December 2022 Monthly Adventure
If you know me or have kept up with my blog for some time, then you know my birthday is right in the thick of the holiday season. Due to this, it makes it very difficult to have a birthday party. I've actually never had a true birthday party outside of my home with the exception of a surprise party my former team from work planned for me in the office a few years ago. That is until this year when I got to have a Color Bar Party Extravaganza birthday at the Kendra Scott store's location at The Domain in Austin, TX!
Background
How did this all happen? Well, I was in my office getting some tasks wrapped up before my lunch break roughly a week before Thanksgiving when I received an email from the events team at the Kendra Scott store. They reminded me that I have a birthday coming up and wanted to offer the opportunity to help me celebrate it knowing the holidays make it complicated for planning a birthday party.
How It Works
I responded to the email with some basic info which included my name, preferred date and time, favorite color, and number of guests. Once those details were confirmed, I was able to invite people to join me at The Domain to shop in the Kendra Scott store and design jewelry at the Color Bar in addition to enjoying provided "lite sips and sweets" along with a 15% discount. Is it possible for this to get any better? The answer is yes! If my party reaches $300 or more in total spending, I get a free gift up to $58 in value as the party's host. Due to this, I encouraged my guests to shop for whatever they wanted and not feel compelled to get me gifts. Quality time is already my love language, so their presence was a gift to me. However, any shopping they did that day collectively counted towards a gift for me and that was even more than what I could've ever asked for.
Color Bar Party Extravaganza!
I chose to host my Color Bar Party Extravaganza on a Saturday in the middle of the afternoon because I knew that would be the best time for people who would be joining me. As the host, I made plans to arrive a little bit early so I could be there to greet my guests as they arrived. But of course Austin traffic foiled those plans and I didn't get to the store until 20 minutes later than I wanted to.
I walked in with my friend, Madelyn (who parked at the same time I did and joined me for my previous Monthly Adventure), to find the rest of my party had already arrived and that I was the last one to get there. However, it was great timing because they were just opening up a bottle of sparkling wine and had set out some sweet treats at the Color Bar. Since it was the busiest time of the day, some people were confused and thought they could take the sweets on the table and we quickly had to get seated on either side of the Color Bar to get the party started after drinks were poured and some introductions made between my friends. We chatted and looked through the menu of jewelry options to decide what to buy and looked at trays of stones to customize the various pieces we purchased. We all found and customized items that we love! I knew I wanted a gold necklace and a silver ring, but that was all I had in mind. I picked out stones for my new jewelry based on what was most visually appealing and versatile enough to match outfits in my closet. I also decided to get a gold bracelet because it was something I didn't have in my jewelry box at home and I wanted a more subtle piece.
We definitely enjoyed a more VIP shopping experience! We had two associates dedicated to helping us make the most of this Color Bar Party Extravaganza and we got to skip the long line with a special checkout option along the wall just behind us. As my friends were finishing getting checked out, I opened some gifts that included a nice mix of practical and unique-to-me items. I'm so excited to use all of them! My friends and I were able to successfully reach the spending minimum and the bracelet I picked out was free! I haven't even used my actual Kendra Scott birthday discount, so there's an opportunity for me to do more shopping before the end of the month in case I decide to get another ring. At the end of the party, I gave my guests party favors which were goal setting notepads because I'm a big fan of stationary and setting attainable daily or weekly goals!
The After Party
The "after party" was just doing some window shopping with one of my friends around the nearby stores in that section of The Domain. That eventually turned into real shopping as we were getting ready to leave ZARA when it hit me that I needed to buy a purse for a Jazz Soirée that I would be going to the next day in Houston. There was a cute purse in ZARA that triggered the reminder, but I couldn't find anyone to help me figure out what the price was and the line was long, so we just went to H&M instead. We found a perfect purse to match my Jazz Soirée dress. While roaming around a little bit more before checking out, we saw Julio Cascante, a defender for Austin FC, doing some shopping with his family. My friend and I recognized his face and it took about a minute for us to realize who he was. You may be wondering, "Did you say hello and get a picture?" The answer is no. We didn't want to draw attention to him while he was clearly enjoying his family time. However, he definitely noticed that we were somewhat glancing in his direction a couple of times as we tried to figure out why his face seemed so familiar. Once I checked out, my friend and I walked back to the parking garage and went our separate ways.
Wrap-Up
And now you know what happens with a Kendra Scott Color Bar Party Extravaganza! It still feels a little surreal that all of this came from an email that I otherwise would have thought was spam if I hadn't taken a moment to carefully read it. This truly was my first real birthday party outside of the house and it was the exact type of party I wanted! I had the chance to do some shopping and hang out on a Saturday afternoon with people I several people I enjoy being around and add value to my life. This was such a cool and fun opportunity! In fact, it's given me an idea of what I would like to potentially do for a birthday party next year. Hint: It has to do with stationary. Until then, I'm going to wear my new, custom jewelry from the Color Bar with as many outfits as possible -- and maybe buy a new jewelry box!
Feel free to leave comments below, tweet (@KimiThoughts), or leave a post/message on Facebook (@KimisTravelThoughts) !