So if you know me well you know I am slightly obsessed with HGTV's Fixer Upper. They are in season 4 now and I have been a faithful follower since season 1. I follow the blog, watch the show, subscribe to the magazine, follow them on instagram, and have read the book. They are such a fun couple to watch and I love how wholesome and family-oriented their show is. Not to mention the fact that Joanna's style is PERFECTION. When I first watched the show I told Austin I had found my decorating soul-mate. But I'm pretty sure half the women in America feel the same way. A few months ago they posted that they were having a Christmas Silobration with Santa Clause and a Christmas concert with Shane and Shane. God bless my adventurous husband for saying "Let's Go!" to his overly cautious, think through everything, we should just save that money- wife. I'm so glad we did because we had the best time.
We woke up at 4am on Friday to catch our 6am flight and our baby was a champion. It was Jace's first flight and he did amazing. He was so fascinated with the window and the noise when taking off and landing. He slept for a little while on the plane but was mostly just entertained with pulling my hair and eating puffs (puffs are life!). We flew into Dallas, TX and got our first rental car now that we are over the age of 25 and so adult. We spent the morning shopping and had lunch at the best barbecue in Texas, Hard 8. They cook all the meat right in front of you and the brisket literally melts in your mouth.. SO good.
From there we drove the 90 minutes to Waco and checked into our La Quinta hotel. The hotel was great- affordable, clean, and right next door to Common Grounds coffee shop. Common Grounds is this cute little trendy coffee shop that was featured in Season 2 when the owners got their house renovated.
From there we went to Clint Harp's store front and home which are right next door to each other. Clint doesn't live there anymore and I don't blame him one bit because of people like me who had no problems standing in his front yard to take pictures. When we pulled up Clint was there in the back filming for his show and I may have squealed a few times. His shop is adorable and so homey and cozy like all things Joanna Gaines. People were visiting from all over the world and it was so fun to talk to other people who share the love for Fixer Upper. I told Austin I now totally understand how he would feel at a major sporting event surrounded by people who love what he loves.
After browsing and buying an ornament, we went back to Common Grounds where we realized how un-hipsterish we are and then crashed for the night in our hotel. It took Jace a while to fall asleep when he realized he was sharing a room with mom and dad all night but once asleep he was out for the night (hallelujah)! He is an amazing sleeper but I was worried being so off schedule would throw him off. He did great!
Saturday morning we got up bright and early and had breakfast in the hotel. We walked to Magnolia Market after that around 8am to try to beat the crowds. The store was everything I hoped it would be and more. Every display was perfect and if you can get high sniffing Joanna Gaines choice scented candles then that would explain the euphoria I felt. The workers were pretty much all Baylor students and they were so friendly, fun and nice. St. Nick was there and he was the most genuine looking St. Nick I have ever seen. They have a bakery and a garden shop on the grounds and a ton of outdoor picnic tables and Christmas lights. It. Was. Magical.
We spent the rest of the day exploring Waco a little more and also shopped at Spice Village which was a lot of fun! The crowds were crazy so we spent the afternoon taking a nice long family nap in the hotel. Traveling with kids is the BEST because you can use your kid as an excuse to go take a long nap. We headed back to Magnolia around 6 for the concert and ate the most delicious gourmet grilled cheese from one of the Food Trucks on the grounds. The concert was definitely the highlight of the trip for me. Shane and Shane and Phil Wickham performed and it was so beautiful and worshipful. They played as many worship songs as they did Christmas songs and it felt more like a night of worship than a concert.
After the concert we headed back to our hotel to put our little sleepy boy to bed. The next morning we were up bright and early again to drive to Dallas to catch our 9am flight back home. When we got home Jace was thoroughly exhausted and took a 3 1/2 hour nap while I tried to recapture the entire weekend in my mind. It was a great trip and one I would highly recommend! The one thing I would do that we didn't is take a tour with the Waco Tour group because they drive you around to several of the Fixer Upper's that have been done on previous seasons. It was also a very affordable trip and one I would definitely consider doing again! It was quite a nice surprise how well Jace did traveling and so I don't think this will be the end of our family adventures! Also one of the BEST parts of our trip was when my very very active and wiggly little boy fell asleep on me on the plane ride home! Not even Joanna Gaines can compare with this...
