Living – Page 37 – Unlikely Martha

Living• travel

my trip to austin

The something or the other that states Mama ain’t no good to anybody if she hasn’t bothered to take care of herself gets all of the yasssssses that ever yassssssssed.

I’ve never considered myself the type of mother to have completely thrown herself into motherhood with reckless abandon. Yes, I am a mother but long before countless hours of lugging babies in utero for 80 weeks of my life and likely spending 90% of its remainder more concerned with their well being than mine, my math says there is still 10% left to just be me.

I am me, and I am me often.

After burning at both ends for what seemed like an eternity but in reality was probably a few weeks, I decided I needed a break. On a whim, my 37th birthday gifted me a trip to Austin to visit one of the village Aunties. I departed for Austin just a few days after returning home from our family trip to Gatlinburg. In hindsight that wasn’t the best idea, but one thing is for sure by the time I got to Austin, ready for a trip away I was.

My thoughts on Austin prior to going? I was pretty sure it was the melting pot of all hipsters from what I had seen and read about Texas’ capital city. My assumptions were mostly true, however I was not prepared for the beauty of the landscape, the yumminess of the food and the laid back aura.

I freaking loved Austin.

Relocation has never been a desire of mine but if Austin presented an opportunity……

We did a few touristy things, brunched and sipped, ate and shopped. You know all of the things Mamas do when there aren’t people depending on them for a short snippet of time.

Let’s not forget our epic one day trip to Waco to visit Magnolia Market

One of my favorite spots in Austin was the Oasis. Who knew Austin had a huge lake, and mountains? I didn’t.

Margaritas, sunset, and a breeze. Perfection in a tipsy, red streaks across the sky, coldest air on the hottest day type of way.

The best queso I have ever had in my life? Torchy’s served it.

We strolled the streets stopping on a whim to visit quaint bars for cocktails, and ice cream food trucks for sweets, and ate pizza that was worth every second of the long ass wait. I promise it was reminiscent of our college days when we used to go to our call center job at Sprint dressed for the club.

This trip reminded me that wife and mother are just terms that label me but they will never define me. I still have lots of laughs, girl talks, and cocktails to sip…..sans kids

Have you ever been to Austin?

13 Comments

Living

summer scheduling with NuBryte+ summer week I

First week of summer vacation is in the books. I wasn’t so structured in their scheduling this week to give them a little break after being in school for months.

Next week? The structure and planning will be more for me. The fact that I don’t have to get up at 6a to get them off to school doesn’t by default mean I need to stay in the bed until 9a, because that is what I did last week.

My thoughts are that certain days of the week will lend to certain activities. My son has suggested “Foodie Fridays.” Yasss son, yas. By Friday I’m exhausted and the weekends will likely be filled with other activities so staying in and trying new recipes on Fridays sounds like a win.

Sticking with the theme, Mondays will be for movies. Since we have a theater in our house, Mondays may also involve staying at the crib and maybe grabbing dinner or milkshakes out before settling in.

My kids ask me a million times what we will be doing daily, and to give my nerves a break I have input Movie Mondays and Foodie Fridays into the NuBryte smart home system in my son’s room. As I schedule new activities I’ll add them to the virtual calendar using the free NuBryte app on my phone. Once I input the activities into the app, they automatically sync with the calendar option in the unit. They know to go here daily to check their activities. If you have a busy family this is a great product to keep everyone on track with their activities. They can even add their own activities to take some of the work off of you to manage and schedule everything. Amazon sells NuBryte, the entire system is a sanity saver.

This week we:

Went to Rita’s.

Napped.

Washed rides…..in church dresses.

Read books

I’ll be sitting down to plan out this week. What do you have planned for summer fun? I need all of the ideas. All of them.

*I was provided a NuBryte Smart Home System. All opinions are mine. NuBryte is an all-in-one smart home system with a built-in home security system, automated lighting, wireless home intercom, and other family management tools – all from your light switch!

0 Comments

Feature• Living• travel

Magnolia Market + Waco | my trip and before you go tips

I’ve been meaning to write this post for some time. As I sit watching another marathon of Fixer Upper I suppose it is a sign that I need to get this post up.

In April I went to visit my bestie in Austin and being a huge Fixer Upper fan there was no one way I was going to be one hour from Waco and not make the trek to Magnolia Market. I’m an unapologetic member of the #GainesSquad, not so much for the work they do but mostly because they just seem to be some good folks that you would totally want to be real life friends with. I mean my husband even watches without fishing for the remote. From their family and faith focus, to following their dream of taking the Silos from a mere dream to reality in one hour show segments on HGTV, I have been extremely inspired to say the least.

My dreams of happening upon a glance of them was dashed when I learned the same weekend I was there they were in High Point, NC revealing their new furniture line.

On to the good stuff.

Pulling up I was totally in fan mode and I had done some research prior to getting there but my experience was much different from others I had read about. If you are planning to visit do your research and get different perspectives if you are into these things.

I had read people say it took them nearly an hour to just get in the doors, and they had to pay to park. Due to the threat of bad weather, I suppose some people didn’t show up that Saturday because we were able to walk right in, at noon I might add, and find a free parking space on the street.

Walked. Right. In. Favor and the threat of bad weather isn’t always fair. I said that to say prepare to have a wait, I think we got lucky.

The space is overwhelming when you first walk in. Just imagine wanting to see ALL of the things but not knowing where to start. There will be lots of people so pack your patience, and it helps if you do some research ahead of time to have an idea of what you want if you plan to purchase items.

The items were well priced in my opinion. I kind of thought the items would be handmade, one of a kind items. Instead a lot of the things there you could easily find at Hobby Lobby and you could use the coupon and get it for much cheaper but if you want bragging rights….have at it.

The space isn’t especially large, especially the store part but the barn was huge. Most of the items were laid out against the walls leaving the open space available for moving around.

Most of the items are also available on line so I didn’t buy anything big because shipping would’ve been about the same online rather than dealing with the aggravation of having to ship it separately because I flew. If you are driving and can transport by car you will be better off purchasing in store.

It is an entire experience, especially for families. There is a huge lawn with games and lawn chairs and it was hilarious to see the men laid out as if they were hanging outside of a large dressing room waiting on their ladies to finish shopping.

After finishing up at the Silos we ventured into Waco and had some wine and perused a few antique stores. One particular spot we ventured to called Spice, was great. It was a lot of small independently owned shops in one space. Quietly they had some of the same items that were being sold at Magnolia Market for a little cheaper. It is only about a block away.

Here are some of the items offered at Spice

With a quick search we discovered we were only about 3 miles from Harp & Co. If not familiar this is the wood shop that creates many of the handmade furniture items featured on Fixer Upper. I just love that Joanna brought Clint with her. Wasn’t expecting a whole shop but he has his own little shop that has just a few parking spaces but we were able to get one and go in and take a look.

Looks like he still makes furniture here?

I just love this whole story of a small dream being broadcast on a big screen. I’m glad I was able to see it with my own eyes. Waco is the cutest little city, and if you are a fan I think Magnolia Market is something to see if you are in the area. If you are a distance away I would say make a trip of it, visiting some of the larger cities nearby like Austin, Houston or San Antonio to get the most bang for your buck and time.

Here are my tips outlined

Be prepared to wait outside
While there are food trucks on the property there are other locally owned small restaurants within a mile or so in downtown Waco in the event food trucks aren’t your jam
It is likely it will not take a full day to visit the Silos. There is also a Dr. Pepper museum a few blocks away that I didn’t know about. Do your research you may be able to fit in a number of cultural activities during your visit.
Parking is difficult. Be prepared to pay to park at some of the smaller lots that are available. The cheapest I saw was $10
There was no rhyme or reason to the pricing. I picked up things I thought would be expensive but was cheaper than I expected and vice versa. Unless you are driving, if it can’t fit in your suitcase you will be better off purchasing online.
Sign up for their newsletter and you will get a 10% coupon. I forgot to use mine *womp*
THEY ARE CLOSED ON SUNDAY

I think I covered everything, but I’m sure something got left off. If you have any questions please leave them and I’ll be sure to answer them.

Are you a Fixer Upper fan?!

27 Comments

Living

the catch up

Ever heard the O’Jays song “Your Body’s Here With Me?” the one where the chorus goes Your body’s here with me but your mind is on the other side of town?

The past month, I’m sure my body was at 37 while my mind was back in 2006. I’ve traveled much, am playing catch up and to make it about as clear as the Beyhive coming for Rachel Roy I have done the most in these past 3 weeks. Add on Prince passing, Birdman’s need for repecK, Lemonade,and Rachel Roy shenanigans, this month has been one for the books and it isn’t even over yet.

To catch y’all up:

We took a family trip to Gatlinburg for Spring Break.

The very next week I spent a few days in Texas with my best friend. Oh we carried on laughing, brunching, sipping and shopping.

We even slid over to Waco and visited Magnolia Market

I returned on Monday evening and spent about 98.2% of last week’s hours complaining about how tired I was and truly had every intention to get the laundry I drug out of the laundry room and plopped on the living room floor folded. Well at the time of the crafting of this blog post the laundry still sits scattered as home occupants have dug through it for their clothing necessities. This weekend instead of folding clothes I decided to attack the front bed of the house pulling weeds, planting new flowers and throwing pine straw.

Meanwhile the laundry from two weeks ago still litters the living room floor. Curb appeal is on fleek tho.

Priorities always.

I have tons of pictures and stories to tell about my recent excursions. Something tells me most of you want the scoop on Magnolia Market. I’ll have that post up on Thursday for sure.

How was Spring Break for you? Did you travel? Can you believe school is almost out?

25 Comments

Older Posts

Newer Posts