Wednesday, March 09, 2011

for the love of vera bradley

 albeit a quick one, our weekend was absolutely wonderful!

several months ago i shared that we had scored a great deal 
a gorgeous bed & breakfast right in the heart of seaside
& approximately 200 yards from the starting line!

each guest receives a vera tote upon arrival
& a bottle of wine, compliments of the cottage rental agency in seaside.




 the inn was gorgeous. the breakfast room was beautiful but closed when i left to run
& obviously closed upon my return.
but dan said it was lovely. 
& i'm certain he actually used the word "lovely".

the forecast was rain from friday night until sunday morning.
it rained our entire drive down
( speaking of drive, we spent $160 on gas.....good gracious!!)
but stopped as we arrived.
it was super blustery & chilly, but dry.
i'll take it!

when we pulled in, i told dan it looked like we had arrived at a fitness convention.
usually seaside folks are dressed in stylish casual beach attire.
not this weekend. black yoga pants, running shoes & north face galore.

i had envisioned sitting by the ocean all day saturday & shopping all day sunday.
well, there was absolutely no sitting by the shore in that weather.
so we ate & shopped. 
the red bar ( my favorite place to eat!),
modica's market
& my post race treat, a fried shrimp po-boy from seagrove market!

 before we left, i was able to hug my celebrity friend, darby's neck
as she was down there cheering on a huge group of girls!
it was a treat for me to introduce her to dan.
i think our spouses sometime wonder if our blogging friends really do exist!

all the runners were also given a hot barbeque meal & free beer.
& various discounts at shops in seaside.

just realized that i forgot to  photograph the tshirt.
super cute & the women had the option of a fitted running shirt vs. the classic tshirt.
another cute perk to the race.
i think i'll be hard pressed to be wowed at my next run after 
all the goodies vera & seaside hooked us up with!









our wifi connection was best on the porch.
so we did a quick social network catch up before heading to bed.
we had just arrived back at the b&b saturday night when the thunderstorm rolled in.
it was gone by the next morning!




i had big plans for a serious power nap on our ride home.
having slept little to none the night before the run
then loosing an hour, i was wore out.
we hadn't been on the road for 30 minutes when i received the following text=
"how long after throwing up do i have to wait before i try to drink water?"

turns out one of my girls had been home vomiting for several hours at that point
& continued to do so for several more.
poor thing, she didn't want anyone to come over while she sick.
so instead of sleeping i stayed awake & worried.

on the up side, this gave me a chance to stop & photograph some cattle
which i've always wanted to do.
on the down side, my zoom lens is dead so all i had was my fixed.
& let me also admit that city girl here does not know proper cattle terminology.
so if anyone would like to school me , please do so.
is this a calf? a yearling?
he was the most gorgeous buttery color & he was also completely spooked by me.
i wish i had a little video because the entire time he was doing a little backwards two step...too cute.



 & is this mom? is she called a heifer? a cow? 
my ignorance is embarassing.


 this one was most intriguing.
surely she is about to give birth very soon.
is this an ox?
(my head is hung in shame by the way)




 i braved a giant mud puddle for this one.
see the little white calf? precious!


back to the vera loot~
each runner received a tote bag at the end of the race.
i scooted over to our vera shop at phipps yesterday & traded out for a different print.



they also passed out little vera wrapped water bottles
& id cases at the packet pick up.


i traded my vera tote from the b&b and picked up a few other goodies
while i was there too.
i needed to be a good steward of the $20 coupon that was included in the post race tote.
vera bradley was very very good to us!

 i loved everything about this half marathon.
i loved that it was relatively small in number
( which by the way, if you plan to run this year it filled up prior to christmas)
the goodies were fantastic
great food & music
& of course, visiting my favorite town
even on a cold blustery weekend
was a wonderful treat.

i want to thank my sweet man
who , how shall we say, financed every detail 
from the  registration fee, the gas, new running shoes & clothes,
accommodations & dining.
he did all the driving & has provided more words of encouragment
& excellent post run massages than i could have dreamed
all for me to go & run.
allofmylove2you!!



 (ps, hey darby, if rover feels like answering my farm animal trivia, 
it would be so appreciated!)

(pss, my sweet girl finally went back to school today & is feeling a little better)

37 comments:

traci said...

what a charming place. i have never been there. i think i need to add it to my list.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kimberly said...

Paige, I've enjoyed every moment of your journey. Thanks for sharing it. As for the Inn -- lovely, lovely, lovely! Looks like a new addition to my vacation wish list!

Mommabelle said...

That is the best race loot ever!!! Wow!!!
Seaside is always great and we have a date at Bud n Ally's each time we are down there.
Too bad your daughter was sick. I would have been worried too!
I love the chandalier at the B&B! I'm on the hunt for the perfect pretty one for our house, since we are renovating it.
Tamara

Kelli said...

What an experience! I really enjoyed reading your recap (minus that gas as we prepared for our drive to Destin...from Ohio!). I hope your girl feels better. Till next year :)

melissa said...

Ok .. I am insisting that my husband runs his next race at Seaside!! I will just tag alone ;)
The Vera Inn is sooo charming! What a fabulous, fun little get away for you and Dan (the man) .. and how sweet of him!
Again, congrats on your awesome run!!

xx

p.s. you know I am over the moon with that Lilly bike shot!! LOVE!

Susan R said...

SCORE!!!!!!
You got some wonderful photos, some wonderful Vera stuff (I'm so jealous) and had a great time, can't beat that. I absolutely adore the photos, they are darn near perfect.
Oh believe me, I can totally relate to the sick kiddos thing. I have had three kids home with strep and influenza B the past week. One of the three had a fever of 104 for a couple of days. I set my alarm every 30 minutes to wake him for fluids and every 6 hours for Ibuprofen. He is doing better today, but my husband just brought another one home from school because he said he felt like he was going to throw up.
Being an ER nurse, I can deal with the most grotesque things imaginable, but I can't handle throw up. Go figure.

Kristin said...

Just so glad it was wonderful for you and all the Vera loot to add. Awesome.

patty said...

what great gifts an d such a beautiful setting!! do they give all that swag for the 5k, too?? (and can i ask how long the drive?-i would really consider the 5k next year and live in east tn, near knoxville).

sorry the girls were sick and hope she/they are better by now!! :)

3 Peanuts said...

Even with the blustery waether it sounds like a "lovely" weekend. Love all you goodies. Glad you sick gal is on the mend.

Marci @All Things Wonderful said...

Looks like a wonderful B&B~And what a fun race.

tlj said...

So glad your sweet girl is feeling better! I love all the pictures, feels like I was there. :) And all that VB loot, fun! The inn looks gorgeous. I love that bike too. So cute! Have a wonderful day! xo

Brigetta Schwaiger said...

Wow. What a cool place to stay. I love the light fixture.

Kat said...

Oh my goodness, so many awesome things all in one post. Love it! Congrats on completing your goal, I would love to run a half, perhaps I'll try to sign up for this one next time around. That Inn looks darling and do you know, we both have the same Vera duffel. Sherbet is my pattern too. I have everything except the garment bag, I so wish I had purchased that when they still sold it. I hope your daughter is feeling better. The throw ups are the worst.

Lori Lucas said...

Ha! Paige.... A little info for your questions and otherwise: My sister was at the race as well. She runs the Oklahoma City Memorial (where the bombing happened). The Memorial puts on a huge race in April and Kari (my sister) was down there scouting, recruiting (and looking for any excuse she could come up with to go to Seaside!). And, you are welcome to come up and run the marathon here. Kari and I would treat you well!! AND you would see your fill of cattle here in Oklahoma! ha! Before we get to the cattle answers, a quick little Vera/Seaside story. So, because Kari was down there "on business" she actually got to meet Vera (is her name really Vera? Or is that the company?) Anyway, she got to meet whomever. Kari said she was the nicest most genuine person. Well, Kari told her that her daughter, Caroline (!), who is 6, LOVES Vera and has all her luggage, etc. So, the next thing Kari knows, Vera (or whatever her name is) has sent to Kari's room two pieces of Vera that she signed on the inside!! (I just hope the pieces made it to Caroline upon Kari's return to Oklahoma!!) Now, for your cattle questons: A heifer is a young cow that has not had a calf yet. The cute little butter colored calf was Charolais (char-lay), or Charolais cross. They are usually white (like the calf) but sometimes you get butter colored ones. The big dudette is some kind of mix of jersey/dairy with something else (horns askew, big yet skinny), and the red one is a hereford. (My family has a big cattle production here.) One more thing.. Big congrats to you for the race. Way to go! Lori L

Tracey said...

Congratulations on the marathon!! I'm so glad that you posted about Seaside when y'all go in the summer. When my cousin and I were trying to figure out a beach to go to, I suggested Seaside! We're actually going to stay in Watercolor but from what I've been able to gather, it's within biking distance to Seaside. We're so excited to go!! Thank you!!

Leslie said...

Love everything about this post! I am a Vera lover and took photos out in front of that porch last year, how lucky that you were a guest there! We just booked our condo for the end of the month! YipppeEE!!! Congrats on running your race, I think, you look amazing afterwards!

Martha said...

it really sounds amazing and looks amazing...the perfect BB and the perfect place for a 1/2 it looks like:)love your vera bradley items ~ she was good to you:)

Amber said...

What an awesome weekend! I was going to comment and help you out with your cow questions, but it looks like Lori did an awesome job! haha. If you ever have any other "farm" questions, feel free to hit me up. Chances are, I've stepped in their poo at one time or another! haha.

LuLu said...

Now thats what i call a fantastic run with fanstastic treats to run too!!! what a great getaway as well!!! the place looked too cute!!! wow!!!!i love the charm of B&B's! happy to hear your daughter is feeling better~
xo,
LuLu

Number 6 and no more counting! said...

fabulous!

lea
xo

Anonymous said...

I've never run a race with those kind of goodies! Maybe this is the race for me! ;) How FUN! One day I hope to fly somewhere for a race! that would be a DREAM! Totally out this year due to those stinking robberies... :(

Wendy said...

What fun...makes me want to go run a half marathon in Seaside...and I'm not a runner. LOL!

And is that a pink dell I spy in that photo of you on your computer? We have the same laptop. Great minds, my dear, great minds.

xoxo
Wendy

Anonymous said...

I love the Red Bar! So jealous!

Privet and Holly said...

HOORAY ~
You did it.
And in style.
Nothing new,
there! I might
even run a race
for this loot
and this sweet
town....Wonder
if they have bike
races....hmmm?!
Welcome home.
Love your pics!!
xx Suzanne

Jodee said...

Oh my goodness! Vera Bradley bags and cows all wrapped up in the same post?! Crack me up! It looks like you had loads of fun! I am soooo proud of you!

Tammy said...

you did good Paige..very proud and inspired by you!
Tammy :-)
JUNK WI:D

up early and ready to gym it said...

I would have gone down just for the free bbq and the beer;-)
Great cows....nothing like knowing where my steak is coming from.
xo
p.s. my word verification is MENSESS

ellieshine said...

this looks like so much fun! okay maybe not the running 13.1 part :)

yesterday at bible study i found out a couple of the ladies in my group are running 10k's and so we have set up to start training for a half in October - yay! you can take all the credit for me even thinking about that!

have a wonderful day - glad your sweet girl is back to herself - that is no fun without mom around :(

xo ellie

Lemonade Makin' Mama said...

So proud of you girly!! Makes me (kinda) want to get out there and do it too. (Okay, I was just saying that...I threw my back out last week, and have been out all week laying around... not sure I'll ever get moving again! Ha!) You look amazing after a run... I always look like a steamed lobster.

Love Being A Nonny said...

Oh, so proud of you! WOW, what GREAT treats! Worth the run!!!! So glad to see your girl is feeling better.

Love Being A Nonny said...

Oh, and I guarantee you Rover can answer your questions!!!

Jo said...

The Vera loot is impressive. Congrats again on your accomplishment even in blistery weather! I think I need to add this sweet town to my list.

Jo

Suzanne said...

It was fun to see the vera bradley bags and the pics of seaside . My daughter dated vera's grandson for 5 years and she was asked to be in the catalog one year , it of course was shot at seaside . Lovely , lovely .

Heather Mattern said...

Your photo's are gorgeous AND I envy those awesome boots!!!

Unknown said...

What do I have to do to get my hands on that flowered bike???? In love. So happy to have found your blog.

Donna said...

Looks beautiful. Where exactly is this located? Where is Seaside?