Ocean Grove Fall Flea Market 2017

Oh heyyyy! Yeah, I know. We said we'd be around more often. #life. What can ya do?

I know that as a small business owner having a blog is a great thing. You can share behind the scenes studio bits & show new designs or whatever. But for us the blog has always been more personal. It's something we did "for fun" and as a way to reach out to like minded friends...like you. Of course we'll still share some behind the scenes biz stuff, but today's post is all about fun.
So with that being said...we had some FUN this weekend and we thought we'd share! 

See this sleepy eyed duo above? Well they hopped the train to Asbury Park for the big Ocean Grove Fall Flea. If you are a long time reader you know that we have been going to the flea for years! Ocean Grove is a tiny town full of Victorian architecture, Bed & Breakfasts, candy colored tent houses, old time-y ice cream parlors and shops, set right on the Atlantic Ocean. It is a stone's throw from Asbury Park. Yes, Bruce's Asbury Park. Home of The Stone Pony. And both these towns happen to be a short train ride away for us, which makes for the perfect day trip.  

So once you get off the train you have to walk through Asbury to get to Ocean Grove. Which is perfect because Purple Glaze donuts is in Asbury. So we always stop in for an early morning sugar fix. 

Some friends had mentioned seeing one of our donut plaques hanging on the wall at Purple Glaze, and they were right! We didn't remember shipping a donut to Purple Glaze, so we asked them where they got it. Well it turns out that one of their customers, an 8 year old kid they nicknamed "The Donut Ambassador," gifted it to them. Love it! 

In addition to their already amazing menu, Purple Glaze offers Vegan donuts! And they are GREAT! We got a coconut cream with toasted coconut, a chocolate with chocolate glaze and peanut butter drizzle, a chocolate/chocolate with marshmallow drizzle, and a classic vanilla glazed. They were SO GOOD! 

After our donuts we walked over to O.G. and passed one of our favorite rows of tent houses. How adorable is this one? That vintage clown cookie jar is everything! It brings so much personality to the house. 

We all know Jenny & Aaron brake for pastels. Too bad these prices were kinda bananas for a flea market. $10.00 for the pink planter wasn't awful, but most vases were like $40-$65. I was hoping for $10 and under. 

Some of you may remember that my fave find at last year's Spring Flea was one of these vintage boxed shell collections. Well I'm still on the hunt for these and would love a bunch more of them. I was hoping to find one with a pink background or more of an aqua background. I passed on these two, but now I'm wishing that I grabbed this yellow one. 

How adorable are these vintage S&P shakers? If the pink ones were Atlantic City I woulda bought them. Yeah I know...I'm so particular. ha! 

Here's a happy Aaron holding a "bucket" of our favorite flea market beverage! Caribbean iced tea! It's so so tasty. It's flavored with all sorts of fruit and lemons. Pretty sure any of our Southern friends would totally be into it. Not sure if Caribbean iced tea is a Jersey thing, but if it is I'd say it's the closest thing to Sweet Tea we have! 

These guys in the kettle corn tent were working like lunatics! People love their kettle corn! 

Pretzels. We love pretzels. And yep... pass the mustard! 

 This gal woulda looked perfect in our vintage seashore bathroom, but $30 was too rich for my blood.  

Look at this BEAUTY! I think I made some weird sounds when I saw her! Perfect condition. I don't think it was ever used! They were asking $129.00, which I'm sure is "book value" but totally not in my budget. I really hope it went to the perfect home! Geez, she's a beauty! 

I'm a big fan of nuts. We have some vintage paper mache nut candy containers on our mantel, and I'm currently looking for a peanut cookie jar...or would it be a nut jar? We'll most likely keep peanuts in it for our favorite neighborhood squirrels. 

Of course I stopped. 

Vintage Christmas collectibles are some of our faves!! 

If you're at a flea market in Jersey nearly every vendor has at least one Bruce item for sale. Bruuuuuuuce. 

bebe bun. 

Faces of the Flea

We LOVE the postcard people. They've been setting up at the flea since the beginning. You could seriously spend HOURS digging through these boxes. Aaron was looking at old postcards of our town and I was looking at all the old Wildwood NJ motel postcards. My favorite!!

The skies were picture perfect! The bluest blue with big fluffy white clouds! 

I could do a lot with this house. That upstairs sun room is dreamy. Right on the ocean too!

Of course we had to stop at our favorite dog treat lady's table. Me & My Dog Pet Bakery. We've been buying from her for about a decade!! Everything she does is perfection! 

On the train on the way to the flea we decided that Squirrel items were at the top of our list for the day. Would you believe we didn't find one! Well, except for these treats. 

Yeah, squirrels...that's a blog post for the near future. The adorable little guys who visit our deck every day have us obsessed. Not kidding. 

These chairs made us stop in our tracks. So good, so weird, so retro. And anyone that follows @jengotch (stories) on Instagram would prob chuckle. ;)

I mentioned this in the previous post...I have always loved beach souvenir shops. Some of my happiest memories are of the Wildwood NJ boardwalk and those souvenir shops! Shell mobiles, sun hats, souvenir plates, photo albums, trinket boxes etc...

Right there on the OG Boardwalk is one of the BEST beach souvenir shops ever! It really has everything you'd want! T-shirts, towels, chairs, magnets, mugs, sunglasses, kites, shell decor...

seriously everything! 

Some of you may be familiar with this face, and for those that aren't, his name is Tillie! He's Asbury Park's mascot! A similar grinning face was once the mascot of Coney Island.  You can read a bit more about him here. 

Here he is painted on the Wonder Bar. How FUN is this building?

Madam Marie, an Asbury Park icon. You can read more here.

Cutest little boardwalk crepe shop. 

After the Flea we walked back over to Asbury Park to grab something to eat. Being that Asbury is super vegan friendly we had lots of choices. We were both in the mood for pizza so Crust & Crumble it was! We had the best vegan mozzarella sticks and some killer vegan pizza with sausage, cashew ricotta, mozzarella, pesto, marinara and roasted peppers. 

Then finished the day watching swan boats on the lake and eating chocolate chip cookies and this perfect slice of carrot cake from Twisted Tree Cafe. 

Here's a little video of our day.

The Ocean Grove flea market never disappoints. Even if you come home with barely any treasures, there's so much to do and see in OG and Asbury. Especially when the weather is as perfect as it was this past Saturday. 

Ok, hope to be back soon!

Love from the Jersey Shore, 

xo Jenny...and Aaron

The Ocean Grove Flea by the Sea

Every year me and Aaron try to get to the big Flea by the Sea in Ocean Grove, NJ. I think the two of us have been going to the Ocean Grove flea market for at least 16 or 17 years. It's massive, it's right on the ocean in a beautiful little town that's chock full amazing Victorian homes and cottages, and it's nearby. And this year we were lucky enough to have amazing weather. Pretty much 70 degrees on the button with tons of sunshine and cool ocean breezes. Since it's such a pleasant, quick, and easy ride we decided to take the train down to Asbury Park, which is literally a stone's throw away from Ocean Grove (if you're the type to throw stones at friendly neighboring towns)

Ocean Grove is a tiny little town...like less than a square mile...and the flea market draws so many people that parking your car is near impossible. So taking the train quashed any parking worries. We got there fairly early...a little before 9am...got our iced coffees and scones, and hit the market.

The market is set up on the gigantic sprawling lawn that's in front of The Great Auditorium...and if you guessed that the giant building behind Aaron is The Great Auditorium you'd be correct. Fun fact: that giant cross on top was a gift from Woody Allen. He filmed Stardust Memories in Ocean Grove and The Great Auditorium's exterior was used to represent The Stardust Hotel. The old cross was in disrepair, so after they wrapped on the film Woody gave the town a new cross as a thank you gift.

The Great Auditorium as The Stardust Hotel.

There are all types of vendors there, and current trends definitely influence what the vendors are selling. I definitely noticed a lot more small things and not as much furniture. I can remember when chippy paint cottagey furniture was big...you could find a TON for cheap. 

I had to grab a pic of this incredible headboard. When I see a piece like this I imagine it painted...maybe in the perfect pale vintage aqua with a great "dirt wash"...or possibly a matte finish grey or black. Then pair it with some old school Ralph Lauren bedding with big florals and bits of classic Ralph leopard print. I can see it in a room with a big chippy original paint armoire. Yeah, sometimes just dreaming the stuff up is plenty...and it's free! :)

I brake for old chippy medicine cabinets. I love love love them! I want them all! 

We don't collect clown stuff, but we loved the look and color of these. These two pieces were the only things left of an arcade in Seaside Heights after it was hit by hurricane Sandy. They were floating in a left over tide pool. If we had more space I think we could make them fit in with our vintage jersey shore themed bathroom. 

I had my eye on lots of vintage kitchen implements and utensils. I saw so many there. Finding what you want is easy...your eye instantly goes to the colored handles. I loved seeing this soda crate brimming with miscellaneous utensils, though none of these are my deal...I'm into pale aqua, pink, black, cream, or white.

I'm always looking for old crates and rustic pieces to mix in with our sweet pastels here at home. 

This crew totally cracked us up. That farmer dude in the mix?? He's got such youthful features, so I'm thinking he prematurely greyed fighting against GMOs encroaching upon his crops. 

This sign was GREAT! It was aluminum I believe, and as you can see...super faded! If only it was more of an aqua I woulda died! I hope someone bought it!

Ok, so there really wasn't anything I died over at the flea....except this piece. From ten...no twenty feet away it had my heart. This booth belonged to a guy named Steve and he made this piece himself. It's constructed of old stuff...chippy white wooden shelves, and the backing and top/roof was galvanized metal. I am a total sucker for house shaped items! I saw this and envisioned my collections perfectly displayed on the shelves...probably against the back wall of our living room. But...we came to the flea market on a train...and, truth be told, I just really didn't have that much money to throw around. But I did get Steve's info and he said he'd be into making another in the near future!

What's great about going to the OG flea is that we always run into our Jersey peeps. Here we are with two of our faves in the art community...Laura Mchugh and Suze Weinberg. Off camera are the handsome husbands John and the Lenster. We love that we can run into Suze in Jersey, or at Art is You inConnecticut, and even in California at CHA. Suze is ever present and ever cheerful. And Laura is one of the sweetest and most positive gals we know! We drove with her and some friends to the Country Living fair over the winter. Yesterday she was a vision in lavender! She even had a bit of purple in her hair! And yes...Suze is known for flashy footwear! 

We also brake for vintage portraits of kids. This little gal was cute...the color pink was perfect...but honestly, she's maybe just not creepy enough for us. A smidge more of creepiness added to her cuteness woulda sealed the deal for us.

We just had to pick up this big old "tractor wrench" for my brother Walt. It'll look great hanging in his shop. 

I wanted to offer this naked baby in a box some of my sun block. I forgot to apply at home so I bought some spray on 45 spf right there at the flea market for 4 bucks. Yes, I am white as can be and I plan on staying that way. 

Loved this sign. And it wasn't for sale...this was the actual sign for the Lemonade stand. Classic! 

Ohhh the sweet scent of kettle corn mingling with the ocean air...theres nothing like it! 

And wow, the beach was perfect! Clear skies, crystal clear breakers, and warm but with the most perfect breeze. 

So if you look closely at this pic you can get an idea of how HUGE the flea market is. I took this pic from the boardwalk and the flea market extends all the way to The Great Auditorium, which looks like a tiny speck in the distance.  

Here are some of the famous Ocean Grove tent houses. I've blogged them before. They pop them up in the summer. They're the jewel of Ocean Grove and have been in families for generations. 

Just beyond cute! And they all have their own personality. 

I had to take a pic with the Ocean Grove sign. The front of the sign says Ocean Grove, and this is the back of the sign which is visible as you leave town. I remember first finding Ocean Grove over 20 years ago...we were shocked to find a town filled with gingerbread cottages, a ton of Victorian bed & breakfasts, cute shops...and it being that proverbial stone's throw away from urban Asbury Park. And this sign just made it even more surreal. You don't see this sort of thing in Jersey much. The kind hearted folksy village thing seems more southern to me. 

There is a foot bridge between Ocean Grove and Asbury Park...and get this...there is a sign that states that the gate is locked from midnight to 5 am! It's sorta like a throwback to when the whole town was gated on Sunday for the blue laws so that there was no driving, etc...on Sundays.

So we walked the foot bridge back over to Asbury to grab something to eat, check out some shops and say hi to friends. It was such a great time. We'll be going back to Asbury soon and we'll devote an entire blog post. It's an amazing town that had it's revival fairly recently, and it's getting better by the day. 

So when we got home we unpacked our little purchases from the day. We grabbed some old bottles which normally go for anywhere from 4.00 to 12.00 in most antique shops or ebay. These were 1.00 each. And the cute vintage cream cheese crate we got for only 5.00. And I love the adorable old Ball jelly jar with zinc lid. 

I love it! I figured we could use it to hold sea salt or sprinkles! 

And we are suckers for any vintage crow/raven related items. This is a page from an old target practice book from Sears. I'm thinking maybe it came with a BB gun? I'm glad we got the page unused...maybe since the kid never practiced many crows were saved. We bought a few other things in Asbury Park that I may share another day.

It was such a fun day. We got the 5:45 train home and met some sweet ladies who also attended the flea market and were riding home to Jersey City. We all chatted about what we bought, what we saw, the things we collect. And there was a guy with a keyboard on the train...he was dressed like Fab Five Freddy pretty much...sunglasses, hat, tie...and he was playing the keyboard, a full size keyboard, at full volume...every breakdance hit from the early 80's and then some. It was a full-on dance party on the train. What a great capper to the perfect day.

Thanks again for reading! Back soon!

xo, Jenny & Aaron