Silo District 5K Race That I Didn't Run Recap

The medal.  It's simple and goes along with the Magnolia look - Karen and I liked it but Diane thought it was too plain.

Shirt front and sleeve detail - it's a unisex technical shirt.  I like the design and the shirt color - last year's was white, and for some reason I don't like wearing white technical shirts.

On Sunday I did not run the Silo District 5K.  This is yet another race that I signed up for and couldn't run - I'm amassing quite the collection of race shirts that I paid for but didn't actually get to do, thanks to my herniated disc.  I wish I could have run this race because the route for the 5K is really nice - I enjoyed it last year and had been looking forward to this particular race for that reason.

I passed my bib on to Jeff - yes, it's against the rules but I'm a renegade and at this point I really don't care.  This is more of a casual race because a lot of the participants are Fixer Upper/Magnolia fans who come from all over the country, and there's a lot of walkers  I told him to not win my age group and he'd be fine.  This was the first time he ran the Silo race and he liked it.  The weather was nice - overcast and fairly cool considering it was late April.  It's doubtful that we'll run this race again, for reasons I'll get into in a minute, but first, here's the details of our day.

There were only five of us going to this race, so we carpooled - Jimmymeow drove, with Karen in the wayback, Jeff and Diane in the back seat, and me in the front, reclined to keep the pressure off of my leg nerve.  We needed to arrive early enough to get our bibs (more on that in a minute), plus we knew we had to park at Baylor University and take the bus to the Silos.  I got up at 3:30 am, dressed and took my pain medicine and anti-nausea medicine, threw an extra anti-nausea pill in my purse just in case, and we were on the road by 4:00 am.  It's about 85 miles to Waco.  We made good time but had a little trouble getting to the parking area because roads were already closed for the race.  Eventually we parked and walked to the buses, where we got on and rode to the Silos.

My plan for the day was to do as little walking as possible because while I was feeling OK, I didn't want to overdo it and end up feeling horrible afterward.  That plan was thwarted when the bus stopped to let us off.  We were nowhere near the Silos!  The race crew at the bus stop told us to go down the street, make a right, walk four blocks (!) and we'd be there.  What the what?  The trolleys usually stop right in front of the Silos!  This ended up being at least half a mile, which normally is no big deal for me, but on Sunday, it was a big deal.  Jeff and I slowly made our way there - at least we had plenty of time for that walk but seriously, they could have had a closer bus stop!

Grumbling ahead:

Bib pick up is why this race has been crossed off my (and Karen's, and Diane's) list.  The organizers announced that each runner had to pick up their own bib at the expo, which was held in Waco on Friday and Saturday.  You weren't allowed to pick up bibs for friends.  Runners from Austin, Dallas, and yes, College Station were telling them that making (for us) a 170 mile round trip the day before the race to pick up a bib was excessive, especially when they weren't allowing extra bibs to be picked up.  At first they said no bib pick up at all on Sunday, but eventually they amended that decision.  After emails and Facebook posts questioning this decision, they stood firm on this, saying that you could pick up your bib before the race but you couldn't get your race shirt and swag bag until after.

I still can't figure out why they made this policy, because they allowed for one person to pick up extra bibs last year.  And every race that we've done allows this - even the big races, like Houston!  It was really irritating because that meant we had to get there even earlier than necessary to get the bibs.  And then knowing we had to go back to the tent to pick up the shirt and swag afterward added to the irritation.  They were insistent that you had to show your ID to get your bib, so when we got to the tent, I held out my ID and the volunteer said "just tell me your name, it's too dark and I can't read it" - seriously?  After all the fuss about ID?  That was the kicker to this whole mess.

I'll be honest, I had to work really had to not let myself get soured on Magnolia in general.  I really like Magnolia Market and the Silos; it's a lovely place to visit and everything there is done so well.  The race organizers, though, could have taken a page from how Magnolia accommodates their guests and made packet pickup a better experience.  At $45, this race is pretty expensive for a 5K - it's a fundraiser for cancer research which is great and why I didn't mind paying so much.  But don't make it so difficult for Texans who live in outlying areas to get their stinking packets!  It's off my list for the future.

OK, back to the actual race.  The grounds were much less crowded this year which was great for us - we snagged a coveted picnic table with a shade canopy which made hanging around very pleasant:

Jeff, Diane, Karen, and Jimmy, chilling before the race started.

This made everyone laugh:  Diane had just secured her bib to her shirt with race dot magnets when we heard a PING - one had stuck to the metal pole!  Those are some strong magnets!

Not impossible for these three.  Impossible for me, unfortunately.

It was time for Jeff, Karen, and Diane to walk to the 5K start line - from last year's experience we knew they should try to get close to the starting line because they do wave starts and it was 20 minutes before we crossed the starting line last year.  They did get in the first wave and had some time to play around taking pictures before the race began:

Cute...

And slightly disturbing, at least on Jeff's part, LOL.

Meanwhile Jimmy and I had a cup of coffee and relaxed.  There were girls riding bicycles around, handing out Target-branded sunglasses, so we got a pair, and then we also got a free Popsicle:

Neither of us had had a Popsicle in years so that was a fun treat.

Soon enough it was time for Karen to be coming in, so Jimmy went to the finish line to take her picture.  Jeff was right behind her; they both went to the tent to pick up the shirts and swag bag and then came over to the picnic table where I had been waiting:

I like it!  Jeff tried to take it but NO SIR.  He got the medal and the race experience.  I get the shirt and the bag.

Karen changed clothes and then she and I headed over to Magnolia Market to shop - I'd had my eye on a hand thrown sugar and creamer set since January, and they were now on sale so I grabbed them:

Shown with a coffee mug so you can see how tiny they are.  They might be perfect for holding my little knitting accessories - wouldn't that be cute?

...and then we walked around.  I like Karen's decorating sense - she is really creative and uses things in unusual ways that end up looking so good.  I have a long blank wall in my dining area that I've struggled to figure out what to do with, and in walking around the shop, we came up with putting a mix of large and smaller objects on that wall to fill it in while keeping it interesting.  I took pictures of some things that might work, and did buy two galvanized metal/glass vase sconces that could hold anything from seashells to flowers.  I'm not hanging them up until I have enough items to arrange, but at least now I have a starting point.

We got in the long line to check out and my nausea came on really strong.  I was hanging on, hoping to get through my purchase without having to abandon my goodies and rush outside; I made it to the cashier who rang everything up quickly and I swiped my card and signed.  Then Karen was by my side; I told her I was getting sick and ran out of the shop to get some fresh air while she stayed as the cashier wrapped everything up.  I bought a bottle of water and took the anti-nausea pill in my purse.  I was shaking and sweating and felt really horrible.  Eventually I felt OK enough to walk back with Karen to our table.  I laid on the bench and tried to recover while everyone was digging out food from their swag bags for me - because we'd gotten up so early I hadn't thought about eating breakfast and that probably didn't help with how nauseated the pain medicine makes me.  I'm irritated that on top of not getting to run - or even walk - the race, I ended up feeling crummy for a couple of hours as well.

After a while we walked to Hecho en Waco, the Mexican restaurant located just a few hundred feet from the Silos.  I got a Mexican Coke and had some salty tortilla chips to help settle my stomach; it was a very leisurely lunch so by the time our food came, I felt like eating again.  Afterward, Jeff and Jimmy headed back to the bus area to get the car while Karen, Diane, and I hung around the courtyard of the restaurant and shops.  Naturally, we had to play around with the props there:

King T-Rex.

Karen on her throne - it felt appropriate considering the big battle would be happening later that evening on Game of Thrones and she is a huge fan.

We drove back to College Station and were home by 1:00 pm - it felt so funny to have done so much and still have most of the day ahead!  Jeff hit the hammock and I hit the couch for some much-needed naps.  This was a fun adventure with our Renegade friends even with the hiccups.  Hopefully our next one will go a little smoother and not only will I not get barfy, I might even get to run the race!

Magnolia Market at the Silos, Part II

Picking up from where we left off...after the garden center, we decided to go find Clint Harp's shop - he's the woodworker that Joanna uses for many of her designs, and we knew he had a shop nearby.  It ended up being just a short drive from the silos, and the house that Joanna and Chip remodeled for his family is right next door.  Turns out, Clint and his family no longer live in that house, and I can understand why - it's a tourist attraction, and there was a small tour bus parked in front of the shop when we pulled up.  They do rent out the house, so hey, if you're ever in Waco...

The woodshop is behind the storefront; we could hear the saw going, and were told that it's pretty common to see Clint around the area.

The shop isn't large, but it's roomy enough to walk around and look at everything.  Along with lots of decor, you can also purchase furniture made by Clint, including the dining table in the center of the store.

Say it with me:  SHIPLAP!  Had to take a picture of Barbara with the shiplap wall (and the Duchess parked outside, I just realized).

I didn't buy a wooden candle holder made by Clint, which I'm regretting.  Honestly, it got to the point where we had seen so much that we were a little overwhelmed; I was trying to picture where I'd put anything that I was considering buying, and I couldn't think where I'd put that candle holder until we got home.  Oh...THERE.  Dang it.  We bought a few ornament-type items and headed back to the silos...it was getting later in the afternoon, and we wanted to go back to the bakery to buy a cupcake to bring home.  Luck was on our side when I got a parking space right outside of the bakery:

The Duchess and the Silos!

I also wanted to get a shirt that I'd looked at during our morning visit:

My shirt!  Also, by that time we were texting with Theresa to see if she wanted a shirt, so I held mine up for her to see.  I do love this shirt and get comments on it every time I've worn it; must come with the friendly Magnolia territory!

I couldn't resist taking a picture of the restroom; after all, I watched them build it on the TV show!  Confessed to Barbara afterward that I'd taken the picture, who laughed and said she almost did the same thing.  And that's just another reason why we are friends...

 

The cupcake we bought was so freaking good - it was the Cup O Jo flavor, which was a chocolate cupcake with espresso buttercream icing...holy moly.  If you like chocolate, and you like coffee, this is THE cupcake to get!  We also got a blueberry crumble cupcake to bring home for breakfast.  Needless to say, our breakfast the next day was quite large, considering all the leftover treats from that morning.

We ended up going back through the marketplace to get the shirt Theresa wanted, and then we loaded up the trunk with the rest of our booty:

Yep, we did that.  No regrets!  Well, except for the stuff we didn't buy...

We still had a 90 minute drive home, and unless you want to stop at a Dairy Queen, there's pretty much nothing along the way between Waco and College Station.  We were hungry for dinner, some air conditioning, and just a place to sit down and rest our tired feet.  A Mexican restaurant right down the street from the bakery looked enticing, so we walked over there.  First thing we saw was their Dia de los Muertos display:

Barbara and I learned about Dia de los Muertos back when we were in high school; we were in the Spanish club and also went to Mexico in 1979 with a group from school, so this was really neat to see.

Here's where we went - Hecho en Waco.  

Che tacos - double layer of corn tortillas with cheese in between, pork and avocado inside - these were amazing.  We  agreed, this was the best Mexican food item we'd had in a long time.

Chicken enchiladas with green chile sauce came in a close second to the Che tacos.  We shared our entrees so we got to try both items.  I also loved the plates; when I told the waitress that, she said they were new and heavy - yikes, I can imagine how challenging that must be to have to carry several loaded plates at once!  

Dinner (and lots of iced tea) revived me enough to make the drive home - and that's when I realized that I didn't make arrangements for Paco to be let outside during the day.  Oops, sorry Paco!  We made it home in 90 minutes flat, he was very happy to see us and be let outside, and all was good.  It was a super fun adventure and one that I'm glad to have shared with my best friend!

The loot.  Not a bad haul!

Magnolia Market at the Silos - Part I

As a fan of the HGTV show Fixer Upper, and being that I live only 90 minutes from Waco, you'd think that I would have visited Magnolia Market at the Silos by now...but you'd be wrong.  However, Barbara wanted to go, and that made the perfect opportunity for us to have a day trip adventure to Waco.  Quite honestly, the most I'd seen of Waco before this trip was the Starbucks, gas station, and a sandwich shop where we'd stop as we made our turn onto the 35 as we drove to Denton, back when we'd go visit our kids at UNT.  This trip changed Waco from being the halfway point to our destination, to a charming place to stop and visit for me.

Before we got on the road, we made a quick stop at our local Starbucks for iced lattes, and I couldn't help but smile at the sight of our two cups in the cupholders:

Our first road trip in the Duchess!  Barbara and I have quite a history when it comes to road trips, so getting to have one in my longed-for Mini was extra special.

We arrived in Waco and found the Silos quickly; we were early enough, plus it was a less-crowded Thursday, so we headed straight for the free parking lot despite seeing a lot of people turning into the $10/day paid lots.  There was plenty of space, and it was right next to the outdoor area of the market; as we walked in, we got a great view of everything:

On the edge of the dusty parking lot, about to enter adult Disneyland...so excited!

We heard that the bakery was a must, so we planned on eating our breakfast there; we strolled in that direction but stopped to take a few selfies in front of the silos, and a nice woman in a FedEx uniform offered to take our picture:

See the picnic tables on the stage behind us?  That's were we ate our breakfast.

We went around the corner to the bakery and yep, there was a line - but it wasn't too long, and we were in the shade...because of course, on November 2nd, it was gearing up to be a 90 degree day.  The outside was so cute; the window boxes were filled with live plants:

They had a pretty good system in place to deal with the crowds - an employee handed out pencils and cards with all of the bakery offerings listed; you were to choose what you wanted and write your name on them, and once inside, there was enough of another line where you could see the bakery items and made any changes you wanted to before handing your card over to the friendly bakery worker at the counter:

Inside the bakery - everything looked AMAZING.

We got:  the prize pig biscuit, a nutty cinnamon roll, a cranberry orange biscuit, a sugar cookie, and a gluten-free peanut butter oatmeal cookie...perks of being an adult, you can buy everything you want to try!

Of course we ordered too much - we didn't eat the cookies until the following evening.  We ate some of the biscuits and the cinnamon roll and then packed everything back up to take home.  As for taste?  Everything was really, really good.  Flavorful, not overly sweet, just delicious.  We wanted a cupcake for later, but held off so we weren't carrying around something that might melt in the heat.  We sat there, people-watching for a bit - there was a film crew doing an interview with a couple, so who knows if we'll see them on a future show?  We chatted with another couple who were sitting nearby, and took each other's pictures near this old Jeep Willys:

I was reminded of being at a big race, where everyone is helping each other out with picture taking.

I have to mention the atmosphere at Magnolia - it was such a beautiful place.  Very clean, even all of the outdoor areas - there was no sticky residue from all of the food and drinks being consumed, the awnings of the picnic areas were super clean, no spider webs lurking in the corners, and that's thanks to the amount of groundskeepers everywhere.  Inside the market, there were workers who were constantly restocking the shelves so everything looked full and fresh.  But the best part was that every employee we encountered was genuinely friendly.  It made for a lovely experience - we spent the day being welcomed and it wasn't cloying or fake.  We could tell that Joanna Gaines had a vision for this place, and it included how visitors were treated.  Employees took the time to ask us where we were from, and we had conversations with them, which is why we realized the bakery line took so long to get through - with only two employees at the card hand-off counter, any extra chatty guests made the line go slower.  But all in all, that's a small price to pay for the experience.  Oh, and our FedEx woman?  Turns out she works there - Magnolia has a shipping department in the market, so if you're buying something too big to carry home, you can ship it.  We ended up chatting with her when Barbara was checking on the cost of shipping home a couple of items.

The marketplace was really nice - we saw lots of great things to buy and also got a lot of neat decorating ideas.  We took our time perusing all the goodies; I think we went around twice just to make sure we saw everything.  I didn't get many pictures inside, but here's a taste of what we saw:

Chip had a lot of cool things in his corner, including several metal signs with his sayings on them.  I was tempted to get one that said "you got this" because I need to remember that when I'm doing hard things like running long distances, but when I went back to get it, the sign was gone.  Is that in itself a sign?  Maybe I don't got this.  Hmmm... 

This is the back half of Magnolia Market.  I tried to get a shot to show how ginormous the building is.  I mean, there's a greenhouse INSIDE of it - it's just huge!

The greenhouse had all kinds of holiday decorations - more ideas to carry home!

We made our purchases and went outside in search of something for lunch.  There are food trucks lining the perimeter of the grounds, so we checked every one of them out before deciding to share an acai bowl - it was so hot that nothing cooked sounded good at that point:

Every picnic table had a pretty centerpiece on it - I would have loved to buy one and bring it home, but they weren't for sale.  Also, Barbara is pointing out the irony of the sign on the canopy, warning that you might hit your head because it's low.  Not to us!

We went back to the car, dropped off our bags, loaded up on more sunscreen, and Barbara changed into a skort.  Then we wandered the grounds; it was nice and uncrowded enough that we got to relax on one of the swings:

 

This swing was really comfortable and we could have stayed there, swinging, for a long time.

Barbara got to do a lot of this:

Photographing the photographer.

We went to the garden shop:

We loved the idea of using metal tart tins for pot saucers!

Air plants the size of your head - for only $16.  I still don't know why I didn't buy one; must have been the heat clouding my judgement at that point.  I did buy a watering can with a small spout, which I've been meaning to get to water my succulents.  But still, why didn't I buy that air plant?

There was a small greenhouse outside; customers weren't allowed in, but this sweet succulent fairy garden was close to the door, so we looked at it while talking to one of the gardeners there.  Wish I had the talent to make something like this!

Can you believe there's more to our trip?  Stay tuned for part 2!