So, those that know me or have peeked into the corners of my kitchen will know that I have an obscene amount of Fiestaware. But I haven't fed my passion for several years -- FIVE to be exact!! For my birthday one year, Sean drove me to the factory grounds of Fiestaware (Homer Laughlin in Newell, West Va). It was maybe less than an hour or so from home. A small blip of a town where the ivy covered factory sits atop a cliff overlooking a river. People from all over the US drive in for their annual warehouse sales (now tent sales) to pay 70-80% off retail in some cases. I returned to the sale time after time, twice a year.
I had never before purchased Fiestaware - the prices were always too much for my post-college budget. I was hooked. I took different groups of friends to obsessively fill up the allowed three milk crates full of goodies. We worked in teams to find the items most coveted and celebrated heartily afterwards. They too became junkies. The savings were addictive, the dishes were gorgeous.
So, it's been years since I've bought a new item. The prices did rise slowly up. The plates (those gorgeous plates) that I bought for a quarter rose up to a dollar (still around $7-$10 each in a store).
I missed this year's sale despite making tentative plans to attend it with a friend. But Geetar Dad turned to me today and said, "Hey, you haven't been to the sale in a while, you should go". After double checking that he wasn't saying that because he broke a favorite platter - I decided I should look at the fall dates for the sale.
Color me dorky. But color me in the new lovely Paprika shade.
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