Update #6: A few unfortunate things, but mostly awesome things :)

 I'd like to start this off by saying, if you're still coming to read by blog, then I applaud you. I've never been good about setting a consistent schedule for myself with these kinds of things, and as much as I love running this blog, I've been very bad at keeping up with it. Not to mention, a lot of stuff has gone on between the beginning of May and now. I've had to deal with funerals, losses, busy days, recurring bouts of depression. I don't want to go into detail here because that's not what this blog is about. But I will say that I'm feeling somewhat better now, and I'm hoping to actually write down a schedule for this blog so I can post weekly or bi-weekly. I love talking about my plushies and I will certainly try to post more consistently in the future.

Anyways, in case you're wondering, "have you gotten any more plushies in the last month and a half?" Well of course I have! I typically go through phases when collecting plushies but this phase seems to have lasted basically the whole year at this point. I sort of have an addiction to looking through the plushies and stuffed animals at Goodwill. What can I say? A dollar per plushie is a great deal!

On June 20th I was glancing through the plushie bins at Goodwill, as I usually do, and I stumbled across a dingy and somewhat dirty looking fennec fox plush. I honestly almost passed on it because it looked like it was pretty well loved, and I prefer to buy stuffed animals that are still in decent condition. I think what made me change my mind was that I showed it to my mom and she thought it was really cute. I decided that I would bring him home and give him a chance. Worst case scenario, I would simply return it.
So I brought it home and I decided that I would try to hand wash it. It looked like it had been played with a lot and had never been washed. To be fair, I don't actually wash plushies very often (the ones that had been washed when I was a kid were thrown in the washer and subsequently had their fur ruined). But I knew if I wanted to give this cute little fox a chance, I would need to give him a bath. So I filled my bathroom sink with lukewarm water and a bit of laundry soap, and I scrubbed that plushie for about 5-10 minutes. I did actually see quite a bit of dirt come out into the water! I had to let him hang dry overnight and the following day I placed him in front of a fan to finish the drying process. Then I used my dog's slicker brush to fluff out his fur, and honestly? He looked so much happier once he was all nice and clean. And he smelled nice too! Here's the before and after:

I decided, at this point, to instill the spirit of Sandy into this plushie. I had planned on getting another National Geographic fennec fox plush, which would've been about $25, but I'm quite happy with this plush despite not looking as realistic as the NatGeo one. Also would like to point out that he's relatively small compared to Alex and my other fox plushies, which I appreciate because fennec foxes are, in fact, pretty small creatures in real life! So he is in fact a permanent member of my plushie collection and I'm happy to have him!

Next I have something quite exciting to mention! On the 4th of July I had to help out with setting up for a symphony concert in another city, so before I had to do that I stopped at their local Goodwill to look at their plushies. Guys. I found so many!! I probably could've gotten more but I ended up picking out eight that I wanted. Eight plushies for eight dollars isn't half bad! But considering I'm on somewhat of a tight budget it did hurt my wallet a little bit lol. I'll talk about them in pairs below!

These two in particular stand out to me because not only are they both Webkinz which I didn't own as a kid, but they also both have sparkly bellies! So cute! The one on the left is a Whimsy Dragon (released in May 2008) and the one on the right is a Blufadoodle (released Nov 2009). Oddly enough, despite having 45+ Webkinz as a kid, I never had any dragons and I only had one bird, that being the Budgie. I don't think either of my childhood friends had these plushies either. So this is a bit of a new experience for me. I think the Blufadoodle is really cute but I've miraculously become totally infatuated with the Whimsy Dragon. Of all the new plushies in this batch, he's the only one I've named thus far, his name being Isaiah. I like to think he's a femboy who likes cute things. Perhaps the Blufadoodle could be his best friend? I'll have to figure that out soon.

The next pair is another two Webkinz which I didn't have as a kid, though one of them I do currently own (therefore I now own two of them lol). The left one is a Pink Pony (Jan 2007) and the right one is a Cherry Blossom Bird (June 2009). Though I never owned a Pink Pony, I have some fond memories of when it was Pet of the Month back in June 2009. It got its own theme song and I can still sing it to this day! "And the very next time I see you, I'm sure you'll be wearing the crown. And I hope when I tell you you'll believe me, that you're the prettiest Pink Pony in town!" I actually had a friend who owned a Cherry Blossom Bird and I always thought she was really cute. I just got my very own a few weeks ago after finding her at Goodwill. I happened to find two more this time, though one of them was missing her eyes somehow. I snatched this one up and now I have two! I don't know yet if I'll give her to a friend or try to sell her.

The next pair is actually two beanie babies which I absolutely couldn't resist buying. The poodle's name is Ooh-la-la, and she didn't come with a tag but I found out that her birthday is May 2004. I had to do a bit of digging to find the rabbit, and I found out that her name is Hippie and her birthday is May 1998. I've honestly never seen this one before and I'm a fan of tie-dye colored beanie babies so I feel really lucky to have found her! And of course I just love poodle plushies so Ooh-la-la will also be a great addition to my collection!

The last pair are somewhat outliers but I still liked them enough to get them. I randomly found this Fire Luigi plush while digging through the plushies there. I have never seen a Super Mario plushie at Goodwill so it kinda caught me off guard, but I would've been a fool to pass him up! The other one is a Webkinz Pink and White Dog (Oct 2008). I got him because I actually used to own a Pink and White Cat (still do though I don't know where she is at the moment) and I figured they would make a great pair!

I would like to mention that, besides the Luigi plush being a bit dirty, all these plushies are in very nice condition. I'm especially happy that the dragon and beanie buddy rabbit are in great condition, I think they're my favorite ones in the whole group. I've been taking Isaiah with me everywhere I go and he has earned a special spot on my bed along with Sterling, Mr. Thwompo, Mario, Spongebob, and my blue bunny. I'm very happy with this plushie haul but my search shall continue!

*As a side note, about a month ago I got a Webkinz Charcoal Cat. I should show her off sometime soon.