6. Vera Bradley

Vera Bradley, how I love thee.

Love might not be the word I'm looking for.

Obsessed. Devoted. Addicted. Huge fan. Avid collector. Yes. All of these, yes.

I can't help it. It's so beautiful. Whenever I walk into a store I want to BUY ALL THE THINGS. Pattern after pattern. Style after style. Item after item.

Multiple patterns of the same style. Multiple styles of the same item. Yes. ALL THE THINGS. My coworkers laugh at me. On an average day, I come to work with a dozen patterns between all my things...purse, tote bag, lunch bag, tumbler, lanyard, sunglasses, wallet, and the list goes on.... Hey, we all collect and like something. Right after all things coffee and all things Starbucks, I collect Vera Bradley.

But last Monday was special.

Last Monday, I walked through the door with a record 21 patterns. Grant it one pattern was a gift for my coworker, and my new pack of pencils, which contained four different patterns.

The other 16 patterns?

Guilty.

BUTTTTTT(!) in my defense, I had just come back from my annual trip to the Vera Bradley Outlet Sale. And this year it was killer. I adore everything I purchased. I adored my time with Jessica (it was just the two of us this year). I adored our traditional Cheddar's vegetable platter and drinks dinner and our Jimmy John's lunch. I adored our multiple trips to Starbucks and sleeping in a bed all of my own. I adored the hundreds of dollars I saved. Which is why I go. I go so our bank account can breathe.

This is what I tell myself. And my husband agrees. He'd rather I spend only $20 on a purse instead of closer to $100. We are all winners here.

Hello, VBOS 2015!!!!

This year was a blast as usual. We are all about the Vera. We hopped on that bandwagon years ago.

And my haul this year!!! So happy to see VB makes more patterns available for the weekend sessions. We we get back to the hotel room, I like laying out all my new purchases just as much as I like shopping the actual Sale.

My first-day haul.

SOME of Jessica's haul ;)

Apparently, our hotel room wasn't full enough. We realized we were short a few things. Like the small spinner I had my eye on the entire time we were there. It's originally $299, but when we walked in it was only $169. As we headed to the registers, the price dropped to $139.

Oh my stars! Think what it could drop to on the last day? On Sunday?! I promise, y'all, another $30-drop and I was walking out of there with a brand new, beautiful carry-on.

Yes, we went back Sunday morning....

....just out of curiosity.

While we were there, from 10-11 a.m. the price did not drop. The session did run until 8 p.m. though. Imagine the final cost come Sunday evening....???!!! Unfortunately, we both had to work Monday and could.not.stay.

I was bummed. But I snatched up another $118 purse for 20 bucks, and another $40 purse for 5 bucks. A successful trip indeed, my friends.

And since I'm sharing with you all my love for VB, check out these mash-ups of our previous trips these last four years.

This huge love affair all started with Java Blue. I fell in love with this pattern. I just had to have it. But at the time, a college student's budget is not Vera Bradley friendly. It was tough. The struggle was real. For my birthday, Jessica bought me my this lunch bag in Java Blue. I finally owned a piece of VB!!! Eventually, I bought a purse, wallet, and a curling iron holder all in Java Blue. <--- That was back when I wanted everything to match. Now, I'm all about equal pattern love. I'm all about ALL THE THINGS.

I still own my first piece of Vera. I don't use it, but I can't bring myself to toss it. It's sentimental to me.

Once I decided I was writing a post just about my obsession, I figured I might as well rummage through the entire house in search of anything and everything VB I owned. As displayed in the very first picture of this post, there is a lot. And by a lot I mean A LOT.

I counted 40 different patterns in my possession.

Oh, and that picture doesn't count the few VB things in my office or are currently on loan. (Cough, like my Kindle cover, Mama, cough.)

Yikes.

I'll admit, I have a problem. It's a beautiful and fashionable problem. But I might need help. I need VB Addicts Anonymous. We can compare our purses, talk about our deals, and I can pass out homemade VB cozy sleeves for our coffee.

Gahhhhh. She's a beauty!


With Love and God Bless,
Brindi