Weekend Warriors

We survived another flea weekend! It was a hot one this past Saturday, near 90 degrees, but we survived! Whatever the temperature ended up reaching add at least 10 more degrees due to the paved parking lot we were on with no shade. Then add 11 hours and a nasty sunburn and you'll understand  how I spent my Saturday. Oh, the sacrifices we make for the love of vintage! But I'd happily do it all over again and I will, on August 9th when temperatures threaten to be even hotter than July's. By the time we got home, unloaded the truck, showered, and ate... we were beat. Sleep was all we had the energy to do, so that's what we did.

Sunday was meant to be a day of recharging and relaxing but somehow we found ourselves on the road again. We ended up at one of my favorite hidden gems where I scored an antique top hat from the late 1800's along with a few other treasures. The hat was made by the famous Knox Hat Company of New York and once belonged to a magician whose estate was bought out by my friend. She sold me the hat for a mere $20! Unbelievable! Talk about a steal! I bought the hat with the intention of selling it but now I'm not so sure I can part with it. I think I may have fallen in love...decisions, decisions. One of the biggest struggles of being a vintage junkie... knowing what to keep and what to let go. I'll let you know what I decide, but for now... enjoy some of my pics from the weekend...

~ view of the The Cleveland flea location ~

~ another view of The Cleveland Flea ~

~ a shot of part of our booth ~

~ a pic Richard took of one of the buildings surrounding us ~

~ there was a train track on the wall on one side of the flea ~

~ ouch... I see lots of aloe and a few sleepless nights in my future ~ 

~ one of the treasures I picked up Sunday ~

~ antique sleigh bell I also picked up on Sunday. (it already sold today on my Etsy) ~

~ gorgeous vintage catholic sodality miraculous medal badge ~

~ and the best for last: the top hat! Richard had fun filtering this one ~

~ I dunno, I think the hat may be a keeper <3 ~

Til next time friends,

Jenn

Country Girl, City Girl

Hey, hope everybody had a safe and fun holiday weekend! The weather here in northeast Ohio turned out to be absolutely perfect, not too hot, not too chilly. The perfect weather to spend the day outdoors at an antique flea market, which is exactly what we did. We started our morning at the 41st annual Mesopotamia ox roast and antique flea market. Mesopotamia(called Mespo by the locals) is located in Trumbull County in northeast Ohio. The area is home to the 4th largest old order Amish population in the world. Growing up near Mespo my family has been going to the annual flea market for as long as I can remember. My favorite vendor as a child was a woman who sold miniatures, she had thousands of them. Little mini versions of anything you could possibly imagine and the irony of it all? She wasn't mini at all, in fact she was a rather large person, probably the largest person I had ever seen at my young age. But she loved small things just like me and I would have spent hours at her booth if it weren't for being dragged away by my parents. 

I haven't seen the miniature lady in years and this year was no different but Richard and I did well nonetheless. We both found lots of treasures, books for him and lots of old animal bones and metal trinkets for me. We finished up around noon and trudged back to our car with our bags full of goodies. During the annual market all the roads in and out of Mespo are lined with yard sales, barn sales and garage sales so we decided to hit a few on the way out. We took our time travelling along the back roads of Amish country, dodging horse drawn buggies and the road apples they leave behind. Eventually we found ourselves at Mary Yoder's Amish Kitchen & Bakery and couldn't resist stopping in for a quick bite to eat before heading home.  

Later that evening after spending some quality time with the doggies we headed to downtown Cleveland to watch the fireworks display over Lake Erie. All in all, it was a great day and I took lots of photo evidence which I'll share below, but you can always follow me on Instagram: @feelingjennerous and @suite22antiques

Until next time... xoxo,

Jenn