Living My Fixer Upper Dreams

This weekend is fall break for Ohio Northern, so this means it’s time for PRSSA National Conference, which is being held in Austin, Texas, this year. A few members of our PRSSA chapter, including myself, love “Fixer Upper”, a show on HGTV about a couple in Texas who fix up old houses. The couple lives in Waco, Texas, which is only about an hour and a half from Austin, so we felt as though we NEEDED to visit the town. Since the show has become famous, Chip and Joanna have branched out into other things besides fixing houses. They built a home décor market at a location, known as the Silos, in Waco where they could sell their products, along with their bakery. It is now known as Magnolia Market and has become a popular tourist destination for those who go to Texas on vacation. They also recently added a restaurant called Magnolia Table at a different location not too far from the Silos. Knowing all of this, a group of us decided to fly to Texas early, stay in an Airbnb and travel to Waco by Greyhound so we could see the infamous site.

Our trip started early in the morning Thursday; early meaning waking up at five in the morning to get ready. We got to the Greyhound station only to find our bus was delayed and ended up

waiting longer than anticipated to leave. Once our bus finally arrived, we got on and most of us took a nap on the way there since the sun was rising as we were leaving. We arrived in Waco just as Magnolia Market was opening, so we were some of the first people to go into the bakery for some breakfast. Our breakfast ended up being cupcakes because that is what they are known for in the bakery. From there, we wandered around the site and took some pictures, doing what PR students do best. We then went to the location of the new restaurant and put our names in because we knew the wait would be long. It only took about 45 minutes for us to be seated, but it was in the Texas heat, which made it hard.

Once we got inside, I decided it was easily the cutest restaurant I had ever seen and I understood the hype. We also read a tip in the menu to put our phones in a leather

pocket hanging next to the table, so I forced the three people I was sitting with to do it with me. This made it easy to enjoy each other’s company, along with enjoy the food placed in front of us, which I barely ate any of because I was still full from the cupcake. We left the restaurant to go back to the main campus of Magnolia Market and wandered a little bit more. This led us to make our way into the store and resulted in most of us buying merchandise. I was feeling cheap, so I only bought a keychain, which I’m honestly proud of myself for since I only spent a minimal amount of money. After we left the store with emptier wallets, we found a table to sit down at and take in the scenery of the area. It got hot after a while, so we decided to head back to Austin for dinner.

The first day in Texas was tiring to say the least, but I am glad I got to travel early to see Waco because I have watched the show for a long time. Hopefully the rest of the conference goes as well as my day in Waco did, which I’m sure it will be because of the people I am with on the trip.