Joanna-Thropologie And My Fixer Upper Obsession

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The first time I stepped foot inside an Anthropologie, I immediately wanted to take shelter and build a house underneath a display table, in hopes no one would see me ‘living off the land.’ That land being the unique, brilliantly designed, incredibly smelling, perfectly displayed, obsession inducing land that Anthropologie is. It was the same, exact feeling I got as I walked into the Magnolia Market in Waco, Texas this summer.

A few years ago, my kids and I accidentally stumbled upon the show, Fixer Upper on HGTV. It’s really hard to find family friendly programming that we can all watch together, and this show seemed to keep all of our interest. The good Lord knew, I was not about to suffer through another episode of Power Rangers, when all things Fixer Upper, found it’s way into our living room.

But, this show wasn’t just about the design (which I will get to in a moment.) It was also about this amazing couple that showed us what real respect for one another looks like….and most of the time, through really, funny ways.

We quickly became obsessed with this show. As it appears, most of America has as well.

I mean really, is there a person on this planet that doesn’t want Joanna Gaines to come decorate their house? I’ll settle for her ideas that end up crumpled as ‘no way’ in the trash. I mean it, I’ll unravel that paper and go with it. It has to look better than what I’ve got going on currently.

The more episodes we watched of this show, my kids boldly proclaimed that they wished Chip and Joanna Gaines were their parents. I thought about that for a moment, before responding. I would have taken high offense to something like that, if Chip and Joanna weren’t so incredible awesome. I simply nodded in agreement. “It would be awesome, wouldn’t it.” I replied.

Seriously, c’mon…they can’t ALWAYS be like that right? I’ve worked in television, I know what editing can do. Right?

I don’t know….I’m starting to get a feeling that this is really what they’re like (most of the time). And for that I want to hate them. But I don’t. And I can’t. I really just want to join them at the dinner table and see if their kids behave the same way mine do…..you know, like kids…and totally awesome, is all I’m saying.

And admit it, go ahead. You now know that Shiplap is not the measure of a distance and Demo Day can be as exciting as Christmas morning.

Every summer now, for 8 years, I’ve taken my wee ones on a cross country road trip. We spend our summers in Michigan and these trips are truly, the highlight of our year. If you’ve never road tripped with your kids…you should! And I promise you, you can all make it to your destination without harming one another, losing your mind or ‘accidentally’ leaving someone at Cracker Barrel.

I knew for an entire year I wanted to take the kids to Magnolia Farms. We all wanted to go. So, on the way back to California this August, we took the really southern route, all the way to Waco. By the time we got there, it was over 10,000 degrees with 900% humidity and we had been in the car for 3 days.

We opened our car doors and as all of the loose toys and empty food containers fell out of our vehicle, the people around us must have gazed upon us with awe. We gave the heat a moment to set in and we were on our way. People..the heat. This is the kind of heat I know well from growing up in the Midwest near the Great Lakes. This is kind of heat that makes you sweat while standing in the shade, as you drink ice water. And the kind of heat that makes Chip Gaines jump into random bodies of water.

It was hot.
But, we charged on and had a magnificent time.

Oh, how the heavens opened up when I walked inside the market. I immediately had a passing thought of the possibility that Waco wouldn’t be such a bad place to live. Would my husband be able to work here? I could go back to a farm-style living and have my children collect our chickens’ eggs and tend to the horses every morning. Maybe I could use the summer heat as a sauna type form of losing extra body fat.

The possibilities, in my mind, were endless. I never wanted to leave.

Joanna’s design esthetic is simply perfect, in my humble opinion. I’ve never seen any designer reach inside my dreams, the way this amazing woman has. It’s like she was made to design my home. Does she do house calls, though. To Southern California? And what could she do with the cost of things in SoCal…THIS is what I really want to know!

We walked around the property, shopped in the market, looked in her garden shop, passed on the cupcakes but had a delicious crepe from one of the food trucks that hang out there during the day. We bought some items to include in the fairy garden we hope to build someday before the kids go to college and items to hang on the walls of my home. Those items will surely stay sitting on the floor in the “Jessica Style” that is my own of never getting around to it.

As I walked around the market, I thought, ‘Joanna, I’d just settle for a nail color in that awesome charcoal you wear.’ Really, just give us Joanna Nails already. It’s the little things, Jo. Magical things can happen with the right nail color…just throwing it out there.

Go visit Magnolia Market if you can. And if you haven’t seen an episode of Fixer Upper, please just do yourself a favor and watch it.

And Chip and Joanna have just released a book! Season 4 comes out soon and OMG…HGTV even has a tutorial to help you be Chip and Joanna for Halloween! What the what??

America is obsessed. Officially. When we start to be them for Halloween. If you’re going to be Joanna, though, please make sure you’re nails are spot on.