in march buda bestie katie and andrew got married, and in april we gathered in bentonville to celebrate them. it was a perfect excuse to also spend a week in memphis and see my family and assorted friends.
maggie in the breeze. bentonville, arkansas. april 2026. 
we dress up from time to time. bentonville, arkansas. new york. april 2026. 
treated ourselves to fancy drinks at our hotel. bentonville, arkansas. april 2026. 
loved this. bentonville, arkansas. april 2026. 
this was very delicious. bentonville, arkansas. april 2026. 
leading us…somewhere. bentonville, arkansas. new york. april 2026. 
ship it on the frisco! bentonville, arkansas. new york. april 2026. 
still bummed we didn’t make it here. bentonville, arkansas. april 2026. 
getting our hairs did. bentonville, arkansas. april 2026. 
feelin’ fancy. bentonville, arkansas. new york. april 2026. 
buda besties back together. bentonville, arkansas. new york. april 2026. 
the resemblance is honestly uncanny. bentonville, arkansas. new york. april 2026. 
sunday brunch at the milligan-dixon’s. bentonville, arkansas. april 2026. 
bestiesss. bentonville, arkansas. new york. april 2026. 
maple was ready for all of us to leave. bentonville, arkansas. new york. april 2026.
bentonville.
we had a full slate of weekend events, including a backyard barbecue at mama terri’s house on friday, a reception on saturday, and a brunch at katie and andrew’s house on sunday. each event was so well put together, and we had a great time catching up with old friends and meeting new ones [there were somehow 3 different attendees with helena/west helena roots].
maggie and i spent the day saturday exploring our little section of downtown bentonville, stopping by crêpes paulette for breakfast; all things kindred for some gift perusing; the bentonville history museum for a delightful visit with dana who gave us a quick rundown of bentonville history and some updates coming soon to the museum; happy state for sweatshirts because it was surprisingly cold and neither of us had warm clothing; and the downtown farmers market to check out the stalls and say hi to all the doggos.
it was a quick visit but we had a great time celebrating katie and andrew and i look forward to going back soon.
the cool side of the table. little rock, arkansas. april 2026. 
successful full infiltration of the little rock crew. little rock, arkansas. new york. april 2026.
little rock.
on the way back to memphis i stayed sunday night in little rock so that we could have dinner at rex’s sunday night with alan, andrew, tyler, and juli. it was great to see alan and andrew and to finally meet tyler and juli who i’ve heard so much about, and i was so grateful to not have to do that little rock to memphis drive on a sunday afternoon. a lovely evening.
best friend! memphis, tennessee. new york. april 2026. 
love this lady. memphis, tennessee. new york. april 2026. 
my favorite. memphis, tennessee. new york. april 2026. 
another successful office hours. memphis, tennessee. new york. april 2026. 
my best guy. cordova, tennessee. new york. april 2026. 
the meal i dream of the most. memphis, tennessee. new york. april 2026. 
interrupting her gus’s to take photos. memphis, tennessee. new york. april 2026. 
papa swami came, too! memphis, tennessee. new york. april 2026. 
this was maybe my favorite moment of the entire visit. cordova, tennessee. new york. april 2026. 
lunch of champions. memphis, tennessee. new york. april 2026. 
can never go wrong with some cheese fries. cordova, tennessee. new york. april 2026. 
shelby forest hike. millington, tennessee. new york. april 2026. 
i think she’s winking at me. millington, tennessee. new york. april 2026. 
the light that morning was incredible. millington, tennessee. new york. april 2026. 
always a treat to be in town during crawfish season. memphis, tennessee. new york. april 2026. 
loves her shirt. cordova, tennessee. new york. april 2026.
memphis.
after my gallivanting i had a week in memphis to loaf with my parents, host my office hours, get a haircut, go for a hike at shelby forest, and generally eat at all the places i could manage — maciel’s, kwik chek, huey’s, gus’s, and bayou [yay for crawfish season].
i won’t be back until thanksgiving / marathon weekend so it was nice to have a mostly unscheduled visit and spend a lot of time with my family.
congrats again to katie and andrew!
xx
queen veen on the scene 