Tuesday, December 2, 2008

American Doll Birthday

Piper and I were invited to celebrate my cousin Michaela's 9th birthday this past Sunday. Her parents booked a tea party for her at the American Girl Cafe. Swanky!



If you don't own an American Girl doll, which Piper doesn't, they'll lend you one with a high chair. Pi got to pick from a whole stack of them. The waitress brought out a mini tea set to match the full sized ones on the table.



The whole place was decked out in pink, black and white. They even had a harp player. Umm, I've never even been to an adult restaurant with a harp player.



They served your tea in miniature individual teapots. I thought those were cute.



The birthday cake and ice cream was peppermint flavored. I usually love peppermint, but I wasn't a fan of it here. It looked pretty.



After the tea party, the girls looked around the store. Its huge...3 floors of nothing but (overpriced) dolls and their accessories. Michaela's parents bought her a Samantha doll and Piper got one of the mini 6 inch Felicity one.


Pi wants an American Girl for Christmas which just makes my wallet groan. My grandfather agreed to get her one, but that means I'm going to have to spring for some of the accessories. I'm going to scour Etsy for some cute handmade doll clothes. I'd rather buy handmade doll clothes than buy from the store if I can.
The girls loved it and thought it was great, but personally, I thought it was a bit much for such young girls. Pi is begging me to do the same thing for her birthday. July is a long time away and I'm hoping she'll forget about it by then.
On the crochet front, I took a break from Mom's scrapghan and made
something for a blogger buddy. Its on the way to her house and its a surprise, so you don't get to see it until she gives the A-OK. Also, for Joyce, Bezzie, Lesa, and Jen...your ornaments are on the way!

10 comments:

Kristina P. said...

I've heard of this place! To be honest, it sounds slightly creepy. But I'm not an 8 year-old girl. :)

Laura said...

Most of the girls in my daughter's class have American Girl dolls, so she's been asking for one for the longest time, but I can't afford to shell out %100 for a doll (not to mention the cost of the clothes and accessories). These are the same parents that thought nothing of shelling out several hundred dollars to take their daughter(s) to the Hannah Montana concert when it came here last year. I have to explain to my daughter that a lot of the other parents have a lot more money than my husband and I do.

And just between you and me (I would never say it to my daughter), I think the dolls are kind of ugly, LOL! If I could afford $100+ for a doll, I would get my daughter one of these "My Twinn" dolls - you send this company a photo of your child, and they make a doll that looks just like your child - it's pretty amazing.

I know what you mean about kids' birthday parties. It seems like there's so much competition among parents over who can have the most elaborate birthday party for their kid. Even a party at Chuck E' Cheese can get pretty expensive. The last few years I've just had parties at home for my kids.

Laura said...

P.S. Your niece is very cute, by the way!

Laura said...

Ooops, I just reread the post and saw that she's your cousin, not your niece.

A few girls in my daughter's class have been to the American Girl store in NYC. I saw one when we went to Chicago a few years ago. but we didn't go in (because I knew I couldn't afford anything there, LOL!).

Lesalicious said...

Awww that seems like a neat idea for little girls. Yeah Pi would have totally forgot about it come July. Somethng else would have caught her eyes by then. Much cheaper to buy handmade then store bought plus it's very unique also.

OOOOOO WOW can't wait to get my ornaments how sweet of you :)

Bezzie said...

It's times like these I thank god I've got a boy! There are a lot of good knit patterns out there on the net for AG doll clothes--I'm sure there's gotta be the same for crocheted and sewed stuff (I know you have that machine!)
It's a shame the dolls are so man-made. I remember my mom making me a Cabbage Patch knock off--I was too excited to care/know the difference!

Anonymous said...

Wow. I'da never thunk!!! It did seem a bit much for the age range. And, I don't have an American Girl doll, but I want a Barbie. I am with Laura, I would prefer a twin dollie!!!!

Anonymous said...

Wow - great pictures. Looks like a great time was had by all. A terrific birthday.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a very cool place. Too bad the dolls are so pricey. You could always crochet doll accessories as well. :-)

Kelly said...

Hi Christina, if you go to my blog I have some patterns for A.G.dolls that are crochet.