Part of Mary Conlee's birthday was taking her to Atlanta for the sole purpose of going to the American Girl Store. Hearing how girly this trip sounded, the boys decided to stay home and go to the Bama/LSU game instead. So, Jen and I decided that it was about time to induct Mary Conlee into the society of road tripping.
We spent Thursday night in Birmingham with Bubbe and Pop so we would be ready to go first thing Friday morning. We went to Jen's house to load her car for the trip to Atlanta. Lucky for us, she did the driving. After piling ALL those bags into the trunk for our two night trip, we buckled Mary Conlee and Bitty Baby into the backseat and began our adventure. MC said she was so excited about it that she was shaking. We were, too!
Mary Conlee and Bitty Baby are ready for a road trip
The warm sunny weather and radio blaring hits from the 80's made the trip from Birmingham to Atlanta enjoyable and rather short. Our first stop was lunch at the Varsity, a famous Atlanta landmark. Serving hot dogs dressed many ways and orange cream drinks, it was a hit with us all!
The Varsity, an Atlanta landmark
Do you want fries with that?
Not far from the Varsity was the Coca Cola Museum. This is one of our favorite places to visit. We enjoy the sights and sounds, but especially the tastes of the many Coke drinks. Bibo, our family favorite, became Jen's favorite drink, too. We tricked her and told her how awesome the Beverly tasted. She, like everyone else, thought it was terrible. And like all good museums must do, it ended inside a gift shop. With little time to shop, we grabbed a few Coke items and coke-flavored Bonnie Bell lipgloss and made a dash for our hotel.
Hanging out at the Coke Museum
Loving some Bibo!
Jen decided that Mary Conlee should experience afternoon tea at the Ritz, just like we did in London. So, that was the perfect excuse to book our rooms at that hotel. We didn't even have time to unload the car or check in before tea, so we left Jen's fully loaded vehicle to the valets and just hoped for the best. Tea was so much fun and it took us back to our European vacation. It was neat to have MC with us this time. Jen and I picked out our favorite blend of teas, but Mary Conlee opted for hot chocolate. There was a children's tea menu that consisted of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and chicken salad. Ours was much better! After we sipped tea the way it was meant to be sipped (pinky finger out), they brought pastries and scones for dessert. Mary Conlee sat up so tall in her chair and was glad to be sharing high tea with Bitty Baby. The best part is when they brought out a slice of birthday cake complete with a candle.
Getting it
just right
The proper way to drink tea--pinkies out, girls!
Bringing out the goodies!
The birthday cake with gold foil writing
We unloaded our bags and checked into our hotel. Luckily, all our belongings were still there! We went to our room, which happened to be right across the hall from the Presidential Suite. I wonder if they forgot to put us in there instead! We needed a few minutes to rest and reload for the evening. We had some serious shopping to do in Atlanta, and Buckhead seemed like the perfect place to call home for a few days! Across the street from our hotel was Filene's Basement--an awesome discount store with high-end brands of clothing. That was our first stop of the afternoon. One of Jen's favorite pasttimes is trying on high heeled shoes, ones she never intends on purchasing. While I was busy trying on jeans at Filene's, Jen photographed MC in this lovely purple pair and sent the picture to Judd. Needless to say, he was not very impressed.
In our room
First night out on the town
Fancy shoes...learning how to walk in them early!
We went to Phipp's Mall, which was conveniently located near our hotel. We had fun shopping in all of the big department stores. Poor MC. By the time we reached Saks Fifth Avenue, she fell asleep in the chair waiting for us to finish. For dinner, we went back to our hotel and ordered room service. MC loved the milk and cookies they brought her at bedtime. We were all tired and ready for some sleep!
Slumber at Saks
Dinner in the room
The next morning, we drove to Alpharetta to go to the American Girl store. We had 9:00 reservations at the AG Bistro for a birthday brunch celebration. By the end of this trip, the girl would definitely know she had turned another year older! The best part was getting to put her Bitty Baby in chair next to hers for brunch. We feasted on pink muffins and pink lemonade before ordering our breakfast. Just when we thought we were about finished, they brought out a big pink and white birthday cake for her. She loved getting to eat cake and ice cream so early in the morning!
Wishes do come true!
Cool arm bands!
Getting ready for our big day at American Girl
Sharing her Birthday Brunch with Bitty Baby
Mom, MC, and Bitty Baby
The main reason we came to Atlanta was to let MC pick out her very first American Girl dolls. Mama Charlie gave her the American Girl Bitty Baby when she was little, and every year she has added to her collection at birthday and Christmas. So this year, we were moving up to the big girl dolls! Fortunately, we had perused the catalog and knew exactly which dolls we would get and the necessary accessories. However, when you get there, you become a child again and everything looks so magical. We had bags after bags loaded with dolls, clothes, and accessories. Next came what any responsible shopper must do--purge some of the items we intended to buy. This made Mary Conlee a little sad, but she realized Christmas was just around the corner and that there would be opportunites to add to her growing collection. So with Rebecca and Kit in hand, and just a few of their things...we headed OUT of the store and drove to the North Georgia Premium Outlets a few miles north in Dawsonville. This is when Jen and I got out our serious shopping faces. Burberry, Michael Kors, and Juicy Couture were some of our first stops! Poor MC was tired, but she was a good sport, pushing around Bitty Baby in the stroller. After shopping for several hours, we headed back to our hotel and got ready for dinner. The Melting Pot is one of MC's favorite places to eat. She loves getting to cook the food more than she eats it. Fondue is so much fun!
All shopped out
Cooking up the fondue
At the Melting Pot with Aunt Jen
After dinner, we were back in our hotel room and ready for bed. We woke up on Sunday morning and were sad to leave the luxury of the Ritz Carlton Hotel. We would no longer be able to call someone to bring up the car, give us cold water bottles, and open and close all our doors- coming and going. I am quite sure Judd would not continue this practice. It is a good thing that the girls came back down from Cloud 9 and got a good dose of reality. And a good dose of a Swine Flu shot from Bubbe before driving back to Tupelo that afternoon. We had a fabulous time celebrating her birthday!
Thank goodness we found us a boy to carry our bags!
Surely this can't be all our stuff! We were only there for 2 nights.
We took up 2 city blocks with our luggage and packages. Oh my!
So worried it would not all fit, but thankfully it did
Back home, reading to the dolls
