Fair Savings

Throughout all of my vast experience, I have detected a trend among the male populace; an inexplicable detest of change. No, I don't mean Change in the grander sense--just pennies, nickels and the like. I think it's because most wallets don't have super functional zipper pouches, or men simply can't be bothered to pull out their wallet again to put away change. Instead they store it in their pockets, where it annoyingly falls out and covers the home in a cold copper blanket. 

I used to have a policy that if I found change, my finder's fee was to deposit it in my piggy bank. Especially at my house, there was always the lingering possibility that it could, in fact, be mine. However, after discovering recently that boyfriend had taken to compiling produce bags full of loose coins in a sadly adorable effort to save his change, I had the idea of making a second bank. That way, coins that I knew were actually his could get saved in his name. Plus, the two pigs look so cute together.

Ideally, both banks would be see through to foster some kind of exciting coin collecting competition! Anyone else try something similar?

Let there be light!

I recently had the good luck of meeting a nearby family moving out of their house, desperate to get rid of (rather than throw out) some less-than-stellar household items. I gleefully took most of it--chipped dishes, worn wooden furniture, lamps of questionable function. And it's the lamps I want to talk about today, because they symbolize an important concept for me: you can never tell what will be useful in the future!

That makes it sound like I'm a hoarder. I'm not, although to look at my eyeshadow collection you might not believe me. Anyway, these lamps. Decently attractive, although all three were in need of new lampshades due to the children that apparently rampaged through their previous home. Today I finally got around to testing them all, and discovered that the one I was most excited about didn't work. However, what did all three of them come with? Fancy energy-efficient light bulbs that the previous owner didn't take out. I'm not advocating trying to get free lamps in the hopes of finding light bulbs, but it was quite an easter egg.

I have now arranged the energy-efficient lightbulbs in the lights that I use most often, and am excited to see if I notice a difference in my energy usage (which I monitor online using the PG&E website).

Lesson learned: don't pass up things just because they don't seem immediately useful. I was pretty skeptical about any of the lamps working at all. Now I have two lamps, two lampshades to re-vamp, and a more energy-efficient home!

Welcome to E.L.

Setting up a new apartment can be daunting. While it's certainly exciting to get to pick out all your own things for the first time, it can also be a bit of a shock to realize that all of those household necessities you once took for granted are no longer around. In my case, this panic is coupled with the horrifying realization of how expensive every little thing can be. Take, for example, the trash can. There really couldn't be a less exciting component of a kitchen--it is, literally, a receptacle for things that you no longer want. However, when you do a lot of cooking, it seems like a sensible thing to invest in. I gleefully went online to order a nice one and nearly dropped my hand-painted coffee mug when I saw that what I had in mind was a little more than I had expected. Thus began my first quest, and the beginning of Eastlake Lavender.

After many early mornings and a fair amount of frustration, I finally found a beautiful cobalt blue trash can at a nearby yard sale. A quick Google search confirmed my suspicion that it was one I could never normally afford, and I snagged it for $7 after haggling.

I bungeed it to the back of my scooter, and carefully headed home.

 I can never remember when to put out the bins for collection, so I made a cute sign to remind myself.

This whole escapade captures the type of project that this blog is going to be about. Solving a household issue with creativity, perseverance, and a little bit of hard work. I'll probably throw in recipes occasionally too, so stick around!