Tara, a truly gifted attorney and wonderful baker, moved to Salado after the double whammy of losing

N eed a get-away for an all-girls weekend? How about a peaceful retreat from the frenetic pace of the city? Either can be yours at the delightful Yellow House Bed Breakfast in Salado, Texas! Less than an hour north of Austin, two hours South of Dallas, and three hours from Houston, the Yellow House Bed and Breakfast is delightfully different from the lace-doilied lodging lampooned by IFC s Portlandia.
Cathy and Brian Harris have created a wonderful combination of charm and sophistication just minutes from the artist-rich Village of Salado, with plenty of shops and eateries nearby.  Guests can choose from five tastefully appointed rooms in the main house, each with its own private bath, the private Pink House or either of 2 former lake cottages on the property. Another private house has been moved to the property and is under renovations.
Bed and Breakfast (or B B) can mean different things to different people so it s good to do your homework. A typical bed and breakfast is small owner-occupied establishment that offers overnight lodging and a community breakfast, but not other meals. Many are attached to private homes and offer 1-15 private bedrooms with a bath. In response to a question about licensing, BedandBreakfast.com tells us
Although standards vary widely from state to state and even county to county, most states in the U.S. regulate B Bs of a certain size; many require B Bs/country inns with five or more rooms to comply with the same standards hotels and larger lodging properties must follow. In Europe, B Bs are often regulated and/or rated by different government agencies than larger inns and lodges.
My first experience with what was advertised as a B B was on the island of Kauai. It wasn t really a B B at all, but the once-inhabited children s room of an empty-nester. Guests had to arrive and depart at certain civilized times of day, and had to ring the doorbell to enter. los angeles lakers bedding While that might satisfy the traditional definition of a B B, it would be far from my choice for lodging. Some are old homes that are dark, dank and musty and look like grandma los angeles lakers bedding left it to someone who just didn t have the heart to part with anything in it. (See the Bed Breakfast Inspection Episode from Portlandia) Unless you have a personal referral, or trust a third-party review (like this one*), you can always consult BedandBreakfast.com or TripAdvisor.com for reviews.
My friends Ramona, los angeles lakers bedding Caroline and I had originally planned to book the Pink House to visit our friend Tara who recently moved to Salado. I was also interested in their perspectives on Texas wine, and the Village was hosting their annual Salado Swirl that weekend.
The four of us met working on the same litigation. Tara and I instantly bonded over shared stories of powerlessness, watching while one of our parents (her mother and my father) los angeles lakers bedding lost an arduous battle with cancer. Caroline joined our project, and we met Ramona when our group joined hers at another location. They were all a godsend when my own mother los angeles lakers bedding died rather unexpectedly last Fall. By then, Caroline has moved on to a fascinating job as a Texas Petroleum Landman, chasing down and curing titles los angeles lakers bedding for oil and gas leases.
Tara, a truly gifted attorney and wonderful baker, los angeles lakers bedding moved to Salado after the double whammy los angeles lakers bedding of losing the house where she and her mother had lived (her landlord announced she was selling to a McMansion builder,) and the firm where she was contracted downsized los angeles lakers bedding the legal team. Tara has an incredible knack of remembering not only all the names of everyone she meets, but the names of their spouses and children as well. She passed the Bar Exam with little-to-no study required, and is one of the kindest woman I have ever known. We all had not been together at one time since my mother s funeral, and the Salado Swirl wine event was the perfect opportunity for an all-girls weekend.
I found the Yellow House Bed and Breakfast on the Salado Tourism website. For me, hotels and motels are usually so impersonal and homogeneous. When I go in a group there isn t really a common area to hang out in, unless you want to sit on someone s bed among their cast off clothing. No thanks. So I went straight for the B Bs. To choose among them I looked at 1) proximity to Tara, and town 2) website los angeles lakers bedding pictures and information 3) price.
We planned to book the Pink House so we could have a space all to ourselves, los angeles lakers bedding but when I emailed to ask about it, Cathy said it was already rented. After approval of the other ladies, I booked three rooms at The Yellow House.
When looking at the Yellow House website, one just assumes that if you stay in the main house, you ll be staying in the 2-story home that faces the road. July in Texas, especially central Texas is really, really hot with temperatures los angeles lakers bedding over 100 degrees Fahrenheit the norm. Yes, they will tell you it is a dry heat that just means it feels more like a pizza oven than a rice steamer. So I was worried that the rooms would be upstairs or in an attic. But the rooms for rent are not in the main house per se, but in an addition built on to the back of the home. The residence and the lodging are separated by the door that leads to the kitchen. Guests enter via the back porch through either of two red doors.
Since we were the only guests in the main house for the weekend, it was as if we had a private home. Cathy gave us plenty of privacy, but was available just on the other side of the kitchen door should we need anything at all. I m pretty good at gauging just how much interaction with us that our guests need, says Cathy.
We chose three separate rooms based on looking at website pictures of the five available; the Country Room, the Hat Room and the Cottage Room. Also available in the main house are the Primrose Room in the back with its two queen beds, window seat and larger bathroom, and the Gold Room a bit more Baroque with a single king-sized bed. While all the rooms are pretty, I chose the Country Room because it reminded los angeles lakers bedding me of my childhood home, the Cottage Room because it looked like my guest room in my parents house and the Hat Room because I knew either Ramona or Caroline would love it. Let me tell you a bit about The Country Room
The white wood paneled-walls with brown and blue quilts reminded me of the room from my childhood. A few wire and dried-flower hearts on the wall and a free-standing wardrobe are the perfect added touch. A night stand made from an old sewing machine table, wrought-iron beds and a Tiffany-style floor lamp, along with a cedar hope chest it was the room I wanted when I was a teenager (it was missing the Black light, Kenny Rogers David Cassidy posters). While I love hanging out with my friends, I also need to retreat and recharge. The Country Room is the next to last room from the back of the house, so there was plenty of quiet. The bed was so comfortable. los angeles lakers bedding I had no trouble drifting off to sleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. This is no small feat, since insomnia often has me roaming the rooms of my own house.
Ramona , who forced me to stop not once but TWICE at Buc-ee los angeles lakers bedding s (which claims to have the cleanest restrooms los angeles lakers bedding in America), called dibs on the Hat Room shortly after we discovered it was just off the TV room. The decor is quite stylish!
The Hat Room is the perfect setting for the Bride-to-be during a bachelorette or bridesmaid weekend. Off by itself on the other side of the common room, through double French doors, it features black and white toile bedspreads, with red accents and black, white and red hats on the walls.
In one corner there is a bench, marble coffee table and hats with trailing veils. If you re hot-natured, or going through that time of life that makes you feel as if you are, then this room is for you. The entire los angeles lakers bedding place is air-conditioned, and each room has a ceiling fan but this room is especially cooler. Since it s right off the common room, if other guests are out it feels like your own little suite.
A delicious hot breakfast is served at promptly 9:00 a.m. in the dining room for guests of the main house and delivered to guests in the cottages and guest house. Honey comes from three hives on the property.
los angeles lakers bedding Self-service coffee and tea are available in the dining room at all times. A refrigerator los angeles lakers bedding is stocked los angeles lakers bedding with complimentary soda and bottled water, and packaged snacks are available throughout the day. Night stands include little bowls of chocolates. And each afternoon, the smell of fresh-baked cookies fills the air. Fresh flowers brighten los angeles lakers bedding the table.
We especially like the Rose of Sharon plants near the dining room windows, they are very old plants that you don t see too much anymore, he says. They bloom all summer long and attract butterflies and hummingbirds.
We try to get plants that attract los angeles lakers bedding bees, butterflies and hummingbirds but don t attract deer. We really want to provide for the bees, we have 3 hives and I harvest the honey to use on biscuits for the breakfast table, says Brian.
Cathy is cute and petite, with shiny dark hair styled in a medium bob. Her children are out of the house, but she s hardly retiree age. So, I wondered los angeles lakers bedding how it was she came to run a Bed Breakfast. It came with the house, los angeles lakers bedding she says. In follow-up I asked just what that meant, and Brian told me the story.
Brian is an executive with a firm that makes lasers used to manufacture computer chips. He says he can live anywhere, as long as it s close to an airport. But it wasn t always that way. He and Cathy met while working third shift at a semiconductor factory in Carrollton, Texas. He was working los angeles lakers bedding nights while still in college, and she was in the production office. So they started in Dallas, then moved to San Francisco then to Austin, Albuquerque and back to Austin. He says the Bed and Breakfast really did come with the house.
"You know how you can justify anything if you want it bad enough? Well, it was just the two of us but we figured that we needed all 7 bedrooms - arts & crafts room, library, guest room, exercise room etc. . . you get the idea."
After a coupl