In high school, I used to wake up early with my mom on Saturdays in the summer, eat breakfast, then drive west on 44 to the flea market. We weren't stellar thrifters but we knew what we liked when we saw it. A necklace with a bumble bee for me, a funny marionette for her.
One time I came across a simple enamel bowl with goofy medieval figures around the rim. I remembered one of the first rules of haggling: don't act too interested early on. I loved that bowl, but I placed it back on the table without seeing a price tag and looked over the other items. I was guessing it was 10 or even 20 bucks, now that retro was chic in the boonies of Missouri.
"Want that bowl? Take it for a dollar." The seller man had been watching me from his lawn chair. A dollar? For something I loved for all its weird charm? I joyfully paid in quarters.
I now use that bowl for mixing cookie dough, salad greens, and vegetables when I make spicy Haitian pikliz:
The other day, I was looking at a favorite blog, Design*Sponge when I came across a beautiful kitchen that featured products the editors love. And then I saw my bowl! It's selling for 85 bucks on etsy, and it was a piece by a famous Finnish designer Kaj Franck. Good instincts, yeah? I'm keeping them, and my bowl.
1 comment:
like your bowl too; good purchase and good memory!
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