Last weekend, I had a little girls getaway with some blogging friends, and it was just an hour away from my home in Waco! One of my friends booked 2 nights at the famed Magnolia House, within hours of when it became open to reserve, then it sold out for the year. I’d mentioned to a few locals that I’d be going, and they were shocked, saying it was so hard to book. I actually didn’t know much about the house myself, as I don’t have cable, and have only seen a few episodes on Netflix. I did my research, though, and watched the episode about the house, and a few others. I can see why the country has gone ga ga for Fixer Upper. It’s cute show. When my friend realized she booked over Easter weekend, it had been decided that those flying in from out of state would go Saturday night. I offered up my chauffeuring services, and home for a Thursday night stay, so we could get up and get to Waco early Friday morning, for a full 2 days there. It worked out perfectly! Below is a play by play of our adventures.
{Left to right, top row: Maria from Two Peas and their Pod, Sarah from Pretty Providence, Jenny from Picky Palate, Kristen from Six Sisters Stuff, Kristyn from Lil’ Luna. From row: Kelli from Lolly Jane, ME!, Jen from Tatertots and Jello (Yes, THREE Kriste(y)n’s!!!
I would be hosting 5 friends at my home for just 12 hours, mostly sleeping times. I figured my kids could have a slumber party on my bedroom floor, and their beds were free’d up. That meant their rooms and their sheets had to be spotless and clean…that means I needed to call for re-enforcements in a cleaning crew. I simple can’t do it so well on my own. But man, I do love it when my house is clean top to bottom, all at once. I did a little SnapChat (handle: Capturing-Joy) home tour, I may try to upload that onto a video at some point, because I saved it.
Anyway! When I have people coming to my home for the first time, I like to go the extra mile. I made water bottle labels (generic versions coming to the blog soon)
and got a basket of supplies that might be helpful in case anyone wanted to use them. I know I OFTEN forget my toothbrush, and snacks are always nice when staying in someone else’s home.
And since it was just a few days before Easter, and I had an empty gumball machine, I simply HAD to pour a bunch of bags of Cadbury mini eggs into it…I’m not even sure anyone saw it though…ha ha! But my kids and their friends have sure enjoyed this feature, even a week after Easter. 
The first flight arrived at 4pm, and it was Maria and Jen coming from Utah that I picked up. I had only BRIEFLY met Jen at a conference 3 years ago, but we’ve emailed quite a bit over the years, so I FELT like I really knew her, and Maria I’d never met before, but it was easy enough to fill our time chatting for 3 hours while we waited for the next flights, and ate appetizers at Bufalina in Austin. Maria had heard about it from a friend. I was kinda NO HELP in the foodie department, I just don’t know my city well enough.
We got some fancy broccoli that had small flowers in it, and caprese or margarita pizza. They look the same!
We then went to pick up Jenny, then waited in the cell phone lot for Krystyn and Kelli to fly in. We had a great time getting to know each other, sharing stories in my cute little mini van. Once everyone arrived, we headed downtown, but it was after dark, and we needed quick food, because we had a dessert appointment we needed to meet. We tried to make a bit of a plan ahead of time, but with delayed flights, it didn’t work quite as planned, and I parked in the best spot I know downtown on South Congress by Hopdoddy’s, and crossed my fingers that we could find something quick! Lucky us, we grabbed some most delicious quick tacos from Guero’s Taco Bar, and even got to hear some live music playing in an outdoor picnic table eating area. Plus, the taco had fresh pineapple in it…yum!
We had to make sure we got to LICK Honest Ice Cream before 10pm when they close, and we got there about 9:40. Maria had heard about it, and I got in touch with them, and they wanted to “host” us and let us try all the flavors, which was very generous. There was quite the line, I guess it was a pretty popular place, after all!
I love this pick of Maria and Jenny snapping a shot to share on social media.
I didn’t remember to get a personal picture of my ice cream, but the 3 flavors I chose (after many samples) all LOOKED like vanilla! Not much of a fun picture, after all. I remember one being a brown butter vanilla (YUM!), Tart toasted coconut, and can’t remember the other one, but it was my FAVE (and I don’t see it listed on their site)! It was delicious, though. Check out all their fun flavors.
We went back to my house, and chatted for a few hours in my upstairs playroom. Â I had 2 staying in my boys room and 2 staying in my girls room, and 1 in the guest room.
(Taken by my 10 year old lovely assistant, who loved sitting and listening to us)
They all felt bad for taking the kids rooms, and I assured them that they were excited to sleep in our room, and the boys in the hammocks in the back yard. I love having my home filled with friends, so it was an unexpected treat for me!
We went to bed early, just after midnight, because we had an early morning, and 2 big days ahead of us!  I caught Kelli checking her phone before she snoozed off…likely to her twin (and fellow blogger friend of mine, Kristi). Kelli had actually stayed at my home before, when I had a little Texas blogger slumber party here a year and a half ago. BUT, she didn’t stay in my blue and green guest room, she got the bed all to herself this time. I met Kelli at my first blog conference 4 years ago, and we connected right from the start. I’ve now been to her home in Arizona twice now, too! So strange and so wonderful that I’ve had the chance to meet and become such good friends with these gals through blogging.
My thoughtful husband got up early to make everyone ham and cheese crepes, which was so sweet. Sadly, I don’t have a picture of that, but I’ve got these girls with him in the background, just before we headed out, in our family room.
I’m really bummed that I didn’t get a shot of my mini van filled to capacity with 8 people! We drove a bit over an hour to Waco, and met up with 2 other gals, Kristen in the Dallas area and Sarah from Houston. Â I was so excited to see Kristen again, she’s another of my blogging bestie’s, who just moved to Texas! My girls and I stayed at her home last summer, just after she moved in.
Here we are in front of Harp Design Co.
Their storefront is gorgeous, so much eye candy.
I caught Jen snapping this picture. I always love pictures of people taking pictures.
I loved her idea, and had to snap my own with those awesome letters
Clint and Kelly, were so kind to chat with us, and give us a tour of the shop. It was fun to hear all about Clint’s odd jobs, and their journey that brought them to the point they are today. For those that don’t know, he creates a lot of tables and other items for Joanna on the show, Fixer Upper.
I was trying to get my selfie stick to work properly to take a group shot, and that first one didn’t give me much confidence. My hair did have a nice curl in it though, eh?
Clint told us about the process of designing table legs, and how his first one he ever made took 4 hours. He still has it, to remind him how far he’s come.
And lookie there, the selfie stick pulled through on the group shot! Â I found out they know my neighbors, fellow Baylor alum.
We then headed over to Magnolia Market where we had a meeting with the head of their PR for a private tour. Sadly, no Chip and Joanna there, but we got some great info there.
The actual market was quite crowded with people. I only got this shot of the back of the market, connected to the warehouse (where I spotted Joanna’s mom working away–she was on an episode)
We got to see Chip’s official office (complete with big screen tv) and this view of the back of the market. The picture does do justice to the crowd, they must have parted ways. The turf had families playing games on it, and you can see the permanent food trucks in the background.
This is the lovely conference room, of course, it has to be cute and shiplapped. I expect no less.
We then got to climb up on the roof of the Market, and see below.
Here is our nice tour guide. He’s only been working PR for 10 months, but has been friends with the Gaines for 10 years. At first, he turned down the job (a few years ago) from his friend, but then he said…he came crawling back.
Here is a shot from the view by the food trucks. Silos on left. Market in middle (with stairs) that we went on top off, warehouse on the right.
I borrowed this from someones SnapChat, of us waiting outside the market
We then went to Torchy’s Tacos for lunch, and it was amazing. But I already knew that. What I FORGOT about was the fried cookie dough balls. YUM! I got the Baja Shrimp (added a fried avocado on top) and The Deomocrat. Queso was shared by the table, and so was the guac, but what I fell in LOVE with was the Mexican street corn, ordered by someone else, and finished by me. YUM YUM! And here I was…counting calories just days before my trip. I took a little pause this weekend, but still ate as responsibly as possible.
We then went back to the market and shopped a bit. My favorite part was looking at all of the lovely displays. The product was more than I like to spend, and not 100% how I decorate, though it is nice. Just fancier than I do in my home.
Our next stop was PokeyO’s ice cream truck (store front in Dallas, traveling truck in Waco)
The owners came out to meet us, and told us how they got started.
I REALLY wanted a picture of all of our treats in a circle, but some were starting to melt. Snapped JUST in the knick of time! Best snickerdoodle I ever had.
Next…we drove out to the Magnolia House.
There was quite a bit of giddiness in the air, and the inside was as gorgeous as we assumed from the episode we watched of it’s makeover.
My slumber buddy, Kristen. She is one of my most faves, and one of the bloggers I keep in the most contact with. One of the Six Sisters, I’m grateful to call her friend.
One of my favorite features, above, the hanging night stands!
Kelli found a Texas sized bottle of diet Coke, and she was happy
I posted this to Instagram…excited to be at the B&B
Here are Kristen and I, fresh faced in the morning, first with a selfie stick fail…because I think it’s funny
then our mellow smiles
We then packed up and went thrifting for the day. I grabbed a few things, and some were sad they couldn’t ship furniture home.
We loved visiting Junque in the Trunk and chatting with the owner. CUTE stuff in there!
It seems all I was able to locate was more turquoise stuff for my home!
We also really liked Shades of Shabby next door, and it’s where I got my loot, above. It’s where the mural is above (on the side of the building) AND the cute truck!
The owner wanted a picture of us by the truck, and I posed everyone around it, senior pictures style!
We ate lunch at Ninfa’s, where I got this delicious salad…
did a bit more local shopping, walked around, explored the town, and had to head out by 4pm on Saturday. We stopped off at Bucee’s on the way to the airport so the out-of-towners could see the cleanest gas station bathrooms, and the inside of the awe-inspiring mini mart.  An airport drop at 6pm, and I raced home to host my seminary class for a flashlight egg hunt that night!
No shortage of adventure.
It was a great 2 days, filled with conversation about blogging and families and food and home decor, and I’m grateful this blogging outlet has brought me to friends all over that do the same thing. We all share the same faith, as well, and we were able to talk about that aspect of our lives, and how we “do it all.” Hint hint…we don’t. We all pick and choose what is important to us, and the rest, we just keep on trying!
