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Something rare happened. Two things, actually. First I caught up on editing. Like, completely caught up. As in every session on my computer is edited! That hasn’t happened in, probably, 2 years. It feels goooood, y’all. And second, I took my camera on vacation! Yeah, I know, I’m a total slacker. I’m a photographer, so I’m supposed to take my camera everywhere. 😛 I rarely take personal photos. That’s what iPhones are for, right? 😉 But when you’re going to see Chip & JoJo, the big camera is a must!

So with all of this extra time on my hands since being caught up on editing (note the sarcasm!) I decided to do a fun little post on our trip to Waco and Dallas. We were able to do the whole trip for under $400, so that was pretty sweet!

Brandon and I discovered Fixer Upper late last year and I quickly obsessed over Chip & Joanna. Apparently we were living under a rock before, and binge watched the seasons that were on Netflix in a week or two. Brandon wanted to go to the Silos for my birthday in May, but I was on-call to shoot a birth and didn’t want to be too far away in case my client went into labor. We finally made the time to go last week.

Now there were a few reasons that our trip was so inexpensive. We live less than 300 miles from Waco, my Honda Civic gets almost 40 miles to the gallon, and we aren’t afraid to stay at a not-so-5-star hotel (more on that later.) So obviously it can’t be that cheap for everyone, but it is possible!

If we’re traveling with our pups we normally stay at a LaQuinta Inn because they’re pet-friendly. We planned to take Annie & Sadie with us, but worried about wanting to stop somewhere along the way and not being able to. We’re selfish parents! 😉 So we decided to leave them out this time.

We stayed at this LaQuinta while we were in Waco. It wasn’t fancy, but it wasn’t a rat-motel either. It was less than 5 minutes from the Silos, and it cost a whopping seventy bucks a night. Oh, and it was in the Common Grounds coffee shop’s backyard! It was clean and cheap, so we were ok with it. Not thrilled or dying to go back, but it worked. 🙂

Now for the fun part! Magnolia Market was even neater than I anticipated. JoJo put so much thought into every single detail. Giant flower boxes, herringbone brick floors, and the most incredible combination of modern farmhouse. So impressive.

We had our eyes peeled for Chip & JoJo but didn’t spot them while we were there. We got to the Silos around 11:30, and it was already pretty busy. It wasn’t too congested outside, but when we walked into the market there was barely room to move. And that was on a Thursday! It was definitely the place to be. It really wasn’t too overwhelming, though. All of the people that worked there were so nice, you couldn’t be upset by the crowd!

As much as I would have loved to spend thousands of dollars in the market, we were there to sightsee and not spend too much. That’s what’s so great about it. It’s still awesome, even if you’re there to just see the grounds.

The garden was my favorite part. And the mushrooms were just adorable!

The highlight of the trip for me was definitely Magnolia Flour. Cupcakes are the way to my heart, and I was giddy to try JoJo’s! They didn’t disappoint, and Shiplap was one of the best cupcakes I’ve ever had. But the other three I had were good, too. 😛 Don’t worry, I saved Nuts & Bolts for breakfast the next morning!

The landscaping outside the bakery was my absolute favorite. I’m just gonna need for Joanna to hop on over to Natchitoches and do a fixer-upper on my whole life!

We spent a few hours at the Silos, then went to find Harp Design Co. & the fixer upper they did for the Harp family. I tried to not look like too much of a creeper and left my camera in the car for this detour. 😉

If you do decide to go to Waco, make sure you visit Common Grounds. And for the love of all that is good do yourself a favor and order the iced Cowboy Coffee using their “secret-sauce” (yep, I asked!) I like to pretend that I’m somewhat of a coffee addict connoisseur, and this was the best coffee I have ever had. Hands down. And I’ve had a lot!

Just when you thought I was done rambling on and on… We had pizza at Shorty’s Pizza Shack Thursday evening, and yep, you guessed it. Best pizza we’ve had. And we’ve had pizza in New York!

After we left Waco we went to Dallas to visit Brandon’s cousin and one of his best friend’s, and to eat sushi at our favorite sushi place. Zen Sushi is the best sushi you’ll ever eat, located in the super cool Bishops Arts District of Dallas. And if you decide to see how much sugar you can consume in a 48-hour period, go by Sprinkles and get the strawberry cupcake. Or the vanilla. Or maybe the black and white. And then go home and run 5 miles. You’re welcome. 😉