Beach Chic a la Vera Bradley

There are tons of shops, boutiques, restaurants and other places to spend your hard-earned cash when you work uptown. Everything you could possibly need is in walking distance - Post Offices, dry cleaning, shoe repair...you name it, you probably got it. There just happens to be a Merle Norman store that sells lots of pretty Vera Bradley wares. I love Vera Bradley...everything is so pretty and preppy and just plain chic. I stopped in the other day...just to look, of course, and saw the cutest beach tote and towel. They had lots of fab purses, checkbook covers, etc., but there was something to the beach tote. Put on top of that the fact that my honey and I have a vacation planned in Charleston in May, and I just happen to have a need for a beach tote, and the seed of shopaholicism is planted again. I was able to walk away from the store empty-handed a few days ago, but had to pass the store a couple times walking from building to building this week, all the while gazing in at the beach totes displayed so nicely in the window. When a girl on one of my projects told me today that they only had 3 beach totes left and weren't getting any more, I knew what I had to do. Cross my fingers that they'd still have the tote closer to May? Wait it out and hope it goes on sale? Yea right, I headed straight to that little boutique to pick out which color I wanted. Here's what I got:


I got the beach tote (so chic), matching beach towel (ooh it's so plush!), matching flip flops, and I got the matching notebook for free. I can't wait to hit the beach...or the pool...whichever comes first. Either way, these new goodies are going to be put to good use this summer!

For any gals out there planning a tropical vacation or maybe shopping for the perfect summer gift for a friend or loved one - these beach goods would make awesome presents or treats for yourself!