Lawd, We Done Died & Gone to TX! pt. 1

Hey y'all. So, yes, I did make it back from TX. I'm sorry I haven't blogged. Here's what's been up: 

1) I felt REALLY STRESSED about how to possibly condense the excitement/magic/love into a blog post. 

2) BLOGGER HAS BEEN ACTING COMPLETELY STUUUUUUUUUPPPPIIIIIDDDDD! I'm so madddd right now. 

3) I have been coping with my homesickness for Texas. I couldn't blog until I was emotionally more stable.

Anyway ... I decided I'll have to do a few posts to cover this. 

I. ABSOLUTELY. LOVED. TEXAS.

I feel certain that I must've lived there in a past life. 

So magical.

Here's the best I can do to smash this into a few blog posts. NOTHING could properly portray my absolute love affair with Texas, but here goes. 

We landed in Austin, and I knew when I saw this, it was gone be a good trip.

The sideways lights are an accurate portrayal of life in Austin, I think. :)

First stop was lunch at Guero's Taco Bar in Austin. HIGHLY RECOMMEND! The food was delicious, the building is absolutely GORGEOUS and the decor is so fun.

and they had a gluten free menu!

We decided we'd hit Austin again on our last night in TX, so we headed to the grand city town of Lampasas.

Our drive along the way was breathtaking. In NC, I am used to one town sort of blending into another. We do have "stretches" of highway, but it's usually interstate, or if there are stretches on backroads, they are typically farmland with lots of cattle and houses along the way. 

As cliche as it sounds, I totally thought of old western movies all along the way.

When we arrived in Lampasas, we hit Wally World first for the essentials. How precious is this little shug pie??

You see that mayo and *gasp* Miracle Whip down there on the right? Well, guess what?! Here's my one beef with Texas - they don't sell DUKE'S MAYONNAISE. WHATTT?!?

Because everything else was beyond magical, I will forgive this little fail.

Off we went to the beyond heavenly Crawford Ranch - the ranch of our dear friends' grandparents.

I would just die to come home every night to this: 

And to hear this ...

You didn't hear anything? 

Exactly.

If only one of these was my grocery-getter:

(No. The picture isn't blurry. Somethin's wrong with your eyes.)

This is Cathy - the sweetest dog ever. Her job is to protect the goats from coyotes.

These lil shugs just don't have what it takes to take care of themselves, bless their hearts. 

Next mornin, we had the best thing to ever hit Lampasas, the Yumm Factory :

If you are ever lucky enough to go, get THIS:

"Let's Get Western" - it's a bed of shredded hashbrowns, with three ingredients of your choice (I picked bacon, tomatoes and onions), then eggs, cooked how you liked em, cheddar, and gravy. 

Hot dang! I ate this two mornins in a row. Totally worth the fat/calories.

While we were waiting for my girl, Mrs. Crawford to get out of her meeting (booooo) ... we toured the tiny ville of Lampasas:

Sulphur Creek - SHOOOO-WEEEEE - Stank! But, pretty. :) That's my hubs Anj, and my mama over to the right pullin her hair back like a super model. Haha. J/k. She was actually doin that cause it was HOOOOOOTTTTT ENOUGH TO CURRRRE TOBACCO AND THEN SOME.

Beautimous courthouse in the square in downtown Lampasas.

Once Ms. Lauren was finished with workin, she and the hubs met us and we headed to check out a local western store.

But then - 

we went to San Saba to Harry's.

Holy 

Mother

of

Pearl.

Cue the angel chorus.

Warning: If you don't "know me", and my absolute obsession with cowboy boots (first) and western stuff in general (second), you will be in photo overload coma. I warned you. It's a lot. I could not help myself.

Here goes.

Hat makin upstairs.

Downstairs was a whole room of children's boots/toys/clothes, and a whole room of women's clothes/boots/accessories, and a whole men's room. Smelled of HEAVENLY leather and deliciousness. 

Could be a kid of mine, right?

YUMMMMMMMMM

I left bootless on this outing...but Mama got her some boots!

and a western shirt.

Thank you, Harry's for the most friggin' magical cowboy boot, leather experience of my life thus far.

Welp, folks ... I'm about as tired after bloggin all this as I am at the end of my first two days in Texas ... more to come.

Love y'all!

B

Read pt. 2 here.