American Girl

It's been nearly a week, and I'm still totally wowed by the American Girl store in Atlanta. Even though I'm a grown woman, that store is so mind blowing that my inner 8 year old came out. That store is INCREDIBLE!!! I can't imagine how mind boggling that place is to young girls! The store itself is 12,000 square feet. Absolutely HUGE right? The detailed items and clothes they have to go with the dolls is incredibly detailed. They really have thought of everything. The furniture is all made out of metal and real wood too! All of the little drawers and details are functional too! The store even has a restaurant in it. They serve the girls and their mothers and friends, breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner. You can also get sweets there. The store even has a doll hair salon in it. UN-BELIEVABLE!!!! Those folks are marketing geniuses! That store actually made me want to start collecting the stuff! Anyway, here are some shots that Casey and I took in the store. Everything they have on display you can buy, including the tree house!! First two of the total side windows of the store. Second set of side windows. The doll hair salon.

Whirlwind

My life has just been a whirlwind, since last Saturday. It all started with a Scorpions show last Saturday night. Casey and I saw a stop on the Scorpions farewell tour in Nashville. They were Casey's favorite band, back in high school. One of our very first dates, twenty years ago, was at a Scorpions concerts. So, they have a very special place in our hearts. We both had such a blast! It was a great show, and the Scorpions were such showmen. They performed as well as they did 20 years ago! Their sound was terrific! In front of the Bat Building in downtown Nashville. We just kept talking and talking about the show. We had decided earlier to take Wednesday and Thursday off from work to get some things done and spend some time together. On a whim late Tuesday night, we decided to take a look at the Scorpions tour schedule. We saw that they were playing in Atlanta on Wednesday night. We already knew we had time off, I happened to have a gift card for a free hotel room in my wallet, and there were still GREAT tickets left. So, we decided to go for it. Our hotel was REALLY nice. They even had a nice sized pool. So, I did get a little swimming workout done yesterday afternoon. We had time to kill, before the concert started. Just a mile or so from the amphitheatre was Northpoint Mall. Casey and I grabbed a quick Japanese meal at the mall food court. We noticed all the kids had American Girl bags. I discovered that Northpoint Mall has one of only 8 American Girl stores in the country. I'd always wanted to go through one, so Casey and I went in and had a look. That store was awesome with a capital A!!! It made me want to buy everything in there! Casey was really impressed too. So impressed, that he took a bunch of pictures. As soon as I get them off of his phone, I'll post them. Anyhow, we got to the venue just at the right time. It was an outdoor amphitheatre and the weather was just perfect! We got there between the opening act and the main show, found our great seats and got ready! Our seats at the Atlanta show. The show totally rocked!! It was great! After the show! It was one of the best little last minute trips, I've had in a long time!! It turned out to be one of those

Post Trip Recap

Casey and I had a great time on our mini vacation. Wednesday, we just took our time getting down to Atlanta. We stopped and had lunch at the famous Marietta Diner. Casey had the sauteed chicken dish and I had the tri color tortilini with alfredo sauce. Afterwards, we were VERY stuffed. Then, we continued down to Perry, Georgia. Our hotel was about 30 minutes away from Cordele. We spent the rest of the afternoon and night relaxing out by the pool. The hotel was very nice and they had a really nice pool area too. We stayed out by the pool, until nearly 10 p.m.

The next morning, we got up and headed the extra thirty miles down to Cordele, Georgia. We went to visit my dear friend, Linda. We got there mid morning, and I finally got to meet Linda's Rat Terrier, Dixie. Casey had picked out a really cute food bowl to take to Dixie.

It was so cute, and Dixie really liked it.

It was great meeting Linda and her Mom. Linda is SUCH a sweet person, and I love her. We had such a good time! Linda is the one, who drew the beautiful sketch of Indiana.

It was so nice to finally meet in person. Linda and I met on a Rat Terrier forum that she runs called www.lovearat.us We talked and really got to know each other, and I got to know Dixie too. In fact, Dixie and I shared some morning coffee. That's Dixie's thing. She LOVES coffee, so I let her lick my cup after I was done.

We all decided to go out to lunch. We went to this really good Mexican place there in Cordele. We had a nice long lunch and great conversation. Afterwards, we went back to their house and visited more. We finally had to leave and head back to Atlanta. I really enjoyed our visit, and I can't wait to go back on fall break and during Christmas break too!

Me and Linda's Mom, Della:

A shot of us together: