Wes & Erica's vacation photo album // Shawnee, OK// August 2026

The day before we leave town for an actual vacation is a good time to finally post about our last (mini) trip. 🚗 We took the dogs in for their grooming appointment in August. It takes a couple of hours, so we decided to head out to Shawnee to visit the mummies while we wait. We've been watching The Lost Treasures of Egypt docuseries on National Geographic (currently on the final season😞) and I've been really wanting to see some artifacts in real life. Lacey reminded me of the Mabee-Greer Museum of Art; we supposedly went in high school, but I do not remember anything about it. A quick google search confirmed that the mummies were still there and open to the public. Hooray!!

We stopped by the 👢Kicks 66👢statue on our way out of town. It's cool but probably looks better at night when it's lit up. Part of me wants to drive around to visit all the Route 66 statues they're putting up all over the state, but another part of me is okay with just seeing pictures of them on Instagram. LOL 

When I was planning our day out, I picked two activities for us - the art museum and the Monks' Market at St. Gregory's Abbey. I didn't realize they're on the same campus! We started with the abbey. It was still pretty early, but with it being the hottest summer on record, it was already 100℉ by the time we got there.🔥 🌞I wanted to walk around and look at all the old architecture, but it got unbearably hot within the hour. 😫 We still managed to walk around a bit before heading inside. The Monks' Market was a lot smaller than the website made it out to be, but it still had some neat stuff. There was an arts & crafts section with crocheted items, the thought of a group of monks having a crochet night made me laugh a bit. I bought some lotion and k-cups. ☕The coffee selection was the largest part of the market, and I plan to return in the winter or spring to buy some more (it'll be nice to walk around campus when Oklahoma isn't under an Extreme Heat Warning).

The tools & devices used to make the host were my favorite part of the abbey's history lesson. 

There was one other visitor at the abbey with us. He suggested that we walk along the hallways to see the old photographs and history. We learned about Fr. Greer and his role at the abbey & museum. I also took the self-guided tour of the church. ⛪The church was small, but jam packed with art and relics. Each chapel was like a mini-museum dedicated to a saint or monk. One of the chapels had the ropes to ring the big church bells. The three white ropes were used to signal daily mass and other normal events. The red rope was reserved funerary purposes and for when a monk passed. 🕭 The stained-glass windows were part of the self-guided tour but it was a little overcast the day we went, so it wasn't as bright or colorful as it normally would be. Still very beautiful though! 🕈 One of the monks was playing the organ while I walked around the church, which was very neat to have live background music. 

The last thing I did at the abbey was walk the labyrinth. (Wes gave up and headed to the museum lobby to wait for me... it was probably 105℉ by this point 😡) On the way into the center of the labyrinth, I was meant to meditate on things I need to let go of, then when I got to the center, I was supposed to reflect on how much more calm & peaceful I felt. I did both of those things, but I was completely drenched in sweat, so I cut through the path to walk out. I don't remember what I was supposed to meditate on as I exited to return to the hustle & bustle of real life. St. Gregory's Abbey is an interesting (and free!) way to spend an afternoon. I definitely recommend going, but not in the summertime because none of it is properly air conditioned. 

The vase on the top left was used to store preserved salted eggs, which is one of my top favorite Chinese foods, and made me very hungry because we were nearing lunchtime. 🥚

The little statue on the bottom left represents my daily anxiously discombobulated state. 😫 But the ivory girl in the center is the cool collectiveness I strive for.

And the shrunken heads were just too weird to not take a picture of. When the travel brochures say this museum has variety, they mean it!!

Now onto the art museum! 🎨The museum is small but has a ton of neat stuff... all types/genres of art from all over the world. I liked that it was condensed. I felt like I could spend more time with each piece and it was nice to not have to walk around so much after touring the monastery. Fr. Greer studied art in France and travelled a lot. 🌍 He knew that his fellow monks and community in Oklahoma wouldn't get the same opportunities as he did, especially in the 1800s, so he collected artifacts from his travels and brought them back to start the museum. The best part was that the museum actually felt like a random grouping of souvenirs brought back from a lifetime of travels. I could imagine Fr. Greer being like, oh this painting has significance and would also look great next to this vase!

The first artifact he acquired was from Egypt. 𓁁 The museum has three sarcophagi with two intact mummies. They were the coolest things I've seen in a while. 😮 I am obviously no archeologist or Egyptologist, but felt like I could be in the moment. I remembered all the random nuggets of information I learned from the National Geographic docuseries and related them back to the items in front of me. 𓀴 I could feel how astonished the archeologists felt when they discovered the tombs and how careful they had to be to lift the mummies out, like I was part of the team in episode 5... maybe I let my imagination wander off too far. LOL We were the only ones at the museum, so I got to linger at the mummy exhibit for as long as I wanted. Super cool! 

My favorite of the three.

After I had my fill of wonder and awe at the museum, it was time for lunch. We went downtown and ate at The Owl Shoppe. 🦉 It had just opened for lunch and the restaurant was already packed! I thought this would be a sign we'd have a delicious meal, but it was just so so. 😒 I got the avocado steak tacos and Wes got the quesadilla. His came with a side of chips & salsa. The salsa used chili powder instead of actual peppers so it had a weird gritty texture (I tried a bite). Wes said he didn't mind that, but he didn't like how bland it was, and it could have benefited from some garlic and lime. My tacos were also really bland. Their redeeming qualities were the fresh made guac and street corn. We saw the chef cutting kernels off the cob to make the street corn as we walked in. That corn was the best part of the meal!

There were a couple of antique shops that I wanted to explore while we were downtown but camp called not long after lunch ended saying the dogs were cleaned and ready to go home. We managed to visit the Junk n' Treasure antique shop before we headed out of town (saw some interesting stuff but nothing worth buying). I also wanted to try the ice creamery but we were both too full for dessert. 🍦 All in all a successful day out. Next up, we're going to Grapevine, TX for their annual GrapeFest wine festival!!🍷🍇

I was so excited for the mummies that the actual art in the art museum became an afterthought. LOL There were lots of gorgeous paintings though. I almost forgot to include them in this post!

Wes & Erica's vacation photo album //DFW, TX - Food//March 2026

I saw an Instagram ad for The Balloon Museum last year and knew I had to go!! Installation/immersive art has become one of my favorite things to visit.

Earlier in March, Wes & I finally took my belated birthday trip to Carrollton, TX for 3 days of eating & shopping. 🚗 It kind of became an "OMG, I can't believe we both survived the insanity of our Q4 2025 & Q1 2026 work schedules" celebration trip. 🙌 I usually like to try new restaurants, but we've been keeping a list of places that we want to return to so that's what we did this time around. We also visited two art exhibits ... and I took A LOT of pictures so that'll be for the next blog post. 📷

I got us matching Nimbao shoes for Valentine's Day; we took them out on their first trip 💗 #romantic LOL

We got into Dallas for lunch. 🐖We went to the Arlington location of Hurtado BBQ back in 2024 and wanted to try the Dallas location this time around. It was much bigger and nicer; the Arlington location is more of a BBQ stand and this is an actual restaurant. Hurtado is Wes's favorite BBQ place, so I asked him what he thought and he said the food was just as good as he remembered. 😋 I (unknowingly) got two spicy sides -- elote and bacon potato salad-- so my meal was a little too hot, but it was still really good.

Coconut Paradise won a poll for Best Dessert Spot in Carrollton. All their desserts look very tasty but are also very perishable, so we can't ever try more than one thing. 😔

After lunch, we stopped in Coconut Paradise for drinks to bring back to the hotel. We always stay in the Marriott Courtyard Carrollton Dallas; one of these trips I'll actually take some pictures of it. 🏢 It is in the best location - right by the highway with Carrollton Town Center on one side of it, and the Korean shopping center on the other side. And it's right next to Wal-Mart, for when we forget to pack something. LOL Wes got the guava longan coconut water and I got the rose lychee soda from Coconut Paradise.

We went to BCD Tofu for dinner. 🍚 It was a Tuesday night, but the parking lot was packed. All the best restaurants are in Carrollton Town Center so it shouldn't have been a surprise, but I didn't expect so many people to be dining out on a weeknight. We both got the soon tofu combo, which came with traditional Korean banchan, tofu soup, and a smaller version of an entrée. I forgot about the combo and initially suggested that we each get a tofu and split an entrée, but Wes reminded me about it; and good thing too because it was SO MUCH food!! Everything was delicious, as usual. 🐟 I went with the mackerel this time.

I take a picture of the outside of each restaurant we visit -- regardless of how many times we've been there, and Wes goes, damn how many pictures of 85℃ do you need?? LOL

The next morning, we went to 85℃ Bakery for breakfast. One opened up in Edmond, OK but it isn't as good as the ones in TX. (There wasn't as much selection at the one back home.) My one complaint is that 85℃ changed their policy and now they won't heat up the savory pastries for you. 😒 I guess they assume everyone is getting their stuff to go, and can heat it up at home or work. Anyway, I got an 85℃ roll and a chocomatcha bun, and Wes got a coconut something and a guava something else. LOL I tried their sea salt caramel coffee again because it was listed as a "favorite" drink. It was way too salty the last time I got it, but I customized it to "less salt" this time and it was really good. ☕

🍹Blue Sushi has a really generous happy hour, running until 6:30pm!! I ordered from their super expansive happy hour menu.

For lunch we went to the Walnut Hill location of Blue Sushi Sake Grill. 🍣We went to another location one other time but decided this was the better one. Blue Sushi has Wes's all-time favorite sushi roll -- the Godzilla roll. 🐲 He got that along with the cherry bomb. I got one roll with faux tuna and a roll with actual tuna, for a side-by-side comparison. They both tasted the same to me. LOL The vegan tuna roll had a bunch of other stuff in it, so maybe that masked the vegan-ness of the tuna. It also had vegan caviar on top, which was a first for me.

I always want to be seated in the Godzilla booth, but we've been seated in the same section two years in a row. And we had the same waitress as last time, which is crazy because the last time we came here was in 2024!

We originally planned to drive into Dallas for dinner at Nando's, but thunderstorms were in the forecast so we stayed in Carrollton. ⛈ We had dinner at DAQ Korean Chicken (it was a Mad for Chicken the last time we were here). The concept, and Wes noticed even the decor & table arrangement, was the same though - spicy Korean fried chicken. 🍗Wes got the chicken tenders with Korean sweet sauce. He wasn't impressed saying it wasn't spicy or complex. I got the shrimp fried rice, which was good but definitely needed the sauce that came on the side. It would have been way too bland without it.

🌧💧The thunderstorm warning turned into a flash flood warning throughout the evening. 💧🌧 It started pouring while we were eating. ☔ I was hoping we could wait it out, but the rain was not letting up. Luckily, we parked pretty close to the restaurant so the walk to the car wasn't bad, but all the close spots at the hotel were taken so we had to park pretty far away and were completely drenched when we got to our room. 😫 The worst part was that DAQ wasn't even that good to be worth getting all soggy for. 

Our last meal of the trip was breakfast at the food court in Ranch 99. I always get my congee, but I might have to change it up the next time we go. They had so much good stuff out!! A lot more than previous times we've been. 🍲 They had their entire line up of dim sum options, rice bowls with pork belly, and so many good lunch & dinner options that I wanted to buy, but Wes reminded me that perishables don't do well in the car for the long drive home 😔 After eating, we got our grocery list items from the store (mostly stuff for my mom; we found the absolute cutest Ranch 99 tote bag!) and headed home.

Oh yeah, I mentioned we did some other (non-grocery) shopping. 💸 A friend told me about Dillard's Clearance Centers in Lewisville & Irving. Wes needs new work shoes, so we went to both locations to look for some. No luck. 😑There wasn't much at the Lewisville location and the Irving location didn't have men's shoes at all. I did end up with a new work out top for Pilates. I say "non-grocery shopping", but we mostly got food & snacks. LOL There isn't much else we really need in our minimalist life... but there is always room for snacks. 🍭🍪 We stopped in the Denton Buc-ee's on the way home and loaded up! They had an entire baby aisle, and I wanted to buy everything for Ezra, but Lacey & her mom take frequent Buc-ee's trips with him so I restrained myself.

No unicornos at Kinokuniya but there were some in the impulse aisle at Ranch 99.

There was some cute stuff at Daiso and Teso Life, but I didn't buy too much. We only got snacks from Teso. I think it's because a Daiso opened in Oklahoma, so it's no longer a treat to come here. I was super disappointed with Kinokuniya 😠 Lacey & I have started collecting trinkets to set out as ⭐good luck charms⭐ to help us during crochet night. I had an entire list of tokodoki ones I was going to get for us. Kinokuniya had literally every other blind box imaginable, but not a single tokidoki.

The Dallas Art Museum had a collection of Surrealist art as part of one of the temporary exhibits. 

In between all our amazing meals, we went to the Balloon Museum and the Dallas Art Museum. 🎨We had two very different experiences at each art exhibit. Give me a minute to get my pictures together and I'll write all about it!! 

Erica & Lacey's vacation photo album // Dallas, TX // April 2024

If you thought Lacey and I drove down to Texas just for the yarn crawl (Pictures of neat stuff and some accompanying thoughts...: Erica & Lacey's vacation photo album // North Texas Yarn Crawl // April 2024 (ragsreborn.blogspot.com), you'd be wrong... there is so much more for us to do while we were down there. 🚗 Were we exhausted from driving around all day to different yarn shops? Yes. 😅 Did that stop us from doing a scavenger hunt in an immersive art exhibit and walking around downtown Dallas? Nope. 

Deviled Egg Co - Denison, TX. 

One of the best and most unique restaurants I've been to in Texas. Everything we got was so delicious!! 😋

Neither of us had breakfast and we only did a quick Starbucks stop in Ardmore, OK, so we were starving when we got to our first destination for lunch. 🍴 We had lunch at Deviled Egg Co in Denison, TX. 🥚🍸 They had the best deviled eggs that we've ever eaten. Literally. OMG!! The eggs were SO GOOD 😋 We each ordered a cocktail, Brussels sprouts for an appetizer, and three eggs to share family style. We got the smoked salmon (we both agreed it was the best by far), the jalapeño popper, and the Ceasar salad (which was a little underwhelming compared to the others). Lacey noticed that they mixed cream cheese into the egg yolk. Her husband is a bit of a home cook so she was taking notes so he could replicate the sprouts and eggs at home for dinner at a later date. I do not cook so I just had to savor everything at the restaurant. The eggs and cocktail were just what we needed to start our day of yarn shopping! 

Giant Eyeball - Dallas, TX

When we were mapping out our trip, I noticed a landmark labeled "Giant Eyeball" near our hotel. 👁 We took the 5minute walk to it after we checked in. I wasn't sure what to expect but I didn't think it would be so literal. LOL We ran into some other tourists and tried to figure out how to get into the lawn, but I don't think it's for the public. Still a neat photo opp.

Sweet Tooth Hotel - Dallas, TX

Speaking of photo opps, strap in because there's about to be a ton of pictures! 📸 Our next stop was Sweet Tooth Hotel. It is an interactive art installation. You can buy regular tickets and just walk around, or you can buy the scavenger hunt to look for clues in each of the rooms and get a prize. We chose scavenger hunt! It was a cool experience but 1. it is set up for selfies, TikTok videos, and aimed toward influencers, which we are not, 2. the first room is amazing but the installations get less and less artistic, and 3. there is a bar connected to the "hotel" and I'm pretty sure you're supposed to enter the rooms drunk (or at least buzzed) to fully enjoy them. We were completely sober so probably didn't have as much fun as we should have.  

The first room (inside of an elevator) is a crocheted bakery tea party. It is the most creative, adorable, whimsical, and well-made amigurumi I've ever seen. 😲 I've never seen anything else like it, so I have no comparison point but I'm still going to claim that this is the best crocheted room! It was also perfect for our yarn crawl. The shelves were stocked full of cookies, donuts, cakes and ice cream. 🍦🍩🍪🍰 And the table was laid out perfectly for a garden tea party. I wanted to stay in here forever! 

The clue inside of the room was to count the toy mice. I was so taken in by the amigurumi that I wasn't even paying attention to the mice. Luckily, Lacey was on it. There are nine. 🐭 I loved that this was the first room we saw, but it also kind of sucked because every room after it was a letdown. It's hard to top a crocheted bakery! 

We went into the second elevator and entered a neon pink bedroom. There was a phone on the desk with a fake phone book. I saw a telephone number for "Red Phone" but I didn't dial it. In hindsight I probably should have because I think we missed a room in here. There was a door behind the curtains by the Sweet Dreams bed. I tried opening it, but it was locked. 😠 I saw some streamers caught in it so there is probably something behind there, but I couldn't figure out how to get in. Lacey didn't share my curiosity, so we moved on. The clue in this room was to count the giant worms. There were 2 but they were so meh that I forgot to photograph them. 🐛

We walked into the closet and was in the bathroom. This was when I realized this entire installation is for photos and social media. It was a big room but there was hardly anything in it. Just a few items that you can pose by. The scavenger hunt clue was to count the legs, but this room had none. I saw another door, but it was "locked." We weren't sure what to do so I left to ask the front desk attendant. She said to push through the shower. I took it literally to mean the golden showerhead, so I started banging through the wall (trap door, maybe?). Much more sensible Lacey suggested that we try the locked door again. Turns out that I'm just too weak to push a door open so I thought it was locked when it was only heavy. 😖 I bet this is the same thing that happened when I tried opening the door behind the curtain in the bedroom.

Next was a library with legs hanging from the ceiling. There are five. I love going to these types of immersive art installations, so I know the gimmick is to touch, crawl into, and open everything. 📖 One of the books had a safe inside and the code was mice, worms, legs (9-2-5). Inside was another code for the next room. 

Before we got to the next room, we took a detour into a surveillance room. It was just a room with red lights and lots of CCTV and mirrors for walls. Kinda creepy, kinda boring. Then we went to the bathroom (an actual working one), down a hallway and to the gym. The gym was kind of neat, but we were both dressed up and couldn't play on the equipment. Of the four areas we saw, the public restroom was the coolest. LOL 

The last room was a living room. This time we did dial the phones. 🖁 The telephone number for the yellow phone didn't do anything, but the blue phone had a message for us! Half of the living room was normal, and the other half was painted black with neon green trim -- how did I forget to take a picture of this! The message told us to explore the bookshelf for another dimension. There was another safe in a book and we needed the code from the previous safe (242). That lead to a code word (it was either doorways or bookshelf). Then you open the fireplace and enter a neon desert. 🌵

It was in the desert that I realized this exhibit is better experienced with an alcoholic beverage in hand... and with a group of friends (especially an outgoing one to get the party started). There were lights, mirrors, and loud music. 🎵 Perfect for dancing and posing for silly pictures. Sober me and mellow Lacey just stood around unimpressed. LOL In our defense, we're almost 40 and I'm pretty sure the core demographic of Sweet Tooth Hotel is aged 14 - 27. 

There was one last room, but it was definitely a throwaway room. It was a gigantic advertisement for Topo Chico. The only good part of that room was the bed ... because I was wearing heels and I needed to lay down for a bit. My poor feet! 😭 After our rest, we headed back to the front desk to collect our prize for completing the hunt. It was a motel keychain, actually pretty rad. The front desk area had some merch but I didn't enjoy my experience enough to buy something to commemorate it with. 

Our last activity for the day was dinner. I wanted to have dinner at the fancy restaurant in the hotel since we were both dressed up. We stood around for a while, but the hostess never showed up. 😑 There were other diners enjoying their meal, so we knew the place was still open. Losing patience, we left and walked to a late-night taco place. Uno Más was good, but I think I was still so in love with the deviled eggs we had at lunch that I was making a harsh comparison. Our waiter was extremely soft spoken but spoke super fast. I had to ask him to repeat literally everything he said at least twice. When I was talking to Lacey the next morning, I decided that my shrimp tacos were actually really yummy, and the elotes were, too. 🌮 The rice was weird, though, it tasted like it was either cooked in coconut oil or was flavored with an unfamiliar spice. 

Uno Más - Dallas, TX

I picked out a place for us to go to for breakfast the next morning (Starship Bagels) but it was closed. 😞 We roamed a bit around our hotel and decided to get Starbucks and skip breakfast. ☕ Lunch wasn't far off, and we needed to start day two of the yarn crawl. Before we left, we walked through Thanksgiving Garden. I thought it was Thanksgiving like the holiday, but it was thanks giving, like praising the lord. It was a serene garden but had entirely too many Bible verses littered about. Too in your face and could have been more subtle. 

Thanksgiving Garden - Dallas, TX

The early bird (bottom center picture) certainly does get the worm! 🐦 We saw this bird rooting around in the grass, pick up the worm, and eat it as it was wiggling about. It was like watching a nature documentary!

On the Lamb was in the same shopping center as a couple of restaurants, and we settled on LA Burgers for lunch. It was really tasty. 🍔 My only complaint is that I guess the owner was trying to save money so he didn't have the air conditioning on. It was already 80℉ and very humid so it made our dining experience uncomfortable. It's so hard to photograph a hamburger because all you see is the top bun, but I promise it was yummy. 😋  The curly fries were good, too, extra crispy like I like them! I got the Texas burger, which came on Texas toast with bacon, steak sauce and jalapeños. The jalapeños were all clustered to one bit so that bite was a doozy! LOL

LA Burger - Grapevine, TX

We had to stop in Buc-ee's on our way out, but the one in Denton was too far out of the way. Instead, we went to a new (to us) one in Melissa. It was just as nice as the ones in Fort Worth & Denton. The only thing that threw us off was that the sides of the store where the food and non-food merchandise is was switched. We got snacks, t-shirts, and gifts for our spouses & dogs, gas & bathroom breaks, and then journeyed home. It was a mega fun trip, but in hindsight, I should have given us more time to rest. I'm too old for non-stop activities. By the middle of the second day, we were already getting burned out; and by the end of the day, we were pooped. We just sat in silence in the car trying not to doze off on the way home. We paid for a nice hotel and we should have used it more. I admit defeat now, but will that stop me from overplanning me & Wes's vacation this summer? Probably not. 😅 LOL 

Buc-ee's - Melissa, TX

Erica & Lacey's vacation photo album // North Texas Yarn Crawl // April 2024

It finally happened!! 😃 Lacey and I went on our massive yarn shopping trip. 🚗🧶I first saw an ad for the North Texas Yarn Crawl on Instagram probably in December or January. We've (mostly me because I'm an obsessive planner and Lacey is extremely laid back) been looking at the participating yarn shops, various crochet projects, and other things to do in the Dallas area ever since. We got our itinerary sorted out in March and have been counting down the days. I probably drove Lacey crazy with all my plans, but I think overall, we both had a good time. 

We drove down to Texas on a Tuesday, stayed until Wednesday, and planned to visit three local yarn shops each day (along with some other activities sprinkled in). We ended up doing two the first day and 4 the second. I wanted to throw in an extra one on our way back to Oklahoma, but we didn't have time. 😞 Our first stop was in Denison; the GPS on my phone directed us to drive through Madill, OK. We drove over Lake Texoma, which was really pretty. We took random state highways all the way from whatever town comes before Madill on I-35 South all the way to Denison, TX. It was a lot more scenic than I expected. 🌳 Lacey & I both agreed that it looked like Arkansas. 

Quixotic Fibers - Denison, TX

The first yarn shop we visited was Quixotic Fibers. It is a small shop inside of an old train depot. The entire depot has been converted into a boutique artisan mall. The other shops looked cute, and I would have loved to walk around to browse but we were on a strict timetable. We decided to use all of the yarn we bought on this trip to make a capelet (Ravelry: Crocodile Stitch Capelet pattern by Bonita Patterns) so the first skein we buy determined the color pallet for the rest of the project. So much pressure!! 😬 LOL Even though Quixotic was small, they still had at ton of beautiful yarn. And the owner and her employee were super nice. Best customer service I received on our entire trip! I saved up all of the gift cards I got for my birthday & Christmas to use on this trip. Her point-of-sale system was having a hard time accepting my Visa gift card. I think any other manager would have tried two, maybe three times, and then told me that their system doesn't accept Visa gift cards and asked me to pay with another card, but she tried several times using multiple techniques until it worked. Her employee chatted with us and made us feel comfortable while we waited. 10/10 ⭐top notch!!

McKinney Knittery - McKinney, TX

Our original plan was to head to Farmersville, TX to go to the two shops there but all the shops closed at 5pm and we were cutting it close. Our hotel was in Dallas so I thought we could make it to the shop there. Google showed Knit Dallas closing at 6pm but Lacey saw on the shop's website that they close at 5pm. We wouldn't make it after all. 😩 The only shop that was open late was McKinney Knittery. We went here the last time (Pictures of neat stuff and some accompanying thoughts...: Lacey and Erica's vacation photo album // McKinney - Dallas - Norman // September 2022 (ragsreborn.blogspot.com)) we were in Texas but decided to go again since we liked it so much (plus it meant an extra stamp on our passport). The store was still amazing with a big selection of nice yarn, but the excitement was gone for me. I guess you can't recreate a first impression. 

Matching shorts & a view from our hotel room.

I was a little worried that we wouldn't be able to go to all of our planned shops because I underestimated how far we'd have to drive between each one and how awful Texas traffic is. Lacey reminded me that there is nothing we can do about it, so stressing is futile. To unwind, we worked on our current crochet project. Didn't make too much progress on our socks but they're coming along. 😊

Knit Dallas - Dallas, TX

We got up early the next morning and tried our hardest to get to the first shop as it opened at 10am. We go there closer to 11am 😑 Knit Dallas was Lacey's favorite shop that we visited. I liked it well enough, but it was insanely overpriced. I expected to pay a premium for hand-dyed yarn from indie shops, but their prices were out of control. Their only saving grace was that they gave me a ton of postcards that they get for free from one of their yarn brands. 📬 There was a regular shopper there when we came in. He must have known the owners because he was telling them all the hot gossip about the yarn crawl. He already visited a lot of the shops, so I asked him for intel. Richard reviewed our list and agreed that we picked some good shops, but he said Fiber Circle was a gigantic mess (we went anyway... and it was) and that Cynthia's Corner wasn't worth our time (we ended up skipping that one). We hung out with Richard a bit more, chatted with the owners some and then headed to the next one.

On the Lamb - Grapevine, TX

I really liked On the Lamb. It was the first shop we visited where I awwwwed as I walked in. 😮 It was quiet, smelled nice (not that the other shops smelled bad, but I think this one had a distinctly pleasant air freshener), and it was arranged/decorated in a way that appealed to my aesthetic. The owner must be a Nightmare Before Christmas fan because she had spooky themed decorations placed all over. Either the owner or her husband is from Oklahoma (the other is from Indiana; I can't remember which is which), so we talked about the yarn shops here. They had Yeti-type tumblers with their logo printed on and the phrase, "I came, I crawled, I got the cup." I wanted one but already have entirely too many cups. In hindsight, I should have taken a picture of it. 

Yarn and You - Farmersville, TX

We drove about an hour to Farmersville for our last two shops. We passed Blue Ridge, TX, where Lacey got her two Italian Greyhounds. I joked that we should stop in for another, and surprise them with a sibling when she got home. 🐕 Yarn and You is my absolute favorite shop that we visited!!! 😍 It was probably one of the biggest stores, too. It was sooooo spacious. A couple of the other stores that had a lot of yarn variety felt cramped, but not this one!  It ticked all of the boxes for me: cute store decor, easy to navigate layout, fantastic yarn selection, and lots of other merch. I wanted a sewing basket because the fabric was adorable but didn't buy it because I can probably find that fabric and make it myself, but I did buy a ton of other non-yarn merch from the shop. The best part is that all of the shelves were labeled. We needed DK weight for our capelet project. I had the hardest time finding a DK section in the other stores. We had to check each individual skein for details on their label. Yarn and You had stickers on each of their shelves specifying yarn type, brand and weight. 10/10 ⭐ genius idea! The shop had a giant clearance section, which I also appreciated. The owner was also super nice and friendly. 

Fiber Circle - Farmersville, TX

The last shop was across the street on the other side of the parking lot. There must be some drama between Yarn and You and Fiber Circle, like they used to work together but something happened (the two stores are complete opposites of each other in every aspect, from yarn quality to the owners' personalities to the general vibe of the store). Fiber Circle is a humungous discount outlet store. It is a two-story building with yarn haphazardly placed everywhere with zero organization whatsoever. 😵The owner and her friend were badmouthing one of the mayoral candidates when we walked in. They let us roam the store without greeting us or asking if we needed help. I would have enjoyed perusing through their million shelves, but it was the end of the day, and I was pretty drained from all of the driving. Lacey also seemed over it. We walked around the entire place but didn't buy much. I saw some new types of yarn that I've never seen before--like weird textured yarn and "yarn" made from tinsel and ribbon. I wanted to buy some but didn't have a project in mind for it, so I passed. The only good thing about Fiber Circle is that they are inexpensive. Like super cheap! This was the last stop on our crawl so we asked if we could turn in our passports. The owner vaguely gestured to a desk and told us to put them there. I'm hoping they actually get to where they need to go for our prize entries. Cross your fingers for us that we win the grand prize! 💰

My goodies!! 😍The yarn on the bottom left will be for our capelet project. Hoping all of those colors vibe well together.

And thus concludes our first yarn crawl. 🧶We both had fun but agreed this should probably be a once in a lifetime thing instead of an annual thing. LOL My top three shops are Yarn and You, Quixotic Fibers, and On the Lamb. 🏪 I got a skein from each shop we visited to use on our capelet project, and I bought enough yarn for another project I have in mind, as well as lots of other goodies. We explored around the hotel, ate at some awesome restaurants, and visited an interactive art exhibit/scavenger hunt while we weren't yarn shopping. Pictures and details of that here (Pictures of neat stuff and some accompanying thoughts...: Erica & Lacey's vacation photo album // Dallas, TX // April 2024 (ragsreborn.blogspot.com)!