Tuesday Morning Quarterbacking

Is Tuesday Morning in dire straits? The question came up in the comments related to Hey It's Muff's disappointing visit, and now Miss Hanzo wants to know, too. Fortunately, her financial advisor Dena has been reading the company's August financial reports and earnings call transcript, so Miss Hanzo has come to Dena's office to hear what's what.

Dena likes to keep her office minimalist.

Disclaimer: This post covers only issues of interest to fashion doll collectors and should not be construed to be investment advice.

Is Tuesday Morning on the road to nowhere?

Not right now. After some bad years, the company has been profitable for the past two fiscal years and has no debt on its balance sheet. One concern is that it's spending more cash on capex (building, repairing, buying equipment) than it generates from its stores, but it looks like a chunk of this was related to the new distribution center in Phoenix, which is completed. 

But my favorite store has vanished, Dena!

So why has my nearest store disappeared?

Hayden gets her roof-top garden

Alexis takes Hayden up on the roof for a surprise.

Watch it... ready? Don't trip over the fire pit...

The garden is a long overdue project that finally got tackled as part of Iron Craft challenge #5 (they're every two weeks, not monthly! ack!), for which the theme was "green," in the sense of either the color or re-use/recycle. The patio is both green for plants and green for re-use, as everything except one piece was something I already had.

Shall we let Hayden uncover her eyes and see what's what?

Alexis and Zora check out Super Bowl Hoopla

Downtown Phoenix is frantic with preparation for Super Bowl-related activities. Alexis and Zora, being big football fans, had to check it out. (Alexis is the one with hair today; she was in the second wave of early settlers and is studying for her realtor's license. Zora is her cousin, who arrived with the Polar Bear Club and who is an artist and community activist.)

We are big football fans and this... is a big football.

The football, located at Central and Washington, is twenty feet tall and made out of 7,000 pounds of steel and other building supplies. Our mayor touts it as an excellent place to take selfies.

Boil-washing extravaganza plus new dresses to celebrate Rebecca's body transplant

It's amazing how an unexpected visit from one's landlord can suddenly make tidying and cleaning seem so much less onerous, to the point that doing it right now works extremely well. The answer to stress is always boil-washing, which is why there's now a candid shot of some Liv girls with their painted-on pixie cuts.

Alexis seems worried about what Fitzroy's going to do next.

Katie, Hayden, Alexis, and Krys are all getting their hair cleaned and shined because everybody was looking as if they'd been in Arizona for a while -- and frantic cleaning had resulted in putting most of the body farm in a bag in the closet, leaving me free counter space.

A group portrait for National Doll Day

In honor National Doll Day, the girls gathered for a group portrait. Of course, getting everybody looking the same direction, with their eyes open, was virtually impossible.

There is no consensus on head size in this civilization.

Below the fold, there are smaller group portraits by doll type, along with a FAQ so that new visitors know what's going on here, other than, say, utter madness.

Alexis finds unexpected goodies at Dollar Tree

Alexis attempts to placate Hayden, who's still unhappy about the progress of home improvement, with her finds on a junket to the big Dollar Tree out in Mesa. For instance, there's this very fine urn that will look lovely in the garden once it's repainted in beige.

There are four of those urns.

Look! Either tops for garden tables or stepping stones for the garden. Was this not a bargain? (The girls took their hats off because the sun went behind a bank of clouds, this being monsoon season. Alexis is looking a bit mussed from being out in the heat.)

And that's three of six, which may be enough for one day.

Hayden poses with Alexis and Cleo to demonstrate that their dresses, while similar, are not identical. Today does seem to have been Neutral Day, though.

Alexis is first on the block to have... something...

Alexis wanted something less cocktail-party than her brocade wrap dress -- a cool, comfortable dress she could wear to church and brunch, like she did as a child in Alabama. She also has something new and different for the Liv girls.

Move to Phoenix, get dresses!

Sophie wanted her dress to be an homage to the prevailing Mid-Century Flintstones architecture of CenPho, but the results may be a bit more sauvage than she'd intended.

The same skirt that looked appealingly pouffy in person turns very Pebbles Flintstone-auditions-for-Survivor on camera. This dress is from the no-sew circle method, same as Draculaura's, but this time, I put a slit at the back of the neck to help it over the head. The fabric is from my favorite thrift-store skirt of 2013, which I wore until the fabric gave way at the seams -- and it lives on! The patterned top layer -- yes, this is lined, same as the skirt was -- is slippery and deceptive. You think you've cut a straight line, but no, whoops! there's a notch missing.

There's also the difficulty that this dress causes Sophie to fade into the upholstery. Not her favorite look, unless the fashion design is just a cover for a career with the FBI or CIA.

Sophie is more satisfied with Alexis' dress for networking cocktail events. The restrained menswear pattern says business, while the dramatic neckline says glamor.

This is from the same no-sew pattern as Katie, Hayden's, and Cleo's dresses. The fabric is a scrap from Nasco. Alexis and Sophie were, of course, wearing perfectly nice Barbie clothes, but apparently the rule is: move to Phoenix, get dresses!

The tight skirt isn't the best for sprawling on a bed, but it's a relief to have a talk with Katie away from the young 'uns.

Katie and Hayden get permanent house guests

Katie is thrilled to see her friend Alexis and is showing her where in the kitchen to find the herb tea.

Career opportunities looked better for Katie and Hayden's best friends, Alexis and Sophie, here in the big city than in my parents' smaller town. Alexis is going to get her real estate license. Sophie is excited about Phoenix's burgeoning fashion scene.

Here, Hayden is attempting to persuade Sophie to take off those high heels. Sophie looks a bit frazzled from her first encounter with Phoenix's summer heat.

But wait... what...

Also joining the household are Draculaura and Cleo De Nile, recently graduated from Monster High and seeking summer jobs before starting their freshman year at Arizona State University. Both girls are a little overwhelmed with their new surroundings, especially after Hayden hinted that, even in Phoenix's casual environment, they might be somewhat casually dressed for job hunting. Draculaura figures she'll get a job with tips at Nami or Green, while Cleo hasn't thought beyond the party scene.

Having sworn up and down that there would be no more houses until at least 2016, I have figured out how to add two bedrooms to Katie and Hayden's abode by moving the smaller houses around the existing shelves. The six of them will have to use the single bathroom in shifts.

More, more, more!

• There are other people who have Liv World dolls!
• Monster High is so complicated, it has a wiki.