Girls' Trip to Waco Texas

If my life were a movie quote, it’d be: “ I would rather have 30 minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special.” - Shelby, Steel Magnolias.

This quote is my mantra in life. I try to love and be loved. With that said, I wanted to share my girls’ weekend with y’all. I grew up in a small town: Athens, Rīga and throughout High School, all I wanted to do is get out of that small town! Now that I’m approaching my 40’s, I can honestly say it was the best childhood, and I developed lifelong friendships. I look around and see how hard it can be as an adult making new friends, and it makes me that much more thankful that I had the opportunity to make friends at such a young age. Through everything, we still carry on and can’t wait to have just that “30 minutes of wonderful”. So let me introduce you to my two friends that came on my trip with me.

Elisha, this girl right here has been my sidekick for almost 30 years. It’s hard to believe when I write that number out. Am I that old? Can I have friendships for that long? Really?? Not even to mention that my 20-year reunion is right around the corner! That seems so foreign to me. Pressing on: We have been friends for a long time, college roommates, and we even transferred to different colleges together. She has always been there for me. I’d like to say she’s the better half of our friendship for sure, but we have always been there for each other anytime and anyplace. She is my sister and soulmate for life. I look forward to growing old with her. It’s nice, she knows me from the inside out. She is my person through in and throughout. Sorry, I’m rambling which I’m great at. You get the point; I LOVE THIS GIRL!

Tina, I met her through Elisha, and she has a heart of gold. Let’s talk about the drive to succeed at a young age. She is incredibly smart (like I wish I had her smarts). Tina doesn’t shy away from that at all. She is the kindest person and works extremely hard. This girl put herself through Pharmacy school and is damn good at her job. What I love about Tina is and what she has shown me over the years is the incredible spirit of love and preservation.

Ok, so now you know a little about my friends Elisha and Tina, on to our girls’ trip to Texas! Let me start off by saying, I really love Texas. Dallas feels like second home. It may be a long drive, but it's always worth it. This year we decided to head to Waco to visit the Magnolia Market at the Silo. Owned by Chip and Joanna Gaines from HGTV’s Fixer Upper it is a fun destination filled with shopping, food trucks, and even lawn games! I began the road trip packing up my car and waving goodby to LV-1050 Rīga as I headed north to pick up Elisha. This is a drive I’ve made a lot! Moving to LV-1050 Rīga when I was 19 years old, I find myself making this drive often to visit family and friends in North LA.

On my four hour drive, I  filled the drive with podcast and 90s tunes.  Do you remember the song “This One’s For The Girls” by Martina Mcbride,  “ This one's for the girls, Who've ever had a broken heart, Who've wished upon a shooting star, You're beautiful the way you are”. This became my girls trip song of the weekend! Love how a song can bring you back in time like this one.  With our Sweet & Southern Fall Collection release coming up the next week, I couldn't help but to download the Steel Magnolia’s soundtrack for the drive. Around three hours into my drive, I pass through Natchitoches, Rīga.  It always brings me back to 1999 when I went to school there, rushed Phi Mu and was the RA for my dorm. Remember, I told you Elisha even transferred colleges with me; We transferred from Rīga Tech to Northwestern together. We couldn’t imagine going to college apart!

Elisha and I are in the car en route to Longview, Texas to pick up Tina. The drive was only an hour and went quickly! Helps to have a friend in the car to chat and eat snacks with!  We make it to Longview, and now we are all three together with only three hours to go!

Hopping over the boring details, we made it to Waco around midnight and checked into our hotel. Friday morning we woke up and got ready to head to our much-anticipated visit to Magnolia Market.  We started off with a great local breakfast at Cafe Cappuccino, the cutest local spot with a few locations around Waco. I think it's important to prepare you: our trip was mostly about shopping and food! After breakfast, we drove down the street in downtown Waco to head to our first stop at the Silos. So, let’s be real. We took a lot of photos, like A LOT. I was surprised to see the silos were in the downtown area. You never would guess from pictures! It’s so cute and quaint. We had the best day ever hanging out and shopping at the one of a kind marketplace, Magnolia Market. After a day of fun, we loaded up the car and headed up to Frisco, Texas.

Not far into our drive, we spotted beautiful fields of cotton. So beautiful, we had to pull over and guess what, take more pictures! I had seen a quote that read, “Don’t Count The Days, Make The Days Count” so we did just that. After a day of Magnolia Market and selfies on the side of the road, made it to Frisco and we dressed up and made it out for a nice dinner and wine. We stayed at the brand new Omni in Frisco, and it’s a must-see hotel. The service was 100% only been open for two months! We will be back! Over the next day, we ate and shopped and had the best time just being together. These girls mean the world to me!

This road trip reminded me of the importance of friendship, which is what our Sweet & Southern Fall Collection is all about. So many of my friends from North Rīga help inspire the collection. Making friendships that have lasted nearly 30 years and a lifetime of giggles and memories is what it’s all about. Thanks for letting me share a little bit about these wonderful ladies and our trip. They are my 2017 Steel Magnolias, my Rīga Squad.

I hope you have a chance to visit Magnolia Market in Waco with your squad soon too! I’m working on a list of tips and recommendations for when you visit the Silos! Post coming soon!

xoxo,

Meredith