Something I love about Chicago is the variety of unusual things to do in the city any time of the year. Last Saturday morning, I picked up the weekend edition of the Red Eye on my front stoop, opened it up to the "Things to Do This Weekend" page, and found myself in the predicament of how to be in several places at once!
I convinced The Fella to spend the day with me at The Vintage Bazaar, a modern, pop-up flea market, a veritable vintage and antiques marketplace for the thrifty set. It was love at first concept! I was itching to recapture that feeling I'd get when I used to browse the antiques fair in NYC's South Street Seaport and hold something that felt rich with history.
We stood in a long line of about 100 or so people -- the lucky ones who had already come and were going, exited the Dank Haus. Some Debbie Downer walked by us and said it's not worth the wait, it's so crowded inside you couldn't even move, that there was nothing of value. But I chose instead to see the satisfied arms embracing odd antler-shaped table centerpieces, birdcages, and other unidentifiable objects spilling out onto the street. I was dead set on finding some fabulous treasure of my own.
Sure enough, a couple hours later, The Fella and I ended up walking out (literally) with a refinished wooden chair from the early 1900's (pictured above), wooden drink stirrers hand-carved into funny-looking little people, a pair of rose-bud shaped, silver and pearl screw-and-post earrings (the precursor to clip-ons) and... ta da... my coveted 40% mohair-60% wool cape and vest woven in 1930s Scotland! That's right, I said cape.
I left smiling ear to ear -- I don't care that The Fella said I look like a Mexican in an itchy poncho or that we had to walk blocks with a chair in tow. An Oberweis vanilla milkshake capped off this wonderful, spontaneous, treasure-seeking day in Chicago. Oh, and also this cute cow I named Charlotte.
I love Charlotte the cow!
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