LUCKY GYPSY MASH-UP: THE EVENT

It suddenly occurred to me, just this morning, that although I told you about the town and the venue where Lex and I went for our little weekend getaway, I never told you anything about the event itself. DOH!

 
Registration opened up at 1:00 on Saturday, then we all headed over to the big tent for our classes. We started off with a talk about our circles of women, or tribes, and what they mean to us. When it was my turn to talk, I shared the very happy story of how stepping out of my comfort zone and introducing myself to a table of strangers at the first Story Circle Network conference I went to, led me to my circle of Muses who have been my support and inspiration for the last ten years. Before I could stop it, my voice got all quivery, tears were running down my cheeks, and my daughter was beside me, laughing her buns off! However, when it was her turn to share about how much the women of Lucky Star have meant to her, she did the very same thing! From that point on, pretty much everyone who spoke followed suit. Apparently ugly cries are contagious. After that, we were given paper and pencils, and told to doodle whatever words popped into our heads when we thought about our circles and tribes. Then we were asked to use the paints and markers laid out before us to express those words and thoughts in whatever way we chose to. I somehow ended up with this spiraling mandala that has my tribe of one -- my BFF for the last 40 years -- at its center, and works its way out through my familial tribe of sisters, my creative Muses, and on to my universal tribe who are out there fighting to insure that women finally secure their rightful place at the table. I loved the final product so much, it's now hanging on my inspiration board!

Next up was some leather fun, making earrings first, then trying our hands at leather stamping.

Lexi whipped these beauties out in nothing flat! Mine are still unfinished.

After that we had to choose either "glee club" with our favorite Austin singer-songwriter Mandy Rowden, or throwing tomahawks with Kate O'brien.  I, of course, chose singing, but my very pregnant daughter chose this!

So much fun packed into a single afternoon, and just a small sampling of what's in store for you if you ever decide to attend the real, full blown Lucky Star Art Camp in Hunt, Texas, at the magnificent Camp Waldemar! And, just like the real
full blown camp, it wouldn't be Lucky Star if it didn't have fabulous food...

 
followed by some singing 'round the campfire with Mandy. Ya shoulda been there!

LUCKY GYPSY MASH-UP: THE TOWN OF ROUND TOP

 
As I mentioned before, when Alexis first brought up the possibility of a getaway in Round Top, I poo-pooed the idea, telling her that, other than the ginormous flea market twice a year, there wasn't much to see or do. And, if it hadn't been for Lucky Star's choosing that as the location for their next pop-up, I might never have discovered just how wrong I was. A lot can change in fifteen years! 

The Lucky Star event didn't actually start until 1:00 on Saturday, but since Lex had been promised a full weekend getaway, we showed up late Friday afternoon, and got to go to dinner with all the Lucky Star instructors at Royer's Cafe -- still the best, but no longer the only place in town for a good meal and pie.

I highly recommend their Texas Trash pie!

We were told that hot biscuits would be delivered to our rooms at Wander Inn the next morning around 9 or 9:30. Although that sounded wonderful, there were a few hitches. One is, I'm used to eating breakfast by 6. Another is that Alexis has gestational diabetes and has to be careful about carbs. Last but not least, we both need a bit of protein with our breakfast, or it just doesn't stick! So we headed into town the next morning, in search of bacon and eggs. I knew better than to expect anything to be open at 6, so we headed into town around 8 or 8:30 and soon came to a spot surrounded by cars. It turned out to be Espressions Coffee and Art. Their little breakfast buffet seems to be quite popular with all the local movers and shakers, for they were all gathered at one of the big communal tables and you could tell they were there just about every day, catching up on the local gossip before heading off to open their shops. Reminded me of our little cafe here in Wimberley! Every time the front door opened, one of the locals would holler "Good morning! Come on in and have a seat!" So we did.

Then we headed off to explore all the shops, galleries, and gorgeous gardens that were scattered about the downtown area.

By the time we'd finished our explorations it was time for lunch, so we headed back to a place we'd spotted earlier, right next to our coffee shop, called Feed & Firewater, where we had two of the best salads ever!

Then it was time to head back to Wander Inn, meet up with our roomie LaNell, and head off to our afternoon's adventures!