Dolly & Me By the Sea: UFDC 72nd Annual Convention 2021 - Baltimore, MD - Part 4

Special Exhibit - Oh Baby - Galoob Baby Face Dolls - by Lynne Delisle.

As We See Ourselves: Black Dolls by Black Doll Artists and Black-Owned Companies by the Charm City Dolling Club.

Dolly & Me By the Sea: UFDC 72nd Annual Convention 2021 - Baltimore, MD - Part 3

 Tuesday, July 20th.

That morning I bought my Helper (raffle) tickets and did a first walk through of the special exhibits. The Schoenhut Dolls exhibit was pretty empty when I was there, so I took some time to take photos.

While I was there, Barabara Stone, UFDC President at the time, came in with the doll that was bought in honor of her for the UFDC Museum.

Next on my schedule were the 10AM ams 11AM programs: Underground Railroad Quilts by Linda Oeleis, and A to Z of French Fashion by Fred Patton. Both programs were well done, but the Quilt program just went to another level of excellence. I might have had tears running down my face at the end of it.

After a quick lunch I went back to the Salesroom to take a real look. So many beautiful dolls! And I missed out on the doll I wanted. I saw a doll in a booth that was on my want list and I started walking toward it. A woman in the booth picked it up and asked the dealer about it. After 10 minutes I told the dealer that if she didn't buy it, I would. 20 minutes later the other woman finally made her decision and bought it. Oh well. It was not meant to be.

Next was a another program: In the Pink by Barbara Stone, checking out the Competition room - one of my dolls got a ribbon, visiting the Helper room and depositing half of my tickets, and then visiting the Special Exhibits again to take photos of the other exhibits.

To be continued in Part 4.

Dolly & Me By the Sea: UFDC 72nd Annual Convention 2021 - Baltimore, MD - Part 2

On Monday, July 19th, I got up bright and early and headed down to the 4th floor convention area, where I would be working at the Mini-Office. While waiting at the elevator, what did I see? 

Could it be? Yes, Mr. Trash Wheel was hanging out just outside the hotel! How awesome was that. I probably, definitely, squealed in joy when I saw him. I then immediately took a photo and posted it to Facebook so my husband, also a Mr. Trash Wheel fan, could see.

Merry, had changed tops for the day and was dressed up in her new crocheted summer sweater, so she could help out at the Mini-Office.

From 9AM-12PM at the Mini-Office, we helped con attendees with directions, replaced missing membership cards, sold tickets to paid events, and supplied volunteers with their convention volunteer charms/tie tacks. Then, my shift over, Merry and headed down to the hotel restaurant to get some lunch. I ran into some friends down there, so we sat together to eat and I learned some really cool info about paper dolls and the 2022 Paper Doll Convention that will be in Wisconsin (shameless plug for the friends who are hosting it.)

After lunch I gathered up my competition dolls and headed to the 3rd floor competition room. I brought 3 dolls this year: an Asian BJD, a non-Asian BJD, and a male celebrity doll. The competition clerk had me quickly checked in and I put my dolls on the appropriate tables. And WOOSH! That was done.

The rest of the afternoon was filled up with attending the AV Contest Winner program (a great program this year, on 20th century fashion through the decades on modern fashion dolls), checking out the UFDC Boutique, snapping a better photo of Mr. Trash Wheel, socializing, and having dinner in the hotel restaurant.

That evening were the Opening Ceremonies and the Grand Opening of the Sales Room. I took a quick walk thru of the Sales Room, but, as always, it was way too crowded for me to see much. I wish I had looked at one particular booth more closely, but, oh well.

To be continued in Part 3.

Dolly & Me By the Sea: UFDC 72nd Annual Convention 2021 - Baltimore, MD - Part 1

Sunday, July 18th, my convention room mate and I drove to Baltimore and checked in at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront hotel. Our room was on the 27th floor, and as you can see, we had quite the view up above the city.

My travel companion for the convention is Merry, a Little Darling doll by Dianna Effner. I thought it was fitting that she should wear her Region 11 Regional Conference outfit on the first day - Maryland, represent!

After checking in at the convention registration desk and getting our bags and convention journals, we ventured out of the hotel to find dinner. Right outside of the back of the hotel is a traffic circle with a beautiful and impressive statue - the National Katyn Memorial - dedicated to the victims of the 1940 katyn massacre of Polish nationals.

Masks off for a brief pre-convention selfie.

We had dinner at an excellent sushi restaurant really close by - Chiu's Sushi. We shared a sushi platter and takoyaki. Sooooo good.

The souvenir tote bag, journal, and the convention program.

After dinner, we went to the At Your Service Ice Cream Social to socialize and eat ice cream, of course. 

To be continued in Part 2.

4th of July Weekend

Happy 4th of July. I've been busy with so much lately that I haven't been posting much. 

Please enjoy some displays from previous years.

A Cherry Blossom May Day

Yesterday was the my doll club's May Day Celebration. This year the theme was "A Cherry Blossom May Day".

Today I created a cherry blossom doll display , using the event doll and 4 other dolls that I own.

On the far right are a 12" Horsman doll that I received as a gift this Christmas. She is a replacement of one of the dolls I got for my first Christmas. It was pure luck that I spied her in an on-line auction.

In front of her is DDung - Romantic 2 (Top Promotion) and her pink teddy bear. I got her on one of my trips to Korea.

On the far left is Baby The Stars Shine Bright Jenny (Takara Tomy). She was the last Jenny I purchased while in Japan.

In the middle is Hello Kitty Loves Licca Chan.

And front left is the event doll - a Yu Ping doll by Ruby Red Galleria in an exclusive outfit.

The cherry blossoms may no longer be blooming outside, but they are blooming in my house.