LAUREN LIVES

Today I’m sharing some photos from our Girls Weekend Getaway in Waco, Texas for the 2018 Silobration Event!

For those of you who are fans of HTGV’s Fixer Upper with Chip and Joanna Gaines, then you know exactly what I’m talking about here. But for those of you who aren’t familiar with the (recently ended) show … it follows a husband and wife team in the small town of Waco, Texas as they renovate and sometimes completely rebuild homes for their clients. Joanna’s style is by far my favorite of all the HGTV shows and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t heartbroken when I heard they were ending their show to focus more on their family and other endeavors. With that being said, Season 5 of their show was extra cool because a lot of the properties they bought to fix up were actually for themselves…or rather, for The Silo District.

Chip and Jo bought these giant, old, rundown and abandoned Silos and the area around them with dreams of turning it into an area in Waco that people would not only want to visit, but where anyone could come just to hang out. Where events could be hosted, where concerts could be had…you name it. And well, they did it! The Silos District is now home to their Market, their Bakery, their Garden, and even a few B&B’s! The Grounds have completely transformed the City of Waco…they’ve turned it into a destination for people all over the world.

The Silobration Event that they hold each year in October is meant to bring together Makers and Small Businesses from all over the country to one place to showcase their work in a creative atmosphere. There are two main streets lined with white tents where you’ll find everything from custom letter boards, to handmade clothing, to woven wall hangings, and beautiful hand thrown pottery. Food trucks are dispersed throughout the grounds, there’s live music all day, each day, and then each night closes with a concert by the singers of Fixer Upper‘s theme song, Johnnyswim. At this concert, Chip and Jo make quite the appearance … talking to the thousands of people who have come from all over just to see them. They introduce other cast members and give them each a chance to talk about what they’re up to, and then they present cash prizes to the winners of what they call “The ChipStarter”…these are people who have asked for money for a variety of reasons — to continue a kickstarter in Pittsburgh, to plant another acre on a homestead, or to adopt a child with HIV. By the end of it all, you’re just filled to the brim with inspiration and happiness. It really is quite the event. If you’re a fan of Chip and Jo, I can tell you this: you won’t be disappointed by this event, or even by the grounds in general. Is is an absolutely beautiful and well-thought out space.

Months and months ago, my friend, Lauren, sent me a screenshot of the announcement of the event on Joanna’s Instagram page. I replied, “let’s go.” And so plans were set into motion pretty much right then and there. We invited all of our girlfriends and within the same day, five of us had booked our tickets. This group of five was particularly special because we all were coming from completely different cities, and four different states! I think the weekend was made even sweeter just by being reunited with some of my favorite people in the world 🙂

We all flew into Dallas, Fort Worth on a Thursday afternoon and we spent the evening in Fort Worth, exploring The Stockyard District and experiencing my first really Southern bars … with live music of course! I couldn’t get over all of the cowboy hats! We had a blast.  The next morning we had a really delicious breakfast at a spot called Brewed and then hit the road for Waco — an easy hour and a half drive away.

We made a pit stop at Czech Stop: The Little Czech Bakery, as recommended by one of our local Uber drivers, and grabbed some of their famous kolaches!

Waco was experiencing some of the heaviest rainfall they’d had in quite some time when we arrived, so we stopped into our Air Bnb and decided that we would see Magnolia the next day. Instead, we found the most wonderfully cozy little Wine Bar downtown (so good that we went twice during our stay!) called Klassy Glass, and then we made dinner reservations at Moroso because our waitress recommended it. It was a great recommendation!

We tried to snag a table at Magnolia Table (the rundown diner that Chip and Jo bought and renovated beautifully) but the wait was out of this world. Luckily, it’s as if Chip and Jo think of everything, and they had a “To Go” area built right into the restaurant where you can grab coffee and other smaller items from the menu and take it out front or out back where there is a ton of extra seating. There’s even another coffee truck out back! We were happy that we still got to enjoy the space over some of Joanna’s famous biscuits!

Our luck continuing, the sun finally came out and we spent the day at The Silobration which I’ve described above. Between the Vendor Fair and the concert later that evening, we took a stroll through Downtown Waco, checked out Waco’s very own Rooftop Winery, and then grabbed dinner. When we got back to the grounds, the Silos were all lit up with those big old-fashioned bulbs, and all the trees were covered in Christmas lights (I can’t even begin to imagine what this place looks like at Christmas time). It was pure magic. We also left that night, I think, all having become big fans of Johnnyswim — a husband/wife duo who just radiate so much fun and positivity from the stage. I think we were all on a high after that…

Man, what a weekend. We all remarked how funny it was that we finally were able to take a trip that didn’t revolve around a wedding…and then found it even funnier (read as: sad) when we realized we don’t have anymore weddings on the calendar to look forward to/use as an excuse to all see each other again! So we decided that we’ll just have to make these kind of Girls Weekend Getaways a yearly thing 😉 Sometimes you don’t even realize how much you need that time with your best friends until you’re right there in the moment and suddenly can’t wipe that big giant smile off of your face. I had such a freaking great time; I am so very thankful for my girlfriends who I was able to share this experience with. I love you, ladies!

All in all, I give our Waco Weekend a 10/10! I’d love to go back and experience Magnolia over the winter holiday or even during a less-busy time. One of my favorite moments of the trip was walking through the brilliant garden that Joanna laid out on the grounds … there’s something so simple, yet extremely thought-out about her designs that I’m just drawn to. I hope you’ve enjoyed the photos!

 

thanks for stopping by!

xo!