FAO Schwartz.

Every year on my birthday, my Mom and I would make the trek to the famous FAO Schwartz toy store on 5th avenue. Even as I type this, I am humming, "Welcome to our world, welcome to our world of toys."

I visualize the clock upon entering, moving happily around, the blue eyes so welcoming.

It also holds a special place in cinematic history, for being the location where Tom Hanks plays the floor piano in the movie, BIG.

If you have never been, it was magic.

The music, all the toys.

The endless sections just for Legos, Barbies, Dolls, and stuffed animals.

It was MASSIVE.

I can still smell the smell of the Cabbage Patch Dolls.

My Mom would take me, and each year, generously tell me I could pick one thing, and that would be my birthday present.

My birthday was better than Christmas.

I roamed every section making sure to take stock of every little thing. There was no way I was going to make a mistake. I needed to weigh ALL my options.

I almost always went with a stuffed animal or a doll.

But I still wandered every inch of that store.

My mouth open in awe the entire time.

I hate the fact that not only did the original FAO shut down, so did the concept of an actual toy store when Toys R' Us shut it's doors as well.

The toy section at Target just doesn't cut it, sorry, but it doesn't.

So as my youngest daughters birthday approaches tomorrow, I feel saddened that her eyes will not grow wide at FAO Schwartz on 5th avenue, nor will she likely encounter that kind of toy store experience in her lifetime.

That's why I am sharing mine.

They say memories repeated become legacy.

Perhaps one day they will tell their children about the original FAO Schwartz, on 5th Avenue, carrying on the tale of the, "Best toy store in the world."

"Hear the clock tik tok while the children play..."

Xoxo,

C.