dear TEXAS,

This whole month of August, I have been reminiscing of the last time we were together. It was the first time we'd ever met. From the moment I stepped off the plane in Austin, I was in love. If I ever had to just up and move to somewhere random, I think somewhere outside Austin could totally be it. And I don't think Anj would mind so much either. 

I miss your 800 million variations on margaritas.

Your Frito pies.

Your magical boot utopia.

Your flat land.

Your county roads.

Your ranches.

Your creeks.

Your awesome skillet breakfasts.

Your mariachi serenades in San Antonio.

Your Hole-in-the-Wall bars.

The refreshing ice cold waters of Barton Springs.

I really do miss you.

Please, come back to get me. I can be packed and ready in 15 minutes.

Until then, I will dream of you while drinking from my koozie.

Love from across the miles,

Your Cackylack Shugpie
xoxo

Linked up today ...  Adventures of Newlyweds

Lawd, We Done Died & Gone to TX! pt. 2

{You can find pt. 1 here.}

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Texas, Beef, Anj and Lauren went on an adventure.

Junkin'!!!!

For like four hours. 

My hubs is a trooper! Thank you, Anj! (I am the luckiest woman alive). Bless his heart. I miss my Lauren Pie terribly. We have so much in common - two things being the love of junk and cowboy boots. 

Clearly, one of my missions in Texas was to come home with a fresh pair of boots. Also, I knew I would just die if I didn't get to hit a bunch of junk/antique stores while in the T-land.

Lauren is so awesome - she hooked a sister up with the opportunity to experience both. 

Here's some pics of ma treasures.

I think it's fabulous that there are regular tags, truck tags, and farm truck tags. And ... BONUS ... this tag has an August sticker. Perfect souvie!

I'm totally gonna make a pillow out of this. (Right now I just stuffed a throw pillow in there for photo purposes). Did y'all know the Junk Gypsies used to be in College Station? No - I did not have time to stop and visit those shugs, maybe next time.

One pit stop included the purchase of these delicious baby pies.: 

Lauren said, "Now, don't get excited, but I saw a commercial for 10% off at Cavender's on select boots, and I think I saw a red pair included." Ma girl knows how to look out for a sister.

The ones on the right are my new bay-bays. The ones one the left are my mama's first pair of boots. For some people, "a" pair of cowboys boots is it. Get a pair, mission accomplished. For others, it is like an art form/addiction. (Me). Ahh... I remember my first pair - swervin through four lanes of traffic to hit an exit ramp when I saw the red Justin boot sign in Asheville. SIL got some cray-cray magical drivin skills.

The smell of the leather when you walk in hits you in the face. When I was little, my granddaddy kept all his wallets in a bathroom drawer. Who knows why. He'd get a new one and just throw the old one in the drawer with the rest of em. I may or may not have snuck into the bathroom on a regular basis when nobody was around, opened the drawer and took a giant inhale every chance I got. Maybe he is to blame for my boot addiction?

Anyhizzle -

movin on ... since the hubs was SUCH a good sport, we had playtime with the boys later that night with a little skeet shootin on the other side of the road from the cabin, behind Anna & Bill's house.

As we were gettin out of the truck, and unloadin our stuff, guess what I found?

Ain't nobody EVEN REMEMBER horses on that land - not since there was an old school house on the property a gazillion years ago!

Then, I saw this:

And you know this! I shooooow did! Found two of 'em! = Fabulous good luck? Hope so.

Here we are in action:

I am a bad friend and didn't get a shot of Lauren shootin. :( But she does this kinda $*** all the time, because she is a bad @$$.

 While I am busy posin' with the cows. Aren't they soooo precious? 

Dear God, if it is your will for Anj and I to live on a farm/ranch with cows and goats and a garden and some dogs and some guns and cowboy boots makin pickles and tomato juice, we won't whine. 

Thanks!

Love, Beefy

When, we were done, we headed back up to Bull & Anna's house...on the way, there was a GIANT crate like 3.5x3.5 ft. fullllllll of these.

I sho did take these back with me to NC. 

Don't you worry your pretty little head, I'm gonna do somethin straight mag with them. 

I'm feelin so inspired that I think I'll wake up early to go eat breakfast with Big T and then head to the Raleigh Flea Market - aka the most awesome friggin place on earth for a junk addict.

I have blogged about this magic before here. Y'all cross your fingers and hope I find lotsa somethin yummmmmmmy tomorrow that doesn't cost a lot of moneyyyyyyy. Luckily, I will have to be cut off by 10:30 because I gotta gets my hair did at 11.

PS - I'm really excited about the Pistol Annies. Y'all KNOW I love some Miranda! Their album comes out August 23rd! 

Happy Weekend, y'all!

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.