Oklahoma | Pioneer Woman Mercantile & surviving a real southern storm

I’ve been wanting to go to Pawhuska, Oklahoma ever since I started watching The Pioneer Woman. Fun fact: it was always her show that I’d watch when I felt low and needed a feeling of comfort. I also love recreating her recipes, which you can check out here. I was only in Oklahoma for a day and a half, but I toured the Mercantile, ate really great food and got caught in a storm. All in all, Oklahoma treated me well 👍🏼

Crossing the border into Oklahoma felt surreal, not because it’s a place I’ve always wanted to visit, but because I never thought I’d ever go there. So far on this adventure, visiting places I’ve never been to has been an incredible feeling and I hope everyone gets to do something like this.

What do you think of when you think of Oklahoma? For me, I always thought of open plains, golden crops, and lots of brown. When I saw forests, rivers and hills, I was. blown. away.

This Cowboy Coffee was AMAZING. Eating at the Pioneer Woman Mercantile was a check off my bucket list! I love watching her show, and to actually visit her restaurant and shop was the BEST.

Seriously, how perfect is this redhead cowgirl?! I regret not buying this…

Driving through Oklahoma was dangerous. All of a sudden, the sky turned black and it started pouring, hailing, and a tornado warning was in effect. (These photos were at 3pm!)

Then, almost in a matter of minutes the skies opened back up, the wind stopped howling, and the clouds painted themselves bright shades of orange, pink and violet.

Driving through that storm, I wanted SO badly to turn around and go back to where it wasn’t storming, I was scared and wanted to run away from the unknown, but I knew that storms move, and this one was certainly moving quickly. So if I just kept going, I’d soon be on the other side. This was a gentle reminder that just like in life, we’ll be faced with challenges, scary moments, and the unknown, but if we run away from these problems we’ll just be met with them again. Whereas, if we keep moving forward and work through them, we’ll be met with brighter days.

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I hope you’re doing well, and if you’re currently in the midst of a storm, keep moving forward. Brighter days are ahead! ❤