The Downtown Farmhouse

We woke this morning with not much planned.

The weather shows windy and colder than I like.

Last night we watched 20/20 showing the story of August. A young boy born with facial abnormalities. His story was compelling to watch and the movie, based on his life and the book “wonder” was currently at the movie theater.

Slowly to move this morning we dressed and had breakfast.

We rarely shop at home, so many times when we are away, we will shop for things needed.

Steve shoes was on today’s agenda.

He’s relatively easy and I found a Rack Room close by. 2 pairs of shoes in 30 minutes. Done.

The movie would start around 12:15 and we would need to go to the mall.

The mall? Good grief, I hate the mall. Too many people, not enough parking places and for goodness sakes it’s the weekend before Thanksgiving. People are just crazy.

Here we come mall.

It’s a big one

Steve wasn’t interested in ice skating

We get our tickets, buy our snacks and settle in.

The movie was so good.

I only cried 3 times.

There were many parts of the movie that were thought provoking. Augie’s sister Via was very close to her grandmother. Via was struggling to feel close to the family and thought back to a time she sat with her grandmother. Her grandmother spoke of how Augie needed so many people to care for him but that Via has her grandmother. She was her favorite. As we are away from home, I miss my grand baby Jack. I look forward to the days we sit together and create memories.

After the movie, I wanted to stop at a Old Navy. Lots of sales.

What was I thinking?

There is nothing and I mean nothing in that store that I would wait 50 people to check out.

Online shopping here I come

As we drove back to the hotel, the AT&T stadium is pretty impressive. We will be visiting there tomorrow

We have fun plans for tomorrow

Have a great Saturday night friends.

Steve and I are in Texas for a celebratory weekend. More on that later …..

As we planned our trip, Texas was the plan. As the plans progressed, I asked if we could spend a day in Waco.

As a fan of Fixer Upper, of course a trip to Magnolia would be amazing.

He said yes and today was the day.

The day started gloomy, a chill in the air with lots of clouds and zero sun.

We dressed appropriately and headed out. It was about an hour and a half drive from where we were staying in Arlington.

Turn on some music and enjoy the ride

The silos come into view.

I immediately get excited.

We are here!

Magnolia is directly in the middle of town located on about a half of a city block. There is not a lot of parking so we parked about 4 blocks away and walked.

The area around Magnolia is mostly industrial with a few businesses and restaurant scattered in.

I’m not sure exactly what I expected but it’s location surprised me. I think because of the silos, I didn’t think the location would be so close to town.

Steve asked what I wanted to do first. I wanted to walk. I wanted to take in the whole picture and then pick a place to start.

This is the entrance gate.

The sweet Salvation Army bell ringer greeted every single person wishing them a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year.

Immediate inside the gate and to your right is the Silos Bakery Co.

Immediately inside the gate and to your left is the Magnolia Market at the Silos.

We walked through the gate and saw the “miles to Magnolia” picture Place. Yes!! 1048 miles

We continue to walk the grounds and in the middle of the property, there was an area where families could just play. There were corn hole games and beanbag chairs so that families could spend time together and the kids could shake some of their sillies out if necessary.

Immediately across from the play area, under the silos, there is a raised area with picnic tables and if you look carefully, you can see the iconic Magnolia metal letters on the roof

I’m a sucker for old cars and trucks and there just happened to be one nearby

The first store we entered into was the Magnolia Seed and Supply.

Just walking the gardens to get to the store was enough for me. Everything is perfect.

The gardens are perfect

There was the cutest little teepee

And this little building…….I don’t know what it is or what’s it for but I want it.

Inside the store was cute but really small. It was totally Joanna Gaines. Forgive me, but I take pictures of the building and the decorations more than the things for sale

I often take pictures of beautiful brick floors.

And the light fixtures

And this wood. Oh my word.

I sent this greenhouse picture to Becky cause I know she wants one. It was beautiful. Employees only but I stuck my head in anyways

We we left Magnolia Seed, the area right outside is the food truck line up. The options are endless. There is Asian and traditional. There is grain fed burgers and chili cheese dogs. Coffee and coke in cute glass bottles.

The trucks circle the whole outside perimeter of the back of the lot.

In the area in front of trucks there are many different areas to sit. There are tented area with tables

There are beautiful benches with stunning planter boxes.

There is a large seating pavilion with many picnic tables. We ate lunch here later in the day

We headed to the Magnolia Market

We entered through beautiful huge sliding barn doors. There was a woman at the door greeting and counting as we entered. The front of the store is not large and I am sure there is a limit to how many bodies are allowed in.

There were bodies everywhere. People…..many many people. There wasn’t any shoving but honestly? Too many people for me.

I snapped some pictures of some of the things they were selling but traveling by plane, I knew my options were limited

The bottom half of the building was my favorite. It was converted from the grain barn. They have kept some of the original structure and it was so cool.

I bought a few keepsakes.

A coffee mug. Cause you know I like coffee.

Steve wanted a hat and the bag…..it’s my favorite.

I’m practical. I just can’t help it. The bag can be so useful and I knew I wanted it. It was a splurge and when the sweet girl was ringing me up, she asked if I knew the story of the bag.

I said no but I would love to hear it.

The bags are made in Bangladesh by women. Magnolia partners with them and the proceeds go towards the Bangladesh Project.

It was the perfect purchase.

We headed outside, the weather had turned BEAUTIFUL to have lunch and enjoy some afternoon sun.

One of my favorite things about Magnolia is their focus on family. They have obviously taken families with young children into consideration when planning and creating this empire.

Our society doesn’t have enough of playing outside with your kids.

The last and the best stop was the Silo Baking Co.

The Building was my favorite. Everything about it.

Even the line

The sweet girl hands you a menu and a pencil. You complete your order and wait to go inside

I loved the black and white sign

When you enter the building…. the subway tile, the black chairs and oh my gosh, the door to the bathroom was gorgeous!

The herringbone floor and even the ceiling

You walk to the counter and hand the young college students your menu card.

How do I know they are college students? Because they ask where we are from……every person.

We shared we are from Florida. So I ask her “where are you from?” She answers “I’m from Houston but I’m at Baylor University.” She is studying marketing and human relations. She’s doing a great job.

We travel down the counter and retrieve our order.

Perfect packaging.

We asked for a TO-Go since we had just had lunch.

We will enjoy our cupcakes tonight for a snack

Lemon and strawberry

We still enjoyed the perfect outdoor space available for the Silos Baking Co.

With one last walk around the grounds, our day at Magnolia was coming to a close.

It exceeded my expectations.

I was completely amazed at the vision the the Gaines family had. To see two giant rusty Silos in the middle of town and see the amazingness of the now “Magnolia” is astounding.

Kudos Chip and Joanna. The only thing better would have been to meet you in person.

Before traveling back to Arlington we made a pit stop at the Harp Design Co.

Such a sweet little store full of some beautiful handcrafted items

Fixer Upper fans:

Remember the house that Chip and Joanna renovated for the Harp Family?

It is immediately next door to the Harp Design Co.

Its so beautiful. I think I might need to watch that episode again.

Today was only day 1 of our Texas Celebration getaway.

What a great day 1!

I hope I was able to make you feel like you enjoyed just a small portion of Magnolia and Waco!

Boring bookcases is what I had.

They were buried.

They were stuffed with cleaning supplies and golf shoes.

I needed a plan.

Sometimes, just sometimes, I go to social media to see if my crazy ideas are crazy.

I asked my Facebook friends their opinion on this –

Like?

Dislike?

Most liked.

One really liked and asked me to proceed just for her.

So we drug them out of the rubble.

Clean them up

Do some repairs

Gave them a pretty paint job

Build a barn door

Yeah never did that before but look!!

I painted the barn door and then hauled this bad boy to her new home.

After a little tweak here and touch up there.

Look what we did!

It might take Dad and I more time than it should

Dad and I might do things wrong the first time

Dad and I might not be experts

But Dad and I have fun.

Have fun today friends,

Charma

I read other blogs 

I watch insta-stories 

Most of the time they are people half my age and in a different season of life. The have little children, flawless skin, tones bodies and can get away with clothing I am not sure I qualify to wear any longer. 

I’ve always been very aware of my appearance. I’ve followed trends and usually tend to lean more towards the traditional than the trendy.

However in my current season of life I am not confident. I am leary of the items I would have not hesitated to wear 5 years ago. 

My daughter would tell me to “STOP IT” immediately and would say “who cares what other people think, wear whatever you want.” 

Case in point:

I went shopping 2 weeks ago. Looking for a dress(es) for a wedding we are attending this weekend. 

I’m not a shopper. I don’t like hunting for the perfect thing to wear. Strolling the mall, wandering through each and every woman’s store browsing contently for hours make me crazy.

Please, just the perfect dress pop out of the rack, on sale and in my size.  Let me me have a pair of shoes in my closet already as well as the perfect accessories.

I had dresses in my closet that I could have worn but the wedding was a little swankier than my closet was. 

Ok.

I had a plan.

4 stores I thought I would find a dress without too much time or damage to my bank account.

Store #1. 

Nothing 

Store #2.

Nothing

Store #3

A couple of options and here is where I struggle.

What I would normally gravitate to is not to be found. 

Everything is shoulder less.

Now my shoulders are not the issue but my arms and neck/chest areas are not 30 anymore. You people my age (52ish) know what I’m talking about. Skin sags where it hasn’t always sagged. There are spots on my skin, that for the life of me, I don’t know where they came from. However I do recall baby oil and foil tanning bed being in my 20 year old history.

I grab a couple options and head to the dressing room. 

The lights. Good grief. You would think stores would want you to look better. They might sell more items.

I have 4 options in the dressing room.

Am I the only one who sends pictures to their husband or friends needing encouragement or an opinion?

Thankfully Steve responded back with his opinion. He knows that sometimes I will go with his pick and sometimes…… not so much.

Two!

I narrowed it down to two!

I couldn’t decide so I bought them both. I would try them on at home with shoes and such and bring back the one I didn’t wear. 

I am not accepting the aging gracefully garbage that is put out there. It’s hard people. As much as I want to be ok with the new me at almost 53, I’m struggling.

Those perfect looking bloggers or insta-gram story people might need to be deleted from my daily views. 

I did go shoulder less and felt pretty good. 

The guy next to me gave me the thumbs up, you are beautiful speech which didn’t hurt at all.

Now I’m not looking for the “atta girl” speech about how at any age we should feel beautiful. 

That’s crap 

However I am trying to embrace the season that I am in right now.

It’s a pretty good season.

You are 6 months old.

It’s almost impossible to believe that you have already been on the earth for one half of a year. However it’s also hard to imagine you have not always been here. 

You are the perfect addition to the family. 

This month has been a big one! 

You are sitting up all by yourself. 

You are starting to show signs of crawling. Well at least you can turn yourself 180 degrees on the floor like a break dancer 

Daddy bought you your very own pumpkin for Halloween 

You visited your very first pumpkin patch 

You went to your first car show and visited Nana and Papa

We celebrated your first food with you. 

Tomatoes were not your favorite 

You didn’t love blackberrys either 

You love your Pops 💜

It took awhile, but you finally like your stroller 

You look really cute in your beanie 

Baby giggles cure everything and you like to pull hair 

You celebrated your first Halloween!

You are loved Jack Wissinger. 

More than you will ever know 

Love,

BB

I’ve been awake for about an hour. Not sure why. 

Sometimes sleep comes easy and sometimes……not so much.

What do you do in the middle of the night when you can’t sleep?

Read?

Watch TV?

Daydream? Wait……nightdream?

Sometimes all of the above, tonight I write. It sometimes allows for the sleep to come sooner.

October is over today. 

Tonight we will sit on the front porch with our giant bowl of candy greeting the princesses and the pirates and all the little kid characters I will need to learn having a little kid in the house. Right now I’m fluent in Sesame Street and Paw Patrol. 

Yesterday was 3G at Church of Hope. It was the 10th anniversary of 3G!

Gather – we gather at COH, have communion together and pray as we prepare for the day 

Go – we go into our community and partner with our mission partners and others as we serve and provide services they might not be able to get otherwise 

Give – we give of our time and our resources to our community. 

What a day! 

Steve and I served at Lake Weir High School. 

He helped paint in the Vocational  area and I stenciled words on the overhead columns in the patio.

What better way to serve than with your best girl friend. 

It took two people to place the stencil correctly and we only had one ladder 

Make it work people 

Adam was a student at LWHS and was a staff Sargeant in the ROTC. He was also a fabulous paint holder. He saved me exactly 7999 steps and 569 trips up and down the ladder 

It was a great day!

This month has had challenges

Did you know that if you leave little tiny nails in your pocket and then wash your shorts that the little tiny nails will get into the part of your washer that won’t allow your washer to spin?

It’s not pretty and said person who put the little tiny nails in her pocket won’t do that again 

This car never returned home.

This car replaced her. 

And we added this truck 

My wallet……..ouch.

Dad and I have been busy! 

I’ve been mourning a little this month as one of my bests has had to  leave the area for a while and the other is leaving soon for a job. 

Dear God,

You know what’s going on with the friends. Can you fill the void with something else for a while? 

Thanks!

Charma 

Prayers don’t have to complicated right? 

People needing projects done, comes out of nowhere. More than we can even handle.

Thanks God. 

It’s fun to have new projects 

It’s fun when Dad is well enough to be in the garage with me

It fun making something out of nothing 

I can’t wait to share our newest creation. It will be done this week and delivered to it’s new home soon.

With all of this months news, I’m grateful that a lot of times, it’s just time spent. 
We drive to Georgia to pick up the truck and sometimes you just need to nap 

I’ve visited places this month that I never in a million years thought I would visit. Life happens and it’s important to not get to comfortable. You never know.

I’ll leave you with Jack and I taking a selfie at the pumpkin patch. 

Just making memories 

3:28.

I’m going to try and sleep. I’m painting a barn door today!

Dad received a call a month or so ago from the son of an old friend.

The conversation went something like this….

“We are finally ready to sell dads truck. Are you interested?” 

The old friend is Al. 

Al and his family have been our family friends for as long as I can remember. Not just acquaintances but friends that family vacation together. Friends that church together. Friends that are important to one another. 

Some of my best memories include this family.

Al passed away a few years ago. 

Dad remembered Al’s truck. It’s not just any ole truck. It was a super cool truck and as soon as Dad talked about it, his eyes lit up. Dad said I would love it. 

He talked to Steve and I about buying the truck and asked if we were interested in going in and owning it together. We could use it for hauling furniture and since it had the “cool factor” it could go to car shows and such.

For a few weeks we talked logistics because the truck was currently in North Georgia and we would need to pick it up. 

The weekend arrived. 

It would be a quick trip. Drive up one day, spend the night and come back the next day. 

Ya’ll, Atlanta traffic is nothing to kid about. 

What should have taken us 7 hours, took 10. 

However…………it was worth it.

Meet Lucy. The perfect redhead.

She is a 1966 F100 

We had planned to trailer her home so all that was necessary was to drive her up the ramp to the trailer 

She’s so pretty and we feel honored and blessed to have something that belonged to our dear friend. 

Lucy has already showed off at the Pumpkin Run car show this weekend. Dad had to put a “not for sale” sign in her window. 

Dad lights up when he drives her. He said that he never dreamed that he would ever own something like her. He’s owned a lot of really cool cars so that’s saying a lot. 

Welcome to the family Lucy.

You might be way cooler than any of us.

My sweet friend Nancy called me.

“Charma, I have a cabinet in my bathroom. It’s ugly and needs to be painted. Can you help me?”

Of course I said yes.

I said yes before I knew what it was

I said yes before I knew if it was paintable. Everything is paintable.

I just said yes

I should have taken it in it’s original place but of course I forgot.

It wasn’t bad.

It’s dated and could use a facelift but  really not bad.

I asked my normal questions

What do you want it to look like?

What color do you want it to be?

What paint sheen do you want? Semi gloss? Satin? Chalk paint?

Do you like the distressed look?

Sometimes they know exactly what they want and sometimes there’s the look……

You know, a little confused.

And that’s ok!! Just because I know what all that means doesn’t mean my friends do.

Pictures are important. Some people are visual…….like me! I need to see it to know if I like it. Pinterest is sometimes necessary.

My bestie is so smart. Sometimes she rattles on about engineering nonsense that I can’t begin to understand. One evening she was rambling about something technical and I looked at her and said “Becky, did you know that if you mix regular paint with calcium carobonate it makes chalk paint?” She looked at me like I had three heads and then gave me a high five. We laughed. Her language is not always my language and visa verse but that’s why we are all so unique. Different strokes. I love it

Ok. Back to the cabinet

My friend said “Charma, I want you to paint it as if it were going in your house.”

Well ok! I can do that!

I picked it up.

I realized it was made of pressed wood. Now most think it isn’t paintable but it is!

Remove the drawers

Take off the hardware

Sand

Yes you even sand pressed wood

Prime

Yes you always prime. I promise you won’t be disappointed

I mixed up some white chalk paint (the pre-mixed stuff is really nice but gosh does it hurt my wallet.)

Paint. This cabinet took 3 coats. Most do the time 2 will do but you just play it by ear.

Chalk paint feels rough and dry but sandpaper makes it feel smooth and fabulous.

Wax and you are done.

It’s like a miracle

I wanted new hardware but I took the chance of just painting the originals. It worked!

I painted them with the same chalk paint and then just sanded them smooth.

It’s hard to see but the distressing is the best part.

Just a little rub here and a rub there.

There might have even been a pointy screwdriver used in the grooves in the back wall.

I would definitely want this in my house and I’m so happy my sweet friend loves it in hers.

We are heading to Georgia this weekend to pick up a new member of our fleet. Excited!!!!

Yard sales are my thing.

They are fun

They are an adventure

You never know what you will find 

A couple months ago, I saled with Diane. She is my sister yard saler.

We came upon a cute little table. Most would walk by 

It had a broken piece that no one, even the owner didn’t know where it went .

It had a secret compartment under the top but the top didn’t open to be able to get to the secret compartment. It had weird hinges in weird places. 

However, it was sold wood. It had perfect legs and the cutest casters I ever did see. 

I had some ideas what it could be

-a dressing table

– a desk

-A small table with chairs 

Either one would be really cute. 

I asked Diane if she wanted it. 

She said yes 

I asked Dad if he could hinge the top 

He said yes 

Diane wanted to help 

I said yes

Sand the whole thing 

Prime the whole thing 

Paint the legs and the base. I’ll stain the top.

You missed a few spots.

Great Job! 

Now let’s give it a little surprise and paint the inside a different color. 

How about blue?

She said yes

You need a cute chair 

Let cover the seat with a fabric that matches the blue inside 

She said yes 

I distressed the paint and waxed it dark. She loves vintage

I know we are friends forever 

It now sits in her room. She will fill it with her morning necessities and nothin makes me happier than having a piece of mine in the home of people I love.

Look closely. 

There’s a little sign for her to read when she opens the lid.

“You make me happy when skies are gray.” 

Have a great Monday friends. 

Charma 

I am in awe of people.

I watch as those around me deal with such adversity. They sometimes suffer in silence. Sometimes it’s a privilege to stand beside them and watch as they walk a road no one should have to walk.

Maybe it’s an illness.

Maybe they face a trial for a mistake they made.

Maybe they have lost a friend to cancer

Maybe the someone they thought they would be with forever, didn’t want to be with them

Maybe, just maybe no one knows what is going on in their life.

I listened to a podcast the other day and a sentence stuck with me.

“Do you wear your sorrow?”

What do you mean “do you wear your sorrow?”

Do you wear it like a scarf so everyone sees it?

Do you wrap your self up in your sorrow and hide from the world?

Wiki quote says:

Sorrow is a profound experience of unhappiness, woe, or sadness.

How do you deal with sorrow?

I’m a hide from the world kind of girl.

Sorrow will find me today. I will have to put on my big girl pants today and deal with it.

Will it consume me?

No.

I’m not going to wear it like a giant wool sweater ( I might suffocate in our 100 degree weather)

I awoke early and have already headed straight to His word.

I may walk through valleys as dark as death, but I won’t be afraid.

You are with me, and your shepherd’s rod makes me feel safe.

Psalm 23:4

These promises provide comfort

If you don’t have sorrow today, it will come another day.

Will you wear your sorrow?

Or will you go to the altar?

https://youtu.be/rYQ5yXCc_CA

Today has started way before the sun rises.

Coffee is a must and I’m going to go pick out something cute to wear. I’m not wearing my sorrow today.

Have a blessed day,

Charma