The Fancy Flea

 

I came, I saw, I FLEA'D!

Yes, indeedy, I attended the first Fancy Flea Vintage Market of 2023 and it was glorious just to be back among my people.

You may recall that I've been absent from the FF for a couple of years now just because my life is hella busy with stuff that everybody else wants to do and I haven't made myself a priority.

Before that I tried to Flea by myself the year after Taz died and it just wasn't the same without him. The first event I attended was the July indoor event (my very favorite because of the AIR CONDITIONING!) and I walked around just getting sadder and sadder until I needed to get out of there because the tears were literally spilling down my cheeks and people were giving me funny looks. Who the heck cries at a vintage fair?

Chris made sure we headed out to the market just as soon as his basketball game was over so we got there in plenty of time to browse. The weather was perfect (ok, maybe just a tad hot for February) and there were so many vendors. Chris found a cute gift for his business partner's baby who will be 1 in May and I found a few nice things but nothing that I really needed. Our house is pretty crowded so unless I have a specific need or place for something I'm pretty content just to enjoy it from afar. We hiked up and down the streets and enjoyed some of the live music coming from the courthouse lawn.

I'd never been to this particular town before but it's charming so I hope to go back one day and enjoy the shops and restaurants.

I can't even explain how great it felt to be back doing something I love. And I'll tell y'all a little secret - one day I want to be one of the vendors. I would love to collect pretty things that I love and then sell them to people who would love them as well. Chris would be great doing that too because he'd have a whole crowd of people to talk to and entertain, I could see us partnering in a business like that. 

I'm going to put that down as a goal.

And now a little something for the "better late than never" file. You might have noticed that in my previous post where I talked all about Valentine's Day, I never mentioned what Chris got for me and there's a very good reason for that - he did nothing for Vday.

I wasn't upset to the point where I questioned his love for me or wanted to throw something at his head but I was not happy about the whole thing because he seems to have time for everything else in his life but didn't have time to run into Dollar Tree and get a 50 cent card?

I had also mentioned, more than once, a particular necklace at the local drug store and asked for it for Vday. I reminded him a couple of times and even let him know when I'd received an email coupon that he could use for it and it still went in one ear and out the other and I didn't appreciate that but I didn't make a big deal out of it. One night while washing the dishes I did say that I don't ask for a whole lot but when I do, it's because I really want the thing I'm asking for and I left it at that and, frankly, pretty much forgot about it. I mean, get real, I'm a woman so I didn't totally forget about it but I didn't bring it up again and I consider that a victory.

I was on the verge of buying the necklace for myself once or twice because it's something I really liked and wanted to wear every day but something always held me back. I can, and will, buy my own presents but I really wanted this necklace to come from him.

So imagine my surprise when Chris came home Friday night with a bag filled with chocolates, my necklace AND a bracelet he picked out by himself. He apologized for having gotten so caught up in some drama at work that he had overlooked the opportunity to let me know how much I mean to him.

He's really under no obligation to do anything for me, but it was a lovely gesture and I love both my necklace and the unexpected bracelet.

One of Chris's basketball players has a younger 4 year old sister who comes to all the practices and games and in an effort to keep her from being bored, Chris has appointed her his "assistant coach" and lets her help with practices...even though her 8 year old sister objects to being told what to do by a 4 year old.

This past week Chris decided he wanted to do something special for the little girl so he bought supplies and asked me to make her a hat with her name on it so that she could wear it at games. Since the team's name is the Celtics and St. Patricks Day is right around the corner we went with a green theme.

I was getting ready to make the hat when the kids descended on me and proceeded to do all the work. They did a much better job than I would have so I was happy to let them. They ended up making a hat for Chris as well and he and his assistant coach proudly wore them at the game this past weekend. It was a bright spot in, what has been, a challenging season. I'm not going to be sorry to see it end in a couple of weeks and will enjoy the 2 week break before the next one begins.