Stoke-on-Trent

Two weekends ago, it was "Girls Weekend Away"! I went with my friend Haley to the shopping Mecca of the UK: Stoke-on-Trent.

Stoke-on-Trent is a city about 2 hours South-West of here that is known for its history in pottery. In the 17th century, pottery factories such as Wedgwood, Spode, and Royal Dalton, emerged in this city due to the local availability of clay and coal.

Many of these factories remain. And what is especially nice (and enticing) is that the potteries often have factory stores where they sell the dishes, etc. that aren't quite "up to snuff" for a great discount. They may have a small defect in the glaze or print, but most of the defects are hard to see.

Haley and I traveled there on a Friday afternoon and spent the night, so that we could have a full day of shopping on Saturday. And we went without kids! A MUST when shopping at the potteries (or else we would literally learn what the expression "bull in a China closet" means!). My goal for the day was to find THE perfect tea set, and I had visions of it calling my name from its shelf somewhere.

We started at Wedgwood and found some incredible deals! If I was in the market for buying a China set, this is where I would go! Lots of fancy dishes, lined in gold and silver... just stunning, but not my taste. I did buy an ornament, and a beautiful table runner and napkins (I know, not pottery... but hey, they were on sale!).

We went to a few more factory shops where I found some Christmas gifts (of which I can't go into detail about, of course). But nothing called out to me.

And then we went to the Burleigh Factory.When I stepped through the doors, I was practically salivating with tea set excitement. There was no fancy China in this factory, but everything was decorated in a lovely country pattern that was exactly my taste.

And then I found it... the perfect pattern. The problem was, they didn't have all of the pieces of a tea set that I would need. Hmmm.... it was time to get creative. My friend Haley suggested that I put together a mismatched set with different patterns within the store. The two of us spent the next half hour putting my tea set together until it was just right. It was a combination of four different patterns that worked together perfectly. I left a very satisfied woman.

I love my tea set. The more I look at it, the more I love it. And I hope someday to have the pleasure of serving YOU a cup of tea from my perfect, mismatched set!