The Elusive Flea Market

On Sunday, The Parents, D and I headed to the Upper West Side for brunch at Cafe Mozart. Father had parked his car in a lot, much to his dismay, the day before. He searched for a space but could not find one. The guy at the lot said "If you pick up your car later than 1:17 tomorrow, it will be $10 for each additional hour."

Father said "I have to get my car at 1:17."

"But our reservation is at noon. There's no way we will be back here by 1:17."

"No, I have to be."

"OK. Well, why don't you get up on Sunday morning and move the car? It's free to park on Sundays now."

Father thought that was a good idea, but then said "Well, would it make more sense to just drive?"

"I don't know," I said. "I have no idea what parking is like on the upper west side. That's unchartered territory. I suppose its just as unlikely to find a spot up there as it is down here, so why not?"

D agreed, and advocated our just driving up there.

So we did.

We got there in about 5 minutes and then spent 30 minutes looking for a spot. Father remained surprisingly chill about the whole thing, dropped us off, and then ended up parking in a sketchy spot that had earlier been vetoed by Mother. Heh.

Brunch was yum.

After brunch, D left to ride his bike and Mother and I headed down to the elusive Hell's Kitchen Flea Market, which was actually there! Crazy. This activity was unplanned, but we'd passed it on our way north on 10th Avenue, and decided to, gasp, be spontaneous since it was such a lovely day!

Father parked illegally and just stayed in the car, while Mother looked at weird jewelry and I looked at vintage coats and jewelry.

I am now certain that The Hell's Kitchen Flea Market from Summer 2004 was not the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market, because it was not a flea market. It was definitely a street fair. The Hell's Kitchen Flea Market is definitely a classic flea market.

Here are some photos:



We had a great time. I bought a baby blue cosmetics case from the 70's in which to store camera equipment. Awshummmmmm!

Saying good-bye to The Parents was hard, since I probably won't see them again until Christmas. It's not so much not seeing them as it is knowing that it's more difficult to see them now. When I lived an hour away from them, I probably saw them less than I do now but knew I could see them whenever I wanted.

Sigh.

I spent the remainder of Sunday being mostly reclusive and not enjoying the nice weather because I thought it was more important to decompress and be totally alone. I wanted to go to B & H or The Container Store, but I decided instead to download music and deal with photos and make a few phone calls and watch The Pajama Game. I'll have four full days off for Thanksgiving during which I can run errands and see movies and be around a zillion people. It's just as important to take advantage of quiet time.

And with that, I'm off. To have more quiet time tonight, before the chaos starts up again tomorrow night.

Until tomorrow....