The One with the Polish Pottery Girls Weekend

On Friday night once Chris got home from work, Nadja, Kyle, Georgina, and her friend Shannon came over and we packed our car with our overnight bags. I was the driver and we took off at 5pm!
Bye cute kiddos, have fun with Daddy!

Driving on the Autobahn in the dark is scary. As soon as we got off the Autobahn the roads were filled with pot holes and overgrown forests and for some reason people were walking their dogs at 9:30pm with no flashlight and let's just say I'm glad I didn't hit anyone and we arrived safely in one piece! It was pitch black when we arrived at the Elim Mission Home in Lwowek Slaski, Poland, but here's a picture of it in the daylight so you can see how awesome it is.

We rung the doorbell and Judy answered. She came down a few minutes later along with the rest of our party: JaNae, Jami, Anna, Chrissy, and Laura. The mission sells these amazing nativity sets and instead of waking Judy up in the morning to look at them, she showed them to us right then and there. Here's JaNae and her cute donkeys.

Then we went up to our rooms and Judy told us stories and we laughed and giggled as girls do when they get together and stay up way past their bedtime. We had to wake up early though so we did finally go to sleep before midnight. Party animals, I know :)

First look out the window in the morning - beautiful countryside!

I slept on the top bunk which reminded me of when I was a kid and had a bunk bed. I was nice and toasty all night, but the mattress was... thin. I did get a good 6 straight solid hours of sleep though which rarely happens to me on the first night of my travels.

In the morning after I got ready I took some pictures of our cute room. Creepy girl painting! / The kitchen More views out the window. So pretty!

Walking down the hall to the other girls' room so I could use their wireless and let Chris know our plans for the day. 

We all ventured outside to take pictures of the beautiful architecture.  What a gorgeous morning! There wasn't a cloud in the sky and no snow to be seen.

Loving all the details.

Next door to the mission is an abandoned insane asylum... yikes! I'd like to renovate it and live there :)

Thanks for taking this picture of me Georgina :)

We took a couple of group shots then were on our merry way, ready to shop til we drop! We stopped at Netto to get some breakfast, but we were all full from mini muffins and nuts and other snacks we'd brought to share so we were in'n'out in 2 minutes flat cuz no one got anything.

The buildings across the street from the Netto.

We drove about 20 minutes to the city of Bolesławiec - that link has a ton of fascinating information about the city and its pottery history.

We went to store after store after store filled from top to bottom and side to side with Polish Pottery. Jami wanted to check out the World War II memorabilia in an antique shop.

I found a few things that I liked, but couldn't find a reason to buy them: Pumpkins! Mugs with beautiful floral patterns! A lovely cupcake pan! Cute paisley design! I don't think anyone bought anything at the first couple stores, but then we drove up the hill to the Manufaktura Pottery store.

Inside I found these stunning forks. I was thiiis close to buying some, but at 5 Euros a pop and they'd totally clash with our dishes, I couldn't justify it.

I looked around for awhile and finally found something I just had to have - a necklace! Now whenever I wear my Polish Pottery necklace I can always remember this super fun trip. Picture of my necklace later on. Kyle wanted a necklace too, but she only really liked the one I had already picked out, so I offered to make her a necklace from these "make-it-yourself" baskets of beads. And I did! Perusing.

I mean, wow. These remind me of my Grandma Cathie.

If I could just take these all home with me I'd be a happy girl!

Cutest tea pot ever!

We purchased our things and then it was on to the next!

It was funny to me how this pottery was just sitting on the floor haphazardly like this. They should be propped up and displayed as art because they're so beautiful!

Spoons, plates, bowls, mugs, I could go on and on and on. If you can think of it, they probably have it in Polish Pottery! Jami was on a mission to find cute dessert plates. I didn't know anything about Polish Pottery up until this point and Jami so graciously taught me about the quality scale and whether or not you can cook in the pieces based on the number and had great tips and pointers. I wouldn't be able to resist getting a million different patterns - just like I love patterned papers, I'd need one of every kind! Luckily for my bank account, I'm not in the market for new dishes.

But boy was it tempting!

I almost got Fox this cute little elephant, but he'd probably break it.

And then we came to this store...

And I finally found something I can actually use! HALLOWEEN POLISH POTTERY!!! If you know me, you know I LOVE Halloween. It's my favorite holiday. I don't need a whole set of everyday plates, but a few Halloween-themed plates I could get on board with. These babies, and more, came home with me. Up close and personal pictures of them at the end of this post.

Shopping the day away!

Polish Pottery Easter eggs! How cute is this black and white striped design? It's like "Target meets Polish Pottery".

At yet another store (that the other gals had been to the day before but wanted to come back for something), we parked and I snapped a picture of our surroundings. Kind of reminds me of back-woods Idaho. Yes? No? Maybe?

The owner is so happy and nice and even gave us a quick tour of how pottery is made! Upstairs (where it as a bajillion degrees from the kilns) we got to see all the molds and pottery waiting to be painted. And then, perhaps the highlight for me of this trip, we got to watch these two artists paint some dishes! I can't believe they're all hand painted! I guess I'd never really thought about the process, I just assumed they "came like that" (how naive of me!) so it was amazing to see all the hard work that goes into making just one single plate.

I hope they get paid well.

We were all famished at this point so we went to The Blue Beetroot for lunch.

Insides of buildings are never what I expect them to be from the outside. I guess it's like the saying "Don't Judge a Book by its Cover". I got chicken stuffed with goat's cheese and sundried tomatoes and a side of "chips" aka French fries. Yummy in my tummy!

The girls out to lunch!

The first group of gals headed back to Germany while our car wanted to go to one last store. 

Just call me Ansel Adams. J/K

We found the store we were looking for and I actually made another purchase! Hot cocoa mugs with built in spoons - perfect! Pics below. We loaded up and said goodbye to Poland and drove back home.

I had a BLAST hanging out with my friends and learning more about them and laughing and figuring out this Polish Pottery business. I wonder if Chris would like to go back?
Here are pics of my loot! Necklace - I wore it to church today!

I got a little tea set for Jane. But Fox seems to have taken over it already!

His face, ha! So cute!

A little clock, now I just need to get a clock mechanism.

The mugs with spoons! Aren't they darling?!

And my Polish Pottery obsession: Halloween-themed dishes! I got four small plates.

A big candy bowl.

And four large plates. The top right is my favorite.

So, next time I go back, I'll keep my eye open for more unique Halloweeny stuff. How fun!