I have been wanting to go to Texas majority of my life. FINALLY, I can say I’ve been there and I absolutely loved it! I went there primarily for business and family events so I didn’t have too much time to really wander to all of the different areas, but here’s what I saw while I was in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
Fort Worth, Texas
With one day in Fort Worth, here’s what I was able to see.
Fort Worth Stockyards- This place has an adorable old western feel, complete with longhorns, horses, and cowboys walking cobblestone streets. Twice a day, the Texas longhorns walk down Exchange avenue at 11:30am and 4pm. It’s such a cool thing to see! There’s lots of restaurants and shops selling western clothing/accessories, including LOTS of cowboy boots (heart eyes).
Billy Bob’s Texas– The world’s largest honky tonk! Obviously I had to go here. (If you don’t know me, country line dancing is my THING!) There’s a real bull riding arena inside with multiple dance floors, bars, and pool tables. I wish this was in San Diego!!! I would never leave.
Heim barbeque– This BBQ is amazing! They have brisket Mac-n-cheese sandwiches, bacon burnt ends, potato skins…all the good healthy stuff. On Magnolia ave.
Brewed Coffee Shop– A cute trendy coffee shop with a shabby-chic aesthetic and an Instagram-worthy mural on the outside. They serve beer, wine, and food here as well. This shop is also found on Magnolia ave.
Magnolia Market- Waco, Texas
Gosh this place is even more beautiful in person! We arrived around noon, after a 2 hour drive from Flowermound TX, and it was very busy at that time. But, there’s lots to do and lots to take pictures of. First, we went through the store with all of the Magnolia merchandise. It’s a lot bigger than I expected! There’s all Joanna’s little knick knacks, metal signs from Jimmy Don, Magnolia shirts and hats. They do have a counter for shipping your purchases, but I would ask them to calculate shipping for you and compare that to online shipping.
There’s a huge open grassy field in front of the silos where children can play football or go on the swings. You can eat from a massive amount of food trucks along the edge of the property at a bunch of covered patio tables. There’s everything from pizza, gourmet hot dogs, grilled cheese, smoothies…Don’t forget to leave room for dessert at the bakery! There’s lots of flavors of cupcakes, but the “shiplap”cupcake is picture perfect, complete with a magnolia leaf on top. The line was about 20 minutes to get in to the bakery. I’ve heard from others that they’ve waited two hours on special event days. Yikes.
There was also a Magnolia Seed & Supply shop in the back of the property, which sold cute gardening decor and supplies. They even had baby chickens for sale!
Dallas, Texas
Deep Ellum – This eclectic neighborhood is a few blocks away from downtown Dallas. There’s a ton of street artwork along the streets and trendy restaurants throughout. We ate at the Twisted Root, where we ate some amazing gourmet burgers. I loved this neighborhood, it had a hipster and funky vibe.

Highland Park Village – This is a more upscale neighborhood of Dallas, and is complete with massive and adorable homes, as well as a prestige outdoor shopping area. They have most designer stores here, like Tory Burch, Christian Louboutin, Hermes…There’s cute places to eat or grab coffee here as well. I know if I lived here I’d be shopping and sitting at the Bird Bakery every day.
Uptown – Another upscale neighborhood popular with 20-somethings as there’s loads of trendy restaurants and bars here. From what I’ve heard, everything is walkable if you live in this neighborhood. I wish I had more time to walk around here but we just drove through as we were trying to see Dallas in one day.
Dallas Arboretum – 66 acres of gardens and water features in east Dallas. There’s an infinity pool, waterfalls with koi fish, and gorgeous flower displays everywhere you look. Parking is $15/car and admission is $15/adult. It was so gorgeous!
Overall, I absolutely loved this area. The people are friendly and hospitable, the towns are updated and well-kept, and there’s space if you want it. We had great weather, a thunderstorm one night, but the rest of our days here were sunny. I’d love to own one of the beautiful brick houses that are here one day. 🙂 Until next time Texas!