iPad Mini Case

This post is going to be a little different than a lot of my other clothing specific posts, so if that's what you're here for then keep on scrolling (no hard feelings, I swear). 

I LOVE reading. I can read and enjoy pretty much anything (except Aristotle-- puts me to sleep every time). Another thing to know about me is that my family vacations a lot. Whenever we traveled I would pack between 8-10 huge books for the trip. Not an exaggeration-- my backpack weighed around 30 pounds. Needless to say I was excited when electronic readers were created (I think I was about one vacation away from scoliosis). I have always had a Kindle, but when my most recent one broke I decided I'd try out an iPad mini. Thanks Mom and Dad for the early Christmas present!

Of course, the prospect of getting an iPad was made even better by the thought of the cute case that I would get for it. So many brands make cute iPad cases, so finding one for an iPad mini should be easy, right? Yeah...no. Turns out that most designers don't make iPad mini cases even if they make iPad cases. I searched for weeks but finally found the perfect case. 

The Kate Spade "le Pavillion" folio was exactly what I was looking for I really wanted something that would protect both the back and the screen, and without folds that would leave marks on the screen. My mom volunteered to take a trip to the local Kate Spade to see if they had my dream case. No luck. Resigning myself to ordering from the website and paying for shipping, I log onto Kate Spade and...it's not there. Nordstrom says it's backordered until September. There was no way that I was going to leave the iPad unprotected for that long.

Shopbop

So, I discover this case on Shopbop. I excitedly tracked the order. Finally it came, and it was a really beautiful, high quality case. A very beautiful, high quality case that did not fit my iPad at all. It was part leather, so maybe it would have stretched, but it was an expensive case and I didn't want to take the risk of it not fitting. That one got returned.
At this point, I was getting pretty frustrated. I was also getting nervous because my iPad had been without a case for about three weeks, and I felt like I was tempting fate by leaving it unprotected any longer. Eventually I decided I was going to have to just go to the Apple Store and settle for a less attractive case. Not the end of the world, but slightly disappointing.
I fell in love with this sleeve when I walked into the accessories section of the Apple Store. A sleeve wasn't what I originally wanted, because the iPad would only be protected when it's on, so I kept looking. The store didn't have any folio options, so I decided to combine some strategies.
I'm actually very happy with how this mini-ordeal (lol pun) turned out. The sleeve is really high quality and similar to what I had originally wanted, and the rubber case is lightweight. I also got a clear screen protector.

Does anyone else have an iPad mini (this is a serious question; the lack of cases available for it made me wonder how many people actually have one)? How did you choose to protect it?

Sorry for the long post, I had a lot of case-related venting to do. Thanks for reading!

PS: For those of you thinking that I'm OCD, yes, I am, but this is an expensive piece of technology and I don't want anything too happen to it!
PPS: After I got home I realized that the sleeve looked surprisingly similar to a case I already had. What can I say, Kate Spade does polka dots well.