The last of the Phils…well, almost. :(

Hey guys, it’s Fiona here!!  If you have been reading this blog for a while, you know that every so often, one of us gals gets to go with Flo to meet up with Xyra from Tea Time With Melody Q out at the Coolspring Power Museum.  I was so thrilled that I was getting to go, I’ve been wanting to for a while.  On this trip, we were hoping to finish checking off the last of the Phantastic Phils in Punxsutawney.  We only had four left, so it didn’t seem like a difficult mission.  Or so we thought.  (If you’d like to read about our previous Phil searches, you can go here: https://sayhellotomylittlefriends.wordpress.com/2017/06/24/a-trip-to-punxsutawney/  and here: https://sayhellotomylittlefriends.wordpress.com/2017/10/31/in-search-of-more-phils/.  And here’s a link to the Tea Time with Melody Q post about this year (which also has links to our previous adventures): https://teatimewithmelodyq.blogspot.com/2019/06/coolspring-june-2019-day-3.html

It’s always a surprise as to who is going to come with Xyra, and this time I got to meet Grace!  Abby had met her before and said she was super fun, so I was excited to get to meet her too.  We quickly got into the car with them, and headed down the road to Punxsutawney.

The first Phil we found was called “Philled with Memories of Shannon”.  It was in memory of the daughter of the people who own the greenhouse where it was at.  It’s a very detailed Phil with photos reflecting on Shannon’s life.

Off to find another Phil.  Flo and Xyra had a pretty good idea of where this one was at, it was one that had been missing before because it was out for repaint.  So worth the return though.  It’s outside of a restaurant, and, well…just looking at it kind of makes you hungry!  It’s called “Breakfast Sounds Good”.  We loved that the guitar was made up of bacon, eggs and toast!

Plus it looks like we are standing on a mountain of pancakes, doesn’t it?!?  Makes me hungry just thinking about this one now.  (I’m trying not to drool on the keyboard.)

Then we were off to find another one at the nearby hospital.  It’s called “Healthy Phil”.

I thought his lab coat was pretty cool.  At this point Grace’s dog, Tris needed to stretch his legs.  Isn’t he a cutie?

Isn’t the hat I’m wearing cool too?  It was a gift from the Tea Time gang, and it was very nice to have on this day since it was kind of cool and breezy.  I also recently lent it to a friend of mine for a very special trip to the lake!  He did make sure it was returned too, but he said he was really glad to have it to help keep the sun out of his eyes.

So, we were supposed to find four Phil’s on this journey.  Believe me, we tried our best.  However, the last Phil we needed for our list to be complete is out for repairs/repaint! After driving around the IUP campus multiple times, we think we figured out where it was supposed to be.  Or used to be.  That’s the only problem, sometimes if you miss one, you won’t get to see it again, as these statues can be moved to different locations and painted with different themes when they are redone.  Oh well.  Maybe if Xyra and Flo wait a few years, there will be several new ones to check out!

I hope you enjoyed this almost final installment of the Phantastic Phil’s of Punxsutawney!  Check back in a couple of days, we have a fun post of Mini Isabelle checking out the Coolspring Power Museum with Mini Luci from Tea Time!

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New Stuff, YAY!!!!

I’ve been keeping my eyes peeled on the American Girl website for some new releases and I was super excited today to see them, yesssss!   (Sorry, my inner Elle Woods kicked in there.)  Let me just say–their webmaster still needs fired.  Trying to find some of the items isn’t the easiest thing because they aren’t crossed referenced.  I don’t get it, I really don’t.  But, I did find some adorable items that are on my “must have” list already.

Oh my, this coat!!  This is just one of the cutest clothing pieces they have come out with in a long time.  There is a whole group of mix and match items that are a Paris theme and this is part of that, although I wouldn’t necessarily think of a leopard coat and Paris at the same time.  This is definitely going to jump into my shopping cart.

 

This accessory set is so sweet, even if you aren’t a cat fan!  Another must have item.

Also loving this waist bag!  (they call it a belted wallet)

A new pet care set–Hedgehogs!!!  (anyone else notice the resemblance in some of these pieces to a My Life As Set?)

There are some other really nice pieces this time around.  Perhaps our complaints are being heard.  A lot of mix and match pieces in clothing/shoes.  Some other awesome accessory sets.  Blaire has a new outfit and a new accessory set that is very cute!  Two new Truly Me dolls–but no new outfit this time…hmmm…  And nothing new at all in BeForever, hoping maybe we will see something later in the summer.

This…words cannot express how much I want this set.  Not sure what I’m going to do with it or where I will store it, but after watching the video, I am certain I will be getting this at some point…

Yes, it’s a bowling alley!!!  Complete with snacks, shoes, bowling balls, the works!  The balls are designed in such a way that a strap can be attached so you can have your doll hold it, but then you can also take that off to toss it down a bowling lane that actually works!!!!!!!  The interactive features on this set are so well done.  I’ll be anxious to read the reviews on it after a few people have actually tried it out.  Hopefully it’s not a disappointment because the idea is probably one of the cleverest they’ve come up with in ages.  I haven’t been this excited since they came out with the pop up camper–and if you’ve been reading since then, you know how that turned out! 😉

What items in the new releases are your favorites?

American Girl…what’s going on??

Anyone else wondering what the heck is going on at American Girl lately besides me?  I’ve been a bit perplexed by some of the changes and decisions lately.  I’m sure I’m not alone.  I haven’t talked about AG and their business model for a while, so it’s time.

First off–a good thing.  FINALLY someone has been listening and now they are offering free shipping on purchases over $125.  It’s about time!  I noticed that there is a disclaimer that there may be a surcharge on large items.  Hmmm…anyone have any experience with that yet that they would like to share?  I’m curious myself, especially with items like Blair’s Family Farm Restaurant, the camper, etc.

What the heck is going on with the monthly sale?  It just keeps getting smaller and smaller.  This month it’s only 10 items.  It’s almost to the point of “why bother”.  And they aren’t running regular clearance specials either, the most recent one was the first since the Black Friday/Cyber Monday one if I’m remembering correctly?  I always enjoyed the clearance section.  I find it hard to believe that they are sending everything to the new outlet store in Hershey.  They had an outlet store before and still managed to run regular sales.

New items–nothing since the first of the year?  Has anyone heard if there is anything coming out anytime soon?  If my calculations are right, this should be the year we see a new “Truly Me” outfit.  Or will we?

I’ve been worried about some of the things that have been happening for some time now, but since the first of the year, I’ve become increasingly concerned.  I’m hoping perhaps they are working on better ideas and ways to do things.  I was very surprised to hear that they closed a couple of the stores, I know someone that lives in the Boston area and she was very saddened when they closed the store there.

Would love to hear other things that some of my readers have noticed, concerns, issues, etc.  It’s always a worry when a company starts making big changes like this.  I know that many of us have always seen a pattern to certain things in the past and now it seems like all of that is gone…