Lifeskills: what I failed to learn at Princeton: Flea Market Finds

Ever since I was young enough to be able to look under the McDonald's counter and see the fluorescent lights flickering as my mother ordered me classic McNuggets kid's meal, antiques have played a significant role in my life. My grandfather religiously goes to auctions on the weekends to bet on "junk" that litters their basement and garage, our close family friends are practically high-end antique dealers, and The Antiques Roadshow is always a family favorite.

SATURDAY: JULY, 16, 2011
This past weekend I went to a fabulous flea market in Hell's Kitchen Flea Market (West 39th St. between 9th and 10th Avenues.) Despite the hot temperatures, which made Hell's Kitchen practically come to life, I was able to lose myself for hours digging between old books, tarnished door knobs, and even an old record player. The steal of the day came from Rick, who offered me a oil painting for ten dollars. He called it his "end of the day sale" since he was closing up and trying to get rid of as much of his items as possible. According to Rick, he found the painting in a basement in New Jersey. In his spare time he is a plumber/utility man and buys unwanted items from people. He was "surprised that the family never put this on display." Granted he was probably giving me his sale's pitch, but for ten dollars, I couldn't resist the temptation to be able to look at the textured oil painting that in a way resembles Van Gogh.

I debated with Matt as to the time period of the painting. In my opinion it is reminiscent of an old Parisian scene from the 50s with the lights reflecting off of the wet street and bear trees. Matt, on the other hand thought that it was earlier in the 19th century, keep in mind he was observing this via Skype so am rather skeptical about the quality of the Skype image.

SATURDAY: JULY 30, 2011
After receiving an emailed article from my friend, Sarah, about Dekalb Flea Market: Brooklyn's Newest Flea Market, I've been curious to check it out since the article contained descriptions, such as "a once-barren construction site", and "home to 22 year-round indie retailers, vintage shops, and restaurants housed in salvaged shipping containers. Originally, I wanted to go last weekend, but thanks to the heat wave was forced to put my plans on hold until today.

The commute is actually INCREDIBLY easy. From 33rd and Park, take the six down to Union Square, then from there take the Q to Dekalb (the first stop in Brooklyn). After arriving, the flea market is only a minute walk from the subway stop.

The flea market itself was rather small in terms of the vendors. The majority of the people there this weekend sold jewelry (truth be told it wasn't anything that blew me away), and believe that the majority of the necklaces, earrings, and bracelets can be found in other small, local retail stores. There was one photography stall that I'm hoping to visit again (once I earn enough money to afford one of his prints) since he has an unusual way of developing color photos of simple scenes of New York and home interiors that gives the impression as if they were painted onto the stone or paper print.

The highlight of the market, aside from the artistic displays and bright colors, was the food market. Unfortunately, I had already eaten lunch so was too full to try one of the ethnic food vendors, but am definitely hoping to go back next weekend to taste it out since it looked and smelled divine. Due to a headache from dehydration and a parched mouth, I treated myself to a 20 oz. cup of Summer Breeze (green tea with lemongrass, spear mint, and lemon balm) for $4.50 that gave me enough energy to peruse through the rest of the market.

Live music.

A farm planted by community organizations will provide ingredients for culinary classes and market vendors.

Summer Breeze (Green tea with lemongrass, spear mint, and lemon balm).

SUNDAY: JULY 31, 2011
After getting lost in Central Park thanks to subway construction, I finally made it to GreenFlea (77th and Columbus). This is one of my absolute favorite flea markets that I have visited since there is such an eclectic grouping of vendors ranging from classic antiques, to African and Chinese art, clothing and jewelry designers, and even a tea spice vendor. Unfortunately, no Rick offered me a special "end of the day" discount, but I absolutely LOVE the tea that I bought per the vendor's recommendation (Hibiscus Pinacolada). He thought I was crazy when I told him that I couldn't smell it (my nose has been acting up recently...darn allergies) but when I made a pot tonight, it smelled like paradise (assuming paradise had a scent). More importantly, it didn't even need to be sweetened (and this is coming from the girl who swears by Splenda). Hopefully, I'll have time to try and make it in an iced form later this week.

SATURDAY: AUGUST 6, 2011

Last weekend while I was exploring the Dekalb Flea Market, my roommate (Katie) had gone to Smorgasburg, a Brooklyn Flea Food Market (on Brooklyn's Williamsburg waterfront between North 6th and North 7th St., at the East River). One of the best parts was traveling there since we took the East Ferry, which happens to be one block over from our apartment (in other words a very short and easy walk), and incredibly affordable for New York ($4.00 for a one-way adult ticket). We did not leave our building until 1pm, and so consequentially were starving by the time the ferry docked in a little after 1:30pm. Aware of these we made the following plan of attack: get an appetizer (which ended up being a smoothie) walk around the entire flea market to get an idea of our options, and then eat our lunch entree (beef brisket-which ended up being mostly gristle, but the bbq sauce, pickled onions, and bun were delicious), and coffee. Hopefully, I will become a regular since my stomach was not nearly large enough to consume everything, and I've got my eye set on a chocolate-dipped banana pop (unfortunately the line wrapped half way around the market, and was averaging about 30 minutes+ to wait).