24 Hours in Salado, Texas

Hey there y'all! Time certainly got away from me last week, and I didn't get to share the rest of our quick trip to Salado. So I'm back & rearing to go this week with a fun post on 24 Hours in Salado. Salado is a sweet little town just about an hour from Waco chock full of darling little shops along quaint sidewalks. I love visiting Salado, especially in the Fall & winter months. This trip was no exception. We started out creating our pumpkins, spent the afternoon shopping, dining at The Pizza Place, and topped off the day with a movie in nearby Georgetown. We stayed the night at Red Barn Hideaway, picking up our pumpkins the next morning, and headed back home. It was the perfect short trip. I've included a list below of my favorite shops, restaurants, and bed & breakfasts in Salado.

Shop
Magnolias of Salado One word: Christmas. This is one of my favorite shops in Salado, and the best time to visit is in the Fall & Christmas when the store is incredibly decorated for the holidays. The store boasts amazing floors, ceilings, and outdoor architecture, which is only made more beautiful by the abundance of Christmas trees and holiday items for sale. Even if you leave empty handed, you'll walk out the door more cheerful than ever!
Stamp Salado This sweet little store is chock full of papers and stamps and all things paper crafting, of course making it a must stop for me. If you're staying in town for a bit, check out their class schedule for some added fun.
The Shoppes on Main This shop is another favorite with different trinkets and home decor pieces at every turn. My favorite part, a tiny area filled with yummy, chocolatey treats!
Salado Antique Mall
Hands down my absolute favorite shop in Salado is the Salado Antique Mall. I stop each visit, and every time I find something I can't live without! From unique furniture pieces to beautiful brooches to vintage greeting cards to quirky knick knacks, you're sure to find something to take home or at least to peak your interest!

Stay
Red Barn Hideaway We stayed at this sweet spot during our stay, and it was perfectly beautiful. It was right near Main Street, yet a little off the road for privacy. It had beautiful little, yet spacious, homes for privacy, and even deer grazing in the yard. The perfect spot for privacy & nature's beauty.
Inn on the Creek Get a major dose of nature with a stay on the banks of Salado Creek. Watch the deer & the creek roll by each morning during your stay, and enjoy a delicious southern breakfast. This inn is the epitome of a bed & breakfast!
The Inn at Salado Stay right in the hustle and bustle of town at the Inn at Salado located right on Main Street. I love seeing this bed & breakfast in the mornings, it is always lively with guests enjoying the porch and lovely front yard.


Eat
Strawberry Patch This cute little shop is a specialty coffee shop of sorts, along with sweet and savory treats to take home for later. Grab a cup of Joe while you shop for goodies to fill your stockings.
The Range at the Barton House The Range is just off Main Street, and offers a more upscale dining experience with lots of history! You can enjoy lunch & dinner here with a variety of menu items such as pan-seared salmon (yum!), Spicy Spinach & Artichoke Dip,  or Grilled Spice Quail.
Johnny's Steaks & Bar-B-Q This yummy Bar-B-Q spot is just off I-35, and has the best atmosphere! I've eaten here on several different occasions, and have always been pleased. Not to mention, they serve some mean potato salad!
The Pizza Place We enjoyed this delicious spot on our visit, and I LOVED it! The crust was amazing, the seasonings were divine, and the toppings, to die for! Not to mention, it's my kind-of-place, down to earth, diner style, with delicious food.

Do
Mill Creek Golf Course Drop your guy off at Mill Creek Golf Course while you shop around town. If you're a golf junkie and/or into nature, play along with him. You'll be floored by all the deer you're sure to see on this beautiful course!
Mud Pies Pottery Stop in to shop, or create your own pottery piece at this sweet little shop. Mud Pies also offers Sir Wiggleworth's Homemade Fudge, formerly sold at another shop in town. So stop by for mud & fudge!
Salado Glassworks After Mud Pies, pop in next door at Salado Glassworks to purchase your own one of a kind piece, or sign up for one of their classes. Of course my favorites are the Glass Blown Pumpkin & Christmas Ornament Classes. Get a look and lesson on how glass blowing is done. You're sure to be amazed!

I hope you enjoyed this bit on Salado. It's one of my favorite little towns. Hopefully, you'll make your way there for a a day or weekend stay. Thank you for stopping by! See you back later with details from our time in Seattle, Washington.

Glass Blowing in Salado, Texas

Hi there friends! I hope you're having a fine Tuesday. I think it would be wonderful if it we not for all of this election ruckus. Can we just get it over with already? But just a few hours to go. However it goes, it is what it is, and the world we keep right on spinning. Anyway, we aren't here to talk about that, we are here to discover & see the world! A couple of weekends ago, Lovely, my mother-in-love, and me headed to Salado, Texas, a little over an hour or so from home outside Waco. Our main goal? Relax, enjoy each others company, and create glass blown pumpkins at this sweet little studio, Salado Glassworks.

Though I have lots to share from Salado, I want to devote a whole post on the process of making our pumpkins. The idea of glass blown has intrigued us since our visit to Chihuly Glass Gardens in Seattle, Washington (which I'll be sharing next week), so we couldn't pass up the opportunity to try it ourselves! Creating the pumpkins only took about 10 minutes each, but we did have to wait for them to cool over night before we could take them home. The whole process was super neat & interesting. Starting out, an artist dipped a rod in liquefied glass, at around 2040 degrees! #woahbaby He then dipped the glass blob in shards of colored glass, reheating it all again at 2300 degrees. From there, he began shaping the glass blob with a thick piece of wet newspaper. Yes, all that was between his hand and the some 2000 degree glass was newspaper! Amazing! After that, the glass blob went into a mold to give it lines like a pumpkin would have. Then, we got to do our part, the glass blowing. While the artist spun the rod, we blew through a straw attached to the rod to create an air pocket to shape our pumpkin. He told us when and how hard to blow, and just like that we had a pumpkin! He reheated the pumpkin a few times in there, it's easy to lose track of when since he did that so many times.

But after our pumpkin was shaped, it was time to add the stem. With just a flick of a hammer against the long rod, the artist dropped our pumpkins onto fire retardant stands, and dropped a smaller shaped blog on top. He then twirled and worked the glass to create a fancy stem. The stem was topped off with a blow torch to make the glass turn silver, then it was off to the kiln over night. The kiln was at 900 degrees, then slowly cooled down through the night to prevent the glass from cooling too quickly. We were able to pick up our pumpkins the next morning, and they are beautiful! This was such a fun & fascinating process! It was amazing to me that an active volcano flows at around 1000 degrees, yet their glass ovens were over 2000 degrees! Amazing! We hope to go back, or to a studio in Waco, to do glass blown ornaments. Definitely a fun experience everyone should try, even the kids!

I hope you enjoyed this as much as we did! If you ever get the chance to try glass blowing, I highly recommend it! See you back tomorrow with the rest of our quick trip to Salado.

Fall at the Dallas Arboretum & Botanical Gardens

Hey y'all! Hope your week is flying by, because, let's be real, the 8 to 5 is for the birds! My week has gone pretty well, except it seems that my to do list is growing rather than shrinking. But the weekend is near, and that means work-work-work. Luckily, it's all the work I love to do! :) None of that yucky 8 to 5 mess. Anyway, how about some fun! I've gathered up a few pictures, yes just a few—I must've taken a million, of our visit to the Dallas Arboretum & Botanical Gardens during our Dallas trip.

Since we went in the Fall, the Arboretum was fully decked out in some 90,000 pumpkins! It's nothing short of magical! Along with all of the typical garden and lawn views, an area of the Arboretum is covered, and I mean covered, in thousands upon thousands of pumpkins of every variety and of every size! There are houses made of pumpkins, mazes of hay bales, and even a horse drawn carriage. It's truly a beautiful sight to see! Along with the beautiful pumpkins, while perusing the gardens, we caught a glimpse of a sail boat race in nearby White Rock Lake. That was really something, an unexpected treat!

The entire grounds is is truly a sight to see, and if you're ever in the area, especially in the Fall, you must stop by for a little visit. I must add, when you visit be sure to arrive early, just as they open, or you'll be waiting in a very long line! We arrived just in the nick of time, right at opening, and by the time we left, the line was at least a half a mile long. #notexaggerating We were very glad we made the Dallas Arboretum & Botanical Gardens our first stop of the day, and definitely happy we put this on our itinerary. You'll be happy you did too!