Girl of the Year 2019 Blaire Wilson was introduced by American Girl and she is all about creating meaningful connections. Blaire Wilson is budding young chef who struggles to tear herself away from her electronic devices, like so many of the young tweens and teens today. This is Amercan Girl’s 17th Doll of the Year!

BLAIR WILSON

AMERICAN GIRL'S 2019 GIRL OF THE YEAR

American Girl introduced Blaire Wilson, the 2019 American Girl of the Year in January. Blaire Wilson comes with the storyline of a young chef-in-training who loves to bring people together. I happen to think Blaire’s story is very similar to most young tween and teen girls today. She is struggling to find a balance between the digital world and the real world. Blaire’s story takes place at her family's upstate New York sustainable farm and bed-and-breakfas and is all about her life around living on a working sustainable farming, and her family and food.

BLAIRE WILSON DOLL

Blaire Wilson is the newest doll in American Girl’s line of dolls. These dolls detail girls of diverse backgrounds and various interests. Blaire Wilson comes to life for my daughters via a beautiful 18-inch doll. She has curly red hair and bright green eyes, and is wearing an outfit that reflects her personal desire to become a chef. She definitely has an entrepreneur spirit. Blaire’s world features an array of outfits, accessories, and products that reflect her life on Pleasant View Farm, and everything needed to play out a show stopping farm-to-table celebration.

Blaire comes with a beautiful garden bee dress, purple platform sandals, sunny yellow bandanna bracelet, and a hair comb with pink flowers. Additional Blaire products and books are available in American Girl stores and online now.  There are various outfits such as a Floral Flair Outfit, a Bridesmaid Dress, a Gardening Outfit and Garden Accessories, In Bloom PJs, and Blaire's organizing Accessories. Also available to purchase are Blaire’s favorite animals like her Piglet, her Lamb, and her small Garden with tools (that comes with Blaire’s favorite white Silkie chicken, Dandelion) and even a Family Farm Restaurant and some Party Déco .

On January 1st, American Girl introduced Blaire Wilson, the 2019 American Girl of the Year. Blaire Wilson comes with the storyline of a young chef-in-training who loves to bring people together. I happen to think Blaire’s story is very similar to most young tween girls today. Blaire’s story takes place at her family's upstate New York sustainable farm and bed-and-breakfas and is all about her life around sustainable farming, family and food.

Blaire is a young girl who loves to cook and love to bring people together. She joins American Girl’s family of characters and other timeless stories designed to help girls think about their own character and who they want to be. Blaire Wilson is a natural people person, and she excels at gathering people around the dinner table. But she is struggling at finding balance between the digital world and the real world, like many of her peers today. Through Blaire and her books, young tweens today will learn the importance of staying connected to the people they care about. This means more than clicking and swiping because you need to be present in life to truly be there.

BE PRESENT

Blaire created a little basket to put all electronic devices away in order for her family to electronically disconnect and really connect face-to-face. She placed a little sign by the basket and it reads, “Be Present”. I actually created a basket in my own home last year, but I titled it “Phone Jail”! LOL My kids certainly DO NOT like phone jail, but their phones most certainly do go into phone jail during family dinners and devotion time. I also make my children put their phones in phone jail at a specific time each night until the next morning. (IE: mean mom) I probably should start calling my phone jail basket something else!

There are so many creative ways to connect with your children these days that I think families forget about with the introduction of tablets and cell phones in your young children, tweens or teenager’s lives. We have Family Game Nights, Family Craft Days, Family Cook-Off Nights and Family Movie Nights.

In Jennifer Castle’s book, Blaire, she finds herself more engaged on her devices than in real-life situations with others. Ultimately, through the help of her family and friends, Blaire finds a healthy balance and learns the value of being fully present at every occasion. American Girl states: “Blaire’s screen-time obsession, and her efforts to resolve it through her chapter-book series, will help kids find more balance in their own family and social lives.”

CREATIVE CHEF OR GARDEN GURU

Blaire’s story unfolds in a chapter book series written by Jennifer Castle and published by Scholastic. In the two books, available now, Blaire loves to put her cooking and decorating talents to good use on her family’s sustainable farm and bed-and-breakfast in upstate New York. When the opportunity to plan the farm’s first wedding arises, Blaire jumps in with gusto. However, between overextending herself to create the perfect farm-fancy event and a newly diagnosed food sensitivity that makes her self-conscious, Blaire finds herself more engaged on her devices than at real-life gatherings with others. Ultimately, through the help of her family and friends, Blaire finds a healthy balance and learns the value of being fully present at every occasion.

My daughters took the Blaire Wilson online quiz to find out if they are Creative Chefs or Garden Gurus. I think they are a bit of both actually because they love to cook and bake and they also love to garden in the summer. Here is one of our recent recipe we made together.

Simple Egg Tarts

12 slices of bread, crusts removed
3 whole eggs
3 tablespoons half and half
24 grape tomatoes, cut in half
½ cup grated parmesean cheese
OPTIONAL: Canadian Bacon, cut into bite sized pieces or crumbled bacon

Roll each slice of bread with a rolling pin until flattened. Cut a circle from each slice with a round cutter and press into a greased muffin tray. Brush with olive oil and bake at 400° for about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, turn the oven down to 350° and set the bread aside. While the bread is toasting in the oven, whisk the eggs with the haff and half, and add the, tomatoes, cheese, and whatever spices you like (IE: salt, peper, garlic powder, onion powder etc). Add your optional ingredients. We always use chopped Canadian Bacon. Fill the already baked bread cups with egg mixture. Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes until cooked through.

We also bake a Chocolate Chip Banana Bread every week with the last few bananas. It has become part of our weekly that my daughters really look forward to. Baking together each week is so much fun and eating a lovely warm Chocolate Chip Banana Bread fresh out of the oven is a nice treat too!

“Building and maintaining supportive relationships with family and friends is central to Blaire’s story—a message we think is important to champion among girls today,” says Julia Prohaska, Vice President of Marketing for American Girl. “In an age where families are often striving for quality time together, we hope Blaire inspires everyone to make a New Year’s resolution to connect more regularly with the important people in their lives and make their time together this year really count.”

Blaire’s story unfolds in a chapter book series written by Jennifer Castle and published by Scholastic. In the two books, available now, Blaire loves to put her cooking and decorating talents to good use on her family’s sustainable farm and bed-and-breakfast in upstate New York. When the opportunity to plan the farm’s first wedding arises, Blaire jumps in with gusto. However, between overextending herself to create the perfect farm-fancy event and a newly diagnosed food sensitivity that makes her self-conscious, Blaire finds herself more engaged on her devices than at real-life gatherings with others. Ultimately, through the help of her family and friends, Blaire finds a healthy balance and learns the value of being fully present at every occasion.

BLAIRE WILSON AMERICAN GIRL OF THE YEAR

2019 EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES:

To celebrate her launch, American Girl is hosting Blaire debut events at its retail locations nationwide now. The events feature interactive demonstrations, Blaire-themed activities and a free take-home Blaire doll item. Also during select dining events at American Girl stores during the year, families can connect through a Blaire-inspired dinner series that promotes mealtime togetherness.

• Blaire’s New Year’s Day Events: On January 1, American Girl stores nationwide are hosting Blaire’s Launch Event, where girls can celebrate with a fun decorating demonstration, a hand-lettering craft, a delicious sweet treat, and a free take-home Blaire doll item. Guests can also enter for a chance to win a Blaire doll and book. For more details, visit americangirl.com/stores.

• Blaire Online Play: Girls can visit http://play.americangirl.com/play/girl-of-the-year/blaire for book excerpts, games and activities, and Blaire’s Life at Pleasant View Farm Vlog posts from her family’s sustainable farm, featuring delicious recipes, gardening tips, cooking and craft videos, and more.

• Blaire’s Family Dinner Series: To promote mealtime togetherness, families are invited to attend a Blaire-inspired dinner series at select American Girl retail restaurants across the country in 2019. Parents can visit americangirl.com/stores to learn more or make a reservation.

Meet GOTY 2018: American Girl's 2018 Girl of the Year Is Luciana Vega Aspiring Astronaut. Luciana is a champion of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) who, like a lot of young tweens and teens today, puts her heart into making her dreams into a reality.

Meet GOTY 2017: American Girl's 2017 Girl of the Year Is Gabriela McBride, Dancer and Poet. Gabriela is a true creative talent who uses the power of poetry to help her break down barriers.

Thank you to American Girl Doll for gifting us with Blaire Wilson. We can't wait to share our images for the #GOTY2019 and #ConnectThroughCreativity campaigns.  All opinions are my own. Images courtesy of American Girl Doll Place and used with permission

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