Stratford Girls Trip: Day 2
From left to right: Our tour guide Cathy, Alleigh, Anne, Grace and Sarah.
If you didn’t go shopping on a girls trip, did you even really go on a girls trip? Lol. Our second day in Stratford was another busy one, but of course it was filled with even more delicious food!
Edison’s Café Bar
Our day started at Edison’s Café Bar for breakfast. It’s a whole foods café that’s owned by another husband and wife team, Buffy Illingworth and Greg Keupfer. The interior is very quaint, and has a subtle industrial type of vibe. The walls are exposed brick and there were some black accents throughout the space.
Their menu is mostly plant-based, and they pride themselves on not using refined sugars or any processed ingredients in their food. They had a ton of different toast options on their menu – it was honestly so hard to choose! I ended up getting the avocado toast with smoked salmon on top and a matcha latte (my favorite!). Y’all, my meal was SO GOOD. It was fresh, light, flavorful and totally satisfying. Hands down the best avocado toast I’ve ever had!
Everyone’s food looked delicious!
Grace the Boutique
After breakfast, we went on a shopping spree! We went to a bunch of boutiques in the area and got to meet the owners, try things on, and buy things if we wanted. The first shop we went to was Grace the Boutique, a women’s clothing, lingerie, sleepwear and accessories boutique. They also do expert bra fitting in the store as well! I found the pieces in the store to be really contemporary and trendy. They had these really cute loungewear jumpsuits that I was really drawn to. I regret not getting one!
Watson’s Chelsea Bazaar
Our second shop was Watson’s Chelsea Bazaar. It’s a fifth-generation family business that has pretty much anything you can think of! It’s a bi-level shop: they have a range of accessories and home décor on the upper level and a lot of dishes and kitchenware on the lower level. I liked the eclectic pieces they offered. A lot of things had fun prints or colors on them. I especially loved looking at all of the kitchenware items!
Danna Nicole
Next up was Danna Nicole. Danna, the owner, hand-selects each item in the shop. Danna has a vast background in customer service, and she’s very passionate about providing pleasant and unforgettable experiences for her customers. Danna had some beautiful pieces in her store. From casual wear, to shoes, to handbags, to evening gowns, you could go into Danna Nicole and walk out with an outfit for any occasion.
While we were there, Danna taught us a really cool trick: Rate everything in your closet on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the most casual and 5 being dressy. From there, you can do a wardrobe audit to see if you have a good balance of casual and dressy clothes to see what you may need more of or even what you may need to donate. The scale also makes it easier to build outfits. For example, if you have a summer dinner party to go to, you can pair a semi-casual dress (3) with a denim jacket (1) and a heeled sandal (5) – Voila! You’ve got the perfect look.
Bradshaws
I absolutely loved Bradshaws! It’s operated by a sixth-generation family and they carry everything from PANDORA jewelry to home décor. The owner was super nice (and fashionable!) and I was so pleased with the variety of home goods they had. This is going to sound silly, but they had a section in the store full of cast iron skillets and different tools to use to clean and maintain it and I got SO excited, y’all. Lol. There was also a Kate Spade home section in the store that was to die for! I saw the cutest tea kettles and I had to stop myself from making an unnecessary purchase, lol.
Resonance
Resonance is a store that specializes in casual and eco-friendly clothing. Sustainable fashion is becoming more popular in the industry (yay!) and Resonance has a handful of environmentally-conscious designers to choose from. I saw a few pieces in the store that I liked – one in particular was this off-the-shoulder multicolored striped mini dress that was on sale for under $50! I tried it on but it didn’t fit me too well which I was super sad about. Hopefully another customer came in and snagged it later that day. It was adorable and the price was the cherry on top!
Wills & Prior
Before we went to Wills & Prior, I got on their Instagram page to see what kind of products they offered and I ended up falling in love with their brand’s aesthetic. They have a blend of new and vintage finds for your home. When you walk in, you get kind of a modern, boho vibe. They had so many rugs, art prints, baskets, pillows and vases to choose from. I wanted to buy everything! The owners were really sweet and they even gave us goodie bags to go home with!
The Pulp Fresh Bar
For lunch we headed over to the Pulp Fresh Bar. The Pulp Fresh Bar specializes in high-quality fresh smoothies, cold pressed juice, and vegetarian food and snack options. Right on brand for Stratford, this restaurant is owned by another husband and wife team, and has been open since 2017. I ordered the California bowl (which had rice, carrot, cucumber, seaweed, avocado, pickled ginger and Sriracha mayo) and a yummy smoothie to go with it. Everything tasted fresh and I felt satisfied without feeling like I overate.
Chocolate Trail
After lunch we had some free time to just relax or explore before dinner. We were all given six complimentary passes to go on what’s called a Chocolate Trail. There were participating businesses in the city that would give you a different chocolate treat if you redeemed one of your tickets. I was a little full from breakfast and lunch that I only ended up going to one place, but if you’re a chocolate lover, I definitely recommend going on the trail when you visit Stratford!
Pazzo Taverna
Dinner time! For dinner we went to this AMAZING restaurant called Pazzo Taverna. I love Italian food, so I can never get enough of it, honestly. Just like AO Pasta, Pazzo’s pastas are handmade in-house. They brought us a number of appetizers and drinks and they were all delicious! I ordered the potato gnocchi and it was to die for! I’ve been thinking about it like every other day, lol. After our main courses, the staff brought us out some desserts to enjoy, too. One of them was a lemon tart and it was beyond delicious. I was so impressed with everything from the service to the décor. Will definitely be going back next time I’m in Stratford!
We were able to snap a couple photos before eating. It was really warm this day, so I wanted to wear something weather appropriate, but also event appropriate. I wore my Madewell shorts and v-neck T-shirt with a printed Eloquii blazer, Target heels and my new Wills & Prior straw bag!
Saturday was just as busy as Friday, so after dinner we were all pooped! Lol. Plus we had to wake up early to do something really cool the next morning – don’t worry, I’ll be giving details in my next post!