Flea Shopping at Round Top

Have you ever tried to explain to someone what flea shopping is? It's more difficult than you'd imagine. Especially to your husband! He doesn't get the concept of "treasure hunting" through someone else's junk. This store's name perfectly describes my husband's feelings:


Clutter. Its true. Its a fine line between fabulous decor & just plain CLUTTER! My trick is asking myself two questions before any purchase.
#1- Will I regret walking away from this? Non-buyers remorse is usually WORSE than buyers remorse, for me anyway.
#2- Where will I put it? I have to know where I'll put it BEFORE I take it to the register. A fabulous find becomes just plain clutter if its sitting on the floor in the corner of the room (or in a to-do pile in the garage) waiting for you to decide what to do with it!

So on to my quest:
We came across another blog that told us about this tiny town, practically in nowhere Texas called Round Top. Population 77, but that may be including pets. The town comes alive twice a year for the biggest flea market experience you'll ever find! Miles and miles of "treasures". It doesn't officially open til this weekend but we were anxious to find the goodies before they were all gone. Venders set up early & the crowds get rowdy on the actual opening weekend, so we've heard. We had a mission. We were out to find coffee tables, side tables, benches, and a few photography props. And above all else- WE MUST FIND THE PERFECT PIE SHOP! If you know my family you know of our love for all things chocolate & our second love.......pie! We grew up with mom sending us to bed with m&m's in cupcake foils & woke up with homemade peach pie & icecream. Mom believes that peach pie is the perfect breakfast. I have to agree! I mean its got fruit & if you top with icecream its got your dairy! So to honor our family tradition, we started the trip with an ode to pie. This is the mother of all small town cafe's. It was rustic, tacky & just plain perfect! Royers Round Top Cafe is one of a kind and was worth the 5 hour drive just for their Chicken, Bacon, Cilantro, Salad Sandwich & their Pie sampler. They charge extra if you DONT get the icecream on with your pie. How great is that! Here is a picture of our pie sampler. Blueberry, coconut, pecan & apple pie were the four that we chose & devoured!

So after our stomachs were full we set out in the 91 degree but feels like 108 with humidity weather. It was brutal and we sat down every chance we got. No pain, No gain!

We were on a mission to find these pallet carts to use as a coffee table. They have them at Potterbarn and Restoration Hardware. We found lots of them & they ranged anywhere from $200-800. By the time we found it for $200, our car was already packed full!

Renee & I absolutely love the look of this as a coffee table. My style is definitely Urban Industrial. While Renee simply loves anything repurposed & simple. We searched through miles of tents, some are way expensive! While others are simply locals renting space infront of their homes.


You'll find tents set up all along the roadside from Round Top to Warrenton. You'll even find a few decked out beauties like this.......

In case you're wondering...... she is for sale! Apparantly the owner of this store makes one and sells it every few years. Wouldn't this make an awesome Sweet 16 gift for your teenager?!
I'm thinking my hubby needs a new car soon. Maybe he would like more heads to turn his way!
Our car didn't look much better on the inside after we filled it with our beautiful finds!

So mark your calendars for March 2011. Book your hotel early. We had to book a hotel in Brenham about 20 minutes away. Come out the weekend before it opens and bring a trailer, some coke zero & a whole lotta cash! You're in for a treat!