Flea, glorious flea.

Well yesterday I hit a doozy of a flea.

My brother was staying overnight and when we rolled out of bed (dirty stay outs) we rolled over to the Atlantic Highlands Historical Society Flea Market. My expectations for the flea were low, but I love that my brother didn't even bat an eyelid when I asked if he wanted to go. In fact, we flea quite well together...I can't think of a better person to hit the asphalt with.

Things started out looking unpromising. While I was pretty happy with the antique postcards I snapped up at the first table we actually stopped at...


...I was feeling a little down when the bro walked away with 20 postcards for the same price as my five just two tables away. D'oh! At the brother's "jackpot table" I admired a dainty rocking chair, and bought an old green glass insulator (which has no use whatsoever but I've always loved these things) for $3. When I got home it joined my kitchen window vignette.

While my brother stayed at the table to patiently sift through a huge box of postcards, I meandered around. And that's when the magic happened.

It was later in the day so the Historic Society marked their table down substantially -- everything you could stuff in a bag for $1. I looked around at the table and figured that may be impossible...five hours in to the day, it was pretty picked over. But I poked around and pulled a box out from under the table. And, oh happy day, there was a box filled with vintage Christmas balls. I bought a bag and started scooping them in, only to quickly be boxed out by a nimble, well dressed woman eager to add to her busting-at-the-seams grocery bag. Had I not been hot and a little dehydrated, I might have had it in me to fight back. But truth be told I didn't need any of these ornaments so no big whoop. Here's what my bag looked like when I walked away:

Not too bad for a buck, right? Look inside...

They'll be piled up in a big glass apothecary jar that's holding seashells right now. I also stuffed these two lovely and delicate vintage floral pieces in the bag.

I mean, they were practically free (they were part of the "everything in a bag for a buck" deal). I'll likely use them as gift tags. They're a good size, so will dress up a package pretty nicely:

After my buck bag victory, I went to look for my brother and spied a covered glass cake dish. For $3! Quicker than I could say, "I'll take it!" that bad boy was bubble wrapped and tucked under my arm. I think it's a deal, and will be great for cupcakes and cookies, and maybe even mini pumpkins for a festive Halloween display:

The brother tipped me off to a vendor selling some vintage New Jersey bottles (the ones in my kitchen window are all NJ-based). I honed in on three small pharmacy bottles ($1 each) from my great state, which I'll put in the downstairs powder room. In the future, we're hoping to give the loo a "make under," so these will look great on the future vintage looking sink. Whenever it is that we get to that.


I was pretty much loaded down like a pack mule at this point, so we started to head out. I walked past that rocking chair that I had my eye on earlier (at the table I bought my insulator from), sort of strategically to see if the guy would come down on the price. It's a wee little chair, and we are not wee little people so I'm not sure I really need it (do I really need any of this stuff? Suze Orman would have my head.). But I figured I'd see what his "end of day" offer was (I'm not a haggler, so the haggle has to come to me. I know this is a little backwards but I'm just not good at asking people to knock money of their prices.). And when he said I could have it for $15 (!) that, too, got tucked under my arm. Check it out:


It is a bit small...here's a photo of it near a bed for scale...

...so it might wind up going to a friend with a little girl. But it's in fabulous shape (from the 1930s, I think -- and it has been re-caned) so I know it will find a great home, if not mine.

Final tally:

Assorted old postcards: $10 (Budget buster. Alas.)

Bag of glass ornaments and vintage floral pieces: $1

Insulator: $3

Cake dish: $3

Pharmacy bottles: $1 each ($3 total)

Rocking chair: $15

TOTAL: $35

Euphoric drive home: Priceless.