Even though I am in my thirties, I felt a bit of magic and whimsy enter my soul as soon I walked in…read moreto Pippin Toy Co. This is NOT your average Target toy aisle. Every single inch of this space, from top to bottom is filled with low tech toys meant to spark the imagination. Here you will find: French made wooden toy sets, thoughtfully curated art and stationary kits, adorable baby dolls galore, sensory play dough, and the sweetest handmade accessories. This is the perfect spot to source out gifts for all the littles in your life. But beware, like all fine things in life..it can get a little bit pricey!

If you arrive prepared to make a large purchase, you will be treated like a potential shoplifter. I…read morevisited Pippin Toys today with my six-year-old niece and her parents, excited to buy her some toys from this shop. She and her parents are visiting the D.C. area from out of state, and visiting a toy store was at the top of her list. (We made plans yesterday to spend the afternoon in Old Town partially so we could take her to this toy store.) We weren't greeted when we entered the store, and one of the two employees made no effort to conceal the fact that she was following us around while we browsed various sections of the store, rummaging around pointlessly with items in the exact places where we were looking, but never asking if we needed help at any point during this charade. When I finally couldn't help but ask the employee what was going on, and why she had followed us around so closely but hadn't taken the the trouble to ask if we needed any assistance, the store's owner (or perhaps manager), who might have instructed the employee to closely follow customers she believed might be planning to shoplift, simply frowned at us from behind the counter, and made no effort to apologize. (My brother, I, and my niece were dressed in outfits that I thought looked absolutely perfect for a day shopping in Old Town [I've lived in Alexandria for the past fifteen years], but maybe I was wrong.) There's a toy store and children's clothing boutique approximately one and a half blocks east of Pippin Toys called the Pink & Brown Boutique, where we made several purchases, stopping on the way from Misha's Coffee to our destination of Pippin Toys and being pleasantly surprised by its existence. Both the toy and clothing selections at the Pink & Brown Boutique are impeccably curated, and the store's owner is incredibly friendly and doesn't treat her customers (which every small store needs these days, I'd imagine) like potential shoplifters. She'll continue to receive my family's business in the future, and I won't be visiting Pippin Toys again.

What a wonderful independent toy store! Tons of fun and educational options for kids. The store…read moreowner graciously wrapped two presents for me and they looked great. Very impressed, will come back.

Such a local gem! We get all of our toys and gifts for kids at this shop. They are super…read moreknowledgeable and have the best suggestions.

Saw an item in the window that we were interested in. Walked in to the sales associate swiffering…read more Said that my youngest was enamored with an item in the window, so we just had to come check it out. No response. Continues swiffering. There's no way to see the items in the window display because they're blocked by other merchandise. I ask, do you know much the item is? Associate: "I don't know, maybe around $99." Keeps swiffering. Too bad you don't want to make a sale!

Cute little toy store! My daughter brought a little dog on wheels on a string she loved it and…read morewheeled it around with us all evening

Besides the Dairy Godmother, the Purple Goose is always on my must visit list whenever I am in the…read moreDel Ray area. It's a tiny store but every nook and cranny is filled with children's clothes, books, toys and shoes. Everything is very stylish and well curated (and also a bit expensive too! The outfits here are more for stepping out and not your average Carter's layettes). If you are looking for a unique and fun gift for a baby shower, this is the place to go! If you are looking for deals, they will sometimes open up the consignment shop next door and I've seen some awfully cute dresses that would look great on a holiday card! They are also offering a deal on Yelp where you can get $20 worth of items for $10 which I'll have to take advantage of soon!

Ok, they definitely have cute (expensive) new stuff and you might find some actual deals on the…read moreconsignment racks. I do love that all the consignment is in absolutely perfect condition. You'd never be able to tell anything was other than brand new. The (bizarre) negatives: -Extremely inattentive staff As in, I was by myself wandering the store and had to walk around shouting for someone to ring me up. Does theft not exist here? Seriously, I don't particularly appreciate overbearing store employees elsewhere, but this place goes to the opposite extreme with no one on the floor at all! There were no other customers in the store, and the front desk phone was ringing and ignored. -Impossible to maneuver the most compact of strollers or car seats. So...a children's shop that is adults-only? Note that Bellies & Babies up the street has play areas for kids (inside & out) and nice, wide open spaces. -No itemized receipts. You only get a credit card receipt with a total amt charged, or nothing with cash. Odd. How the heck do you handle return/exchange or check for clerk accuracy?? -Crazy mark-ups. So I get the "shop local" benefits. I'm into it. However, I assume any shop is buying things wholesale and charging me fair retail. I purchased a cute item here and went online to the manufacturer's website and discovered I'd been had. The item sells for $27 online *retail* (not on sale, and certainly not wholesale), but at the Goose it sells for $39.99!!! That's completely ridiculous! I wouldn't shop here again without phone in hand to check their pricing. It's one thing to spend an extra dollar or two to buy something local and in person, but marking something's RETAIL PRICE up by 50% retail is egregious. I'm considering returning it but see above point re no receipt...

If you or your kids love Lego you're familiar with the Lego stores and if you live in the DMV…read moreyou're lucky because you have a bunch in driving distance. But the pentagon city store is the best one. Outside of the typical displays and Lego sets for sale they have activities like a wheel you spin that lands on a picture of a monster to build and all the pieces for all the monsters are in the bin next to the wheel. Or build your own, Lego is all about creativity. The staff are super fun to talk to and you can tell they love their jobs. In addition, their pick a brick wall is the most thoughtfully procured I've ever seen. If the blizzard has you stuck inside going crazy with the kids, head over to the mall and between the Lego store the food court and just walking around you can put together a really easy fun day.

This is the third Lego store I've been too with the other two being in SoCal. It's a smaller store,…read morebut they still have the popular items such as the flower bouquet ones that many girls like. We came in when employees were building some of the newer products so it was nice seeing them put it together so quickly.

Lisa at checkout was a superstar. So friendly and helpful!!!…read more This is one of the few decent Targets I've seen in a while. Well-stocked, clean and organized. Will be choosing this location again.

Love this Target, always has everything I need. Shelves fully stocked and the CVS pharmacy inside…read moreis one of the best. The only thing I dislike is my receipt bill whenever I come here because I'll come for one thing that is $10 and leave with a bill of $500 because of all the stuff they have lol!

In an attempt to support a black-owned business, I made two online book orders: one on June 9 for…read morethree books and the other on June 12 for one more book. I had an inquiry about my second order, and I reached out to their email address on June 17. Rachel responded to me a day later, and also informed me my books were on back order, so they would take some time to get and deliver. OK, no problem. Totally understandable, and I was happy that they were getting so much business. I waited until July 9 to follow up as none of my books arrived and I had no communications about my order since that June 18 email. I replied to Rachel asking if she had an update on my order (since I was charged already, and so was understandably wondering what happened to my orders). Nothing. July 22 I reached out on their Instagram account with a Direct Message. Nothing. I've called and no one picks up and the voicemail is full. It is now July 28 and I have yet to hear a response about the four books I ordered. I am extremely disappointed, because I really wanted to support this business, but it's now been a month and a half since my order. I would be more understanding if they at would at least reply to me to let me know what's going on and were keeping me in the loop, but so far they have consistently ignored a customer. I really hate leaving this review, but short of just walking up to their store and beating on the glass (which I'm sure would make me look like a lunatic!), I honestly don't know what else to do.

I've tried contacting this place for over a month and received no response. I was sent the wrong…read morepiece even though the invoice they sent was inspected by a representative of the store and the invoice contains the name of the correct piece with the picture attached. Did anyone look at the invoice and say, "wrong picture-same artist"? I understand mistakes happen, but not responding to emails or phone calls lacks professionalism. It is difficult to support business if they lack customer service and a degree of professionalism.

Such a fun store, I'll always stop in. I picked up some journals, cards and pens. Lots of fun…read moregifts. I could spend an hour browsing here.

Such a fun store to find a creative project or a gift for anyone in your life. Everything seemed…read morepretty fairly priced. Sweet shop

Now that I've gone full in on the Hobonichi planner craze, of course my next life goal is to…read morepurchase as many stickers, pens and supplies as I can to make it work for me. So I couldn't wait to visit Penny Post when I was in town on business recently. This little place is tiny-but-mighty, packed full of allll the planner-related things you could possibly need. From washi tape to notebooks, from fancy paperclips to customized post-its, they had everything I could possibly ever want (and more). The staff is really helpful, too. Perhaps noticing the blank stare/look of overwhelm on my face, a kind employee asked if she could help me find anything. Anything? I had found everything! Luckily, I was doing carry-on only this trip, so only left with a handful of pens and a roll (okay, two rolls) of lovely floral-printed washi tape. If you're into planning, journaling, fancy pens, fountain pens, stickers, or just need a creative greeting card, Penny Post is the place. A quick note about parking: it's sort of a nightmare! I drove around for 20 minutes before I found a spot. But it was worth the hunt.

Simply the cutest stationary store in Alexandria. Upon walking in the smell of paper just wraps…read morearound you. The store is filled with stamps, cards, notecards, pens, stickers, and so much more... so much more. The staff were helpful, and efficient. Check out was a breeze. The pricing is very reasonable and can be a little pricy. But, I found the products to match the pricing. I had to contain myself not to buy too much. I did find out they have a sister store or two and you can find them online. I plan to return!

We came across town to this B&N for puzzles. They had a good selection. Only confusing part is…read moreGalison puzzles have their own little section near the register vs the back with the other puzzles. This was a really busy store, I didn't realize it was so busy. We had to ask an employee where the puzzles were and they seemed kind of meh and pointed. They were stocking puzzles, so I thought they'd be close by. Prices were very varied for the puzzles, so just had to look and weigh what to get. Great variety.

Everything went well! Took my grandson and he loved it! We went to the children's section and…read moreexplored the books about dinosaurs and also got a lizard stuffie.