Dallas Market Week: Buying for the Shop, Missing My Babies & Learning Things the Hard Way
I’m writing this one now because fun orders from my trip are starting to arrive… yay!! 🎉
And every time a box shows up, it brings me right back to Dallas—what I ordered, why I picked it, and honestly… everything that went into that trip.
Because if you’ve ever wondered how things actually end up in our shop… this is it.
Not the polished version.
Not the “cute boutique owner shopping trip” version.
The real one.
And if I’m being honest…
these trips always remind me how much I actually love what I do—
even in the middle of missing my kids and questioning all my life choices along the way 😂
It Started Before I Even Left…
The night before I left, I already had that pit in my stomach.
Not because of the trip… but because I was leaving my kids.
And then of course, because life is never simple…
Bri woke up at 2am with a terrible tummy ache.
By 4am, I had to leave for the airport.
So there I was, exhausted, worried, trying to get out the door… knowing she didn’t feel good (likely because she was sad mommy was leaving).
We had the kids staying at grandma’s (which, let’s be honest… is their FAVORITE place to be because grandma’s house is way more fun than strict mom world 😂)
But still…
After I left, she called me.
Crying.
Begging me to come back because she missed me.
And I wanted to.
Like… I really wanted to.
But I was already in the shuttle with Groome Transportation (which, side note—amazing option if you hate driving like I do 🙌), and there was no turning around.
So I did what moms do…
Tried not to cry and told myself this trip mattered.
And that’s kind of the constant pull in this season of life…
building something I love, while also wanting to be in two places at once.
Traveling “Smart” (aka… trying to save money 🙃)
In my ongoing and apparently never-learning quest to save money…
I booked the flight with a layover.
So instead of getting there early… I arrived in Texas midday after stopping in Houston.
I will say though—
that airport? Fancy. Clean. Impressive.
Almost made me feel like I knew what I was doing 😂
From there, I grabbed an Uber and went straight to market.
No hotel. No break.
Just hit the ground running.
And there’s something about getting there…
being able to actually see things in person, touch everything, find pieces that feel different,
it snaps me right back into why I love this.
First Stop: The Needoh Situation 😅
My first stop was a kids showroom to try to get answers on the absolute chaos that is the Needoh shortage.
I was really hoping for some good news on orders I’ve been waiting on…
Nope.
Nothing.
No better timelines. No secret insider info. Just more waiting.
So naturally…
I pivoted.
And spent WAY too much of my trip tracking down and buying every non-Needoh squishy thing I could find.
And let me tell you…
You guys are going to have SO MANY squishy things coming.
Eventually 😂
Because apparently every other store owner in America had the exact same idea, and wait times are still wild.
This is the part of the job that feels fun again…
the hunt, the “okay wait this is actually so good” moments.
The Actual Buying Process
From there, it was showroom after showroom.
Kids.
Gifts.
Apparel.
Men’s.
Women’s.
Anything unique that caught my eye.
Because one thing about me…
👉 I LOVE having things other stores don’t
👉 I HATE carrying the same stuff as everyone else
And yes… I absolutely spent way too much time in the kids sections.
No regrets.
It’s also the only time I’m fully pulled out of the day-to-day chaos at home…
which sounds nice until you realize how much you miss it at the same time.
Fueling the Trip
Also important detail:
I survived primarily on copious amounts of Diet Coke.
That and pure determination.
The Hotel Situation (Why Do I Do This to Myself 😅)
At the end of the day, I Ubered to my hotel…
Which, spoiler alert…
Was once again nothing like the pictures on Priceline.
AND did not have a shuttle… even though I literally called ahead to confirm.
At some point in my life, I am going to learn that my efforts to save money on travel…
👉 Never go in my favor
👉 Like… ever
The hotel was a little sketchy, but I made it work.
Because at that point, what else are you going to do 😂
Dinner… and Discoveries
That night I did what any tired, slightly annoyed, traveling mom would do…
Opened DoorDash and went straight to the deals section 😂
Night one: Jack in the Box
And somehow… I ate an entire value meal, which is VERY not like me.
And then…
I discovered you can DoorDash alcohol.
Which honestly felt groundbreaking.
I had my favorite drinks—Surfsides—delivered right to my hotel.
The things that exist outside of my adorable little Hallmark town… wild.
Sitting there in a questionable hotel eating Jack in the Box and answering kid calls…
really makes you reflect on your life choices for a minute 😂
Work Mode + Mom Mode (At the Same Time)
After that, it was laptop time.
Because if I’m away from my kids…
I work.
Like… 100% of the time.
That night (and every night), it was a mix of:
working on my laptop
answering messages
planning orders
…and taking calls from my kids who missed me.
Which, of course, made me miss them even more.
I don’t really know how to turn it off—
mom mode and work mode just kind of exist at the same time for me.
The Rest of the Week
The rest of the trip looked a lot like:
walking miles
checking out every category possible
second guessing decisions
finding REALLY good things for the new store
and continuing to spend way too much time in kids sections 😅
It’s exhausting.
It’s exciting.
And it’s a lot more pressure than people probably realize.
Because every order is a risk.
The Trip Home… (Because I Never Learn)
And then…
Another full day of travel home.
Because yes…
I booked another layover. This time in Chicago.
Again… trying to save money.
Again… questioning my life choices and eating too food with my favorite life juice.. diet coke😂
By the end of the trip I always feel it—
tired, a little overwhelmed, but also weirdly re-energized about the shop again.
And Now I’m Home ❤️
And now the boxes are starting to show up…
which honestly feels a little full circle.
Because behind every item hitting the shelves right now is: a long day, a lot of thinking, a little risk…
and a mom just trying to balance all of it.
And as hard as that balance can be sometimes…
I really do love what I get to do.
If you made it this far… thanks for being here.
Really ❤️