Design Happens

Texas and I are lovers. The first time i went there was a few months ago to shoot my HGTV’d episode in Austin. I spent a week there and fell in mad, hot, Texan love for that city, the people and that crazy yet unpretentious culture.

I went two stepping at Gruen Hall (one of the oldest live-music, dance halls in the country) the very first night, and that was kinda the end of it….or the beginning of it. It was nothing short of magical.

So when HGTV emailed and asked if i would want to go to the Round Top antique show in Texas I remember thinking, ‘UH….. Does a librarian like books? Do cops like doughnuts???….DOES KIM KARDASHIAN LIKE MASCARA?????? YEAH!! YES!! YES!!! YES!!! I WANT TO GO TO TEXAS TO GO ANTIQUING!!!!

You betcha, I do.

And it was awesome. HGTV set up a booth for shoppers just to drink water, relax, hang out and for two hours meet with yours truly. Round Top has SEVENTEEN miles of antiques. I mean, are you kidding me? It’s the Super Bowl of antique shows, the Olympics of flea markets, the Academy Awards of thrift. You could spend a week here and not see everything. So having a booth in the shade where people could relax and drink free cold water was actually super appreciated by a lot of shoppers.

So the thing about being a designer on TV is that its not the ‘being on tv’ that is fun. It’s not like i sit watching Secrets From a Stylist and elbow my friends and say over and over, ‘hey thats me, isn’t this fun to just watch me?’. Designing is always fun, running a crew is totally fun, having HGTV pay for me to redo rooms and make people really happy is a total blast, but the fun really comes when people come up to you, write to you, stop you in the street and say, ‘I love your show so much because you help me make my home prettier’, and then they go off on why and how.

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Its unprovoked and completely genuine. And that’s why its fun to have a tv show, because its not just you and one client at a time any more. Whenever i feel kinda worried about the future of SFAS i just read some comments on the blog and wham, i feel so good again.

So for a few hours the booth was dedicated to anyone who wanted to meet and talk to little old me and it was totally incredible to hang out with all these people who appreciate what I work so hard on. The line was out the door and there were so many people that legitimately couldn’t wait to hang out.

For instance:
I met Jessi, who genuinely was excited to tell me that she was my number 1 fan, and she wasn’t just saying that. There is a ‘Jessi’ that comments a lot on my blog and indeed it was her. She was incredibly sweet and made me feel really good by telling me that she has learned more from my show than four years of Interior Design school.

So sweet and i’m so happy she drove a long way just to meet me.

Then there was this adorable couple who told me how much i helped them as newlyweds design their first house together. I mean, thats the good stuff, people.

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Of course there was the very occasional person who just got in a line to get an autograph. It was hilarious because i would say, ‘Hi! i’m Emily’ and they would say, ‘i’m julie’, we’d shake hands and then Julie would be silent as she handed me the post card to autograph and i would see the look of utter blankness in her eyes – not a flicker of recognition. It was totally awkward but actually hilarious. It would be like me standing in line to get free coupons to baby formula. I don’t need baby formula, i don’t have a baby…. but since everyone else is……

But one of the best things was meeting Jolie from the Junk Gypsies. Now if you haven’t heard of the Junk Gypsies yet, get yourself to Texas and whisper those two words and you’ll be bombarded by fans telling you how great they are. They are HUGE vintage sellers, jewelry designers and general amazing personalities in Texas – and the best part is that they are coming to an HGTV channel near you.

That’s right. They have a new show on HGTV that has a sneak peek on Facebook on November 25th, with a TV sneak on November 27th.

Amie was out sick sadly for both of us, but Jolie was awesome to meet – totally normal, funny, down to earth, young and overall just lovely and adorable.

So the daytimes were full of shopping and meeting really nice people, and the nighttimes were full of this:

With these awesome chicks, Anne, Julie, Corbett, me and Connie…..and that VERY happy guy behind us which i just noticed. I think his name is Lurky McLurkison. He’s from Lurk-town USA, and got his degree from Lurking University…. in Lurkanomics.

Oh and these are my new boyfriends……WAIT, that’s LURKY!!! I just realized, except his name is actually Cody and he was adorable and sweet and thought i was 23. (flip it and reverse it).

And we listened to these guys: Jon Von Liederhosen and this other singer who was awesome.

And I talked about how blondes really do have more fun with Michael Bolton:

I love that we look like we are in love.

It was a total blast. We stayed at this amazing Bed and Breakfast called ‘The Knittel Inn’ in Burton, Texas. The next day I woke up and shopped from 10-8pm with my girlfriends.

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The day before i had shopped on camera but didn’t really do much official rogue, on my own, ‘let me touch everything individually even though i may not purchase anything’ kinda shopping. And for me, going to the Round Top and not going shopping would be like Snookie going to a tanning salon just to sit in the waiting room – its pretty much impossible, and cruel.

Overall, it was an incredible weekend and i had some major scores including this guy:

…which i’ve wanted for a while (its a stool/side table and its incredible).

I also scored a ton of dollhouse furniture for the I’m a Giant blog challenge, where myself and a ton of other bloggers and readers are designing our dream homes, except on a 1″ scale. I walked into most booths and immediately asked, ‘Hi. Do you have any dollhouse furniture?,’ which was received with a funny look and was told pretty often, ‘Not with me…i got a ton at home but nobody buys that anymore, so i didn’t bring it’. Words like acid filled daggers.

But sho ’nuff, we hit the mother load and 7pm on day two:

I salivated, then I panicked. I was there with another blogger/challenger (and one of my best friends, Corbett, www.girl-domestic.com) and we were both trying to keep it cool and pretend like we weren’t totally freaking out, terrified that each other would find and claim that vintage silk chaise lounge first. Which she did. And i’m not going to lie, i was legitimately upset for like 2 minutes.

Check out the progress of the challenge and what i bought at the Round Top on my blog stylebyemilyhenderson.com

I miss Texas already.

Sure, Texas and i might have some differences but ultimately i always have the best time because everyone in Texas is always down for a good time. I mean, the only job that would be better than my current job is getting paid to antique during the day and dance in leather boots to feel good music at night in 80 degree weather, with burly men in cowboy hats and good girlfriends who love to good time.

Texas, Forever.