Day 30 - A Day Out

Rain beat down on the pavement in front of us, its spray creating a gray mist all around us. The "swish, swish, swish" of the windshield wipers kept time in the background.

A steady conversation filled the car and I almost missed my exit.

This trip has been talked about, planned, cancelled, rescheduled, cancelled again, and forgotten so many times over the last few years that I was beginning to think it would never happen.

Finally, after an hour and half of driving in the heavy downtown traffic, we arrived. I felt a little silly walking in without a child to accompany us, but we braved it anyway.

Having collected American Girl dolls since I was 8, walking through those doors made me feel like a kid again.

There I was with my mom, surrounded by all the little girls there with their mothers. It was so sweet to see the delight in their eyes as they scampered from one display to the next. Wishing to have the perfect VW Bug, or the Sailboat, or any number of the other perfect dreams that laid before them.

I had to fight down thoughts of having my own child their age. If my family had come about by "normal" timelines, I would have a 6 year old now. A little girl to run around and tug on my shirt and beg for the newest doll.

But I don't.

We had lunch in the American Girl Bistro and we were the only ones there without an accompanying child. It was difficult not to let those thoughts creep into my mind as we spent our three hours in the store.

We joked about the idea of bringing a friend's child with us so that it wouldn't be so obvious that we were two adults shopping at a kid's store, but we didn't. And I'm glad that we didn't.

My mom and I had a full day, 8 full hours of driving, shopping, eating, and shopping some more. The day was absolutely wonderful.

We watched at the American Girl Salon as well-loved and ratty-haired dolls got a makeover.

We watched as a little girl lovingly took a tiny squeegee and wash rag to the VW Bug and made sure that every inch was "cleaned".

We lit the campfire outside the massive and beautifully crafted teepee.

We pointed at this outfit and that saying that phrase which so many crafters utter a thousand times a year "We could make that".  It was an absolutely wonderful time and we were giddy with delight by the time we left (several hundred dollars lighter, I might add).

Off we went to our next stop... High Fashion Fabrics.

This store is the stuff of legends. You hear it whispered in the backroom of Joann's and Hancock fabrics as "the place" for anything you need. We had been dying to see it for years, but never took the time to make the trek. Until today!

We walked through the doors and gasped at the warehouse of textile delight that laid before us. Warehouse is no exaggeration in the description of this store. No frills or fancy lighting, just a big open warehouse of a room with table after table covered in piles of fabric.

As we walked around I sighed in disappointment that they didn't have any cotton fabric. I know, cotton can be a little boring, but it's just so darn comfy and I love wearing it! I was excited to get some new shirt fabric and was sad that I wouldn't be able to...

Then my mom, with a look of shock on her face said "turn around!". There, behind us, just through an unexpected little doorway, was another huge warehouse size room filled with nothing but cotton!

I was done... forget the $250/yard hand beaded silk from France! I had found Nirvana.

This is only about a quarter of what they had, but I was too excited to take any other pictures!

It was a wonderful day out with my mom and I enjoyed every single minute of the time!

I am thankful that I have a great relationship with my mom. That's not something that has always been true.

I am thankful that we finally made it to the American Girl store AND High Fashion Fabrics in the same day.

I am thankful that we had the self control not to break the bank buying every single thing we saw... believe me, that was difficult!

What are you thankful for today?