I was extremely fortunate recently to have the opportunity, for work, to attend a conference in Washington DC. It was my first ever trip to the USA and to say I was excited was to put it mildly! About 3 weeks before the trip I happened to mention to Lorraine in an email that I was thinking of buying the third 3 Ann's book about Sasha dolls and having it shipped to the hotel for me to collect when I arrived but she made a much better suggestion and put me in touch with her friend Norvell, whom I knew online via the Jenny and Lexie (Heather Maciak) collectors group. Norvell contacted me to say that she would be in Washington DC at the same time as me and we made arrangements for the Sasha Identification book to be sent to her apartment. Suddenly I was even more excited about the trip than before, I had known of Norvell for about 4 years and was delighted that we could meet.
Norvell picked me up from the hotel, gave me my beautiful book and took me for a drive around the centre of the city to see some of the main places, such as the Washington monument, the Capital building (dome covered in scaffolding), several of the Smithsonian Museums, the White House (from a distance, you can't get close by car), Washington National Cathedral and the Pentagon. We found a restaurant on our way to the mall at Tyson's Corner and had lunch. I had brought my Jenny and Lexie dolls with me, Norvell had one of her Sasha dolls sitting on the back seat and had her Lexie with her which was fortunate as I had brought her some gifts I had made for Jenny and Lexie. While we had lunch I gave her the gifts (Sasha 1 miniature sailing boat, a miniature beeswax candle from a shop local to me and some local leaflets, some Scottish shortbread biscuits and two miniature hobby horses for Jenny and Lexie). The hobby horses were scaled down versions of the hobby horses I have made for the Sasha dolls, I started making them as soon as I knew I would meet Norvell.
Norvell's Lexie was pleased to try out her new hobby horse at the restaurant. We compared the two Lexie dolls - Norvell's Lexie has slightly bolder freckles on her face than mine, apart from that they appeared to be identical.
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Norvell drives me over the Potomac river towards
the Washington Monument and Jefferson memorial |
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| View of the Capitol building from Norvell's car |
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| View of the back of the White House from Norvell's car |
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| Norvell helps Lexie ride her new hobby horse |
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| Lexie and her hobby horse |
I took the following photos of the two miniature hobby horses I designed and made before we flew to the USA.
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| The two hobby horses for Norvell's Jenny and Lexie dolls |
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| The other side of the two hobby horses for Norvell |
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| Close up of the two hobby horses for Jenny and Lexie |
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| My Lexie and Jenny try out the hobby horses before we flew to the USA |
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| I think they are hoping I will make them a pair of hobby horses for Christmas |
After we had lunch, Norvell and I drove to the mall at Tyson's Corner and went to the American Girl doll shop - however that is for another blog post.
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