Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Getting Our Kicks on ... that California (Fleamarket) Trip!


Wednesday's Wanderings  This time my wanderings have taken me a bit further afield.  Above we see our first notable stop in California.  Cathie is shown in front of the store where she found a great shelf that she saw listed on Craig's List before leaving home.  The owner of  Willow and Magnolia was more than a bit surprised we had come that far .... "Seriously?"

Our first junquer's fix behind us, we met up with Jenn, who had flown down for a conference the beginning of the week.  We had dinner at a fun Mexican place on the Marina in Long Beach.



Here we are just arriving at the Flea Market at the Pasadena City College.  I thought this truck was super cute, so we chose it for our first flea market photo prop!!

And here we are, this view shows about a quarter of one of the smaller lots, there were two other larger lots and two floors of a large parking structure too, WAHOO!!


The figural flower frog to the right was probably the worst priced item I saw ... she is missing an arm and 'as-is' is priced at $55.  Seriously?  I know that minty they go for close to a hundred, and maybe with a good chip and a couple of flea bites, but really, without an arm?     Its true that a lot of dealers had antique store prices, but there were some deals too.



Here are Jenn and Cathie checking out the goods!
After 7 hours of digging, walking, hunting, walking, bargaining, walking, discovering, walking, forking over the dough, walking, stowing, and walking .... well, all good things must come to an end.  Cathie shows off a bouquet of yards sticks ... we all look for nice old ones for a project that Jenn is doing. (I will show you pics when she is done :-))

And here they come with their final load of antique, vintage and quirky goodness!
Just a 'few' lovely souvenirs of our fabulous day in the sun!!  (Our other souvenir was sunburns on our faces and the backs of our necks .... next time hats are going on that check list!)
Cathie's chair with my antique carved wood crown.
Jenn's table, stool and my antique Highlander art.
Both Jenn and Cathie went a little crazy buying wire.   There were wire baskets, stands, tables, chairs, racks and more!


And now the work begins ... It was all sort of like a giant 3-d puzzle ...  and Jenn was the master puzzler!  It was so fun to be her assistant and she asked for "something long and metal"
or "Some this big and flat on top", or "something long and round to fit in the upturned stool".


In the end, she DID IT!!  It was all neatly tucked in...  but by that time everyone was long gone, as you see the parking lot was virtually empty.  We had made the most of our day in the sun at the flea market.
It was a fabulous trip ... We all had a great time.  Jenn is a former long time LA resident and she showed us many of her old haunts.  We did the flower district, clothing district, fabric district and some pretty awesome restaurants.  And one fun new find for all of us was  an utterly charming, one of a kind, crafter's store called Zinnia's that I will share in a future 'wandering'.

Thanks for coming along and sharing the fun!!

3 comments:

  1. Oh my word, I'm drooling and wanting to turn around in the picture to see what was behind you. I LOVE the turquoise patina on the metal. Jenn needs to make herself a crown for packing a van. WOW! Glad you had so much fun!

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  2. Such FUN you guys...I'm cracking up at you trying to fit everything in the van! LOL! (*_*)

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  3. Hello Pollyanna. I loved reading your wandering post about the Pasadena City College flea market. That is on my go-to-next-time list. That same day I "ventured" to the Ventura Flea Market, and was pleasantly surprised by all the wonderful thrifty finds. Am now following you and look forward to reading your posts, old and new.
    http://altered-artworks.blogspot.com

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