Insights from The Magic Tutu

I love Mary Frances

The Mary Frances Purse Party was yesterday at the Boulder Dam Hotel and it was a sold out event with Mary Frances there in-person.  She's beautiful and gracious.  That's the best way to describe her.  I admire her because she has pursued her passion and loves what she does. 

A banner was placed above the entrance to the Boulder Dam Hotel announcing the event and all proceeds from the party were given to the Hotel as a donation (the Hotel is non-profit) to help keep it afloat.  I posted a while back that the Hotel had closed due to the economy but re-opened after an anonymous donor rescued it.  So the Mary Frances purse party is one of many events planned in town to help keep the Hotel open.  The Hotel is the heartbeat of our wonderful town.

My girlfriend, Karen, owns Periwinkle Cottage and she organized the entire event.  Periwinkle sells more  Mary Frances purses than any other shop in America -- and Periwinkle is right here in our little tiny town out in the middle of the Mojave Desert!  It makes no sense at all yet it makes perfect sense.  The photo is part of Karen's purse display in her shop.

During the luncheon Karen had models walk thru the tables to show off the new purses.  Mary sat near the door and watched each model (many of them children) enter and model her purses.  She smiled at each girl and snapped oodles of photos.  
Mary was as involved in the festivities as we were.  My girlfriend, Lesley, was one of the purse models and afterwords Mary autographed the inside of the purses the ladies brought with them to the party.  You see, a Mary Frances purse + a ticket were the requirements to enter the party! 

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There was only one man at the party and it was Desi.  Karen & Desi plotted together to present Mary's 20th Anniversary purse to me as an early wedding anniversary gift.  Desi made a short speech and then presented the purse to me.  Thank you Desi.  He snapped my photo with the  new purse and then I snapped his photo with the purse.  Our 23rd wedding anniversary is October 8th.

  

Jeanine (my cousin) flew in from Wisconsin for the party.  She found out about Mary Frances about 3 years ago and has been in love with her purses ever since.  Jeanine sat next to Desi at the party.  After the party Jeanine and I and most of the ladies went across the street to Periwinkle to buy our favorite new Mary Frances purse.  I bought a pretty, sparkly silver purse for myself and Jeanine got a floral mini-purse.  Please look at the Mary Frances photo album to your left for more photos from the party.  Congratulations to Karen for orchestrating the party and thank you Mary for coming to visit us.   It was a big success.

xoxo Amy

Mary Frances is coming to town!

We returned from summer vacation just in time for the Mary Frances Purse Club party.  It's wild!  Mary Frances makes the most artistically fun purses ever.  They are sold here at Periwinkle Cottage, and my girlfriend Karen (owner of Periwinkle), started the club that now has 300 members.

I have 10 Mary Frances purses but some women in the purse club have over 100 and use them for decor in their homes -- a great idea.  Mary's purses are all about details.  Each purse is a treasure.  Each purse is a limited edition and once they become retired, they are sought out by women who wish they had purchased that particular purse when it first came out.

The Mary Frances site has photos of most of her purses but the photos on her site do not do justice to the quality and beauty of her purses.   My girlfriend, Heather, is flying in from Chicago to attend the purse party because when she visited us recently she went crazy over the purses at Periwinkle.   But best of all, Mary Frances herself will be at the party!  The buzz about Mary being at the party is all over town and we are all counting the days till she arrives.  It's all I can think about.

The party will be at our recently re-opened (hooray!) Boulder Dam Hotel and the event lasts almost all day.  You may wonder how a purse party can last all day?  Good question.  You'd have to be a Mary Frances addict to understand.  Ha!  All of the photos on this post are my Mary Frances purses and I hope you can see the detail and whimsical designs.  All lovely.

I read an article once about a daughter who had to clean out her mother's drawers after her death.  In the drawers the daughter found all sorts of pretty clothing articles that mother never wore because she was "saving them for a special occasion."   To me every day I'm alive is special.  I don't save something I have for a special day.  That day is today.  So I love to use my Mary Frances purses and wear my pretty scarves and skirts.  Why wear old boring clothes when life deserves daily celebration?  Ladies!  Get fluffed up.  Wear something pretty.  Adorn yourself!  And don't forget your Mary Frances purse.

(Jeanine -- are you coming?)