Sage on the runway...

Back in February at the Heart Gala charity event we attended, Jack was determined to win the "American Girl" getaway trip to Chicago. It included two round trip tickets to Chicago to visit the American Girl flagship store (with the best part being we wouldn't be flying commercial), a visa gift card meant to be used at the AG store, a gift card for some Chicago pizza place and a gift basket full of American Girl movies, books, nail polish, etc. My sweet husband thought it would be the perfect trip for Sage and I to enjoy together and with her birthday around the corner and knowing the money was going to benefit a good cause, it was hard for me to not agree to it or be excited about it. Well after some strategic bidding we were the winners. One of the things that was included in the package was a couple VIP tickets to the American Girl charity fashion show in Cincinnati and an opportunity for Sage to walk the runway. Of course Sage was very excited about this. Now, the funny part was that the word VIP is deceiving. VIP did not mean you were one of the models that got to model an American Girl doll outfit and carry an American Girl with the same coordinating outfit as those models had been selected months ago from a slew of applicants who clearly were aware that this event even existed, had tried out and were thrilled to have been chosen out of hundreds of applicants. What VIP did mean was that Sage would walk the runway during intermission which made me giggle. I imagined everyone leaving their seats to go to the bathroom or get more food and having poor Sage walking the runway with no one but me to watch which actually may have been just fine since who knew how she'd do under the lights with hundreds of eyes on her. But my idea of intermission and what intermission actually was were different. First of all, no one leaves during intermission and secondly the girls that walk during intermission actually have answered a ton of questions about themselves beforehand so as they are walking the runway the announcers are sharing all sorts of fun facts about them with the audience. I thought it was much better than listening to what girl you were dressed as and what time period she grew up in, which is what occurred if you were one of the main models. You may be wondering what I did about Sage not having a real American Girl to carry with her down the runway since she still doesn't have a real one but no worries as they encouraged us to use one of their dolls. It was no surprise that Sage came out carrying the 2013 new American Girl doll named Saige (with an 'i'). I can only imagine how funny it would have been to have Sage walk out carrying her "Target" version... So here is our cute model Sage:



After she finished we continued to watch the show and at the end she got a cute American Girl shirt, a gift bag, and a photo from a photo shoot they had done of her a few weeks prior. But the best part was the time we got to spend together. Priceless...