The great thing about arriving early to New York City on Saturday July 20th was the look on Emily’s face when she realized the whole afternoon was reserved for her to shop and have tea at the American Girl Place.
Emily saved her money for several months, Christmas gifts, report card money, birthday, sold her trampoline…. She knew which doll she wanted to buy, she picked her on-line. She also knew which outfits she wanted.
She wanted to make a t-shirt, take a picture of her and Miley (her first AGD) at the photo studio and of course we had reservation for afternoon tea.
Emily is an only child… We spoil her a little :). She’s a great kid who, on some levels, could stay a kid forever. At 15, she was probably the oldest girl at the American Girl Place… The employees there were really nice to her and helped her find everything she was looking for and more.
She found everything so quickly that we had time to go back to our hotel and open up all her purchases before returning to the store for tea with Madison; this time Miley stayed at the hotel.
Afternoon tea was great! We had a good time and the food and tea were tasty.
While being in NYC, we returned to the American Girl Place 2 more time. Once because Emily forgot to buy a red dress and once on our last day because Emily still had money to spend.
🙂
Both time, at least one employee recognized Emily. Told her they remembered her and made her feel like a VIP.
One day, Emily might no longer play with her dolls but over the last couple of years they’ve been really present in our lifes.
Emily’s best friend Abby, whom I partially blame for this expensive obsession…. will be happy to know that Emily is learning to brush and comb her dolls hair. It’s not perfect yet but she’s getting better. She can also make pony tail, pig tails and some sort of braid.
She can undress and dress them. She remembers their birthdays (the day Emily got them) and age takes good care of them. Put them to bed at night and always make sure they each have their special stuff toy.
She’s a great mom for her dolls which makes me the grand mother….
I can live with that :).
Lessons from my daughter 
What a great day. Lovely smiles.
We had such a great time. I guess if you decide to go with the flow, it doesn’t matter how old you are, you end-up enjoying your time at the store!
Who said we have to grow up into fuddy-duddies anyway? I think it’s great to be childlike at times, for all of us.
Emily’s syndrome and all that happened after she was born aged me but our decision to give her the best life we could combined with my daily choice of being happy is keeping me young and slightly strange from the outside observer. I love seeing life through her eyes and I enjoy being part of her journey. She aged me at the beginning but is keeping me young now! Life is funny that way!
I can only guess at the stress and worry you must have felt and may still feel at times. What’s important always seems to rise to the surface and that includes both love and fun. Those will keep the heart young. Thanks so much for sharing your journey. 🙂
My daughter would love an AG doll, but her last (AG-like) doll found it’s way to the goodwill when she painted its face pink and it stained, then while trying to clean it, the eyelashes fell out, one eye ball got stuck shut, and the blond hair was fizzy after all the water and soap was around the face…disaster to say the least….she knows if she gets an AG doll she must take better care of it…right now she is in the “thinking about process” she is deciding if she’s up for the mommie tasks that come with good dolly care. 🙂 haha!
We had the same chat in our house for almost a year before we agreed to buy Miley!
I think we have another 6 months to go then haha….
Good for you. Hopefully you don’t live too far from a store. It is always quite an adventure for us to get to a store. We plan vacations around those store. Emily can’t wait to visit Chicago and DC.
We live no where near a store…it would be an adventure for us too. But you have spurred me to research possibilities for our future holidays! 🙂
Let me know when it happens!
🙂 will do…
That is a pretty amazing day…a girls dream come true!
It was our 4th visit to the American Girl doll store. We visited the ones in Boston, Dallas, Kansas City and now NYC. We plan trips around the store’s locations. Emily always have a great time in those stores