Subtle Changes
July 30, 2011
I posted on Facebook recently that this is our third consecutive year celebrating Graham’s birthdays at Smith Mountain Lake – which mostly includes fishing, boating, and a cake from Nonni! He loves it, we love it. I’m not sure if the fish love it, though. He’s about a tenth of the way through his goal of catching 1000 fish, but that’s 100 bluegill/carp/catfish touched by Graham.
He’s growing up… It’s the third year in which he’s asked for LEGOs for his birthday, the second year where StarWars is a big deal in his world. Physically, I just see subtle changes, mostly in height, over these last 3 birthdays…Yet nothing dims those big blue eyes! And he’s still a Mama’s boy!
7 Years Old
8 Years Old
9 Years Old
American Girl
July 4, 2011
Just like Katy Perry (and the Beach Boys before her) made everyone long to live on the Gold Coast, anyone with a little girl who steps inside the new Washington, D.C. American doll store in Tysons could go off the deep end of pure American consumerism in the name of their little darling.
Confession! I am not immune to this. From our NYC visit of the chain’s flagship store to the purchase of the 2008 “Mia” Doll-of-the-Year to our recent pre-opening lunch at the Tysons store, I can get swooned into the American Girl culture. Wholesome, yes. Affordable? That’s debatable (and that’s why we are buying no more.)
But it was fun to experience the new store. Thanks to my friend Carrie, who knows the store café’s new chef, we got the royal treatment. He must have fed us one of everything on the menu. From special high chairs for one’s own doll, loaners dolls if you forgot yours (because no one wants to be without an 18 inch companion), to doll holders on the walls in the bathroom stalls, they thought of nearly everything for the 10-and-under set. The café is light and airy – almost like a flowery Silver Diner — and the store is warm and welcoming.
It’s a fun destination trip. But my advice is: Visit sparingly…oh, and set expectations ahead of time with your American Girl. Something like this: “Honey, I will absolutely NOT be buying that $125 bed for the doll. ”
On a related note….Want to be a grown up American Girl (Woman, actually) and you have some dead presidents to blow this Fourth of July? Great! You can always invest in this Balmain jacket…for a mere $21,555. Now that’s Patriotism, compliments of the Zoe report!
Happy 4th!
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Tonya is a Community Content Producer for
WUSA9.com, DC's CBS affiliate.