To Quote Horton's Friends

We are here! We are here! We are here!

YAWP!

Perhaps We've been heard! We've been heard! We've been heard! would be a better chant. American Girl has heard our many voices! Check out the awesomeness from their recent Facebook announcement.

"**An Important Update for Our Customers**

We love and appreciate our dedicated American Girl fan community, and we take our role in listening and responding to your feedback very seriously. In recent months, many of you have shared your thoughts on how we can continue delivering the great products you’ve come to expect from us. We’ve heard you, and we will be implementing two changes as a result.

First, we will be reverting to the separate underwear design for all of our 18-inch dolls. Starting today, any dolls that are currently in production or any new dolls being developed will now come with removable underwear. Because there are dolls with permanent underwear already in the market, this will be a rolling change—meaning dolls that currently have the permanent underwear design will remain as is until the inventory is sold through.

However, if you currently own an American Girl doll with the permanent underwear and are disappointed with the design, we will do a one-time, free body exchange on the doll to create one with separate underwear and return the doll to you at no cost. For details on this offer, please click here: http://bit.ly/2rKyn0n

Second, we have made the decision to return to our iconic boutique box for our 18-inch dolls. Only the new 2017 contemporary characters, as well as some of our Truly Me dolls, will come in the current packaging until inventory is sold through. In addition, none of our 18-inch doll outfits will be sewn directly into packaging, with the exception of any existing inventory for our 2017 contemporary characters.

Thank you for caring enough to share your candid and heartfelt opinions with us, and we are sorry if we disappointed you in any way. Your feedback helps us deliver on our promise to create high-quality products, services, and experiences that nourish a girl’s spirit and help develop her strength of character.

Your Friends at American Girl"

Oh. My. goodness! I almost fell off my chair! 

So exciting!

Woo hoo!

Hallelujah!

Yay!

Fab-u-lous!

Best wishes,

Tea Review: Blackberry Sage

Thirsty Thursday #21

The Republic of Tea: Blackberry Sage

Lanie on the Lanai

Hi! It's a bright, sunny, spring morning. Almost feels like summer. We're having a short heat wave, so I thought I'd do a tea review outside.

Do you remember the tea cakes Grace showed you on Mother's Day? Well, they were from the latest Tea Time Magazine. We made ours teapot shaped. Here's our plate of four with the magazine. 

They were AWESOME! Totally suggest this recipe. Anyway, the tea sommelier suggested black current tea for the sweet course. We don't have black current tea right now, but I found blackberry sage.

It's The Republic of Tea brand. You can see it steeping right next to me. Do you notice something different about the cups waiting?

The blend is "fine black tea, natural blackberry flavor, and sage." It says "this tea is also nice cooled and served over a tall glass of ice." Have to try that today!

We followed the instructions using just under boiling water and are letting it steep for 4 minutes. They suggest 3 - 5 minutes.

[timer beeping in the distance]

Ooo, done! Check out the great color.  

I can smell the berry...(inhales again)...and a faint bit of sage.

The cup on the right is plain.On the left has sugar in the raw. The third has ice. (giggles)

Let's see how plain tastes.

Nice. A bit rough around the edges. You know, strong. Not bitter, just strong. Mostly tea and blackberry. Now with the sugar in the raw.

Okay, this is better. Smooths the edges of the flavors and brings out the berry. Bring on the iced! The iced is unsweetened.

Oh. Very nice. Refreshing. Mellow. Very tasty. Perfect for a hot day.

If you follow us regularly, you know we like many fruit teas. Not all, but many. Sometimes the fruit can be too strong or artificial. 

The Republic of Tea Blackberry Sage tea is not like that. The flavors are mild and blend well together for a soothing hot and a refreshing iced tea.

What's your favorite go to beverage on a hot day?

Xyra aside: Just before posting I tried the iced version sweetened with sugar in the raw. Not too much. The iced tea is good sweetened as well as unsweetened. Also in the magazine, the sommelier inset on the tea article mentions black currant tea for the sweet course. The online article pairs the lemon buttercream cake stacks with a darjeeling. We will be reviewing a darjeeling in the near future.

See you again soon! Stay cool!

Note: Tea Time with Melody Q is not affiliated with American Girl, The Republic of Tea, or Tea Time Magazine. The tea reviewed was a sample from a past Republic of Tea catalog. The review is unsolicited and comprised of our own honest opinions, thoughts, and words. All links are provided for educational and informative purposes. No purchase is required to enjoy the post. Should you be interested in trying the tea, the links will help point you in the right direction.

Hot Sum...Spring Afternoon

Feels Like Summer

Grace, Haley, Kaya, Lea, 2 or more

But it's Still Spring

It feels nice here in the shade.
Yeah, a perfect spot to play This or That.
Yeah!

Which sheet did you bring?
Playtime.
I have Mirror Mirror.
Wiggle Room here. (giggles)
Mine is Style File.
They're all cool. Which shall we do?
Why not go around in circles and ask from each?
Sounds like a plan. Who starts?
Go alphabetically?
By name?
No sheet.
Cool!
A crazy wizard takes over your life, would you prefer that the wizard flicks his wand and makes roses grow between you toes or daisies grow on top of your head?

That's easy; the daisies! Then I could be like Ophelia on The Addams Family. (laughing)

I agree with Grace. The roses makes me think of that scene from Singing in the Rain. You know, Moses supposes his toeses are roses, but Moses supposes erroneously. (laughing)
I LOVE that part!
Daisies unanimously?
Yep!
My turn! It's playtime, would you prefer to cook a meal in a toy kitchen or build a doghouse with toy tools?

I'd like to try cooking in a toy kitchen,
Yeah, remember that news story on Tiny Kitchen?
Those were amazing videos! But I think I'd rather tackle building with toy tools. As long as I get to choose the style. the wood ones would work better than plastic.

True! (laughing)
Time to tap into your fashion passion! Would you rather wear a dress made of duct tape or a hat made of newspaper?

Easy peasy - the dress!

Absolutely! Have you seen the Stuck at Prom winners?
So creative and detailed.
Unanimous?
You bet!
Let's talk bedrooms! Would you prefer a room made entirely of windows or no windows at all?

Hmm, that one is tougher.

Yeah, there are challenges with a glass room...
Lack of privacy, seeing all the weather all the time...
But in the end I think all widows over no windows. 
No windows could be really bleak.
But remember Blast from the Past?

Oh, good movie!
He grew up without real windows and was okay.
True.
I'm still windows.
Me too!
Me three! (giggles)

Yikes! time to head inside to tackle homework!
Already? We only got through four questions.
We can do more later.
Yay! (laughing)
Selfie first!

What would you choose? Please leave us a comment with your answers.

Thank you for stopping! Have a lovely day!

Mini Outfit Review: LORI

New Mini Outfit

LORI: Warm Hat, Warm Heart

Note: This outfit is not featured on the LORI Doll website and is no longer on the Target website. Therefore, there will be no links in this review.

Kaya and Tama

Finally! My turn to play with the dolls! I just want to change up their outfits. Had to try this new one too. It's cool. 

Comes with a silver backpack, short-sleeved wrap sweater, super dark pink sleeveless top, black and white pattern leggings, fluffy purple hat, and boots. The backpack has an opening so you can put things inside.

I like everything but the hat on Tama. It just doesn't sit right. Her hair is so thick. But I like the rest of the outfit.

It's too big on Evan.

Hmmm, I like it on Rebecca. She looks cute!

I love the mix and match possibilities. In this outfit. Let's try this top and jacket with the leggings. And now to change the shoes. 

Oh, no! The boots are stuck! I don't want to pull too hard. It feels like her leg is coming away from her body! Help!

(heavy sigh) Okay. I used a spoon as a shoehorn and got the boots off. 

I'm putting them in the "do not wear" pile.

Kaya's Rating

Warm Hat Warm Heart is a fun outfit. It comes with six items. Three are great. Two are iffy. One I didn't really use. I give it a B.

• Cute factor: A- Super adorable combination. Strange mix of seasons. Not  new thing for LORI fans.
• Fit: C+ The main three clothing items fit well, but the hat is too big and the boots too tight.
• Versatility: A+ All of the pieces would work and mix well with the other clothes we have. Tama's final outfit uses pieces from three different sets.

What is your favorite part of the outfit?

So glad you stopped. Come again soon!

Note: Tea Time with Melody Q is not affiliated with American Girl, LORI, or Battat. The outfit featured in today's post was purchased for our collection with our own money. The review is unsolicited and comprised of our own honest opinions, thoughts, and words. No purchase is required to enjoy this post.

Book Group Postponed

Announcement

Oh, dear! Book group has been postponed. 

What to do? 

(pauses pensive) 

I think we're going to take another day to focus our thoughts more. Bear with us. Hope you had a nice weekend and a good Monday. Come back again soon, please.

Sending warm wishes to everyone at Say Hello to My little Friends.

Best wishes,