I (heart) Vera Bradley parties

I have a fairly open marriage with my retailers.  If one has a better price than another, I’m not making apologies for playing them off one another. There’s no love lost when using a coupon.

I say this with a giant asterisk – I confess to having a shopping soul mate. It’s dressed up with gorgeous rose pink Victorian walls and all the historic charm of a fairytale, and it’s perched right in my path to and from the office offering me refuge at any time. Officially, it’s The Vintage House. Or as the locals and Princess Cupcake call it – the “Pink House.”

It’s my Cheers bar of boutique shopping. When I come in, I get a hug and welcome that’s usually reserved for family. And it’s the only place that when I bring the Princess with me, they aren’t eyeing her like a hawk on a mouse, concerned about what might be touched, knocked over or given a curious poke at. In fact, they give her the same warm greetings that I get and usually a cookie to boot.

It was there that I first had an inkling that I might just be a fan of Vera Bradley. Vintage House is a Vera Bradley Mecca with two entire rooms in this three-story “home” dedicated just to VB. You simply cannot smile when you walk in and see the wash of gorgeous sunlit colors and trendy patterned fabrics and baskets overflowing with accessories, oh my.  My heart does a little flutter just thinking about it.

I have several close friends and family who LOVE Vera Bradley things, and when I was pregnant, I didn’t know I liked Vera Bradley until I was given my first two big Vera bags, which I quickly discovered that I really do adore. So after driving by a thousand times, I started to make that my destination for gifts of all kinds. The sweet owner Nan would show me – with such enthusiasm – all the latest treasures she found at market. It is downright fun. Just like shopping with your best friend.

I brought the Princess Cupcake for a couple of the special events at the Pink House and pink being her favorite color, well, it didn’t take long for Pink House to fall into her favorite places to visit too.  Besides, I don’t worry about her breaking anything in the VB rooms since it’s all just cottony soft bags.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I saw that Vera Bradley’s daughter was coming to Nan’s Pink House, I literally scheduled my Friday workday around it. Nan with the help of her daughter Jeanan and son Shawn – and sweet Fonda, always put a gorgeous spread on for every event. But I suspected that this one would have a “Deco Daisy” red carpet and paparazzi rolled out in front.

Nan did not disappoint. Not only did she have a tent with balloons on busy Beltline Road, she had a delicious spread for us to nosh on. But the centerpiece of the day took your breath away. It was this AMAZING cake that is a dead-ringer replica of the boysenberry luggage from Vera Bradley.

You might be surprised that I was NOT surprised by it. You see, Nan’s pulled this stunt before. At the spring launch for the new Vera Bradley patterns, she had an amazing purse cake that looked so close to the real deal that she had to tell people that there was a cake in the middle of the table because it was so well camouflaged.

This paisley work of art was magnificent.

If you’ve read this blog at all, you know my obsession with decorated cake, so this was like looking at a museum piece for me.  Credit goes to a good friend (Christy) of Nan’s daughter Jeanan. And lucky me, I hunted her down and talked her ear off about the pros and cons of buttercream vs. fondant.

Meeting Christy, the cake artist, was almost as thrilling as meeting Joan herself (no disrespect for Joan. If she knew how I aspire to cake wizardry, she’d understand…). When I arrived, Joan Bradley Reedy was soaking it all in, the gorgeous food, the tented party, the excited guests milling about staring at her and waiting for her to say something so Vera. I got to meet this sweet woman the second I arrived, and then I stole a few minutes (and photos) with her inside where I had a few VB pieces signed. Thankfully when I handed off my camera to another fan, there were a couple of misfires so I got to hug on Joan for more than my fair share of time.

Joan brought along a historic book of Vera Bradley for us to see and shared some fun stories about the company and the many people who love it, and who refuse to part with their threadbare bags. “Really, it was time for a new one,” she joked recalling a favorite tale.

Throughout the event, I had noticed a couple of cute, cute women who were lurking around with a camera and paper. Curiosity got the better of me and before I left (really it was their fault, they were on my exit route) and I asked them if they were with the local paper (does that even exist anymore? How old did I just look by asking about the PAPER). Turns out, they were from the Vera Bradley marketing department.

Heee, heee, heee. Now I was really having a good time. I got to ask whatever I wanted to the insiders at Vera Bradley AND meet Joan Bradley Reedy AND my new cake idol. I was giddy. I am sure that they thought I was a complete freak that should back away from the icing and stuff my face with something that would take down my glycemic index a notch.

I’m a VB Marketing department groupie and I was outted the second I said, “Inside Stitch.” I blathered on about stupid things and what I’d love to see in a camera bag, and new screen savers, and how Princess loves VB, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah… they were nice enough to not run away with a restraining order.

Courtney from (Inside Stitch), Melissa (Nan’s local VB rep), Joan, Nan and Nissa (from Inside Stitch)

When I did manage to pry myself back into work mode and carefully tuck away the extra piece of cake for Princess that Jean insisted I take to her, I was still grinning from ear to ear from all the fun that I had.