sunday ritual
a love letter to slow mornings and secondhand pieces
one thing about me…is that i love a good solo date.
i’ve talked before about how much i love doing shit by myself: whether it be solo travel or a solo concert or a solo afternoon at a museum…i love it all.
and a solo flea market day is one of my favorite kinds of solo dates.
there’s just something super grounding about waking up on a sunday morning and roaming around a flea market with just me, my cute little outfit, my black airpod maxes, and (9 times out of 10) an overpriced matcha in my hand…fully living in my own little world looking at cute shit people are selling…minding my business…just fully at peace.
it’s beyond regulating to my nervous system.
my love for flea markets can be traced back to 2022. when i moved from new york back to los angeles three years ago, i was in a strange transitional phase: coming to terms with the fact that i had outgrown the city i had called home for six years, while stepping into a new chapter of my life in la.
i’m from los angeles originally (born and raised) and returning to the city as an adult was super trippy at first: seeing the place i grew up with an entirely fresh set of eyes.
growing up in your hometown and coming back to it later in life are two completely different experiences. for me, after spending my formative years in la, i felt this almost urgent need to distance myself from who i was before i left (which was an awkward 18-year-old high schooler). that urge to redefine myself showed up in all kinds of ways, one of the biggest being a complete wardrobe/aesthetic revamp.
when i decided i needed to revamp…the first thing i did was head to the flea markets and thrift stores to find pieces that could help me build and expand my personal style. one of my favorite things about being in los angeles is that the city has an abundance of amazing flea markets (like, truly so many). that summer of 2022 i was at the fleas every single weekend looking for cool shit for the sake of reworking my entire aesthetic.
what started as a place i only went to to boss up my wardrobe, started becoming this super soothing, centering weekend ritual that i still continue to this day. i just naturally fell into it…and now going to flea markets are one of my favorite ways to ground myself (and has become such an integral part of my life and my identity).
what makes me the most excited about flea markets is finding some niche ass shit. for example: about a year ago i went to the rose bowl flea smack dab in the middle of august. it was hot as fuck: the type of heat that makes you immediately regret leaving the house. the second i stepped out of my car, i was already drenched in sweat and rethinking all my life choices…but i got an iced yerba mate to keep me quenched and caffeinated and pranced away.
as i pranced…i stumbled into a booth run by these people selling the most intricate, bizarre, niche bags i’d ever seen: they had one that was shaped as a mini electric guitar, one that had a massive working clock on it, there was even a purse that was a mini disco ball…there were a lot of “ooohs” and “ahhhs” going off in my head as i looked at all the bags.
and then i saw it: a music speaker purse:
like, a real purse that’s also a speaker….that actually plays music. i had no clue shit like that even existed…but obviously i bought it without any hesitation (also i got this from petals_and_hammers and if you like cool funky bags 100% check them out).
another time at the silverlake flea…i found this insane piece of luggage…a cute circular plaid moment:
like huh? where else would you even find something like this?
more recently…i got this 70’s-esque skirt a month ago that i’m obsessed with (it’s very daisy jones and the six coded):
i share more of my flea market and clothing finds on tiktok (that account has become a slideshow of cute outfit pics and cool stuff i own).
to wrap this essay up neatly with a bow…i’ll say this: sometimes the best way to find yourself again is by getting lost between racks of vintage t-shirts, clunky rings, standout accessories, and letting whatever wants to find you, find you.
i also made a little day-in-the-life flea market solo date vlog for the nudge :)
if you enjoyed this piece…here are some others i’d recommend:
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