As you may have gleaned from some of my other recent posts, I just returned from the Type-A Parent Conference in Atlanta. After outfitting myself for the conference with some truly fabulous thrifted items from my friend Tanya’s stash, I realized that I couldn’t possibly head to yet another conference schelpping my laptop, notebook, iphone, business cards, and all of the other necessary accoutrements of a social media conference in my old, beat-up Vercesi hardware bag. As most of us do, I have a multitude of bags around the house from diaper bags, to canvas totes to the old, teal-green L.L. Bean backpack I had in college. But none of those bags was going to fly. I wanted something new–for once. Something chic, seasonal and classy. Enter Vera Bradley.
I have always loved Vera Bradley bags. They are chic, seasonal and classy and are one of my favorite items to purchase for some of the special women on my holiday shopping list. I love the way the colors pop and I adore the bright, beautiful prints of their fabrics. Coincidentally, that afternoon the new Vera catalog appeared in my mailbox featuring some fabulous new items for fall. Knowing that the conference was just around the corner, I decided that a Vera bag would be the perfect accessory to tote to TypeA.
Disclosure: Vera Bradley provided me with a laptop tote to use at the TypeA Parent Conference for review purposes. Other than the bag, I was not compensated in any way for this post. The opinions here are completely my own based upon my own experience.
Vera’s large laptop tote was exactly what I was looking for and the Bittersweet print, bursting with deep gold, red, terra cotta, and olive green featured my favorite palette of color. The day before I was scheduled to fly out for TypeA the bag arrived on my front porch. I was thrilled to abandon the old, black backpack that my husband once used as a diaper bag which had become my laptop bag of choice when I flew. When it emerged from its box, the bag was as brilliantly-hued in reality as it appeared in the catalog pages and I couldn’t wait to get it packed for the next day’s flight.
The bag’s interior is divided in to three sections with the center section made of thick padding to protect your laptop. The surrounding sections were perfect for notebooks, magazines, a tablet, as well as a makeup bag and brush. Sewn into the bag’s interior are three smaller pockets to hold pens, tech chargers, a wallet, and little notebooks or essentials. On the bag’s exterior are two more pockets, one with a zipper for car keys, a phone or any other items that would cause you to panic if lost and the other without a zipper to stash items you want to grab quickly without having to open a zipper. I found myself sticking my phone in that pouch, along with pens and business cards throughout the weekend. Finally, in keeping with Vera Bradley’s attention to detail and quality, the tote sports a small, tortoise-shell toggle to keep it closed, but still easily accessed, as well as tight, clean stitching and neat trim.
I received many compliments on the bag throughout the weekend and since I have returned home, find myself bringing it wherever I go. It’s a great tote with or without the laptop and was ideal for travel–I was able to pull my laptop easily from the padded, interior sleeve when it came time to go through security at the airport and the tote slid easily under the seat in front of me when it was time to depart. At the same time, it was great having my wallet handy and I tucked my license and boarding pass into one of the exterior pockets so I could grab those easily when I needed them. The straps are a great length and the bag was comfortable to carry even with my old, heavy laptop riding inside.
photo credit Chelsea Day
The large laptop tote comes in a slew of colors and prints and the Bittersweet pattern that I fell in love with graces several other items in Vera’s fall line.
So there you have it. I was glad to retire my beloved Vercesi Hardware bag to the pile I bring to the library or the farmer’s market and it was a treat to sport such a gorgeous bag during TypeA. I felt great wearing the bag–like a grown-up doing grown-up things–and I haven’t felt like that in quite a while!
You picked the right girl @verabradley – @lovethatmouse is looking good at #typeacon pic.twitter.com/pkU17WRAiP
— Jennifer Bilbro (@Jennifer_Bilbro) September 28, 2013
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