I am feeling very blessed after returning from a wonderful vacation to Sanibel Island, FL and a trip to the Fall 2010 Lilly Pulitzer Warehouse Sale!
My favorite spot to stop on the causeway from Ft. Myers, FL driving to Sanibel Island.
My suitcase full of Lilly nearly broke my back!
44 Pieces of Lilly + a few Essentials = 50 pounds!
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| Lilly Pulitzer Having a Ball Sandals ~ Perfect for Island Hopping & Island Shopping! |
I had a ball! Spent a lot of time Shelling and doing the "Sanibel Stoop"
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| Beach at my resort (West Gulf) had tons of shells! |
Brought home a few pounds of shells to add to my collection. Although shelling was not as great as other times I have gone I still found some gems!
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| West Gulf Drive |
There is never a shortage of seashells or beautiful sunsets on Sanibel. Each night I enjoyed my sunset walk while scooping up beautiful shells.
Oh so relaxing! Truly my happy place.
I got out on a boat, saw many dolphins and did some Island Hopping! I visited the remote barrier Island of Cayo Costa, only accessible by boat. Some of my favorite natural and unspoiled beaches.
Cayo Costa ~ Narrow strip of the beach where shelling was great with the ocean on both sides.
One of several sand dollars I found on Cayo Costa!
When I wasn't shelling, aka doing the Captiva Crouch or the Sanibel Stoop, I enjoyed shopping at some of my favorite Lilly stores like The Pink Pineapple in Ft. Myers, FL, Her Sports Closet in Periwinkle Place, Sanibel and C. Orrico in Naples.
One of my favorite purchases ~ Lilly Pulitzer Balleta Dress in Hotty Pink Bloomers print
Found some adorable Lillys for my Minnie too!
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| 24th Annual Ft. Myers Sand Sculpting Championship and Beach Festival |
I attended the 24th Annual American SandSculpting Championship & Beach Festival at Ft. Myers Beach. It is just amazing to watch these artists turn big piles of sand into works of art. The artists were so friendly and chatted with those of us watching and asking questions. It was 85+ degrees and they cheerfully worked away on the hot beach.
Beauty......
and the Beast
The last photo above is the 2010 champion. To see all the winning sand sand sculptures click HERE
The water was nice and warm. One of my favorite spots is lounging by the pool with a great ocean view
.... and sitting under a palm tree is another favorite spot.
Before you all start thinking I am totally spoiled I am still in school full-time and wrote 2 research papers and took my finals while I was on vacation. I adore my new Lifeguard Press Lilly Pulitzer Laptop Bag from Purselady Too! This bag has an extra pocket for my large Lifeguard Press Lilly Pulitzer Agenda and extra space for my power cord and school work. There is a zipper across the top.The best part about this laptop bag is the handles! Worked perfectly for carrying my laptop to the pool or beach. On the plane I carried a large tote bag and this laptop bag fit perfectly inside! To get yours or buy a holiday gift visit Purselady Too HERE
Purseladytoo has great prices & FREE Shipping!
While I am mentioning Purselady Too I should also bring up the fabulous Lilly Pulitzer charm bracelet I got from Purselady Too just before leaving for vacation!
Lilly Pulitzer Charmed Bracelet
This bracelet was a hit on vacation! When you visit Purselady Too don't forget to sign up for the Giveaway to win a Lilly Pulitzer Yoga Mat! If I don't win I hope a friend wins ;)
I am always a little sad to leave this beautiful Island I know someday we will be living in beautiful Florida year round. My flights home were delayed due to high winds. I was so bummed! I nearly missed the Lilly Pulitzer Fall Warehouse Sale! The delay prevented me from driving down Thursday and getting in line for a number like I usually do however I was able to rest a little and make the 7 hour drive on Friday. I took my Minnie to her first Lilly Warehouse Sale!
We made it to King of Prussia in 7 hours after going through the heavy NYC traffic. Olivia got comfy in her PJ's and tucked her friends in. She was so funny, she asked me, "Where are my Lilly pajamas to match yours?" She then became upset about having to sleep in a big bed away from home and kept asking if we could go home so she could sleep in her little (toddler) bed. I rented Disney movies for her and nothing worked.....it was a long night, I slept only 2 hours.....not good because I was already sleep deprived from my delayed flights back from FL. At 5am we got ready to go get in line for the sale. When we arrived it was a typical long line wait before the doors were open at 8am.
Once inside it wasn't as crazy as expected. Pretty quiet and much less merchandise compared with my previous experiences. I have always attended on the first day so this was a nice change to have a laid back shopping experience with no waiting lines at the dressing room and register. Olivia was so well behaved! I was really worried. Taking an overtired 3 year old to the Lilly warehouse sale was a gamble! Olivia was patient while I shopped. She had fun selecting dresses to try on. Inside the dressing area I was afraid it would be a nightmare and it was a breeze! Olivia happily tried on her dresses and entertained many of the other ladies by twirling, singing and dancing! She was eating up all the compliments she kept getting.
Olivia modeling her new Kensington Printed Ruffle Dress she selected at the warehouse sale. More photos of our haul below.
A HUGE THANK YOU to Lilly Pulitzer for a wonderful Warehouse Sale! The employees were so cheerful and helpful! I can not express how grateful I am for all the great deals we got and for having the best group of gals working this sale. I only wish I wasn't so exhausted so I could have taken more photos and gotten names of these wonderful ladies. So many of you complimented Olivia & I on our matching dresses and we enjoyed chatting with all of you!
I also enjoyed meeting many friends from the Re-Lilly & Lilly Pulitzer Facebook pages! Again, I regret being an overtired zombie and wish I had been well rested and gotten photos of all of you. It was a pleasure to put faces with names and I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for all the wonderful comments and gratitude expressed about Re-Lilly! I promise you all that at the next sale in June I will be better rested and will plan a dinner/cocktail meet and greet so we can all socialize more and take photos.
After we shopped a few hours we left and got some food and then I drove Olivia by the Pink Palace aka Lilly Pulitzer corporate headquarters.
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It was very cold & windy = not great photo quality!
Next we went to the Lilly Pulitzer store in the King of Prussia Mall. At the sale we were given a 10% off coupon at the check out!
Olivia in the dressing room at Lilly in KOP Mall
Olivia adores the festive Lilly turtle in the KOP store.
The girls working at the KOP Lilly store are amazing! So friendly and helpful! Some of the sale prices at the store were lower than the warehouse sale prices!
Visiting Santa in the King of Prussia Mall
After getting photos taken with Santa she crashed out before we even got to the car!
Another 7 hours of driving to get home! Stuck again on the George Washington bridge in Manhattan.
Our haul
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| Lilly Pulitzer Sabine Shirtdress (Cameo White Twisted Print) for Mommy & matching Kensington Printed Ruffle for my Minnie |
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| Lola Dress (Starfruit Uncontainable Print) for Mommy & matching Little Lilly Shift for my Minnie |
Heidi Ruffle Tank, Aida Corduroy Pant, Bridie Dress & Blayney Ruffle Dress
Half of what I normally return home with. Many ask, "Was is worth 14 hours of driving?" YES!! Taking my Minnie to her first warehouse sale, socializing with Lilly friends and getting to meet many of you makes it all worth it!
Don't forget to sign up for the first Re-Lilly Holiday Gift Swap by clicking HERE
Olivia at home after sleeping all the way home. She loves her new dress and new pink sequin shoes that she insisted she "needed"! A shopaholic in the making!
I'd love to hear feedback on the Lilly Warehouse Sale, this blog and the Re-Lilly Holiday gift swap!
Happy Thanksgiving!
XOX Sue
9 comments :
What a great blog post Sue! So nice to hear all of your kind words! It was great meeting you and I love the pieces you found! I look forward to seeing you again in June for hopefully the best ever wh-sale! I have worked the sale for the last 4 years and you win some and lose some. It takes a couple sales to make a collection. In June I did great with dresses and shorts and this sale I stocked up on polos and sweaters. I also do great in the samples section because I wear the sample size, but the sample prices this sale were definitely higher than years past. But I bought mostly sweaters and tops I can get a lot of wear out of. Therefore the extra $20, $10 a piece is worth it for the use I can get out of the item.
OH Sue, thank you for sharing all the pictures! I just love the Sanibel pics. So beautiful.
What fun the warehouse sale must be! Your Minnie is absolutely adorable!
Sue! Your vacation looked amazing!! I LOVED all the shell pictures! I am an avid shell collector (I have collections from every beach I've ever been to since I was little) and would have loved to be there!! I've been to Captiva, FL is it near there?
And it was so great meeting you at the sale!!! My mom and I got some pretty good things! I got a resort purse, some tops, a fleece, a couple murfees, a sadie dress..and shoes! Def can't wait for the summer sale!! Having a meet up would be awesome! :)
I am really excited for the gift exchange too! Already starting to get some ideas for what to give! Can't wait to find out who I get!
~Rachel~
i loved that for once i knew exactly what you were talking about bc i know Sanibel so well! I'll be there in 2 weeks your post just made me wicked excited!
Sue you and your daughter are fabulous! Your daughter seems to be so easy going, you are one lucky Mommy! All these experiences are fun and great for the bonding you two obviously have!
Thank you for your sweet article here, we enjoyed it so much! Happy Turkey Day!
love the pictures and how much fun you and olivia had the weekend together. she will remember it always! so absolutely adorable. you got some great purchases at the whse sale too! best, michele salmon
We are so Glad that you Had such a Wonderful Time on your Trip!
Thank you so much for Thinking of us in your Blog and we are so Thankful for you and for Re-Lilly!
Have a Wonderful Thanksgiving!
I love your Sanibel pictures, Sue! Makes me want to go right back there! Olivia looks adorable in her Lilly. You should save for the jeep, she might need that in a few years!
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