Serendipity

This past weekend my sister and I went to the Kane County Flea Market in St. Charles, IL. Despite being cold, crummy weather, and the absence of many of the outside vendors due to the weather, it actually turned out to be my best visit ever!  

 Me on Sunday with my finds, they'll be showing up in the shop this week.

My favorite seller wasn't open due to the bizarre snow/rain mix that was coming down, so I told him I would come back tomorrow when he was set up. He always gives me great deals and is a riot to talk to. 

My friend Stephanie of Calamity Layne Vintage had a booth in one of the buildings, so I stopped by to say Hi.  She has great vintage clothing in her Etsy shop, and you can find out more about her and her partners in crime on the Betties N Brimstone blog.

The best part of this flea market trip was a find for one of my personal collections. I collect horse figurines, and usually look for ones by Hagen-Renaker, a pottery in California. As my sister and I were walking around one of the buildings, she pointed to a table and said "horses." I glanced over and noticed a horse that didn't look like the usual plastic Breyers that are commonly found.  I made my way over and found this lovely lady:

She is a large "Zara" Arabian mare figurine, originally produced in the 1950's, and they're pretty hard to come by. When they do come up for sale, they fetch several hundreds of dollars, and it's not unheard of for one to reach $1000 on eBay. My cost? Under $100. She is in perfect condition and has her original name sticker.

There are several of my fellow collectors looking for the same things I do at this flea market, so I generally never expect to find anything. But the crummy weather, my favorite seller not being set up, one fellow collector not arriving when the flea opened, and so many other happy coincidences resulted in my adding this gem to my collection. Serendipity. :)