I was way too
old when I got my first American Girl Doll. Dare I say I was in…gulp…6th grade? Here’s the
thing. The way I see it, 6th graders of the 80’s were more like 4th
graders of today, so it’s really ok. At
least that’s what I’m telling myself. I wasn’t going to throw Kelly under the
bus here, but she’s a big part of the story, so sorry Kel, now everyone knows
how old you were too. Luckily, you were a year younger. 5th grade
seems much more appropriate.
That catalog
came shortly before Christmas in 1987. We sat at Kelly’s kitchen table and
looked through every single page. Back then, there were only 3 dolls to choose
from. Molly (wasn’t crazy about her glasses) Kirsten (seemed a little plain)
and then there was Samantha. Everything about her was perfect. Her clothes, her
hair, her fancy accessories. That Christmas morning, Samantha was under both of
our trees.
Fast forward to
shortly before Christmas 2011, the infamous catalog reappeared in my mailbox.
This time, filled with a ton, and I mean
a TON more dolls. I don’t know who was more excited, me or Charlotte. We
snuggled in bed that night and read it cover to cover. I figured this was the
year she would get one, and I’ll admit, I was pushing for a historical doll so
we could learn about her together. But nope. She wanted nothing to do with
those. Instead, she chose Kanani-the Hawaiian doll. Why? Because she had the “longest,
prettiest hair.” Kanani also happened to
be “Doll of the Year”..which meant Santa better get a move on ordering one
before there was no more Kanani. (Santa was noticing online that most of the
accessories had already been sold out.)
But luckily, she made it. From Hawaii to her new home in Connecticut, a certain 5 year old was very happy to see Kanani under our tree.
When we were
invited to a bridal shower in DC this summer, I took the opportunity to plan a
little girls getaway for me, Charlotte, my mom, and of course Kanani, to visit
the American Girl store there. I saw on the website that some of the
neighboring hotels had special deals..and I was really impressed with the
Hilton at Tyson's Corner. The American Girl Package was $109/night and included: 2 queen beds,
and a bed for the Doll-that you get to keep, turndown service for the child and the doll (chocolates
on the pillow too!) and breakfast for the child each morning (reg $22). I thought
the bed was going to be like a little cardboard bed (think Build A Bear box)
but it’s a really nice quality doll bed. In fact the woman at the front desk said you
can buy them there for 35! So it was really cost effective to do the package. We
honestly couldn’t believe how nice everything was.
A few weeks prior to our trip, I booked lunch
at the American Girl Café. It was basically a pink palace filled with girls and
moms and aunts and grandmas, and dolls on every table. (I saw a couple of dads and one lone boy. He
didn’t seem too happy.) 
We noticed that every doll had a very fancy hair do,
with ribbons and bows and braids. So I asked the girls at the table next to us how
they got such pretty locks, and they told us to run downstairs and make an
appointment for Kanani to get her hair done. We did..and not a minute too soon.
Remember that “longest, prettiest hair?” Yup. Didn’t take long to turn into
this…
We ate while Kanani
was at her spa appointment (we made an ear piercing appt too. A little excessive?
Probably. ) The food was surprisingly delicious. You get to choose an appetizer
and an entrée, with both kid and mom approved selections. Here’s charlotte’s
first course…
We skipped
dessert. Mainly because we couldn’t wait to see Kanani’s hair. All 3 of us were
certain there wouldn’t be much they could do to help her. We thought the braid
we had chosen just wasn’t going to work. But boy, were we wrong. Can you
believe the transformation?
For a split
second I thought they switched the heads with another Kanani in the back
somewhere. But the hairdresser assured me with water and their signature wire brush, all American
Girl doll hair can be tamed. I didn’t believe it, but we bought the brush, and
she was spot on. That thing works like a charm. Charlotte has been working on
Samantha’s hair, and she looks better now than she did when I had her 20+ years
ago. Definitely worth the 8 dollar investment.
We spent the rest of the afternoon polking around the shop at all the different accessories. All the sales girls said “Hi Kanani” as we walked by. I thought it was adorable, and unbelievable that they could recognize her. Charlotte had the time of her life. We all did. It’s worth a trip to one of the stores if you have a little girl who is in love with her doll, like mine. Though, she's already thinking ahead.
“Next year
Mommy, I think I’ll ask Santa for a historical doll. Marie-Grace. She’s from New
Orleans..and she has the prettiest hair…”
Wishful
thinking? Probably. But at least we have the brush.
No comments:
Post a Comment