the clean & the grungy

I officially decided this morning that Sunday is my favorite day of the week. It is the one day that everyone can walk slowly, take a deep breath, and relax before the week begins again. After going to the Met, Chinatown, and Times Square all in one day yesterday, I was definitely craving a much less chaotic day today.

A flea market & abc home would surely do the trick.

To my surprise, both were completely opposite places. I didn't know what to expect since I hadn't been to either, but the flea market we went to just down the street was literally inside of a vacant parking garage. (http://www.herebeoldthings.com/2008/02/antiques-garage.html) Both floors were covered in vintage gowns, costume jewelry, random oil paintings that I'm sure will never sell, and obviously so much more. It's always an adventure to see what you can find! I was mostly bummed about forgetting to put a memory card in my camera to take photos, but I will be back I'm sure.

I found so much inspiration from these old renderings of plants and animals..drawings to watch out for in future posts!

such a popular place!

Ashleigh, can't you see us buying all of these and staggering all of them along one wall??

Framing postcards or hanging them around is such a personal touch. A great reminder of places you've been even if you weren't even born at the time they were printed! You would never find postcards like this along the streets anymore!

Okay this place above was the flea market, now let's compare to abc home, which can be seen right below us here. It was seriously anthropologie's home section times one million. There are so many great finds here except they are about twenty times more expensive and they are brand new instead of decades old! You have to check out their website, but nothing beats walking in the front door and taking in all of the different aromas, colors, textures, and so much more. (http://www.abchome.com/)

It's 6 stories tall, but the only one we ventured through was the first floor gifts section..quite enough for one day!

This wooden piece is a perfect example about what there store is all about. They sell the most unique and gorgeous pieces...from stationery to cups & bowls to dresses for your kids! I did a wood sculpture like this last semester, I'll have to post about later on. Isn't this gorgeous?

And there are so many more flea markets and thrift stores to explore! A really good thrift store to find if you're in Manhattan that I have been to though is called Buffalo Exchange. (http://www.buffaloexchange.com/) The Goodwill here has pretty decent finds, but even so is more expensive than back in Columbus!

Sincerely,

Sarah