Retiring With Vera Bradley

It was a rather rainy April day. But isn't that what April is all about? After all the verse goes, "April showers bring May flowers."  However, this April day was not only threatening to rain, it was bitterly cold, too. The wind was whipping around corners and down the street. Still, it was that time in the spring when many women rush to Fort Wayne and stand in line with large pink garbage bags to do some shopping. Not just any shopping, but shopping for anything Vera!

For many years I had listened to ladies talk about how they were going to hit the sale early and stay late. They had their shopping lists made and knew what they wanted to get for children and grandchildren, cousins and grandmothers. The Vera Bradley sale was a high point of the year. The best stuff was there at the beginning of the week. If you were serious about buying, you went on Tuesday or at least on Wednesday and stood in line to get the best spots.

I had never had the chance to go during the week. I am not and never will be a die-hard shopper. However, I have been able to go on Saturdays and even talked my husband into going with me. We would walk the ailes and find a tidbit or two and make our way out through the lines.

However, this year I could go ANY day I wanted. I talked my friend and fellow retiree into going with me this year. She had never gone before and always wondered about it. So, on Friday morning, we had our registration in hand and drove the 20 miles to Fort Wayne and the show. We pulled into the parking lot and noticed it wasn't as full as we had imagined. We watched the pink garbage bags leaving the building in groves.

We had so much fun walking up and down the ailes. We were amazed at the amount of people there. We were amazed at the piles and piles of handbags, wallets, bags, and anything you could imagine in Vera Bradley prints.  We spent about two hours looking for the bargains we had hoped to find. My friend came away with a large bag for traveling. I came away with a handbag, two wallets, a make-up bag and a computer carrier. Were they things we needed? Not really, just things we wanted!

As we headed over to Panera Bread for lunch, we promised each other we would do it again next year. No, we won't be there in line on Tuesday or Wednesday morning, but we will get our registration in so we can be part of the tradition of walking up and down those ailes with huge pink bags!

Did you go this year? Did you stand in line to get in before everyone else? What is your Vera story?