Let’s be completely honest with ourselves. The one and ONLY reason people are flocking to Waco, Texas is because of Chip and Joanna Gaines. We are no exception. We visited the Silo’s Baking Co., the Silos, and even Magnolia Table. (We’ll talk about Magnolia Table in a separate blog post.) We seriously loved every minute of it. Here are my highlights from each along with a few tips on what to expect.
We started our day at Silo’s Baking Co. Yes, it was 10:00 am and we were inline to grab cupcakes, don’t judge. If you go to visit, I suggest you do the same. The line was short and moved quickly. We were immediately greeted by a woman who offered us a menu and pencil so we could have our order ready when it was our turn to step inside. Can we say genius?! No standing there with our entire family blankly staring in overwhelm at the delicious options set out before us. With four kids this is a Godsend I tell ya!
The magic began when we crossed the threshold into the bakery. I’m not talking about the aroma of the cupcakes, which was divine, or the interior design which Joanna is know for, I’m talking about the teenage girl who greeted us at the door. Her name tag read Miracle. I will never forget meeting her, tears still well up in my eyes when I think back on her kindness. Once inside the bakery, Scarlett turned to her and I could immediately tell that she was one of her “people”. She could have simply welcomed us and moved on to the next guest but instead she knelt down onto Scarlett’s level and starting talking to her. While I explained to Miracle that Scarlett had Autism and was mainly non verbal, Scarlett’s attention was drawn to the woven friendship bracelet on her wrist. Without a second thought this sweet Miracle removed her bracelet and placed it on Scarlett’s little wrist gifting it to her. I was overwhelmed by her kind generosity. It took everything I had to keep the tears at bay the rest of the time we were In the bakery. Again, I was thankful for that little menu we were given outside as Josh was able to order for us all. I should mention that the cupcakes were the best cupcakes I’ve eaten in my life. However, the highlight of the bakery was the sweet teenage girl named Miracle.
With happy tears in our eyes and cupcakes in hand, we headed out to the courtyard at the Silos. Those Gaines’s know what they’re doing. The place was packed with guests but there was plenty of room for everyone. The heart of the area was the courtyard. It was beautiful and filled with families playing yard games. The perimeter was lined with the cutest little food trucks you’ve ever seen. There was everything from sweet iced tea sold in mason jars to gourmet grilled cheese.
The garden was stunning and like nothing I could ever replicate, which is probably not saying very much considering, but it was picture perfect nonetheless. I couldn’t help but notice the amount of staff sprinkled throughout the grounds, maintaining the garden, planters, and greeting guests.
I keep saying guests rather than customers because that’s how you feel when you’re there, like a guest. Something struck me while I was watching them work. They were all happy. Each employee whether they were pulling weeds, plucking out dead flowers, holding open a door, or having a conversation with a guest happily went out of their way to make you feel welcome. Not once did I witness an employee annoyed by a guest or a random piece of trash on the ground. Seriously, the Magnolia team is perfection in every.single.stinkin.way.
We can’t forget about Magnolia Market. Of course the store was filled to the brim with beautiful goods that we have come to know and love from Joanna. What I loved the most was the beautiful displays. Y’all, my creative heart was full! Although many items caught my eye, I had two that stood out to me and were my favorites.
The first was little wooden recipe cards. I mean come on, WOODEN recipe cards?! Well, HELLO! The second was her beautiful cake stands. I know what you’re thinking. Wait, aren’t you a cookie girl? There’s just something about a cake stand that makes my heart go pitter patter.
A few things to keep in mind when visiting Magnolia Market. Block off plenty of time to be there. There was a crowd when we were there and it took awhile for us to navigate through the crowd and to see everything. With that said, if you have a little that doesn’t like to hold hands or doesn’t handle crowds well, you may want to have Daddy take them out to the courtyard to play while you look around. Miss Scarlett couldn’t handle the crowd. She’s not a hand holder and if she would have slipped away it would have been scary.
Make sure you leave plenty of time to check out. They have registers in the front of the store and in the back warehouse area. The check out lines can get long and we saw some people abandoning their treasures because they couldn’t wait. That just made me sad. If they have all the registers open then the line goes pretty quick. With all the treasures you find you may go a little overboard, but don’t worry Jo though of that too! After check out you can have your purchased packaged and shipped as you watch. Yep, they’ve thought of everything.
The entire family loved visiting the Silo’s. Let me tell ya, that is no easy feat. I honestly can’t remember when that happened. HA! My only regret was that we didn’t plan to stay there longer.
