Buy Day - Flea Market Flip

Women’s World Cup Soccer did you watch that crazy game, the first 16 minutes of pure domination, a hat trick by Carli Lloyd!?!  My husband & the girls had ventured over to his Aunt Liz & Uncle Artie’s house to watch with the family.  I stayed home…I was exhausted from the weekend. 

I was watching the game & doing a bit of laundry, and possibly playing on facebook at some point.  I noticed someone say something about HGTV having a big night as well as the FINAL soccer game.  Of course I flipped over to GAC (Great American Country) and looked up to see myself on the big screen!

I jumped on facebook and text messaging to alert as many as possible. 

Long story short...we didn't realize our episode was airing.  I just so happened to catch it (thankfully) about 5 minutes into the show, and I always DVR them so I had it.  The program guide didn't have a title and listed it as S4 E11 (season 4 episode 11).  We are Season 5 Episode 12.  

So…my question is… Did you see it?  Were you able to set your DVR for the later airing that night? 

SPOILER ALERT…nahhh I won’t do that to you

Did we or didn’t we win… Since I didn’t get to formally let you all know about the first airing, I will wait to announce our final outcome!

Let me take you back to the first day of filming.  I wrote my first post HERE about the experience leading up to filming.  

Now let’s get on with the buy day. 

When we were told that we were chosen to be on Flea Market Flip, we were given our buy day/where, and it was the one flea market I’ve been dying to get to…Brimfield Antique Show in Brimfield, MA. I was over the moon excited about getting to go to Brimfield.  It’s gigantic, and filled full of massive fields that go on forever with so many amazing treasures to be found.

We were filming on a Saturday in September, and we had been having nice cooler temps throughout the summer, so the forecast was calling for it to be just that during filming.  We drove up on Friday morning to get a little shopping in and to check out this amazing flea market. 

I found so many fun treasures...

My love for pyrex... I was in Heaven!

Fiestaware..

Industrial lane..

We were to meet with the production crew at 6:00 am on Saturday morning.  We met down in the lobby of the hotel along with the other contestants.  

They were filming a total of 4 episodes that Saturday (4 episodes - 8 teams and 16 people).  It was fun meeting all the other teams, and trying to figure who our competition would be.  

We were introduced to our producer, Dustin, which he immediately made us feel super comfortable.  

Dustin was not only there to guide us, but to help us feel at home while the camera was rolling.  He did his job very well, and to have someone that was fun, friendly, & easy going made this feel like we were made for the camera (haha)! 

We met some super amazing people…some of which we are still friends and chat via facebook & Instagram.  I can’t wait to see their episodes!!  A big shout-out to my girls Patty & Melody!!  And, to Dina & Shanna!  We also truly liked our competition…. Doug & June.  We played nice because well they are good people. 

The film day….was HOT, HOT, HOT...even though the forecast wasn't calling for HOT!  We thought it was supposed to be on the cooler side with a little rain showers.  Well the rain did threaten us with massive ugly storms.  But, the cooler temps not so much.  We were all dying.  But, the production crew made sure we not only ate well....

......but to stay hydrated all day.  They would tell us all day…keep drinking people, keep drinking! 

So…onward & forward.  We were mic’d up and headed off to find spots to start interviews.  This is where they hand us the money, money bag, and our flip list!!!   

First time on camera, but Tori conducted those interviews while Dustin had taken his first team off to the races!  Tori…oh Tori…I can’t even begin to tell you how awesomely amazing this girl is!!!  So nice, and patient given the circumstance of the day & possible storms rolling in.  Oh and Angela...gosh if there is one person that I admire and truly adore...it's her! Hard working, sweet, fun, easy going and a true eye for design!  And, at any point that I had a question, she was eager to help!

Meet Steve...he's listening to make sure sound is all good!!! Super important seeing that we had porta potties that would occasionally need to be emptied and the sound of the trucks were so very loud!

At the same time we did our “hero shots”.  This is at the beginning of the show, no talking, just a shot of “we’re gonna kick your butts” shot.  It was a tad awkward, but no one knew my heart was beating faster than I could breathe!

First interview – check!  Fun, ease into it, getting the hang of it!  Hero shot – check… on our way to stardom..haha!

As we waited to start our beginning interview with Lara, we sat around camp, chatted with the other teams, and chilled.  

While waiting we were allowed to walk around, but by no means allowed to talk to the vendors and make deals.  Remember we’re mic’d they can hear us!!  We scoped out items that we thought would work for our flips…

And, then it was time…time to face off!  We met Lara and then given our HOUR…one HOUR to go find our items, hopefully bargain to a fair price, and make the purchase.  Buy low.... All of our vendors were super… 

We were not being filmed the entire time, but when there was a moment, Dustin had his camera crew ready to go to grab the money shot. 

Our first find was the Thomas Edison Dictaphone.. Oh my gosh can I say how much I loved this find!?!  It was just so cool.  It had sat in an old barn for many years, and our friend Eddie (vendor) had recently pulled it out to bring to Brimfield.  I just loved the industrial look this would bring to our list!!!

Next we found this fantastic trunk that was cedar lined.  It was in really great shape, no smell (important), and in our mind would be a perfect find for a multi-purpose design.  It would be awesome as a coffee table, or at the foot of a bed to store blankets, or winter sweaters… endless possibilities really!

And, then the Empire Dresser… a great retro chic idea, a great choice to update into a current style!

Our winning worthy purchases!!! I feel it people...I feel it!

We then had our Art meeting to discuss the ideas we had for each flip.  This was with one of my all-time favorite peeps…Cija!!  The girl has talent as I am sure you all know.  Love her personality!!  Cija & Sue was able to guide us in making sure our ideas would work, and what supplies we needed to make sure they had on hand or what we need to bring with us to achieve our overall goal at our workshop day.  I loved this part because I could start to see the transformations already taking place!

See...it was hot and it wore us all out...even the production team!!

We did final interviews....

This is where they asked us how we felt about the items purchased, what we thought about the other team, and if we were ready to rumble!  This was the end for the first day of filming.  And, as I turned to walk away, Dustin stopped me because that little ladybug flew into my hair… 

We were sweaty, dirty, and overwhelmingly exhausted.  So…we decided instead of driving home that night, we’d stay another night.  We went out to dinner with our friends Patty & Melody…hit the hay and got up Sunday to meet them at the flea market the next morning.

We shopped, had a little bite to eat for lunch and made our way back home.  We left Brimfield with new friends and a few new goodies.  I left feeling like we hit the jackpot!  I wasn't sure what to expect during the filming process, but I couldn't get over how nice and easy the production team was to work with.  Not one time did I feel like a complete rookie.  

I brought these home..

And, wanted to bring this guy home...

I felt as though at this point we had already won regardless of the final outcome.  Not only did I get to go to a flea market I’ve been wanting to go to for a very long time, but I was being filmed on one of my favorite shows – Flea Market Flip.

We had to wait for over a month for our workshop day…pure torture.  But, I promise not to make you wait that long before I write about it.  It was a crazy fun day!!

Until then… Our next airing is on...

July 19, 2015 at 7:00 pm EST on GAC

I won’t spill the beans if we won, lost or drew just yet…I will give you a few more days to catch the episode!!

Next up... Workshop day!

Much love, peace & happiness ~