Celebrating Barbie's birthday this year with my Va. Fashion Doll Club started with meeting them at the Arc of the Hanover Thrift store for the Barbie-Palooza shopping extraganza on March , 2026 on Saturday at about 9:30 am as we were allowed in a little early before 10 am. The thrift store had received several months earlier hundreds (so they claimed) from the estate of a collector of Barbies that were vintage and had asked for help from some of our members and their extended friends for pricing, etc. Our club president and officers had volunteered to help with pricing , etc. I had put a couple of dolls on hold and arrived early yesterday.
A lady and her husband arrived in this beautiful, customized jeep in Barbie pink with the logos for photo ops for the customers. As you can see from the photos, even her plates are customized - she was a real Barbie girl- she even looked like Barbie! Silver blonde hair in a ponytail, silver lame pants, pink boots, and a pink tshirt, I watched as she parked the jeep and went inside.
Onto shopping.....
My purchases on hold were 2002 Holiday Celebration Barbie- a Christmas Doll 
I was not pleased about the price, at $30, because of the boxwear. But I did not quibble because she is hard to find. I would have in the end paid that much combined with shipping. Next doll on hold was 1990 Wedding Day Midge, which I got for $35. This one had a really nice box, they had two and the other one had a yellowed box. I got the better one. I also picked up Wedding Day Barbie. I did not see the grooms, and best Man, Alan and Ken. I have been wanting these for a while now. There were alot of 1980 and 1990s dolls I paid about $20 for Wedding Day Barbie. 
Next up was another doll I have been looking for Irish Barbie in her box. I paid about $20 for her too.
Then I purchased a bagged doll 1991 Totally Hair Ken for $25 He had his outfit on and he was really well made and in good condition.
Then, I purchased some bagged accessories. They had a lot of clothing and shoes. I got three bags of vintage Barbie hangers, each bag had 12 barbie hangers in it at $4 each. I also got a bag of shoes, which had pink skipper flats for $1
I am sorry I did not get photos of the inside of the store. I shop at this thrift store every Saturday if I can, they are very high end and high quality, they have a special corner for dolls, Christmas & holidays, books- I find the most wonderful books to add to my collection, and clothing and vintage china and home goods. Our Barbie club loved it and the store was alive with serving coffee, pastries, have raffles, games, etc.
After shopping, our club met at the Henry Clay Inn at 12:00 Noon for lunch in Ashland, Va, which is not too far away from the Hanover Arc thrift store.
Everyone was asked to bring a gift for the gift exchange for Barbie's birthday ($20 limit) and a doll dressed in pink- also wear some pink too! Below our Club President Debbie and Allison and I helped her get the dolls set up for their photos!
My doll is in the bright Pink gown, Superstar Crystal Barbie, one of my childhood dolls. The outfit she is wearing is an earlier club outfit made by Magia when they were first starting out many years ago, before they became famous. It is a very treasured item.
The St. Patrick's day tree in our dining room!
Below, I received a sparkly Barbie Princess card and Barbie towels and washclothes with body strawberry lotion from Linda! So wonderful!
Overall, I had a wonderful day and the food, the day with friends was wonderful. I did not take nearly enough photos of the wonderful food and items on sale as I would have liked to. My hands were full. This year was amazing. Can't wait to celebrate it again!
