It may not be close to South Orange County, but it is certainly worth the drive. The American Girl store in Los Angeles at The Grove, is the best location to celebrate a birthday excursion outside the OC bubble. Every year I give my children the option to either have a birthday party or a birthday excursion with a bestie. This year my daughter choose an excursion with her bestie to the American Girl doll store.
Our day at the store began with a lovely brunch for us and the dolls we brought. (Note, if you forget your doll they have loner dolls for you to borrow.) The hostess provided “Happy Birthday” party hats for both the girls and their dolls. They escort you to your table where they attach doll chairs to the table for each and every doll. They even supply a cup, plate and place-mat for each doll at the table. My favorite are the napkin rings, which are actually hair ties with a pink bow for your daughter. It’s a nice touch!
There is a preset menu with a couple of different options for both Mom and Daughter. They kick off the brunch with some warm and delicious cinnamon knots for the table. Followed by a lovely crudité platter of carrots, hummus, cheese, pita bread and celery. The moms opted for a simple pasta dish and a salad and the littles picked macaroni & cheese and some chicken fingers. The girls sipped on pink lemonade with their dolls and us moms enjoyed some mimosas. Brunch was topped off with a lovely and delicious birthday cake shaped like a pink and white present. Presentation is everything here and as you can see from the photos, they even paired a slice of birthday cake with vanilla ice cream in a flower pot with an editable flower. Too precious to eat I must say! Lastly, they presented each girls with a pink party favor bag. The favor bag included a birthday t-shirt for your doll, a doll wand and a bunch of American Girl activity pages. I highly suggest adding on the Birthday Party package, it was worth it!
After brunch we enjoyed shopping around the store and photo ops galore. We then proceeded downstairs to the doll hair salon. There you get to select from different hair styles for your doll, depending on the length of your doll’s hair. We of course choose the princess style, that comes with a little doll crown. It is amazing to watch these ladies and their hair creations on these dolls. They even have seasonal hair styles for the major holidays. They also do doll ear piercing, if that is something you want to purchase. This process is done in the back, so your daughter won’t get to hold their doll’s hand through this procedure. They also have “Care & Repair” services that will help clean up your overly loved American Girl doll.
Least to say it was a wonderful Birthday excursion with my daughter and her bestie. The store service was amazing and brunch was absolutely perfect. The girls had a ball wondering around the entire store and looking at every detail. You all know that your daughters won’t want to do these types of things forever, so be sure to do it while she still wants too!
Helpful planning tips for your excursion:
1) Be sure to make an on-line appointment for brunch and the doll hair salon well in advance to your date.
2) Make sure to leave OC with plenty of time to get to The Grove, traffic can be crazy as we all know.
3) Brunch takes a good hour to hour and a half with the cake/party package
4) I highly suggest you do the doll hair salon after brunch, so that your dolls can sit with you at the table during brunch.
5) Lastly, I do suggest opting for the full birthday party package. Which comes with a cake for the table and a party favor bag for each guest. The cake was out of this world and the party favors game with a birthday shirt for your American Girl doll, a doll wand and some activity sheets
