So Sunday...

I was facetiming with Bri and Cath (who I am so happy for in their new adventure) and Cath was all "is this what it's like living out of state? Feeling like you never know what's going on??" The answer is yes, at first. Then I learned to call and text my siblings even if I thought I might be bugging them. I can almost always hear Harlan cursing teenagers and their texting every time I talk about how grateful I am for it. We're all busy people. Isn't it nice to be able to send a text message just to tell a joke and the other person can respond when they get a moment. Voile, you stay connected. Yes it's not the same as talking in person, but we can't just pack ourselves into a suite in Nauvoo and spend the rest of our lives together right? So I am grateful that we can at least text, and tweet, and blog if we can't all be under one roof.

I was homesick for a long time when I moved, but I feel like I've adjusted pretty well and I am just happy to be employed and that I can visit my family often. I really like Virginia (maybe even love it) and I love the experiences I've been able to have. Just to be clear, the monuments in DC are nice but I'm more grateful that I'm so close to Mike and that I've had the opportunity to learn more and that I've had simple experiences that have made my testimony grow. I've been on a strike of posting feelings to the internet, so I don't know what has gotten into me, but I'm going to stop now.

Speaking of jumping around... Cathy asked for a blog post and I told her I don't have kids so there's nothing to blog about. I pretty much go to work and that's it for half the week, and the other half I sleep in, hit the gym, maybe the mall and watch The Bachelor. So when I was at the mall on Monday (it's called Tyson's Corner, look it up for a complete listing of stores. It's epic) I just had to pick up a boot that was fixed at Nordstrom and get out of there before rush hour out of DC. They have an American Girl store, but I'd never been in. I figured I'd take the time so I never had to drag anyone around it. I started taking pictures and sending them to Nat (I had to share the moment with someone) and then I realized I could blog about it since I took a billion pictures. Here you go Cath.... (and American Girl lovers everywhere)

 I only intended to take this picture...

I heard they had a restaurant, but it requires a reservation. I wanted to at least take a peek, and when there was no one there on a Monday afternoon, and I needed lunch anyway, and again, who would ever come back and endure this with me.... So they set me up at the bar and there was a cute lady baking cookies and we chatted. I told her about my Kristen and Samantha, and how my mom never let me take out her braids, and we both agreed that was the right move. Good job Mom. She told me about her daughter starting college in California and I told her about my missionary in Spain. It was such a great day to be a girl.

When the hostess was showing me to my seat she asked if I wanted to borrow a doll to eat lunch with... I was embarrassed. But I REALLY wanted to. So I picked one. And her high chair sat right next to me. And the server brought her an empty teacup when I got my Diet Coke. The cute old man who brought me my appetizer reminded me to share with her.

Everything was so cute. White counters, pink flowers and pretty silverware.

The view behind my seat....

 Little boxes with conversation starters. I could use these on dates.

Yes. Just call.

A doll holder next to the sink. And they had them in the bathroom stalls. I wished I had a doll that I couldn't let go of even to to the bathroom so I could put the doll rack to good use. I also wished it because if that was my biggest problem once again, that would be really sweet.

I just wish I had all the Phillips girls there to share it with dangit. I bet my nieces would go nuts for the two stories of doll heaven. I sure did.