Last week I attended a reunion of high-school chums in Oklahoma City, a seven-hour drive from Austin (though my lead-footed mother claims to do it in five). Instead of gunning it straight through, I stopped this time in Dallas to pursue one of the city’s most refined competitive sports: Shopping. Thankfully (for my bank account’s sake), I’ve discovered the cheap thrills of thrift and consignment stores.

My first stop: Buffalo Exchange on Greenville Avenue, the Dallas store in the Arizona-based chain of trendy resale shops. Lots of floaty, gauzy tops; skinny jeans; and Eighties-inspired ensembles—but nothing for me this time.

Still, next door I found a sunny restaurant & deli called The Corner Market—a spot I highly recommend for lunch next time you’re in the Lower Greenville Avenue neighborhood. D Magazine lauded it for “Best Sandwich” a few years ago (and the “Morningside Turkey and Apple” sounded tasty), but I enjoyed a few a la carte items from the cold deli-case, including an interesting broccoli salad with raisins and pine nuts. The homemade chocolate truffles and cheesecake slices looked divine, too—but I had clothes to try on down the road.

I had done a little research on the Web, so as I made my way north, I stopped next at a small store called Revente, near the Southern Methodist University Campus. The store carries lots of designer labels, including merchandise from St. John, Escada, Prada, and BCBG. I managed to find a cotton sundress made by a boutique designer out of Oklahoma City—for about $25.

Next, I headed to Preston Road, where I hit two more places before continuing my journey: Clothes Circuit (just off Preston on Sherry Lane) and Clotheshorse Anonymous a few miles north on Preston, just before Forest Lane). Both places have gigantic inventories—racks and racks of dresses, skirts, tops, pants, and evening wear, plus shoes, bags, and jewelry—and I managed to find a few things at less than a third of the price I would have paid brand-new.

It’s the ultimate recycling!

Thoroughly enjoyed a free Austin Chamber Music Festival event (splendid Mendelssohn Piano Trio concert) at downtown Austin’s Central Presbyterian Church today. Excellent program of Ernest Bloch’s Three Nocturnes and Johannes Brahms’ masterwork, Piano Trio in B Major, Op. 8. The trio’s talented musicians included violinist Peter Sirotin, cellist Fiona Thompson, and pianist Ya-Ting Chang. Festival dates run from June 19-July 11 at assorted venues throughout the city. Some concerts are free, while others have an admission fee. For more information, call 512/454-0026; www.austinchambermusic.org. Among the festival’s featured performers are the Brasil Guitar Duo, the Eroica Trio, Michelle Schumann, the Jupiter String Quartet, the Wild Basin Winds, and the Turtle Island String Quartet.

I’m a fan of Patagonia outfitters not only because the company designs and manufactures amazing gear but also because the folks at Patagonia have set a high standard for accountability and a commitment to causes they believe in. When you visit the web site (www.patagonia.com) click on the Environmentalism button to learn more about the company’s projects. And if you’re near a Patagonia store (in Texas, that means downtown Austin at 316 Congress Ave) enter the contest to win a birding trip to the Rio Grande Valley, a Big Bend rafting trip outfitted by Far Flung Adventures, or a fat gift certificate.

I’d wanted to go to the Blanco Lavender Festival for several years, so when my daughter-in-law, an Ohio native, said she wanted to see Texas’ lavender fields, a daytrip was born: We drove from Austin to Blanco on Saturday to immerse ourselves in all things lavender. Knowing it was going to be hot-hot-hot, we packed a cooler full of bottled water and made sure to take along sunscreen. We needed both.

Aside from the heat, though, we had a great time. We started at the Lavender Market, on the grounds of the Blanco County Courthouse. Mixed in with the usual festival array of arts-and-crafts booths were vendors selling lavender-themed items from sachets to smudge sticks. Both of us like scented soaps, so we honed right in on bars labeled lavender-patchouli, lavender-lemongrass, lavender-mint, and spicy lavender.

Although many of the booths were  shaded, we decided after a while to get out of the heat and check out the Redbud Cafe, across the street. We weren’t ready for lunch, but in order to enjoy the A/C a little longer, we opted for two glasses of lavender lemonade and shared a lavender sugar cookie and a lavender-chocolate cupcake. Our verdict: All three had a subtle lavender flavor that we liked, but we thought the sugar cookie was best.

We drifted into Brieger Pottery next door, where we found not only Jon and Jan Brieger’s wonderful pottery, but a variety of artworks and gifts, including a nice selection of lavender-themed items that the shop carries year round.

Then, we hit the food tent, which featured gourmet specialties, wine, and beer, all with Texas ties. Most of the food was available for sampling, and sample we did. We tried jellies in flavors of lavender (naturally), white zinfandel, cabernet sauvignon, and peach-pecan-amaretto-jalapeño. Hey, it wasn’t all about lavender. We also tasted locally produced feta cheese seasoned with roasted garlic; the cheese was preserved in olive oil, which was intriguing.

Besides sampling, we kept an eye out for a special kind of lavender tea—my daughter-in-law likes the combination of white tea leaves and lavender—and lavender-infused spices. We came up short on the tea, but we found culinary lavender, lavender-citrus sugar, and lavender-herb salt. I see some baking ahead….

From the market, we headed to the Wimberley Lavender Farm (one of the six area lavender farms on tour), where owners O’Neil and Karen Provost had lined up a tasting with recipes from two Terry Thompson-Anderson cookbooks, as well as miniature ponies that entertained both children and adults. Several large trees offered welcome shade. The drought has taken its toll on the farm’s lavender, but we found lavender plants for sale and plenty of lavender goodies in the gift store. Best of all, we purchased a container of lavender ice cream to eat on the way home. Yum! Although the Blanco Lavender Festival is over this year, lavender usually blooms May-July, and many of the state’s lavender farms welcome visitors through August.

Lavender. Good company. Daytrip. I recommend it.

Showing a friend around sometimes results in making some discoveries yourself. Such was the case when I took my Lubbock houseguest to Wimberley recently. I had visited this artsy small town before, but it had been a few years. We wandered around the square, poking into galleries and shops and soaking up the relaxed vibe. I was surprised how easy it was to get into a vacation mode, just by getting out of the city (Austin) and going to a nearby town.

If you’re in the Wimberley area, I recommend taking time to go to Wimberley Glassworks, which features glass-blowing demonstrations Thursday through Monday. We also enjoyed browsing at River House, where my friend found gifts for everyone on her list, and at Moon Dance Arts, the studio/gallery of metalsmiths Kathy and Gary Arnold. I didn’t buy any jewelry from the Arnolds this time, but after seeing some of their unusual designs and hearing them talk about their work, I’ll definitely keep their shop in mind for special occasions.

We opted not to eat in Wimberley—we’d arrived late and by the time we finished shopping, we figured most of the restaurants in town would be overflowing—but we heard lots of recommendations for Juan Henry’s, a Mexican-food place not far from the square. We’ll try it another time. Instead, we ended the day with a scenic detour along River Road before heading back to Austin. My friend saw something more of the Hill Country, and I discovered the refreshing possibilities of a half-day getaway.