She's an American Girl

If you have a little girl, you know exactly what American Girl is. It's mostly for the 7-8-9 yr old crowd . . . or for a 3 year old, her baby sister, and a mom that just loves having daughters.

I've tried to take Meg to AG before, but it's never quite worked out. I've been wanting to see how much she might enjoy eating lunch with her doll(s), if she'd get a kick out of shopping in the world of AG . . . and no, Meg does not have an American Girl doll (yet). I just thought she'd get a big kick out of the doll sized high chairs they have at the restaurant, and I figured she could borrow a doll from their assortment for our meal (they let you do that, after all). Like I said, I'm a mom who loves having girls . . . something like this could be considered more of a treat for me than it would be for Meg or Kate.

Then Meg got a Fancy Nancy doll for her birthday. A 10" doll in the same style as AG, but with a price tag about $60 less than the famed American Girls. I knew once she got that doll, it would finally be time for us to check out the American Girl store and bistro at North Point Mall. And today, with the new Fancy Nancy doll in tow, Meg, Kate, and I made a pilgrimage to the American Girl Bistro for a ladies only lunch.

Meg certainly did enjoy it. We did not have reservations, but if we were willing to wait, we could be seated off the 'waiting list.' I've mentioned we've tried to go to this bistro before . . . but the reservations are -- believe it or not -- hard to get, and the place is like Fort Knox. Nobody gets past the service people. I guess we just got lucky today . . . we arrived around 11:30am, were #3 on the waiting list, and we were sat at 12:00pm. Perfect timing.

Meg ate star-shaped grilled cheese sandwiches. I had a very yummy Asian chicken salad. Kate ate a little off of each plate . . . dude, the kids meal was $7.50 without a drink, so I could only afford ONE! But it was worth it. Meg fed Fancy Nancy (who had her own menu), she chatted with the family sitting next to us, and she thought her star-shaped sandwiches were "kinda silly!" It was a truly fun lunch for us.

I look forward to many more 'ladies only' outings with my girls. Today was the start of something I know I will thoroughly enjoy as they grow . . . stuff like this will probably always be more of a treat for me than it will be for my girls.

(I did NOT have a camera at lunch, if you can believe it. I just didn't think we'd actually get a table . . . I figured Fancy Nancy would more than likely be enjoying Chick Fil a in the food court, so I didn't think about the photo opportunities. Below are some cell phone camera pictures. They document the occasion, but they are so horrible they make me cringe!)