Our AG Boston trip!

[KrisM]

I figured I'd post about it here instead of the Target clearance thread .

We made it to the Natick mall about 1pm. We drove around the entire mall looking for the store and when we did find it, DD saw it and said "is that the American doll store?" and asked if we could go. DH dropped us off at the door and as we walked up, she asked if we were going in and if we could maybe buy something. I told her we were there to buy her a doll. She did a double arm pump and yelled "yes!". Clearly, she was excited.

First doll she saw was Kanani and she wanted that, which I expected. I convinced her that we had lots of time and we should look around before picking things out. We wandered around and went upstairs and looked at the My American Girl dolls. She ended up picking out doll #38, which has reddish hair, hazel eyes, and freckles. DD has dark blond hair, blue eyes, and freckles. She liked the freckles and that the hair was long and straight with bangs. I asked her about Kanani and she was sure about what she picked. I was glad because Kanani's hair is really long!

Then I said she could pick out an outfit or accessory. Oh my, what a hard decision that ended up being! We looked at everything! She would buy every accessory there was in the store. She really wants things like the table/chairs, Julie's bike, the violin, the horse coral, school backpack, etc. We ended up with the hair accessory kit that comes with the perm rods, a cowboy hat, and sparkly shoes. Quite the mix . She had no interest in any of the outfits.

She wanted to get the doll's ears pierced, but we ended up not doing that. She had no interest in the hair salon or the restaurant.

We were there about 1.5 hours total and it was nice. The store was not crowded at all. We actually had to find someone to ring us up because there wasn't anyone at the registers and overall so few people in the store.

Now, she is circling things in the catalog and they're all the most expensive things . She does still want Kanani and she also liked Julie.

I'm really glad we did this. The hair is nice. She's put it in pony tails, braided it, did a flip pony tail, etc. DD wanting to be able to style her dolls hair was a big motivator in the decision to buy her this doll. DD tends to wear hair ties on her wrist so she's ready to do her hair at any time. Her doll, which is named Rosella, is sporting hair ties too .

The boys went to Glow Golf and had a good time with that. It worked out really well. I'm sure next year when we are out there, we'll go to the store and she can pick out something again.

Now, I need to figure out if getting her another doll for Christmas is a good idea or if I should just stick to the accessories.

ETA: The water spritzer in the hair kit didn't work. Very frustrating. I called today and the CS person thought maybe it wasn't supposed to work . But, after explaining the directions say to use it to spray water on the hair, they are sending me another bottle.

[traciann]

Sounds like you had a great time! My dd got her JLY doll in april and just loves her. DD has several outfits from AG, but my mom made her a bunch too. She loves dressing her up and matching her. Kohls has nightgowns with matching doll nightgowns and my dd loves them.

[alien_host]

I'm glad it was a success. I have been debating for a while whether to get DD an AG doll. She has a bitty baby that gets NO love (from MIL - got it when she was 3, she is now 6).

For those that get it for Christmas/holiday/b'day, how do you go about picking it out? Do you take your DD to the store before to get an idea of what she wants? Do you have her look online or in the catalog?

Since I would do it for Christmas, I can't really have her go to the store to pick it out and take it home.

[Twoboos]

Originally Posted by KrisM

Now, she is circling things in the catalog and they're all the most expensive things

Just to warn you, my DDs do this but they cirlce every single solitary thing in the catalog. Then when they go to MIL's (only once a year or so, thank goodness) they circle every single solitary thing in her pattern books - she has three or four?? It's AWFUL!!

It sounds like it was fun! Glad it worked out and wasn't too crazy, LOL.

We were at a house yesterday where they had 11 AG's out. At least half were real, not sure about the rest I didn't get a good look. Plus so many things - strollers, beds, tables, more!! DDs walked out saying, "Boy, we really need more AG stuff!" Um, NOT!!

[KrisM]

Originally Posted by Twoboos

Just to warn you, my DDs do this but they cirlce every single solitary thing in the catalog. Then when they go to MIL's (only once a year or so, thank goodness) they circle every single solitary thing in her pattern books - she has three or four?? It's AWFUL!!

It sounds like it was fun! Glad it worked out and wasn't too crazy, LOL.

We were at a house yesterday where they had 11 AG's out. At least half were real, not sure about the rest I didn't get a good look. Plus so many things - strollers, beds, tables, more!! DDs walked out saying, "Boy, we really need more AG stuff!" Um, NOT!!

She used to circle everything. Now, she's pretty selective and picks things that reflect what she enjoys - like Julie's bike. I can see it getting out of hand quickly though!

[Seitvonzu]

i'm so happy things went well! sounds like a great day for you guys i wanted to say one thing about the tons of stuff (i'm really not one to talk but here it goes)-- i reallyreally would try to stick to fewer dolls and more accessories. i had ONE AG doll growing up and she has just about every available accessory/outfit/etc for THAT ONE DOLL. the accessories and stories are really what makes these dolls great. i agonized over choosing MY DOLL (there were only 3 at the time...but it was still hard) and i loved getting special things for her over the years. (my samantha is still MY DOLL, even though as an adult i've gotten Kit, Felicity and Kirsten)

it's not as easy to do that slow collecting with them retiring things and having "GOTY" etc. but it's still a good way to get kids to think carefully about what they really want. these aren't cheap things, so being selective and "collecting" seems necessary IMHO. personally, i think having ELEVEN!!!!! ags devalues them somewhat. maybe not to an adult collector, but for a child-- ??? yeah. i think that's too many.

i was always pretty sure i'd limit the ag thing to ONE historical. obviously i'm softening as i have already gotten lu a bitty baby. i also think that "just like you" dolls are fun and some girls respond better to that than to the historicals (younger girls like these particularly whereas after 7 i think the historical appeal can be huge...). of course, nothing says that the doll you choose can't "time travel"-- my samantha has ridden her pony into the american revolution and had violin concerts in the early 90s-- i was big into the "stuff" of AG and so was my mom-- she bought the today outfits she liked and historical outfits too i didn't need a bunch of dolls for that!

[KrisM]

As a kid, I wasn't super into dolls, but I did have the "My Friend" dolls from Fisher Price. I had Jenni and Mandy (still do). I liked that my dolls had a friend and they could dress up and do things together. I can easily picture buying another AG doll for DD so that she can do that.

I wish something was before Christmas though. If I could come up with a reason to get an accessory, I would .

[traciann]

Originally Posted by KrisM

As a kid, I wasn't super into dolls, but I did have the "My Friend" dolls from Fisher Price. I had Jenni and Mandy (still do). I liked that my dolls had a friend and they could dress up and do things together. I can easily picture buying another AG doll for DD so that she can do that.

I wish something was before Christmas though. If I could come up with a reason to get an accessory, I would .

I asked dd why she wanted Kanani and she said so Lacy (her JLY doll) could have a friend! I would like to stop at two for a while though. First day of school present? Halloween present? (did you see the fall treats in the store? they were sooo cute.) http://store.americangirl.com/agshop.../166871/ctc/SI
Dd got the kitty costume and now I want these to go with it.

[KrisM]

Originally Posted by traciann

I asked dd why she wanted Kanani and she said so Lacy (her JLY doll) could have a friend! I would like to stop at two for a while though. First day of school present? Halloween present? (did you see the fall treats in the store? they were sooo cute.) http://store.americangirl.com/agshop.../166871/ctc/SI
Dd got the kitty costume and now I want these to go with it.

She really wants the school kit with the backpack and it would be a wonderful first day of kindergarten gift. But, I didn't do that for DS1 so I'd have to figure out how to make it work to be fair, but not a yearly thing because I'm not buying 3 substaintial gifts every year for starting school . Maybe I'll post that as a question and someone can figure out how to make it work!