AG Boutique Atlanta & A(nother) New American Girl

The hubby and I had to take a short trip to Atlanta to visit the Costa Rican Consulate this past weekend. There is an American Girl Boutique in Atlanta, so of course, we had to make a stop there.

AG Boutique, Atlanta

We went Friday night after all the "festivities" of the day. I didn't expect it to be nearly as crowded as it was, but I guess that's my naivety. The Bistro was not crowded at all, however, so if you're interested in visiting the Bistro on a Friday night, it might not be too bad. My husband told me I could pick a new doll, his treat, while we were there. I had already been considering this possibility, so I had my choices narrowed down to two:

Saige

Or a new My AG (the one with curly hair, top back right, don't know her number)

I should mention here that I have never hand picked an American Girl at the store. I have read other collectors' opinions that picking out your own American Girl is such a special experience, to be treasured always. I'm not really sure I got that super-special feeling. I think I feel more warm and fuzzy when the doll arrives on my doorstep -- maybe it's all the anticipation of waiting for the doll to arrive that makes it superior for me. That being said, here's how I chose my doll:

I opened the first box of the doll I had chosen and looked at her. She looked fine to me, but I had this feeling that you just simply CANNOT chose the first doll you look at. That defeats the whole purpose of hand picking your doll, right?!! So I opened the box behind her, and looked at the next one. She looked equally fine. I stood them side by side, and looked, until I noticed the first doll had an almost imperceptible crease in her eyelashes, so I chose the second doll. I did not bother to look at any other dolls as I quickly realized this whole selection process was definitely not for me. I think the moral of the story is that if you or your child is feeling like you are somehow missing out on the whole American Girl experience because you've never gotten to purchase a doll in the store, don't feel so bad. Well, who did I choose already?

I made a compromise and bought a Saige outfit for Rafaela, and the new MyAG doll.

The one advantage to buying in the store is the savings on shipping. I paid $204.37 for what I purchased in the store, and just to see, I put the same stuff in a cart on americangirl.com, and my total with shipping came out to $210.95. If you can wait until free shipping though, and you live in a state with no AG store, you will end up financially better off than buying in-store. Don't get me wrong, going to the store itself is definitely an experience that is worthwhile. The displays are very neat, and all the customer service staff is extremely friendly. It's also fun to see how excited kids get in the store. I would just say, that in my particular case, I don't feel like I am losing anything when I purchase my doll online, and have her delivered to me sight-unseen.