10 Ways to Survive the Pasadena Flea Market!

How to Survive the Pasadena Flea Market

After spending a summer of Sundays at the Rose Bowl Flea Market in Pasadena, I have a new appreciation for NFL Sunday football.

I never understood the obsession with sitting on the couch (wait…it’s called a sofa) to watch hours upon hours of football from cities I’ve never been to and eat wings all day.

But while I was dripping in sweat on the blacktop wedged between a Lucite chandelier and a couple of oars, carrying a mannequin under one arm, I saw a football.

And the thought immediately occurred to me: When does the season start??

Let me back up for a minute and give you some context.

In our family, a flea market is like a regular season game, a garage sale is a practice and the Rose Bowl Flea Market is our Super Bowl.

Don’t get me wrong, we love it.

We even have our own pre-game rituals: Get cash, pack towels and boxes, put the cart in the truck, chill the waters and set the alarm for 6am.

We also have our own roles:

I’m the negotiation guy, moving company, providence checker (Does it have a history? Is it real?), and overall wheeler dealer.

Melissa is the picker, the time keeper, and the spotter.

Now, for the uninitiated out there, let me explain something: spotting is different than picking.

Spotting is when she tells me where she has seen an item.

It goes something like this: “See that bowl, House of Honey has those on the left when you walk into her shop.”

Or, “Ashley Darryl used a decanter like this in a Tribeca loft, she posted it on Instagram.”

And then, of course, there’s the test: “Where have we seen this…Come on…you know this…Em Henderson, Los Felix house but hers was in green…good, keep moving!”

Even with the games to keep the fun moving along, the flea market can be a long day. So when it’s the 4th quarter and over 100 degrees and some guys want to throw in the towel, remember that Design Hubby is just getting started for the day.

I have seen guys with wet towels on the neck, sun hats and failed attempts to sit in chairs of unfriendly vendors.  But hey, sometimes taking a knee or a time out is not enough. Sometimes you need just need to sit out the game completely. So here are ten tried and true methods [practically] guaranteed to get you out of the flea market this weekend:

10 Ways to Dodge the Flea Market

1. Offer to go to the Kate Spade outlet (They have AC)
2. Tour model homes
3. Fake an injury
4. Offer to do some AutoCAD
5. Flower Market
6. Work on Instagram posts
7. Spa Day
8. Visit Pacific Design Center
9. Watch Sex in the City (any episode for the 100^th time)
10. Pick a team, any team and tell her you’re watching the damn game!

More posts coming soon, bringing you the unique perspective of a Design Hubby neck deep in flea market finds…