American Girl Magazine Summer

The Giggle Gang walked so that New York Times Daily Games could run.

It’s no secret I’ve been deep in nostalgic longing, and if you read my post on the subject matter, I shared I was going to do something about it. I also wrote how I reconnected with my love for American Girl magazines last summer. Behold, a seed was planted in my brain, and it’s grown roots to form this idea of “American Girl Magazine Summer.” Will you join me for the movement?

Subscriptions are free, but if you’d like to support me monetarily, I’d greatly appreciate it!

Yes, I’ve seen the memes that 2023 was Barbie Summer, 2024 was Brat Summer, and 2025 will be Kit Kittridge Summer as we live through the next Great Depression. But that’s not the American Girl Summer I want. I recognize that’s the state of the world right now, and I’m not denying it by any means. But I want to find small pockets of joy this summer, and by creating American Girl Magazine Summer, I hope to achieve that.

If you haven’t read my Ode to a Wendy’s Solarium, you missed me explaining how American Girl Magazine came back into my life last summer and how I was inspired to visit the American Girl Store and Cafe to give my inner child an experience she never got to have. I also explained in that post that I want to incorporate the shoe diva aesthetic back in my life and what that means to me. Embracing American Girl Magazine Summer is exactly how I plan to do this.

What is American Girl Magazine Summer?

Again, I want to create pockets of joy for myself this summer by living as though I was the girl in the 90s and early 00s who subscribed to the American Girl Magazine and incorporating the lifestyle of that magazine into my life as an adult now. When my bi-monthly issue of American Girl magazine arrived in the mail, I would pour over the pages and devour the content. The segments in American Girl ranged from how-to guides to brainteasers with real girls on every page. Sometimes celebrities were featured, but what I loved so much about this magazine is that it featured real girls and celebrated the simplicity of being young and carefree. By embracing American Girl Magazine Summer, I will heal my inner child while simultaneously taking care of my adult self.

I’ve gone through old issues of AG Magazine and picked out prominent features and segments. I’ve planned how I want to incorporate them into my life now as an adult living in 2025, all with the goal of creating those pockets of joy and making summer a little more enjoyable. As my least favorite season, finding small ways to make summer less miserable is all I can do to survive this heat. Last summer, Joy and I recorded the first of our seasonal episodes: “How to Have a Cozy Summer” in which we both made 10 suggestions on how to make summer a little more cozy. It inspired me to hate summer a little less, and I hope to achieve that again this year with American Girl Magazine Summer.

The segments and how I will incorporate them into my American Girl Magazine Summer

Crafts & DIYs: A staple of American Girl Magazines were the crafts and DIY guides. There were ideas for homemade gifts, self care rituals, room decor, and more. This magazine truly had it all.
How I’m incorporating this into my American Girl Magazine Summer:

While I’m already a pretty big crafter, I want this to be a summer of crafting! If you listen to the podcast, you’ll already know I’m a big proponent of all-inclusive craft kits. Any serial crafter knows all too well the problem when starting a new craftform: the supplies. We hoard glitter, washi tape, scrapbook paper, stickers, stamps— you catch my drift. But with all-inclusive craft kits, you usually receive just enough supplies to complete the project. They are also budget-friendly and generally easy to follow for all levels of crafters.

My current problem when it comes to crafts is I often don’t know what to do with them when I’m done. While the process of crafting is an enjoyable experience for me (especially if I pair it with an audiobook * chef’s kiss *), I want to do better by actually using the crafts I make. Maybe if I start documenting my craft projects here or on my Instagram story, I’ll be held accountable to use my crafts!

Recipes: This section of the magazine is a contributing factor of the person I am today.
How I’m incorporating this into my American Girl Magazine Summer:

I don’t think I necessarily want to make recipes from the magazines, though I need to flip through them to double check! However, I do have two American Girl Library cookbooks that I want to make a few recipes from.

Buzzwords: In every issue of American Girl, we learned new vocabulary words from soiree to emoticon. The fun challenge was trying to find where they tucked the buzzwords in that particular issue.
How I’m incorporating this into my American Girl Magazine Summer:

I’ve stopped learning new words! I may hear a word I don’t know or come across a new word while reading, but I hardly ever stop to look up what that word means. I don’t spend time in the dictionary or thesaurus, but I want to introduce new words into my vocabulary. I hope to introduce at least one new word into my repertoire each week this summer. At the very least, I want to look up words I don’t know that come across my path.

Heart-to-Heart: As I mentioned, I loved how AG included real girls in just about every segment. In heart-to-heart, girls would write in their responses to a meaningful question posed in a previous issue such as how to conquer a fear or is it better to have a best friend or many friends.
How I’m incorporating this into my American Girl Magazine Summer:

I want to write more letters. It’s so fun receiving mail that’s not junk or bills. I tried to participate in InCoWriMo (International Correspondence Writing Month) in which you write and mail a letter every day, but I failed miserably (see blow on failed journaling). I found a few short lived pen pals, but they all fell by the wayside. I recently read Kate and Frida by Kim Fray for a book club. It’s an epistolary novel about two women who become accidental pen pals in the 90s, but through letter writing, become best friends. That book inspired me to write letters and mail them. I plan to write more to the people in my life, but I would love to write to you too! If you email me your mailing address to eatinggilmore@gmail.com, I promise to write you this summer. Kaeleen, yours is coming, I swear!

The Giggle Gang: The Giggle Gang walked so that New York Times Daily Games could run. This section of the magazine featured puzzles, brainteasers, and other mini mind games.
How I’m incorporating this into my American Girl Magazine Summer:

A few years ago, my sister and I worked on the Super Mega New York Times Crossword. We never finished, but it was fun to sit down together in the evenings and work on filling it out. The collaboration on figuring out a challenging clue and the sweet feeling of victory when we got it right fueled my competitive spirit. I don’t know if we’ll attempt another Super Mega, but maybe I’ll get us a book of crossword puzzles we can work on together this summer.

The Whole You: This was the section that led to The Care and Keeping of You aka the Bible. This section was about health and wellness without ever veering off into diet culture or pushing a specific body type.
How I’m incorporating this into my American Girl Magazine Summer:

During the pandemic, I really enjoyed daily walks. Prior to 2022, I would usually listen to podcasts and the occasional audiobook on my walks. Once I discovered changing the listening speed on audiobooks in 2022, I almost exclusively read audiobooks on my walks. In my previous job, I had summers off and I would try to take a walk every morning before the Texas sun became too unbearable. I’ll be working this summer, so I won’t be able to do morning walks this year. I do have a walking pad, but I often struggle to find motivation to use it. There’s something about walking outside and the scene in front of me always changing that makes walking more fun. I can’t explain it, but I can’t walk on my walking pad and only read an audiobook. For some reason, even if the book is really enjoyable, I tend to feel bored.

I know I can put on a movie or a TV show while on the walking pad, so I hope to do more of that during my American Girl Summer. I love the cozy cardio girl on TikTok, so maybe if I create a routine or ritual of using my walking pad, I’ll feel more excited to use it. I still want to take morning walks on the weekends, but I need to do that before morning pool books.

Themed Parties: Almost every issue of American Girl Magazine featured a guide to a themed party. If you listened to our Nostalgic Magazines episode of Blanket Fort Files, then you’ll know the story of how my dad ruined my balloon drop from the Y2K New Year’s Eve Party in the November/ December 1999 issue. It’s been 25 years, and I still won’t let it go.
How I’m incorporating this into my American Girl Magazine Summer:

I’ve also talked about starting a monthly cookbook club on the podcast. This activity was inspired by Alana Lav. Every month, we pick a cookbook and each person cooks a dish that we all enjoy after a couple of hours cooking together. We did Ina Garten’s Barefoot in Paris for January, Alex Guarnaschelli’s Old-School Comfort for February, The Irish Kitchen for March, and we are about to do a brunch cookbook for April! While these aren’t technically themed parties in the way AG included, they are a fun way to enjoy time with my friends around a theme.

I do have a goal this summer beyond monthly cooking club to host a themed dinner party with the likes of Dinner at Isabelle’s. I’m obsessed with her. If you’re unfamiliar, she started hosting monthly themed dinner parties with her friends around this time last year, and she always goes all out with her outfit, tablespaces, invitations, and the menu always has me drooling. Her Nancy Meyers Dinner Party for February had me screaming into the ether: “how does it feel to live MY dream!!!!”

Well American Girl Magazine summer dictates that this is the time to host a Nancy Meyers Dinner Party because I didn’t grow up reading about red-hot slumber parties for me to let this dream go to waste.

Paper dolls: This was one of the coolest features of the American Girl Magazine, and probably the most unique. Up until the July/ August 2000 issue, every magazine featured a paper doll of a real American girl. The outfits for each doll were based on what the girl’s ancestors wore during different time periods. I loved them.
How I’m incorporating this into my American Girl Magazine Summer:

I don’t particularly love clothes shopping, but I really need to. I’ve been cycling through the same outfits for years, occasionally treating myself here and there, but I want to find a few new outfits this summer, at least. My mom got very into ancestry several years ago, and I never went through her research, so maybe I’ll try to do that this summer too!

Amelia’s Notebook: So prior to reconnecting with American Girl last summer and flipped through old issues, I had forgotten Amelia’s Notebook was part of the magazine. I didn’t forget about Amelia’s Notebook, only that it originated on the glossy pages first! This segment featured excerpts from a journal belonging to a fictional (she was real to me) girl named Amelia. Her journal entries always included illustrations and extra commentary. And it’s how I learned how to spell weird (weird, wired, weird, wired, weird for those who remember).
How I’m incorporating this into my American Girl Magazine Summer:

I can’t tell you how many failed notebook attempts I have. I’ve really tried them all: bullet journaling (I bought too much supplies for this one), the 5-year Q&A journal, junk journaling, day planners, book journals, fill-in-the-blank journals, tarot journals. I inevitably forget to fill it out one day, and then I can’t be bothered to pick the notebook up again. It’s a serious problem. I’ve almost given up on them entirely, but I know myself that if it’s a pretty enough notebook, I’ll be convinced this is the one.

The only “journal” that’s worked for me so far (at least since January 1 of this year) is the app Day One. You can set a daily reminder notification. The key for me is not making the journal entries long. I simply jot down something about that day that brought me joy and if I have a photo to go with it, even better! I have been consistent with this every day in 2025, and it’s 100% because of the daily reminder notification. So why don’t I set a daily reminder for other journals, you ask. * sigh * I don’t know. It’s probably the ease of the app and only logging one thing that brought me joy that makes it easy to keep up with.

However, I’ve tried to be better about giving myself grief over this flaw (Even while typing this, I had to hit backspace and type out that sentence because I originally wrote something mean about myself). I do a fairly good job of documenting my life digitally. I completed a 1-second a day video in 2019 (I was fully on track to do the same in 2020, but…well you know). I created monthly montage videos in 2023. I’ve kept an extremely detailed spreadsheet of the books I read every year (although I am very behind this year). Since 2018, I’ve created time capsule playlists every year. No, these are not songs that are popular from that year or even ones I listened to a lot that year. Every Sunday, I pick a song of the week (the rules of picking a song are very lax. It can be a song that’s stuck in my head that week, from a movie I watched, one that encapsulates my mood that week, it just has to relate to the past week somehow). It is one of the best ways to log certain memories, but I digress.

What I want to do better at, and I’m hoping Amelia will help me with this, is figuring out how to document my life physically. One day this whole * gestures vaguely * internet thing could go away (I used to not think so apocalyptically, but here we are), and I want to have records of my life. I tried to be more intentional in using my Instax camera this year. It was even on my list of 25 things to do in 2025, but just like every other journal in my life, that too fell by the wayside.

This is one part of American Girl Magazine Summer I haven’t figured out yet, but I’m hoping to by the time summer actually starts (which in my mind is May 1 because it’s already so hot by that time here). If you have ideas for me, please share!

Short Stories: Many of the issues featured short stories that were written by young girls. They also had writing contests you could enter (and you better believe your girl entered, though I never won).
How I’m incorporating this into my American Girl Magazine Summer:

I used to love writing fiction stories. They weren’t ever for anyone but me, and I want to go back to those roots this summer. I obviously want to keep writing on Substack (I’m enjoying it and it’s giving ~xanga~), but I’d also love writing more fiction. I don’t think that’s something I’ll share, but never say never ;)

Theater kits: Sometimes, the magazine included scripts for plays you could put together with friends. These might be historical plays based on the original American Girl dolls characters or they could be modern stories. I also had a few of the full theater kit sets you could purchase separately.
How I’m incorporating this into my American Girl Magazine Summer:

This one is pretty easy and will take a short explanation (I know we’re getting lengthy here, but like I said, I will always YAP about AG). I want to see at least one musical this summer.

And then I just want to spend my summer, re-reading the magazine and living the vibes
I purchased 5 old issues last summer, and I have another order of 20 more on its way. My friend Kaeleen of Fashion for Friends subscribed to Elle Magazine this year and has really been loving reading the glossy pages, and I want that. Two problems for me 1) I’ve never really been into fashion magazines or other genres of magazines while we’re at it. AG was essentially IT for me. 2) American Girl Magazine has been discontinued. The orders I placed on ebay were all old editions that I read as a kid. I think I’d want to try reading newer editions that were published after we ended my subscription, but for now, I want to stick with what I know.

On my home from work today, I listened to the nostalgic summer playlist I made for the podcast last year, and I drove with my windows down and it was a whole * vibe. * (Side note, my first car was an Infiniti with a sunroof and it was EVERYTHING, I miss her). And, of course, I had to make an American Girl Magazine Summer playlist, obviously.

I plan to spend my summer diving back into these old editions of American Girl and look for even more ways to live my best American Girl Magazine Summer. Are you with me?

More cheers, less fears!

Larisa

Subscriptions are free, but if you’d like to support me monetarily, I’d greatly appreciate it!