Kanzlei Flea Market!

That's about how I felt at the flea market today--wide eyed and wild and about to pass out! I went to the Kanzlei flea market, and today it was great--so much better than last weekend. I'm sure it had everything to do with the weather. Last weekend it was cold and gray, and the ground was frozen. You could have gone ice skating on it. Today it was sunny and mild. It was just a beautiful day. The flea market was packed with vendors with great stuff. I had so much fun! It was extra fun because Andrew stayed back at our apartment with Lois, so I got to take my time. I could have stayed all day.

I'm still a little nervous about asking to take pictures, but I managed to get a few, though I wish I had taken more close-ups of things. This time I made a few notes in German of specific things I might want to say before I left like, "may I take a picture to show my family and friends." People are suspicious sometimes when you can't explain why you want to take a picture. Also, when I woke up this morning I found a piece of paper that Andrew left for me to take before I headed out. It was a list of sentences he thought I might need to say or ask in German (he's really sweet like that--he didn't know I had already made my own list). His notes included, "sorry, my German sucks." I didn't have to use that line, but I thought it was cute that he had it on the list.




Today there were so many vendors with great vintage clothes, shoes and bags. I could have filled a U-Haul truck with all the things I wanted to buy. One vendor had great vintage blouses in a box, all for 1 Swiss franc, that's about .85 cents. She also had a bunch of vintage shoes, all for 3 Swiss francs, 2.56 dollars. Wow, what a deal. (I didn't take pictures of her stuff though because it was all just piled in boxes.)





Here a few of the things I brought home. I think I'll need to buy another suitcase. I'll probably be regretting all these little purchases when it comes time to pack and fly home. But I'll be happy again when I get home and open my suitcase! I'll probably put most of these things in my etsy shop when I get back.

I love the two open circle clasp on this wallet above. And it's red leather inside. Then below are coin purses and one great snakeskin bag that I bought. I especially like the gold basket weave coin purse. (You can click on the picture to see it larger.)

Hankies! So many pretty ones.

Lisa is collecting hotel silver, so when I saw this creamer, I had to get it for her. It needs a good polish, but I think she will like it. It's from Hotel Krone in Winterthur, Switzerland.


I love this shirt. It's bright blue with shimmery goldish stitching. It's hard to tell in the picture, but the stitching shimmers a little. It has a banded collar and buttons asymmetrically down the left side. It's almost shaped like a chef's jacket, but it's lightweight and slim fitting. The tag says, "Claude d'Alban, Paris." I bought another one similar to this one in white.

Bürkliplatz Farmer's Market

I love the one yellow tulip peeking out in the middle of all these other colorful tulips. It makes me think of spring itself, just trying to break out and show its color. This morning I went to the Bürkliplatz farmer's market, which I heard is one of the more snazzy Zurich farmer's markets and color was everywhere. I think it was equal parts produce and flowers. I was mostly taken by all the flowers. So many beautiful flowers! And of course there was cheese--what would a farmer's market in Switzerland be without cheese? In addition to the everyday fruits and veggies, some vendors had interesting vegetables I couldn't recognize. There was also one vendor with just mushrooms, one with fish and meats, and a few vendors with bread and pastries. It wasn't too crowded, which was nice since I'm used to a really high butt brush factor at San Francisco's farmer's markets. I imagine that's just because it's winter. The prices in general seemed high to me, but it's Switzerland after all where things are just expensive. The view was great though. The market is right on the water. You can read more and see some nice summer market pictures on this cute blog. It may be gray here, and some of my pictures look pretty dreary to me, but look how pretty Switzerland can be in winter. Wow, beautiful pictures.

Antiquitäten

I've found a few great antique shops in our neighborhood the last couple of days. Today I stumbled upon one called Portner, which is on a really pretty street called Hallwylstrasse. I'm not sure if this little area has a name, but along Hallwylstrasse were a few really nice looking restaurants (like this one) and shops. There were also a few swanky, modern looking design firms on this street. The antique shop was narrow and piled with amazing stuff. In the back was a huge hutch filled with beautiful linens--tablecloths, napkins, curtains, blankets--all kinds of great things. They were are clean and neatly arranged. They looked so beautiful! I just went in quickly because I brought the stroller and had to take Lois out and leave the stroller outside in order to go inside. The man working there was really friendly so I'm hoping he'll let me take some pictures next time I go in. I did pick up this one wool blanket that I love. I'm not sure if I'll sell it in my etsy shop or keep it. The prices weren't marked on anything, but the prices for things I asked about seemed reasonable.


On the way home, I passed an antique toy shop with exclusively antique toys. How fun is that? I didn't see the hours posted, so I'll just have to go back at another time and see if it's open. From the window I could see a lot of great things.

PS. I haven't forgotten to check out more of the typical Zurich sights (you know, the more touristy stuff). I'm just waiting to do those things with Andrew on the weekends when he's off work.

Zurich Thrifting: Brockenhaus

Isn't this painting cute? I think it's two bears holding hands--mommy bear and baby bear. I love kid's art. I can't wait till Lois wants to draw and paint. This is from the Zurich Brockenhaus. I've been wanting to go there for days now. I went the other day with Lois in the stroller, but you have to walk up about 6 steps to get in, and I noticed it was multiple floors, so I decided we should go another day. It's sort of like the Salvation Army, I think. Here's some interesting background on where the name comes from. It's three floors, though I really spent most of my time on one floor. It's very neat, well organized, and nicely merchandised. It's not like most thrift stores in the states where things are just piled up. It was decorated and arranged more like any other store that would have new merchandise. They had so much great stuff--clothes, shoes, furniture, artwork, books and especially glassware and the little things I like so much--the bric-a-brac. I was in used stuff heaven! I covertly took a few photos and you can see more in the photo gallery of their site.

One thing about the second hand shops I noticed is I don't think it's especially cool to shop at these types of places like it is in the states, or at least like it is in San Francisco (not that it's necessarily cool, but maybe you know what I mean). There you have to fight a bunch of other hipsters to get to the cute vegan clutch. And I felt like people shopping at the Brokenhaus, and a few other second hand places, kind of kept to themselves, as if they didn't want to be noticed. Maybe that's a Swiss thing and not a second hand shopping thing, but second hand shopping places are the only places I've noticed people behaving that way. I wonder. I could be totally wrong. Andrew often tells me I'm a bad people reader. Maybe they're just trying to be discreet to make sure nobody else notices the cool stuff they're looking at. Maybe a Swiss Miss blogger will tell me what she thinks.

Above are some of the beautiful books. They had tons of books, new and old. Below is a cute fabric lined basket. I thought it would be cute painted red to go with the cute brown flower print. Good for a yarn stash.

They had lots of great unbrellas, uh, and a swiffer mop thing.

The kitchen stuff was the best. So many great things!

I loved this hand painted mug. I wish I had bought it. I want to go back to get it! I want to give it to my mom. I think she would really like it.

I'm on the lookout for hotel silver for Lisa. I didn't find any here, but I'm still looking.

And below is what I brought home. I wanted so many other things, but it was time to go. Lois always tells me when it's time to go. I have no idea what these books are about, but I loved the covers. Sometimes it's just good to judge a book by its cover! The one with the thorny heart, rose, crown cover is great. I love it. The crown really makes it for me. Roses and thorns, eh, but with a crown on top? Like a cherry on a cake.

Then I bought this sweet illustration of a church on a hill. Everywhere here there are churches on hills. I've never seen so many churches, especially on our train ride to Paris. Every little town had a church on a hill, just like in the picture I posted from our train ride. Whenever we travel, we bring something home to remind us of where we were. I still haven't framed what we brought home from Dublin or Tokyo, but lucky for me, this one is already framed.


And lastly, I got this cute tin. Perfect for craft stuff.

There's also this funky shop down the street from the Brockenhaus. Sorry for the glare of the street, but it was the best I could do. Looks like a fun shop, but like so many places here, it doesn't seem to be open often. Last time I went by it was closed too.

Fun random stuff is in the window display.

I had tons of fun at the Brockenhaus, but one sad thing happened today. I lost Lois' cute bunny hat that my mom made. This is her wearing it for the last time. I took some pictures of her in it this morning before we left because she looked so cute. I lost it somewhere in the Brokenhaus. As I was checking out I went to grab it to put it back on her head. I had taken it off and put in my pocket when we got there so she wouldn't get too warm. When I reached for it, it was gone! I looked everywhere and told the nice women working there about it. They said if anyone brought it to the counter trying to buy it, they'd hold it. I will have to go back. I walked the whole way home trying not to cry, thinking about how silly it was that I was so upset over it, with people dying in plane crashes, fires, starving people in world, etc. Still, it meant so much to me. As my mom reminded me when I called her to tell her--things are just that, things, and it's not that big of a deal. She looks darn cute in it though, doesn't she? I just hope whoever ends up with it will love it too.

Candy Buttons!

On another travel detour to blogville, I read about candy buttons on Fresh Vintage. Real candy buttons! How cute! A few days ago I mentioned that in The Gentle Art of Domesticity Jane Brocket says "buttons are candy for grown-ups." I never thought I might really be able to eat candy buttons. Colleen at Fresh Vintage is having a giveaway for a $25 gift certificate to Bake it Pretty where you can buy great things like candy button molds and even mustache lollipop molds. So head over there and drop your name in if you want a chance to win. Check out the Bake it Pretty blog for a button-making tutorial where you can also print out the fun labels below. These cute pictures are from the small object's flickr pool. Ah, candy buttons, I love you!

Zurich: Around the Neighborhood

Today Lois and I strolled around our neighborhood. Our neighborhood is really pretty. Just down the street from our apartment is a big huge hill and at the top are really big houses. I wonder if it's a Pacific Heights sort of area. The houses are fancy up on that hill.

There are a handful of really great antique shops in the neighborhood. The pictures below are from the window of a tiny antique shop down the street. They don't open till 4PM (can you believe that?) so I haven't been in yet since I usually turn into a pumpkin by then. (In general things open late here and seem to close early.)

I thought this collection of children's music boxes was really cute.

I also really like this sewing accessory kit--looks like a little heart shaped box (the one next to the little chair).

And walking around the neighborhood, it looks like spring is in the air despite some of the snow we've been having.