Brooklyn Flea

It has definitely been awhile since I last updated; I've just been very busy with a lot of different things! Now that the weather is nicer, it is more enjoyable to be outside. The brutal cold of winter has finally disappeared and the overall mood of the city has changed significantly. Everyone seems happier! I have been more active than I was in the colder months, which has affected my mood in a positive way. The only bad thing is that I find it harder to concentrate at work now that it is constantly sunny outside! Several things about my routine have made the grind of work a bit easier though. Recently, I have started to take the express train to Grand Central and then walk to 26th and Madison, where I work. This wakes me up and gets me going in the morning, so I have been making a concious effort to do it every day for the past week. After work, I have been walking to Central Park occasionally and have also been going there on the weekends to take some casual strolls. There is no question that New York is a more enjoyable city when the weather is nicer.

Last Saturday, I went with a group of people to the Brooklyn Flea Market. It took us a good half hour or so to get there, as it was far out in Brooklyn, but the trip was more than worth the effort. The sun was shining, but there was a cool breeze blowing, so it wasn't too warm. We slowly made our way around to all of the tables and chatted along the way, making sarcastic comments about odd items that we saw at each table. For example, we saw an extremely terrifying stuffed animal that looked like it was possessed. I hope that no child ever purchases this thing. It had flaming red eyes and was very battered- not a pleasant sight to behold. I happened to fall in love with a purple sequined coat from the 80's, but when I saw that it cost $20, I decided that the price was not worth it to sport for one night (we were going to an 80's cover band at the canal room later on). We stopped to get some lobster sandwichs (apparently a specialty here) and a homemade margarita pizza. I got an iced coffee to feed my out of control caffeine addiction that has slowly but surely taken over my life as a Manhattan resident. There's no avoiding it when you are working a desk job in the craziest city known to man; it is inevitable that one will become dependent on it and feel as though an IV leading straight to the arm would be ideal. After sitting on the stairs and sunning ourselves while chatting and eating, we got back up and continued our exploration of the oddities around us. We were extrodinarily amused by some large plastic letters that we found laying in an old sandpit; we held them up and began taking lots of pictures of ourselves holding these. This kept us entertained for longer than it probably should have.

After negotiating a few purchases (I did learn a thing or two about bargaining in Europe), we stopped to browse through some vintage postcards and commented on how much we like the old, beat up ones as opposed to the more modern ones. They just have a romantic quality about them. I feel that way about a lot of things, though. Personally, I find myself drawn to the items that look as though they are straight out of the 20's- 50's, things that would probably look better on my grandmother. I almost purchased a vintage Gucci knockoff clutch that was ragged around the edges, but declined, as I am now picky as ever about purchasing anything. Living on a publisher's salary has taught me a thing or two about opportunity cost, or whatever the technical term would be for making smart purchases based on necessary sacrifice. I'm glad I passed it up, as I just don't see the point in purchasing anything unless I'm absolutely "in love" with it. I do feel this way about many things in life nowadays, which seems to be a good thing.

After our Brooklyn Flea Market excursion and long trek back to Manhattan, we were exhausted and ready to take a mid-afternoon nap before our fun night watching the 80's cover band. And that is exactly what we did.