Wednesday, June 30, 2021

What's Up Wednesday, June 2021 Edition

 

I'll bet you think I'm going to say how shocking it is that we are already at the end of another month. Or that I can't believe that we are already halfway through this year, but, I'm not going to do that. 

Except, I kind of just did. Whoops.

Anyhoodle, as usual on the last Wednesday of the month, I am linking up with Sheaffer and Shay for What's Up Wednesday. Onward!

What We're Eating

I started off the month with the best of intentions, I swear I did. That....lasted about a week. Then, I traded the salads for charcuterie boards and restaurant meals including an Eggs Benedict to die for, my first ever try at chicken and waffles, a grilled cheese sandwich and the world's most amazing mac'n'cheese from the Magnolia Silos in Waco, Texas, and loaded brisket fries at a tavern in Downtown Dallas. I really cannot be trusted around a restaurant menu, y'all. Also, I have zero regrets. Zero.









What I'm Reminiscing About

Part of those charcuterie boards and restaurant meals happened while I was in the company of The Girls, during our annual Girl's Weekend earlier this month. We didn't travel far this year, but, since we were forced to make do with Zoom last year; even a low-key weekend in Neighboring City was an improvement. Next year, however, Nashville! 





What I'm Loving

This girl is rocking it in Texas! She's happy, healthy, and enjoying her life. I could not ask for more.

Also, every one of my hydrangeas are blooming! 



Lastly, I finally nailed the perfect charcuterie board meat rose! 



What We've Been Up To

Hugh and I flew to Texas to see Queen B and the Rodeo Princess. We spent a week with them, meeting their new friends, exploring their new home, and playing the part of tourists in nearby Waco, where we toured the Magnolia Silos. It was a much needed mini-vacation and I'm so glad we went.







What I'm Working On 

Despite my recent dietary choices, I have been working on getting my ass into shape. It's slow going, not gonna lie. But, I did manage to keep my step streak going on my Fitbit while on vacation, and, I've been doing workouts from Beachbody.com. So, expect progress pictures, soon....ha, ha, ha! Just kidding! Never happening.

What I'm Dreading

Nothing at the moment!


What I'm Excited About

The dryer that Hugh ordered for me almost a year ago is finally scheduled for delivery this week. I am ashamed to admit how giddy the thought of having a new dryer makes me; twenty-something me would be cringing right now.


What I'm Watching

Am I the only one completely uninspired by the offerings on Netflix right now? I haven't seen anything worth watching in ages. I also have questions. Is Big Brother coming back this summer? When will the new season of Yellowstone air? What about The Witcher? I'm in an entertainment dessert over here; I need new material! 


What I'm Reading

Y'all! I did it! I read this month! Not one book, not two books, but five freaking books! Granted, two of them were re-reads (The first two books from Elin Hilderbrand's Paradise series, so I could refresh my memory for the third-and final-book), but, still! This is amazing progress. 


  




What I'm Listening To

At this moment, I am listening to the fan running on my brand new air fryer; I finally gave into peer pressure and purchased one during Amazon Prime Days. Will I love it? Time will tell.



What I'm Wearing

Workout clothes! All of which are far tighter than they were the last time I got serious about exercise, I am sad to say. This is equal parts motivating and mortifying.


What We're Doing This Weekend

With any luck, we will celebrate our nation's independence on the boat, on the lake. If not, then we will take the 4-wheelers out to the mountains. Worst case scenario, we will entertain on the porch. One way or another, we will celebrate.


What I'm Looking Forward to Next Month

I am planning to go to Mayberry for Stampede. It will be good to see my mom and some of my aunts as well as to catch up with friends who still live in the area; we didn't get that chance last year, thanks to Covid so I am looking very much forward to it being a good time.


Tuesday, June 29, 2021

The One Without a Title

When deciding what to call a post dedicated to a day spent in Dallas, a number of thoughts came to mind, one of which was "Debbie Does Dallas". That would be a completely horrible title of course, for a variety of reasons; not the least one being that none of us are named Debbie. Most importantly, people of a certain age will recall that this was the title of an infamous porn movie and, there was certainly no porn going on during this trip; this is a family blog!

I also briefly toyed with the idea of "Who Shot JR?" but decided that, again, only people of a certain age would understand the reference. Besides, those people of a certain age already know that it was that sneaky Kristin who shot JR so the suspense is clearly lacking.

Soooo...The One Without a Title it is.

The lack of a title in no way, shape, or form distracts from the awesome time that we had while visiting the city, I assure you. For one thing, upon checking in to our hotel, we received an upgrade to a suite. It was, well, sweet!



Not that we spent much time in the room. We were too busy enjoying all that downtown Dallas has to offer, including the Farmer's Market...



... where the girl discovered an interesting set of eyewear in addition to the home-grown wares available in the various vendor booths. 






Walking around took it's toll on our energy (plus, it was HOT!), so we ventured into the Harwood Tavern for a quick lunch that actually ended up being a long, leisurely meal with a bonus order of loaded brisket fries and some fried mushrooms thrown in by the awesome restaurant manager because he thought we looked extra hungry and was worried that our entrees were taking too long (they weren't, the service was great!).



Then, later in the evening, we joined a tour of downtown Dallas that was marketed as a haunted tour. Now, was it actually a haunted tour? Absolutely not. In fact, it was basically a bar crawl with a few historical facts thrown in by the tour leader. On occasion, he threw out a random "factoid" about "possible" paranormal experiences which, a quick Google search discounted. Google also informed us that the the majority of the tour leaders information was historically inaccurate.

If our faces reflected our incredulousness at having paid $25 a person for the tour, they would have looked like this:
  

Which is, by the way, one of the other people on the tour; she was from Louisiana and has actually experienced a more legit haunted tour in New Orleans (as had Hugh and I a number of years ago); so she was definitely not picking up what the Shyster Cowboy was laying down.

In the end, we peeled off from the tour early and returned to the hotel, where Hugh and the girls jumped into the pool while I relaxed on a chaise lounge. It was a good way to end the day.
 

The following morning, the girls dropped us off at the airport and we made the flight back to Hooterville. We are already looking forward to the next time we visit the girls; we plan to spend more time in Dallas as well as road-tripping to either Austin or San Antonio.

I'm really going to have to pick my brain for titles for those posts.


Monday, June 28, 2021

Wacko for Waco

Thursday morning we were up bright and early to grab a country breakfast at a local greasy spoon before hitting the road for Waco. I was really excited about this portion of the trip since I had been wanting to visit the Magnolia Silos for some time. The drive from Stephenville took just under two hours; we arrived in Waco at a little before noon, which, was great timing, if the proximity of our parking space to the Silos was any indication.

We entered the Silos through the Magnolia Press, which means our first exposure to the shops was the aroma of freshly roasted coffee beans, which, is not a bad way to start the day at all.

We then wandered among the various shops, taking in the wares and enjoying the ambiance and trademark Gaines aesthetic. While the prices were a little too high for my liking, we did manage to pick up a new  baseball cap for Hugh and a t-shirt for me. The real treasure for me, however, were the pictures that I took and the time that we got to spend with Queen B and the Rodeo Princess.







One of my favorite things at the Silos was the historic church that the Gaines' moved onto the Silos property from it's original location in Waco; the work it must have taken to disassemble, move, and reassemble it must have been intense. 



I also loved the miniature baseball field, although, for some reason, I neglected to get a photo of it. Huh. My bad.

The gardens and Seed & Supply Store were very cool;  I am now thisclose to convincing Hugh that he needs to build me a potting shed from reclaimed windows.







We quickly learned that it wouldn't be a trip to the Silos without a stop at the food trucks. Hugh and I chose grilled cheese sandwiches and macaroni and cheese from The Cheddar Box, while the girls opted for pizza and hot dogs. They missed out, not even kidding. Our grilled cheese, basil, and bacon sandwiches were the bomb and I can't even get started on extolling the virtues of that mac'n'cheese; suffice it to say, if I could crawl into that dish and live in it, I totally would have. Mac'n'crack, is what they should call it.


We also invested in the large iced tea option at The Alabama Sweet Tea Company truck; the mason jars initially cost about $12, with $2 refills. Let's just say that we more than got our money's worth (it was HOT), plus, the jars made for a wicked cool souvenir.

Once we felt like we had experienced everything there was to experience at the Silos (with the exception of the Magnolia Bakery because, the line to get in was never shorter than an hour-and-a-half and I'm not even eating sugar right now, so, maybe next time), we headed into downtown Waco, where we found several charming gift shops and a brewery where Hugh and the girls enjoyed a beer flight while we cooled off for a bit.





My only regret from the trip was not getting this hat.

The day went by far too quickly, but, by the time we got back to the girl's house later that evening, we were beat, so we threw together a quick charcuterie, noshed for a bit, and then called it a night. 

The trip was totally worth the exhaustion, I assure you.