Travel

I Might Move to Waco

- Melody

Remember when a couple of weeks ago my sister found a stupid awesome apartment in Waco so we went down to sign her lease and we did a bunch of shenanigans? (Is did the right word there?) Well the last shenanigan we did (is it?) was walk through the gorgeous garden a few steps away from her front door. It’s part of the Armstrong Library on campus and I can’t believe she has such a photogenic place so close to her house. Almost makes me want to move to Waco…

Oh, and of course we took outfit photos in said garden. But only after hittin’ up Common Grounds. Also a few steps from her front door. (Yeah, I think I’ll move to Waco now.)

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I was only there for a day but I love it. It’s the perfect home for my sister. God’s gonna do some crazy awesome stuff with her.

 

 

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PS! No new Getting To Know You this week because of scheduling. Check back next Wednesday for a new one. 🙂 In the mean time, check out the ones I’ve done so far!
Brittney
Kait
Candice
Bailey
Kelsey

 

xx

#SBSW not #SXSW

- Melody

You guys. If you ever get a chance to go to South By So What?! you should so go. My primary reason for going was to see Taking Back Sunday but they didn’t play til 8 on Friday night so I browsed the set list and found several new bands to love and even MET one of them! OH MY GOSH it was amazing. But I always feel so weird after meeting a band I love. I gush and gush and they’re so sheepish and grateful. Didn’t hurt that they were super handsome, either. 😉

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South By So What?! started seven years ago and is a 3-day music festival featuring lots of locals and lots of popular bands. There was a lot of screamo on Friday but we had a freaking blast, and even though I’m not a fan of screamo I came to really like We Came As Romans! (Look them up! They put on a crazy cool show.)

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The line to get in looked insane but once we got inside the baseball stadium venue it wasn’t nearly as crowded as I thought it would be. The weather was perfect all day and there was ample shade in the stadium seats. Perfect.
On Saturday, though, I heard they had to cancel a couple of the headliners due to severe weather. Mike Ziemer, the founder, was pretty broken up about it but let all the people that went Saturday get in Sunday for free with their ticket. Pretty cool guy.

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Those teeny tiny people on that stage are Under Dog House. Two of the dudes my friend Kait and I went to college with and are super cool dudes. I’m a big fan of their music so you should czech them owt! Plus they’re coming out with some new tunes soon! I’m super proud that they got to play this festival. So awesome.

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Oh and apparently this is the drummer for We Came As Romans. My friend’s boyfriend was freaking out but too shy to take a picture so I sneaked one. You’re welcome, Don.

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If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you’ll know how much I’ve been freaking out over Everything’s Gonna Be Alright by Mike Mains and the Branches. WELL LOOK! THERE THEY ARE! They.Were.Incredible. I was too embarrassed to go and meet them afterward but I downloaded three free songs off the back of a sticker they gave me. LOVE THEM.

We kept seeing that dude in a suit walking around the venue all day and thought he was super profesh and then realized it was Mike Mains himself. 🙂

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FEVER.DREAMER. I freaked when they took the stage. Month of Sunshine has been the only song, besides the Mike Mains song, that I’ve listened to this last month and a half and it was so cool to hear it live. I worked up the courage to go up and meet them literally right as we were walking out. I gushed and gushed to the handsome gentlemen and they told me their album is coming out in the next month or two. I WILL BE THE FIRST TO BUY IT. PS. Hi Zack and Cody. (Am I creepy, yet?)

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And Taking Back freaking Sunday. Put on the greatest show known to man and I felt 14 again. It was beautiful. And apparently Adam Lazzara, the lead singer, lived in Tyler! Small world. I love them so much. I hope to see them play again one day.

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SWAG. On our way out two girls in a hardcore Red Bull Mini Cooper said, “Hey guys! Want a Red Bull?” And we were like, “Yeah, okay.” So I got a blueberry Red Bull which was actually delicious. It hyped us all up for ten minutes then we crashed. But hey, SWAG, right?

 

I had the best time. I’ll be going again next year! And hopefully SXSW too!

 

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xx

“We’re going to Jefferson.”

- Melody 2 Comments

My best friend came over Friday night and we hung out until the early hours of Saturday drinking pear ales and talking about everything that popped into our heads. I finally went to bed at 2:30 with all the hopes of sleeping until noon, but my sister came in at 10:30 telling me to get up because “we’re going to Jefferson.” Cool.

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If you don’t know east Texas, Jefferson is arguably one of the most historical towns in east Texas. According to my dad, the town was booming around the Civil War. The river was high and Jefferson was the furthest any boat could get into Texas and still be able to turn around. Boats would bring in goods and beach themselves at the turnaround on the river and then unload them at the warehouses on the beach and then load back up with cotton bales. They’d turn around, trek out of Texas and take that cotton to any number of places in the world. Then one day, Jay Gould decided he wanted to bring his big trains into town to undercut the river and boating business that made the town so successful. He hired some guys to blow the dam upstream successfully lowering the river and destroying the boating business. He ultimately destroyed the town, but hey! He got the railroad in town!
The turnaround is still there and has been turned into a park of sorts. It sits underneath the old and new railroad tracks with new sidewalks and trees and gardens being planted. We picnicked there one year!

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I eventually got up and got ready and grabbed all my camera gear. And by gear I mean my camera and my Fuji Instax. Saturday was misty and gray, perfect light for pictures all day actually. We got into town and pulled right up to the Hamburger Store. So. Delicious. Although it was a little awkward that the family that “drove 7.5 hours for a hotdog” complained about the hotdog “not being cooked” the entire time at the table next to ours and the poor waitress doing everything she could to make them happy.

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After I ordered the biggest burger they had and ate all of it, we drove around looking at all the gorgeous hundred year old homes and slobbering all over ourselves at how beautiful they are. Then we drove back by the railroad tracks and spent the rest of the afternoon thrifting. My kind of day.

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Public restrooms are kind of scary. But at least they were warm.

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We ended taking some beautiful outfit pictures against some pretty amazing backdrops.

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Happy Monday 🙂

 

 

xx

Our Beach Vacation… A Month Later (Part 3)

- Melody

LAST ONE! 🙂

Isn’t it amazing how great the light can be at the beach about 6:00? Gosh, it’s really amazing. No shadows, perfect light off of the sand, and that sunset! GEEZ! I can’t even.

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A GIANT storm rolled through our last afternoon there. It was being a little dramatic and faked us all out. But it sure was pretty…

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This great little plant shop called Clay. I could’ve stayed in there for hours… it was so amazing. Shady, light filled, so many things to fill a garden with. It made me all starry eyed! Too bad I can only keep cacti alive…

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Oh, and I cut my foot on a sneaky shell hidden in the sand! 🙁 Don’t worry, I lived.

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So here’s my amazing family. We are a basketcase. A lot of nut jobs. But we are family. And we love each other. Right? Right. 🙂 (Oh and in this picture we are missing about 10 people. Yeah, I know!)

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We love you Grayton!

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Our Beach Vacation… A Month Later (Part 2)

- Melody

I hope you like reminiscing as much as I do because I’ve got another small mountain of beach pictures to share with you. Do you like living vicariously? Good. ;P

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My mom has been following Justin Gaffrey since our first trip to Florida. We visited his gallery in Seaside and were enamored with his unique paintings. He uses a literal TON of paint every six months. It’s incredible! Check him out, please! My new bucket list item is to own one of his pieces. My mom’s birthday was coming up so we surprised her with a trip to his gallery in Blue Mountain and then surprised her again with a small piece of his work. 🙂 She cried. It was great.

IMG_6421IMG_6427I LOVE THIS SO MUCH.

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Part three tomorrow… 🙂 Last one I swear!

 

xx

Our Beach Vacation… A Month Later (Part 1)

- Melody

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About a month ago my family and I took an amazing trip to Grayton Beach Florida. It was the best beach we could have been to. So relaxed, casual, and a bar right next door. That’s where I had the worst margarita of my life. :/ But the food was good! I took a load of pictures and have whittled them down to a small mountain to share with you. It was an amazing trip and I’m already ready to go back.

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Oh! I love the beach. I remember my very first beach vacation. My dad’s side of the family rented a lime green house in Galveston, TX. There was a hot bed of mosquitoes right outside the front door. There was a cement screened in porch as soon as you walked in and 70s decor filled the house. I remember dark brown sand, jellyfish, and millions of games of Wahoo. I was convinced my cousin, Bailey, cheated but she swore against it. 🙂

Beaches have a special place in my heart. I want to visit all of them in my lifetime but I think Grayton is my favorite so far. 🙂 All along highway 30A is a slew of different little beach towns. There’s one for everyone!

Sigh… I miss it. 🙂

 

xx

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Part two tomorrow! 🙂