I had an Irish Step performance a few days ago, and a parade today!  😀  They were both awesome.  XD

Aaaaaand… guess what?!?  I hit 40 WordPress followers yesterday!  Woo-hoo!  Thanks guys.  I can’t believe it!  You guys make me feel so special.  🙂  I love all your sweet comments.  I haven’t gotten a mean one yet!  Okay, on to the review.  😀

As you probably know, I bought the lovely Addy Walker doll and accessories.  I was super freaked out at the store, wondering if I should buy Addy or Maryellen.  At one point, I was circling around a display that had both of them on it.  😀  True story.  I decided on Addy for a couple of reasons (some are listed here):

• I love her stories.
• Her time period is cool.
• We didn’t  have any black dolls at the time, so adding diversity seemed like a good idea.  🙂
• I LOVE her meet outfit.  Seriously.
• My other two dolls have short-ish hair.

 

Today I’m going to be reviewing her and her accessories.  🙂

Let’s start at the bottom for a change!  😀

Her boots are adorable.  The little “buttons” don’t actually button, but that’s okay because they are super small.  And they look like chocolate chips.  The boots have little heels on them, which makes it difficult to stand her up in the grass or uneven ground.  :p  The boots have Velcro on the back, but they are challenging to put on over her socks.  Her socks are white and almost knee-length.  I don’t have much to say about them.

Her drawers are white and lace trimmed.  They are a nice historical touch.

Her DRESS!  XD  I wish it came in my size!  It is a gorgeous shade of blue.  I think it’s close to Royal blue.  It has a small pattern on it.  There are also black bows and piping.  It has cap sleeves, which is really cute.

Now to her face!  Addy has the “Addy” face mold (go figure), and she is our only doll that has it.  Her skin is this beautiful cocoa brown with a reddish undertone.  She has warm, chocolate brown eyes and feathered eyebrows.  At the store, all of the display Addys I saw had line eyebrows, but all the Addys in boxes had feathered ones.  Weird, right?  I personally prefer the feathered.  Addy has permanent hoop earrings.  I wish they came out, but it’s not a big deal.  My Mom is happy because they can’t get lost.  😉

Addy’s hair is black, textured and a bit wavy when you take it out of the braids.  She came with two French braids tied together with blue bows, but I redid her hair.  I was a bit worried when I bought her that her hair would be tough to work with.  Actually, it’s not a problem!  You can just brush her hair with a regular doll hairbrush.  The coarseness isn’t a problem at all, either.  🙂   She does have lots of flyaways, and her hair is longer on the sides than the middle.   AG never has any pictures of Addy with her hair down, which is kind of annoying if you’re thinking of buying her.  Her hair is REALLY LONG, as you can see.

Picture from AG’s website.

She comes with this book. I haven’t read it yet, (since I’ve read her old books) but I like the cover art.  I wish the AG books still had illustrations.  😦

Now to her accessories!

There are three pieces: a bonnet, a cowrie shell necklace and a patchwork bag.  The bonnet is definitely my favorite!  It frames Addy’s face so sweetly.  The ribbon is sewn on very securely, which I’m grateful for.  The necklace is on a plain black cord, and is very significant in her stories.  The bag looks like it’s patchwork, but it’s actually one piece of fabric.  The interior of the bag is the same fabric as Addy’s dress, so if you wanted to have her dress match her bag, you could.  You’d just need to cut off the tag, if you cared.  The bag is a bit small.

I’ve heard that she might be retiring, with Melody coming out this Summer.  😦  If you don’t want her to be retired, ask your parent if you can go to this website to help “save” her:  https://www.change.org/p/katy-dickson-do-not-retire-addy-walker     They’re halfway there!  I think Addy’s time period, 1864, is very important for American girls today to know about.

So there you go!  I would definitely recommend her.  The only thing I don’t like is that her earrings don’t come out, but that’s not a big problem.  😀

Do you have Addy Walker?  What do you like and/or dislike about her?

❤ , IrishAG

Knit Blanket Sweater Review – By Gymnast03

Hey guys!!   I’m Gymnast03 and I’m going to review the knit blanket sweater.  It’s inspired by Kaya.

I love the print on this sweater.  The colors are: black, white, pink, blue and red.   It’s a high low hem.   Its comfortable, stretchy and warm.  But if you’re outside for a long time, or it’s cold or really windy, it might not be the best thing to wear because you might get a little chilly.   I don’t think it is meant for an outdoors coat. I usually wear it with black or navy blue leggings or navy skinny jeans. The pants  and sweater look great with a plain white or red shirt.

On the right hand side, there is a Beforever button.

Got any questions or comments??   Please comment below and I’ll respond! 🙂

-Gymnast03

Lea Clark Book Series Review – By IrishAG

Hi everybody!

Gymnast03, Mom and I just finished Lea and Camila, the last book in the Lea series!  We’ve read all three of the books now, so I made a “review” of the things I liked and disliked. *WARNING!  This contains spoilers for the Lea books, so if you haven’t read them yet and want to be surprised, you should probably stop reading.*

All right, let’s get to Lea Dives In!

Things I liked:

• The vibrant descriptions!  (I love Lisa Yee’s writing!)
• Ama and Lea’s relationship.  Lea really looks up to Ama, which I thought was sweet.
• Lea’s travel blog.  Just like Grace Thomas, Lea blogs about her adventures!  Maybe AG will make it on their website like In The Mix With Grace!
• Camila.  Oh my gosh, she was so sweet!  I loved the way she befriended Lea.  And when she surprised Lea with the beautiful dress!
• Lea facing her fear of the ocean.  Good thing she did, she saw awesome things under the sea.
• Her dad.  He was so corny and funny, espiscally his “Brazil Nut” cap.  XD  And he was always so prepared, even when he fell off the cliff!
• When Lea had the super spicy food at the restaurant.  It cracked me up.
• The cover art.  So pretty!  I love the parrots.
• Last but not least, the Darth Vader reference!!!  😀

Things I disliked:

• Lea’s negative attitude.  Luckily it wore off by the end of the book.
• Zac.  He didn’t seem to want to spend time with his family, and would rather be with Paloma, his crush.  Which brings me to
• Zac’s crush on Paloma.  That was akward.

And last but not least…

• Lea throwing her Grandmother’s necklace into the ocean as an offering to a pagan goddess!  It was her Grandma’s before she passed away.  And if Lea cares so much about the animals and the enviroment, why did she help with throwing baskets of junk into the river?!?  That was pretty bad.

Now book 2, Lea leads the way.

Things I liked:

• Zac’s host family, espiscally Tomas!  He was so sweet to Lea and Amanda.
• All the wildlife they saw.
• Galo Louco.  He was funny!
• When Lea ate larvae.  Lisa Yee did too, and you can go to her website to see pictures!
• And my favorite part, by far, was Amanda the sloth!  Oh my gosh she was so cute!!!  🙂

Things I disliked:

• How freaked out Zac got when Lea suggested he poke an ant’s habitat.  He said sorry later, though.

And now the last book, Lea and Camila.

Things I liked:

• How Lea, Camila and Abby got along.  It was rocky at times, but better than some other books.
• How they showed that even “unexotic” places like St. Louis could be fun and exciting.
• How Lea doesn’t live on the East Coast.
• The Coventry House.  The hidden room was awesome.
• Hallie!  The whole search for and finding her was fun.  And she was such a neat carachter.
• The photography, espiscally the two Hallie photos.  🙂
• How Hallie gave Lea a compass necklace.  I know some were disappointed that Lea never got it back, but she got another one!
• The girls getting frozen custard.  I love it!

Things I disliked:

• Abby’s disobeying Mrs. Clark.  That was dangerous and disrespectful!
• Abby not inviting Lea to the game.  I think this should’ve been handled by adults.
• Of course, the fight.  But it was well resolved.

Overall, I liked the series.  My favorite book was Lea and Camila.  It’s not available for purchase yet, but my library got it early.  🙂  Sorry this was so long!

Do you like Lea’s books?

~IrishAG

My First Pop! – By IrishAG

Today I’m going to be doing a post that is not related to AG.  ( I hope you guys don’t mind!)  I was going to do a Christmas post with our cousins dolls and our dolls, and it was all ready, and everything was great and then… I forgot the camera.  *Facepalm*  But I get to review this Funko Pop! instead!

I bet you can guess which ones they are…

If you guessed Rapunzel and Pascal, you’re right!

Here they are outside of the box.

Rapunzel is so cute!  She has a paintbrush and is barefoot.  My fave thing about her is defenitly her hair.  So beautiful!  The way it curls at the bottom is sweet.

Now Pascal.  He is really tiny, so I’m going to have to be careful to not lose him.

Now some bonus pics!

I rate the set 5 out of 5 stars!  Rapunzel’s detail is amazing, and Pascal is so cute!  The only thing I would change is Rapunzel holding a frying pan.  But the paintbrush is a rare nod to her artistic side!

Rapunzel is my favorite Disney Princess.  Who’s yours?

-IrishAG

 

 

 

Review: Maryellen’s Birthday Dress – By IrishAG

(Picture from AG’s website.)

Hi girls!  I recieved Maryellen’s Birthday Dress for an early Christmas present, and Julia will be modeling it.

It might be my favorite AG dress ever!  It is gorgeous!  It comes with a headband, shoes, and the dress.  The headband is green with a side bow.

The back of the dress.  It velcros in back.

A closer look at the bodice.  The sash has a pink faux flower on it.

The skirt has a sheer tulle-ish layer on top, and a silky layer underneath.

The shoes are so cute!  They are a bit lighter than hot pink, and have a white bow on top.  The first picture shows the sides.

I rate the outfit 5 out of 5 stars!  Literally no complaints.  One thing that’s nice about it is that it can be worn in Spring, Summer, and Winter.   It is backordered on the website to February 26, 2016, but it might be available at a store near you!

❤ , IrishAG

Grace vs. Julia – By IrishAG

Here’s the review of Grace!

  She is SO BEAUTIFUL!!  Her freckle pattern is different than any other dolls.

The back view… from here you can really see her gorgeous hair.  It’s longer than her waist and is really fun to play with!  🙂

The shirt says “Paris I love you” in French.  The pink stripes are glittery.  On th right sleeve there is the Grace tag.  This is a very versatile piece.

The skirt is pink with a black bow.  It’s really cute, but very short.  You could always put some leggings underneath.

The boots are so versatile and cute!  The bows are attatched to a strip of fabric that sometimes flips up, but besides that, no problems.

(Sorry for the blurry pic.)  Her eyes are deep blue, and her eyebrows are feathered.  We didn’t get her ears pierced.

There’s a small section of her bang that’s floppy.  It can easily be brushed to the side, though.

Grace comes with a charm bracelet and her first book.  (Nellie is modeling the bracelet.)

Now I’m going to compare Julia (Just Like You #23) and Grace.  When Grace came out, I thought she was Julia’s twin.  As the photo shows, this is not the case.

First, hair.  Julia’s is shorter and blonder.  She also has no bangs.

Their skin tones are totally different.  Grace has very light skin.

Their face molds are different.  Julia has the classic, and Grace has the Josefina.

Here you can really see the difference.

Now for a few bonus pics!

I rate Grace 5 out of 5 stars!  The only things I don’t like are the short skirt and floppy bang.

What do you think of Grace?

~IrishAG

Review: Fair Isle PJs By Gymnast03

         Hey guys!  I’m Gymnast03, and today I’m reviewing the fair isle pajamas.

I LOVE these pj’s!  I got them last year at AG place.

The top has silver and pink snowflakes and  little green stitches on it.   I like the embelishments!  I don’t really like the ribbed fabric though.

I like everything about these pants!!!

These are really cozy looking!  There is dark pink fur on the top and a soft sole.  The pink fur on the top is really soft!

I love this outfit on Saige!

-Gymnast03