When we were thinking about getting Maryellen's Diner from American Girl I searched the web for anything and everything I could find for all the details about it, including pictures of the individual accessories that came with it. I love to do my research! Where we live, it's hard to watch videos as our internet package is on a data plan and anything that we watch eats up our monthly data package (this is due to living in the Northwoods!) so I was looking for static pictures and couldn't find any other than those on the AG website, and I like "real" photos as I feel they represent the pieces more authentically. Which led me to the creation of this post. Obviously, you can see that we opted to go ahead and get the diner and we are so glad that we did!! This is our biggest AG purchase and we were able to go ahead with it due to our having some gift cards to use to help bring down the cost.

As I shared, we LOVE the diner...the only thing that we would have changed would be adding a few necessities when it came to the accessories! A couple of things we found to be missing were: a blank order pad, salt and pepper shakers, coffee pot, coffee mugs, syrup for the pancakes, silverware (how are they going to eat those pancakes?), a "real" phone (instead of the sticker one!), and a napkin dispenser for the table would have been nice too.

Here is what DID come with the diner...

The hamburgers are fun since they come apart (you can grill the patties on the grill and then assemble) and it was a nice touch that the top bun has a little notched area for the tomatoes to sit in to help the burger stay together. The burgers are pretty huge though...they take up most of the plate!

We LOVE the bell and that it really dings! The best accessory in our opinion!

We are happy with the food...

We love the paper trays that come with the set...will be so fun to serve up an order of fries using these!

The ketchup and mustard bottles will be handy to have too.

The four guest checks are nice, but again, it would have been nice to have an order pad for our dolls to place their own orders.

To round out our accessories for the diner I went ahead and purchased the Cute as a Pie Kitchen Playset from Our Generation (Target brand) mostly for the salt and pepper shakers, sugar shaker, syrup dispenser, coffee pot and coffee cups. I put the rest of the items in our doll kitchen.

Just those items alone really rounded out our diner accessories!

We are having so much fun with the diner! We love that it can be folded up, moved around easily and rearranged with ease. The dolls have rated the diner  ✫ ✫ ✫ ✫ ✫

Review - American Girl Rollerblading Set (Skates & Gear)

For Zoey's birthday this year she was one lucky girl!  Some of her birthday gifts included a JLY doll # 17 which we really lucked out with because she was just retired this last release! I had no idea that was coming down the pipe! More on that later when I share a post just on the new doll, and what her name is and why it is that we chose her.

For this post I am sharing a bit about the Skates & Gear set and the Roller Skating Outfit. We had the Roller Skating Outfit already and for her birthday she got the Skates & Gear set.

The helmet with the Skates & Gear set is really good quality.  The strap around the chin attaches on one side with a plastic snap that is easy enough for Zoey to get on and off with no problem.

I wasn't expecting being able to balance as well with the roller blade type skates as well as the roller skates that we already had but was pleasantly surprised with how we were able to pose the doll in the roller blades.

The knee pads are cute and easy to attach too...there are two straps for each one that velcro around the knee.  The blades themselves are too adorable.  I LOVE them and so does Zoey.  The wheels really roll and the color combo is fresh and fun and they look like real roller blades.

If I had to have a complaint about this set it would be the wrist guards.  I had to try them a couple times because I wasn't sure if I was putting them on the wrong hands or upside down...they are not a perfect fit for the hand molds...there is a gap from the wrist to the thumb area and they velcro on the top of the hand.  I would have probably tried to use a stretchy material to create these had I been designing them myself but they work and go nicely with the set.

Here are the skates...we still love them very much too!  We love that they lace up and that they are bright colored.  And now, two dolls can go skating together!

Here is a close-up of Elizabeth in her roller skating outfit.  She looks so cute!

It was such a great day for skating and nobody fell and got hurt which was a bonus since the roller blades were brand new we weren't sure how the dolls would fare using them for the first time!

When is the last time you roller skated or roller bladed?  When I was young I had a pair of red roller skates with yellow laces that I had gotten at our church rummage sale.  Zoey hasn't gotten a pair yet or tried it out herself...maybe one of these days she will!

Hope you are all having a great summer!

Product Review - AhhProds "LiL Me" Bean Bag Chairs for Dolls

I wanted to share with you a fun new doll product that I recently discovered.  The site Ahhprods sells primarily bean bag chairs...any color or pattern that you could possibly dream up in fact!  In addition to the human/child version sized bean bag chairs I happily discovered that they make and sell matching doll sized bean bag chairs as well which they call "LiL Me" chairs!

You could get a matching set for your child and their doll OR you could simply buy one for your doll.  I also discovered that two dolls can cozy up on one bean bag chair quite nicely as well.  Bonus!  The dolls don't fall off like with the regular hard chairs you can buy - the bean bag conforms to the doll and holds her in place.

We got a nice fleecy type feeling fabric but their are many options to choose from when you are looking.  Another nice thing and something that I feel good about when supporting this business and their products is that they are made in the U.S.A. There aren't many things that you can say that about anymore!  They even have certified organic cotton ones, plus a ton of colors and prints and fabrics to select from.

Here is a shot of their professional looking tag on the doll bean bag chair...

The doll chairs are perfectly sized for the 18 inch American Girl dolls or similar sized dolls (14 inches wide and 7 inches tall to be exact) and they come equipped with a child-resistant zipper, which can be locked and unlocked just like our exclusive liners for the child sized bean bags.  Curious kids, however, will not be able to easily unzip them.  No one wants filling flying everywhere!  

We are tickled with our LiL Me bean bag chair from Ahhprods and can totally see the dolls having fun with it at a sleepover soon.  We might have to make that happen this weekend!

Ahhprods is currently having a giveaway on their blog through May 31st...click here for the details on how to enter and to have the chance to win a "LiL Me" bean bag chair!

Product Review : 123 Mulberry Street "Summer Ready" Outfit

Before we left for our little vacation to Florida we got our hands on an outfit for Zoey's dolls from the Etsy shop 123 Mulberry Street.  Specifically, we got the Summer Ready - Teal outfit (the listing can be found here).  I wanted to share with you our thoughts on this outfit and brand.

First off...we love the color and pattern combination of this outfit, it's so fresh and fun and hopeful feeling (or maybe we are just feeling that way since we STILL have snow on the ground in some places here where we live!!).

Here is Julie modeling the outfit after we got it...she looks so great in it don't you think?

Here is a close-up of the stitching detailing on the shorts.  They are just like shorts that we would buy in the store for Zoey!  They even have real pockets so your doll can stash away her littlest treasures!

We love the stretchy waist band and that the brand is so clearly visible on the tagged label.  So professional!

Here is a shot of the halter top...love the pattern for this and I so wish that I could knit, crochet OR sew for that matter!!

Here is a picture of what the back of the halter top looks like.  It's a nice added touch that the tails for tying are braided with the contrast colors of the top don't you think?  Super cute!

We love this doll outfit and feel the quality and fit are top notch!  There are so many other stylish ensembles in the 123 Mulberry Street Etsy shop as well so be sure to check them out!  123 Mulberry Street also has a Facebook page which you can find here.  They sometimes share new photos of outfits in the works or the latest ones for sale on there so be sure to become a fan!  I love finding doll clothes that are well made, stylish and fun and that aren't the main stream outfits that you see everywhere else sometimes.  123 Mulberry Street certainly fits the bill for something fresh and fun!

Product Review - American Girl Deluxe Diner Set

This past Christmas Zoey got the American Girl Deluxe Diner set from Santa and it has proved to have lots of play power since.  It's essentially a kit and backdrop all in one for dining fun for your dolls.  You get a book that has lots of ideas for play and craft how-to's and images for inspiration as well as lots and lots of fun paper punch outs for signs, menus table decor, food items, etc.  The accessories and the paper items are truly the best part.  It has been so much fun for Zoey to "make" all the little things for the diner and for the dolls.

You get a little cardboard fold-out easel to hold your diner chalkboard that you can really write on with chalk.  On the reverse side is a white board.  There are punch out open and closed signs for your diner.  Pictured here is one version of what's included.

Zoey punched out and folded a pizza box...here Emily is headed out for delivering a tasty pie to a friend.  We love the pizza box!  It makes an appearance at sleepovers too!

Also included is a heavy duty cardboard table and two fold out chairs for your diner.  They are really of good quality and look cute as well.  You could put some fabric over the table if you wanted to make it look a bit more like a real table or for more of a fancier occasion but the table by itself totally works too. It's meant to look like a wrought iron table we are thinking with the way it is designed, like something that would be outside on the patio. The counter that Rebecca is standing behind is actually one of the little drawers that was in the box when all folded up.  Great use of product space if you ask me.

Here you see Rebecca getting a take-out box ready for a customer. Also included are several debit cards and coupons...as well as punch out money. You can also see an adorable guest check book in Rebecca's apron pocket (two are included).  Apron is not included though they do have a paper punch-out version that you can make which we haven't done yet. Behind Rebecca here is another chalk board on the actual wall itself that you can use.

There are table tents showing different menu options and thank you cards...

The playset also comes with two brown bags that you can leave plain or add some fun stickers to...we added the bakery stickers to ours for now.

Here are some of the things included in the set...

Overall this is a really wonderful play-set that allows for creativity and for lots and lots of time spent playing.  It is packed with so much...some of the things not pictured that are also included are: a pan of frosted cinnamon rolls, two cups of hot chocolate, two guest check books, two cupcakes with liners and two plated pieces of pumpkin pie.

Rebecca (and Zoey and I) give this play-set an enthusiastic two thumbs up!

Our dog Leo...may not be enthusiastic, but he is happy that while we are playing with dolls, he gets to chill a bit...usually.