Dolce Vita

Divisadero St.

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secondlove3[Photos by NR]

Top: H&M fuzzy sweater | Bottom: KTRcollection polka dot skirt (new print with larger dots) | Shoes: Dolce Vita western booties | Bag: Rebecca Minkoff studded crossbody

You know they say you take things that are easily accessible for granted? Well that’s my relationship with San Francisco. A short 20 minutes drive away from me is this little city with so many layers and diverse cultures. I have expressed how much I love NY, LA, Miami, the Caribbeans and Bora Bora, but there’s a really beautiful place right under my nose that I didn’t realize sometimes I take for granted. Standing on top of Divisadero Street lets me see this city in it’s truly beautiful state…the neighborhood pack with stores and restaurants, the alley ways filled with creative artwork, the offices occupied with dreamers and risk takers, and the windy roads that can lead you to beautiful scenery of the mountains, the ocean, the bridges and more…

Day at the San Jose Flea Market

The friendship bracelets stand

Wore an amazingly comfortable James Perse cotton racerback maxi (that obviously need a little trimming) and my Juicy Couture fedora who always come to the rescue for those bad hair days!

[Photos by NR]
Dress: James Perse maxi cotton dress (sold here, here and here)
Purse: Rebecca Minkoff Swing Black Shoulder Bag
Shoes: DV by Dolce Vita Archer Sandals
Hat: Juicy Couture Perforated Fedora / Glasses: Gucci
Bracelets: spikes from Ebay, friendship bracelets from Flea Market / DIY wrap bracelets
 

About a month ago I was on the hunt for more friendship bracelets and decided to check out the San Jose flea market. My little brother (who’s now a New Yorker) came to visit and was conveniently dragged along for the ride. I’m sure he was super thrilled!

I can’t believe I have been living in CA for half of my life but I have never been to a flea market. “What the heck is a flea market and do they sell fleas?” That was a questions I used to ask when I was little… Flea market was a term used for street markets that sold mainly secondhand merchandise, which would be the type of items that might be infested with fleas. The first few flea markets were in Paris in 1922 and they were called marché aux puces which translates to ‘market with fleas’.

Of course that has changed over the years and we know/hope flea markets no longer sell items infested with fleas. Actually everything we saw seems new and they have everything from furniture to car parts to under garments to haircuts to food. You name it, they got it. It was pretty cool, but I think we enjoyed the snacks the most. My favorite was the mangos with chilli powder and fresh coconut that the nice man behind the food stand chopped up for us.

We did had a bit of a snafu with a furniture vendor (well, it was actually a bit of a nightmare) and my only advice to you is: if you ever decide to purchase furniture from a flea market (or any place in general), check your items carefully when it arrived at your home. I didn’t and I got the wrong item, the wrong brand and wrong color (lol). Oh well, problem eventually was solved and now we’re all happy with our purchase from a store. :)

Readers: What’s your best and worst flea market experience?