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.

Come home to momma...

So here's how the conversation went (roughly):

L: I saw a dresser with a mirror that's on the small side but I think it could work in our bedroom.

M: Will it fit at least some stuff, or is it those tiny "olden days" drawers?

L: No, manly-clothing-size drawers but only two of them, with two small drawers up top. Here's the picture.

M: Does that price tag say $125?

L: Yup.

M: And it has a mirror? That's, like, not broken?

L: Yup.

M: And you left it there? (Note: There was a slight tinge of disbelief in his voice at this point...I really don't leave anything behind that even resembles a good deal. And this more than resembles. It is a good deal. I was just trying to keep him involved in the process.)

I left a message at Country-by-the-Sea Tea Room in Avon-by-the-Sea (another quaint New Jersey beach town. Doesn't Avon-by-the-Sea just sound lovely?) and they called back to say the dresser will be sitting by the front door waiting for me Friday. I wish they had a web site. It's a little antique store/gift shop/tea room Co-Op that's run by all the women who sell their wares there. The fabulous little tea room is a totally fun ladies-who-lunch spot, with all sorts of yummy treats (and if you like the chair you're sitting in, you can probably buy it out from under you). I'll take pictures on Friday (better than the blurry one above. Yikes!)...It's post worthy.

Rockin'!

Imagine my surprise when a small local furniture store actually called me yesterday, just like they said they would, and told me our rocking chairs arrived (just like they promised they would)! My faith in the little man’s ability to efficiently conduct commerce is restored. We'll be rocking this weekend.

We ordered three chairs similar to this one for our Little Porch of Horrors:
We’re kind of liking the way our little $20 teak folding chairs from the Christmas Tree Shops look on our porch right now (and my little bamboo table from the Ocean Grove Flea!) so hopefully they’ll pair well. I was shocked to even be in a Christmas Tree Shop, much less find perfect little folding chairs to seat guests (in- and outdoors). But I tell you what, don’t mock it ‘til you try it (like I did). Amongst endless rows of enough tchotchke and knick-knack to make your head blow off your shoulders are useful items at deeply discounted prices. I just hopped on their web site and noticed 72” bamboo torches for $1.99 and bamboo and seagrass roman shades for $16.99 (in 26”, 30” and 36” widths). I also noticed rocking chairs for $59.99 that are very similar to the ones we bought (for more than $59.99) but I’m trying not to think about that. Wait – it says they’re “indoor only.” There. I feel better.

"Table" Rasa

tabula rasa NOUN: pl. (tab-u-lae ra-sae) The mind before it receives the impressions gained from experience.

table rasa NOUN: (tey-buhl ra-sae)The table that is still missing from our dining room, four months after ordering it.

OK…I tried. I tried to stay away from mass market retail stores for large purchases. Really. I think it’s important to support local businesses in these days of proliferating strip malls and megastores (not that I don’t love me some Target, but you need to mitigate by supporting the little guys).

M. and I decided to combine our living and dining areas into the living room (more on that later), which required finding a round, 48” dining table. We wanted something solid, something non-veneered, and something with a pedestal bottom so we could jam another person or two around it. So we went with our very specific list of requirements to a great local furniture store (who will remain nameless since this saga takes an ugly turn). They had the perfect table, even had a lovely hammered top, and it would be delivered in two weeks. Yay!

That was in January.

To make an extremely long and somewhat annoying story short, I sat home not one, but two Fridays to accept delivery of the table. And not once, but twice no table -- and I had to call the store to find out what happened. They never called me to say, “Whoops! Sorry you blew your whole day waiting on us!”

After a couple of subsequent calls (by me, of course), turns out the manufacturer kept sending them tables that arrived warped. They really couldn’t say when the manufacturer would be able to ship, and what condition it would be in, so they recommended a different table. It cost more, but they’d be happy to eat the price difference to pay me back for my troubles. Great!
That was in March.

I think what was most annoying is that over these past four months, they called me twice (and both times it was only returning my calls!). Any other time I called I was greeted with, “let me call you back in 10 minutes” or some other brush off (in fairness, I’m not so sure it was a brush off, or a complete inability to conduct business). And nada. M. brought up the perfect analogy – it’s like the fabulous Monty Python “Cheese Shop” sketch. “You are a cheese shop?” is asked to the owner who has not a single cheese in stock. It’s like, “You do sell furniture, don’t you?!”

So this week I called them for the last time. To cancel my order.

I found this table from Pottery Barn that is now the likely contender. It’s veneer, but a textured one that’s, “built to endure daily family dining.” So surely it can endure M. and I and our rowdy guests:

Plus, it has a leaf and the more we think about it (especially now that we’ve had a chance to live in the house a bit) we could use the flexibility of having a larger table when we need. I think it’s a winner?

It’s a bit more than I wanted to spend (I’m thrifty, after all) but at the end of the day it’s a major piece that we hope to have for a good long while. Plus, our chairs only cost about $50 each brand spanking new so I feel a little better.

I guess the moral of the story is: As much as it’s good to embrace the new little guy on the block, sometimes you just have to go back to old trusted friend for what you need.