My DC Trip!

I'll post some pictures later, I thought I'd let everyone know how my DC store trip went! I went down on Sunday, so I got to partake in  the opening day celebrations. Basically, there was an activity tent outside in which the opening day activities took place. They had some food/drink samples, a balloon animals line, a line where an artist drew a picture of you, and a face-painting line. Unfortunately, the lines were REALLY slow and long. There were signs up saying "No saving spots", but adults saved spaces anyways, usually for entire groups, which was kind of frustrating. I only had time to get a balloon animal, the tent took a lunch break before I could get the face-painting and drawing of me done.

There were a lot of people there, but not as many as you'd expect, it wasn't packed. It was crowded, but it'll probably always be crowded. There were a lot of people around, sometimes blocking displays, but overall the crowd was fine. We went right into the store, didn't have to wait in any lines!

Maybe this will interest you - while at the store I saw girls holding a LOT of MyAg dolls, two with bitty babies, two with bitty twins, two with Jess, two with Nicki, one with Kaya, one with Josefina, a bunch with Kanani, probably five with Kit, four-ish with Julie and Rebecca each, one Marisol, probably five Lanies, two Emilys, a few Felicitys and Elizabeths, and maybe a Molly. All day I didn't see any Nellies, Kirstens (I had Kirsten, she was the only Kirsten I saw all day), Chrissas, Gwens, Sonalis, or Mias. Plus, no Lindsey and Kailey, as to be expected.

I recommend the Bistro to anyone who goes! It's got great food, great portions, and was a great experience. I highly recommend the Cheesy Fondue appetizer - YUM!

The employees were also very nice - I had some nice conversations with some of the younger employees, most of them seemed really excited to work there and really excited to be helping out.

You know, it was Father's Day, and the rest of my family had, of course, dragged him to the American Girl Store (though he ended up having a good time, he spent the day reading a Felicity mystery!!!). When he was sitting on a couch near the Bistro, another dad sat next to him and was like "Happy Father's Day, eh?" and my dad was like "Yeah, and we're from Pennsylvania!" (my dad was a bit disgruntled that we had to drive all the way to Northern Virginia for the opening) and the other guy cracked up at my dad. Ahhh, the dads just don't get it sometimes. But we love them anyways! <3

Anyways, ask me about my trip! It was great!

Those Retired Items You Know You Will Never Get But Wish You Had Anyways

Everyone has some AG items that they wish they had but know they'll never get because they can only be found on Ebay for a bijillion dollars, right? I know I do! I'm going to show some of them to you...Maybe they'll make their way onto your dream wish list! These items are ranked by level of possibility of having them, from the least possible to the most possible.

1. Josefina's Piano


This little piano is so adorable - it'd fit amazingly in any little AG room. Unfortunately, I've read that it's the rarest AG item and there's usually 0-2 of them on ebay at any given time. Plus, they go for about $900. But, in a perfect world, this would be part of my collection.

2. Dress Like Kirsten Prairie Dress (image from curtdanhauser)

Time for a little AG history lesson. Around 1988, AG first released the dress like your doll line, with 4-5 life-sized outfits (per doll) matching each doll's clothes. Apparently, when Mattel took over, this line was reduced greatly to the size it is today (just nightgowns for historical dolls). I would LOVE Kirsten's prairie dress...It's so cute, it looks so comfortable, and Kirsten's meet outfit is already my favorite. However, these don't come up on ebay very often, mostly because they were expensive to start with and because it's hard to find the size you need. I'll bet that most of these existing dresses are at the backs of old closets.

3. Josefina's Toy Farm

This little set is so cute - and tiny! I would probably use this with Kirsten, since I don't have Josefina - the little wooden animals are so lovely! This is quite rare, though, it was retired after being available for only three years. But, in my dreams, I have it.

4. Kirsten's Swedish Dirndl

I LOVE THIS OUTFIT! It's adorable, beautiful colors, traditional northern European, and it fits in so well with Kirsten's story since she wore it on the boat to America. I REALLY wish they still sold this. However, it goes for as much as $200 on ebay these days.

5. Felicity's Work Gown

Despite its gray coloring, this dress is adorable and would look great with every doll!

Those are my top five on my dreamland AG wish list. Which AG items would you love to have, but doubt you'll ever get?

Cecile Rey and Marie-Grace Gardner

First post besides my intro! Here, I'm hoping to create a post with  known, factual information about Marie-Grace and Cecile so you don't have to google all over the place for known info. First of all, these two girls were leaked through a booksellers catalog - apparently a girl who worked their took pictures of the book covers and, well, the rest is history. The pictures were released onto the internet and are now spreading like wildfire. Exactly when they'll be released is unknown, but they are from 1853 in New Orleans (hence the French names). Amazon says that the first book will be released in September 2011, so we don't have to wait too long! American Girl will probably start dropping some hints about the new girls this summer. Judging by the images, both girls look very well-off. One isn't a best friend doll of the other, both girls tell half of the story, Cecile has three books in this series and Marie-Grace has three books. The series begins with Meet Marie-Grace, the second book is Meet Cecile, the third is Marie-Grace and the Orphans, the fourth is Troubles for Cecile, the fifth is Marie-Grace makes a Difference, and the sixth is Cecile's Gift.

http://messageboard.americangirlfan.com/post?id=5289692 has great pictures of the book covers and great descriptions. Judging by these, it appears that 1 and 2, 3 and 4, and 5 and 6 tell difference girls points of view of the same events. That will most definitely be interesting. Judging by the descriptions, it can be inferred that Marie-Grace is shy, Cecile is more confident, and both girls care about others (as they're volunteering at an orphanage). The yellow fever and orphanage volunteering portion of the story kind of reminds me of the book Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson.

For anyone who could possibly still be skeptic, AG HAS trademarked the names Marie-Grace and Cecile- http://www.trademarkia.com/mariegrace-77630955.html.

That's all for now! Stay tuned - I'm going to write another post discussing what the dolls may look like, their clothes, their era, and so forth.

New Blog!

'Ello! My name's Evan and this is my brand new, never seen before, american girl blog! Welcome to AmericanGirlLover! In this blog, I'll be posting about American Girls, American Girl items, news, etsy clothing, contests, fun ideas, pictures of my dolls, and more! First, let's start with a bit about me.

My name is Evan and I'm twelve years old. I won't say exactly which state I'm in, but I live on the East Coast of the United States. I'm cyber-schooled, which means that I complete classes online with real teachers but do my work from home (or wherever there's wifi). Feel free to ask me about it, I LOVE cyberschooling! I have a younger sister and I love softball (I'm a pitcher and first baseman), basketball (wing player), and soccer (keeper). I also love to paint, draw, travel, and learn new languages. Plus, of course, I LOVE American Girls!!!

I've been a fan of American Girls since 2005,  when a neighbor introduced me to American Girl. I started receiving catalogs and  was given Marisol for my birthday. I got Elizabeth for Christmas of '05 and Jess in '06 (my sister also got Jess, her first AG doll out of seven). I got Kirsten for my birthday in '06 and Emily for Christmas of '07. I kind of phased out of AG for awhile but got back into AG last summer when I walked in on my sister undressing and redressing her AG dolls (which she apparently did occasionally). Since then, I've had a lot of fun and bought Kanani! Currently, I have Marisol, Elizabeth, Jess, Kirsten, Emily, and Kanani and my sister has Jess, Samantha, Nellie, Nicki, Josephina, Kaya, and Felicity.

Introduce yourself and your dolls below if you want to!