Teasing is Cruel

Teasing? I'm not talking about taunting or bullying of young children here - no - that's not just cruel, it's unacceptable. I'm talking about flea market vendors who have things like this sitting around their booth, are nowhere to be found and when they do finally return (after I've circled 50-leven times), tell you it's not for sale . . .

What the what?? Are you kidding me??? It should be illegal. Yes, that is Sun Drop just sitting in the chair and a dish of dog food under the chair. If you're not from the South and thus unfamiliar with Sun Drop, I will liken it to Mountain Dew - full of caffeine and sugar. Which explains the state of the vendor's few remaining teeth, all of which I wanted to punch out when he told me the chair was not for sale. Sorry, that was unkind. But I did feel that way. I own it. I realize this chair is not to everyone's taste, but I've been secretly wanting a piece of gilt rope furniture ever since I saw Angela's guest room settee . . . 

Source: tphblog.com via My Interior Life on Pinterest

Then more recently, when I spied this rope bench in a nursery . . .

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via My Interior Life on Pinterest

Love. And truly, I was just looking for a little bench like this when I saw the chair, and my jaw dropped. Of course, I would have reupholstered the red chair to something more sedate like black or cream so it didn't look like I was living in a bordello. When the chair vendor finally decided to make an appearance (after I had left my card with the good-natured Mid-Century vendor across the way and asked him to share it with the guy if he ever returned as I was interested in the price), he told me that he had just purchased it that morning from another flea market vendor who had cleaned out the estate of a former decorator. Which made me even angrier . . . this time at myself for not having arrived earlier at the flea market. Oh well. The whole moral of this story is that there should be a code of ethics at flea markets, etc. If the chair wasn't for sale, don't leave it out for everyone to see and then leave your booth unattended. Rude. At least have the decency to put a sheet over it or simply put a sign that says NFS on it or something. Also, cliche but true, the early bird gets the worm. Or the rope chair.

What else did I see at the flea? These cool Kelly Wearstler-esque chairs . . .

I've never seen anything quite like them. The brass detail running down the middle was so unique. Of course, I have nowhere to put them, so I texted a photo of them to my friend Bri, and of course, she wanted them badly. So, she met up with me soon thereafter, and they were hers. I'm sure she'll be posting about their new home in her basement soon!

Other than that, I saw a couple of cool lamps, but didn't buy anything. However, remember Anastasia of the tortoise shell sconce fame? I actually got to meet her in person. She was so sweet, introduced me to her dad and then actually gifted me a very cute vintage ice bucket from her booth with . . . wait for it . . . Greek Key on it. 

How sweet is that? So, the flea wasn't a total loss after all, and Anastasia restored my faith in the goodness of flea market vendors. The end (well, until I find a rope bench/chair/settee, that is).