Tuesday: Room Shopping

Room shopping was an experience unlike any other.

You get off the elevator on any given floor,
and if you look right, you see this:

And if you look left, you see this:

Doll dealers and convention attendees set up their rooms
as miniature boutiques where you can shop 'til you drop.

At least this re-purposed Alan doll was nice enough
to hold one of the doors open for us.

It was just like trick-or-treating on Halloween:

Is this door open?
Are they selling anything good?
What kind of candy to they have?!?!

There were about 18 floors in the hotel....
that is a LOT of hallways to walk up and down.

HAH! I wish this sign was accurate.
I don't think there was anything for sale that was a "dollah" that I wanted.

Meet the artist behind Bellissima Fashions: one of a kind outfits
inspired by MAD MEN.
She's holding Mattel's Joan Holloway,
one of my favorites at home.

And OH YES, this delicious green silk sheath came home with me.
Joan would have never forgiven me!

Diane was all about finding the fashions
of her beloved dolls from the '80s and '90s.
We had a great time sorting through all the bags of clothing
and discovering the outfits we had loved well as kids.

One of my favorite designers: Dressmaker Details
by Steven Frasier from Masterstroke Canada.
He was kind of a crab when I bought a dress from him,
so I didn't ask to take a picture with him.
He did donate tote bags to everyone at the convention, though.

Now this designer was another story!
Matt Sutton is just the sweetest!
He designed the convention doll
but couldn't tell us anything about it--
it is a closely-guarded secret until the big banquet at the end.

He generally repaints Silkstone barbies and creates new clothing and jewelry.

And they go for about $550.

Pictures are free, though!

Another designer who makes to-die-for
outfits for 11 1/2 inch fashion dolls: Randall Craig.
I was surprised how puny he is in person.

Autographs are also free, apparently.

Diane, me & Sandi Holder, a well-known doll dealer.
A tiny powerhouse of a woman!

Barbie BLING rings for all your Barbie GANGSTA needs

Diane saw these dolls and said, "look, it's US!"

Our overloaded tote bags...it was madness.
Only half of these were mine, but my arms got a great workout.

So much to see, so much to see....

I did find two dolls that I have REALLY
been trying to get my hands on for a decent price.

But this was a pretty exciting moment,
when I came across THE COOLEST LUNCHBOX EVER.

This was my Barbie & the Rockers lunch box from 3rd/4th grade!

Tuesday: Artist Creations Party

A couple of Italian designers,
Alessandro Gatti and Guiseppe de Bellis,
create these one-of-kind masterpieces
and sell them around the world.
They showcased some of their designs at a party Tuesday afternoon.

These babies go for OODLES of money!!

Hundreds and thousands of dollars.

This one was one of my favorites. She was originally a Mattel Marzipan Barbie.

One of the artists, speaking in an adorable Italian accent.

This one, a Mattel Siren Silkstone redesign,
was auctioned and raised $6,500
at the silent auction at the end of the convention.

You think she'd be more thrilled
about having raised so much money!

Tuesday: VIP party

A moderator from one of the fashion doll forums that
I frequent invited me to a private party
at the convention with other members from the forum.
It was kind of cool (and okay, totally nerdy)
to meet some of the people that I know from the online community.

Me & Sheree, who went out of her way
to make my experience as a first-timer a fabulous one!
She is such a sweetheart--
what else would you expect from a Michigan girl?

Diane & I were REALLY punchy after such a long day.
Mr. Goodbar is the quintessential inside joke between us.

Oh and FREEBIES!!
Mattel chipped in these Jonathan Adler vases,
and Sheree made the photo holder cubes with the cards.

And THIS nice lady made bracelets for everyone attending--
there were about 20 of us there.
I was blown away many times by the generosity
that the attendees and volunteers displayed for perfect strangers!

Monday: Pre-Game Festivities

At long last...the convention update!
I arrived in Ft. Lauderdale around lunchtime on a Monday.
My friend Diane was ready to get the party started
and surprised me with some BLING!

We stayed at the Hilton Marina (about 2 miles from the convention hotel)
where we stayed for FREE!

This is the only time the bathroom was clean.
The rest of the time, it was overrun.

This was our balcony on the 11th floor--
it wrapped around the corner overlooking the Marina!

This is how happy it made us!

That yacht was there the whole time--it was named the Mr. Terrible.

Watching the bridge was pretty cool--
except when we were on it and had to wait.

It was the hottest week of my life.
The humidity was absolutely unreal, and that is coming
from a person who just experienced heat indices near 120.

We hit up Sawgrass Mills, one of the biggest malls, ever.

We could barely stand it...the convention activities were starting the next day!