Boy Meets Girl

wearing: thrifted sweater, bcbg maxazria skirt, anthropologie belt, nine west heels, vintage lace top & jewelry (the necklace was inherited from my grams).

When I go to flea markets I peruse BOTH the women's and little boys' clothing racks. Maybe I should be semi-ashamed to admit this, but hey, if the clothes fit and I like them then isn't that what vintage shopping/thrifting is all about? I'm just a unique kind of girl :)

This past weekend I found a fun little boys yellow sweater at the Melrose Trading Post and I fell in love with the buttons on it. I swooped it up (for a STEAL) and wore it to work yesterday, giving new life to my old duds. I loved the way the structured cable-knits contrast with this fun girly (and flouncy - something I hardly ever wear) skirt.

xox,

Bre

Camel Love

I have a soft spot for all animals, and a HUGE soft spot for silly ones. This usually translates into me not being able to say no when it comes to picking up crazy little animal curiosities for my home. Case in point - this adorable camel cookie jar. I spotted him at a flea market recently and knew he had to be in our home (Dan always tells me he wants a camel right?). Now he sits on our wine shelves and provides a great holding place for Dan’s collection of corks, until he decides what he actually wants to do with all of them.

xox,

Bre

New LA Flea Market: The Good, The Bad, & The Crazy

*me at the Grand Opening*

This past weekend was the Grand Opening of the new LA Flea Market at Dodger's Stadium. There was a lot of hype surrounding this new flea market, and at a general admission price of only $5, the man and I thought we'd definitely give this one a try. Well needless to say, if you've talked to anybody who went, it started off on the wrong foot. We sat trapped in the car for over an hour because they weren't ready to open on time and they wouldn't even let people in the parking lot (if you live anywhere near LA you know this is the type of thing that would cause a riot...a lot of very unhappy people standing outside of their cars yelling...). Then once again, after we bought our tickets they made us wait AGAIN, because vendors were still driving around inside frantically trying to set up.

I felt very bad for the vendors. I talked to one of them that told me she had to wait for 2 hours before she could get in to even set up her booth! 2 hours!! That is crazy compared to how well run the next closest flea market is run (Rose Bowl Flea Market and Swap Meet). Now with that said, yes this was the very first time they had run anything like this here, so I'm pretty sure it would improve next time. Well they basically HAVE to improve the management aspect of the flea market or people will simply not go.

*waiting in the car*

Now on to the Good: While there weren't as many vendors as I expected, and it certainly wasn't as large as the Rosebowl Flea Market, I managed to score some great finds. In fact I spent at least an hour at just one of the booths and scored some beautifully constructed clothing for a really great price. A designer got into a legal battle with his backer and wasn't able to sell his collection. It is a really long story (I will share in another post some time with some of the items that I snagged), but he was basically forced to donate his collection and have the proceeds go to charity. The price tags were still on these babies, I literally bought $1,200 jackets for less than one-tenth that price. The attention to detail, craftsmanship and vision in these clothing were just amazing. I was really sad to hear the story behind it, but was glad that I was lucky enough to randomly fall upon it.

This flea market also has a great view of downtown LA. That's always a plus when you get a chance to see the "pretty" side of the city, and somewhere way in the background you could see the famous "Hollywood" sign up on the hill. Oh yes, and another plus was that they had PLENTY of food trucks and some large Shark thing? Couldn't quite figure out what that was, lol.

me and the man in front of the LA skyline

my shopping bag full of great little gems!

Dan with his new found friend :)

Food vendors and some Shark Attack!

After a tough morning of waiting, and hunting the Mr. and I stopped at one of our all time favorite Mexican joints (El Farolito) for a tasty margarita (did I already mention it was SUPER hot this weekend?) and amazing grub.

Did anybody else go to the new flea market this weekend? I'm curious to hear what other people thought too. Whatever you did, I hope you had a great time.

xox,

Bre

New LA Flea Market! + Flea Market Finds

(some of my newest vintage finds)

To market to market! This past weekend I went to the Long Beach Antique Market, and while it isn't as large as the Rosebowl Flea Market & Swap Meet, I adore it just the same. While Rosebowl has the biggest selection for vintage clothing that I've seen locally, I think I usually find more vintage jewelry at Long Beach. I picked up 2 new rings, 2 necklaces, a vintage seiko watch, and 2 shirts (not pictured). Not too shabby eh?

I'm pretty crazy about this blue and gold ring. It's a great funky little piece for my ever-growing collection. Watches have also been one of my latest obsessions. I'm loving watches of all sizes, shapes, and colors and have been wanting to get several new ones so I was very happy to find this dainty vintage Seiko watch. It's in perfect working condition, and it's one of the old fashioned type that you crank yourself (which I find very charming).

My husband found this one. He has a thing for goats (long story) so he showed this to me as kind of a joke, but I thought it was fun and decided to go for it.

It was a beautiful summery day and after our morning of hunting we were able to make it over to Zov's in time for their fantastic brunch (best melt-in-your-mouth pancakes ever). I really love this place; a local mom & pop type with great Mediterranean dishes. Afterwards we headed back home to play and BBQ by the pool. I just love those kind of relaxing summer days. :)

In other exciting flea market news - I'm very very amped that next month (on July 18th) the new LA Flea Market opens at Dodgers Stadium! You can guarantee I will be there to check it out. It is supposed to be large like the Rosebowl, but have even more and better food. Per the LA Times "The monthly market will try to distinguish itself as more than just a place to shop. With 500 vendors, gourmet food trucks and live entertainment, it promises to be an event." And the general admission is only $5, affordable for all. Sounds like something worth putting on your calendar if you like this sort of thing. Here is the official website if you want to check it out (click here), I'd love to see you there. :)

Rendering via LA Flea Market.

Hope you all had great weekends, and happy Summer Solstice to you all.

xox,

Bre

Weekend update + TOMS love

(me sporting a vintage tennis dress on a bike ride to the park)

I hope you all had fantastic weekends. This weekend I finally bought some TOMS and so far I'm in L-O-V-E! When I went to the store they told me they probably didn't have any in my size (6.5) because that size is apparently nearly impossible to find in stores...but the nice salesman dug around in the back and finally came up with one pair of TOMS left in a 6.5, the only catch: they were stark white. I was worried about white getting super dirty, super fast, but after I put these babies on my feet I didn't much seem to care. :) They are pretty adorable for comfy shoes (I kind of adore the blue stitching), and I guess I have committed to a little shoe washing maintenance from time to time.

I tested out the comfiness my new TOMS at the Flea Market, where I snagged 5 vintage dresses, a ring, a bracelet, and 2 necklaces for a grand total of $64! I seriously scored - it's been a long time since I've gotten that fabulous of a deal, and it was just my lucky day in vintage wear. Usually it takes a lot of effort and digging to first find vintage clothing you love (some "vintage" clothes at the flea market are more like old junk), and then you cross your fingers just hoping it will actually be in your size. The flea market gods must have been smiling on me that day. I've never come away with so many clothing items in one shot! As you can tell, I'm very excited about this.

I also went for a nice night time bike ride with my hubby (see the new TOMS?) It was a perfect Summer night, which equals the perfect weather for a bike ride to the park. All in all, it was relaxing and wonderful to get back to trolling around my usual stops in So. Cal.

vintage rose bracelet + Disney "wish" necklace (worn as a bracelet here - my mom and I bought these matching necklaces last Summer when she came out to visit me)

a look down at my wonderful TOMS

here's a close up of that blue stitching, of which I'm so fond.

vintage ring

How was your weekend? Hopefully you enjoyed similar sunny weather.

xox,

Bre

My Closet: The UGLY sweater + some thanks

Awhile back when on a flea market hunt, I stumbled across this little boys sweater. I thought it was totally awesome and I could pair it with a skirt and some heels and have some instant boy meets girl appeal; my husband on the other hand told me this is one of the ugliest sweaters he has ever seen. lol. I told him he needed to have some vision and that it would look good on me, but he said "you can be a hot chick in an ugly sweater, and the sweater is still ugly." Wise words babe. I still love it though, sometimes I don't want everything I wear to be super pretty, I like to have clothes that fit my mood and today this was just right for my mood. So whether you love the sweater or hate the sweater, here it is in it's little boy's vintage glory. :)

Also, I want to give some thanks. I've received a couple of blogger awards this week and I want to give a big shout out back to the lovely ladies that gave them to me.

Thank you so much to Cornflake for passing on a Beautiful Blogger Award to Me:

And A big thank you to Vivian at Diamonds and Tulle also for passing on the "Your Blog is Over the Top!" Award.

I really appreciate the great support of the blogging community. Both of these bloggers have excellent blogs of their own that you should definitely check out (see links above).

In other Bre news (since I'm on a roll here) I sold my first pillow from my etsy shop last week and I'm very excited about that. Wouldn't you know the minute I go out of town I have multiple sales that week? Isn't that just the way it always go? lol. I don't talk about my etsy shop much here on my blog (or at least I haven't in a long time) so I'm thinking I may add a "My Etsy" link on the side bar next to my blogger awards. Changes coming soon.

the pillow sale. Wheat Sculptural Knit 14x14 pillow, $50

the close-up (so you can see the fibers throughout and the texture...I've been so obsessed with this thick texture)

Outfit credit: sweater-vintage, skirt-DKNY, and heels-Charles David.

xox,

Bre

Gorgeous Spring Finds!!

I'm not usually a pink kind of girl, but I think I have a bit of Spring Fever! I went crazy this past weekend over these beautiful new finds for the vintage section of my etsy shop: such deep pink jewel tones and delicate florals. I'm particularly in love with the hand-painted floral bowl and am actually having a little heartache over having to give it to somebody else....but I am consoling myself by saying that whoever buys this from my shop will love it just as much as I do.

Vintage Ruby Pink Ringware Carafe - this color is so amazing!

Hand-painted floral bowl - fabulously feminine.

Purinton Red Ivy Jug. A great little Dutch find from the 40's!

This was definitely a great way to start off my Spring season. I hope you enjoy dressing up your home for Spring!

Vintage Cases

(blue vintage travel case from the etsy shop of SimplyPear)

I simply adore vintage travel cases (they are tres chic!). Recently I have been searching on etsy for a good looking travel case or two. I love the round cases because they really conjure up the image of a vogue woman circa 1950, but the shape of the case is really not that practical for actual travel. I was thinking maybe I could use a round travel case as a fashionable alternative to hold all my knitting needles or scarves (this would look really good in a walk-in closet...which of course I don't have but I'm just throwing the idea out there).

On the more practical side, I've been searching for a vintage travel bag that I can use for weekends away, as my current suitcase feels a bit bulky for just a weekender.

I had saved a couple favorites to my etsy account, but while at the Rose Bowl Flea Market this past weekend I ran across this beautiful little luggage bag that fit the bill perfectly.

So fabulous! It's a vintage American Tourister bag (from the 60's or 70's - not quite sure) in near perfect condition and in a great mustard color. The inside lining is 100% in tact, the little rubber feet still hanging on beautifully, and all the zippers work wonderfully (it even has a cute little lock on the side to hold the zipper in place).

I really love the little lock, it's a great touch!

This bag is the perfect size for all my weekend get aways. And with the seasons changing to Spring & Summer, I am anticipating quite a bit more retreats here and there. Just LOVE it. I think I will leave it at that, and wish chic travels to others getting ready for some time away during the warms months of the year.