This week is one that I won't forget. James and I were so honored to be invited by Minnetonka to attend the Heartbreaker Banquet, a private festival at Willie Nelson's ranch. The moment I read the email invite my heart burst open with excitement and disbelief! I'm soooo happy that James had already taken off work b/c we were planning to attend The Renegade Fair in austin, but were a bit unsure if we really wanted to go this year, so our plans became wide open for this immediately. I knew it would come and go so fast, and be a distant memory, so I soaked in as much as I could throughout the day.
The ranch was so beautiful, built like an old western town. All of the sponsors of the event had their booths inside the old buildings, and were all giving away free stuff. Everything was free except the food cart venders. I got to drink free homeade moonshine all day from Midnight Moon, a company that handmakes their moonshine with fresh fruit... my favorite was the blueberry basil one... mmmmm...
James and I felt so honored b/c we were considered VIP since we were invited guests of one of the sponsors, and we got to hang out in the back area with all the bands and people putting it on. I was hoping to see Willie walking around back there, but that didn't happen... Of course, we didn't know anyone, so we just hung out by ourselves, but it was still way cool to be able to do that, and to watch all the bands from the porch of the old saloon.
It was so nice to meet the gals from Minnetonka in person... they are wayyyy sweet! We were hoping to get together and have drinks with them once their work was done, but by that time Willie was on stage and of course that took priority for everyone. Ive seen him live several times, but it was soooo cool to see him play in his own home environment. Such a different experience. Such an honor. I didn't get any great photos of him playing b/c all I had was my phone... You weren't allowed to bring a real camera unless you were press.
Another fun thing that happened was an impromtu photoshoot for Minnetonka! All of a sudden they came up to me and asked if they could take some photos of me around the ranch. I was super excited and also I was soooooo nervous b/c there were so many people around. Im not used to taking my photos in front of anyone! But I got my brave on and just went for it. They should be on the Minnetonka blog sometime, eeek! They also shot their upcoming lookbook their with Natalie and Dylana Suarez, I can't wait to see it. I'm kicking myself for not introducing myself to them now. They were a few feet in front of us backstage and I couldn't work up my silly nerves to talk to them. The girls from Minnetonka told me we were going to have drinks later that night with them and the Suarez girls, so I thought Id still have a chance to meet them, but then of course the time and night got away from us all. It was still nice to see them in person, they are just as beautiful!
It was such a great night, one I will never forget.