BINS STASH

It begins with an itch and can be ignored for a while — days, weeks even. Everything is cool at first, and the wanting can be put off for a bit. Eventually, however, this itch ignored becomes more pronounced, then painful.  Relief can be had one way and one way only. 

By thrifting. And often in my case, that means binning. What is that?  Read here.

Yesterday was the only day in weeks with a pocket of opportunity. Would the Bin Gods be smiling or mocking my need?

I only had time for a 35 minute perusal at the airport Bins, the most capricious of them all. How would I do, with such a small window of time between Target, Costco, lunch in the classroom and a trip to the dog park before school’s end?

Happy to say it was a good day. My take wasn’t huge, but strangely satisfying.

This glass and silicone water bottle hasn’t been washed yet, but I have high hopes for it. With a vigorous scrubbing and a blistering trip through the dishwasher, she’ll be as pretty as the day she was born.  Considering these bottles are spendy around town, I am pretty excited that I scored it for about 35 cents.

A girl can’t have too many lipsticks, pearls, or water bottles (I collect the latter as some do handbags).

I also found four vintage handkerchiefs and one newer brown and white polka dot napkin. They’ll be perfect in kid lunches and in my absolute favorite purse, a quilted leather Kate Spade. I love the luxurious feel of a cloth napkin or handkerchief, don’t you?

Primo pen score. I found all these in a little zippered mesh bag. I tossed all the gel pens with this group back in the bins (I can’t stand them), but tried each and every one of these above pens and they were all pristine (I am not even sure they had ever been used). I am obsessed with good pens so I was thrilled with this procurement. I got a total of 19 Sharpie and art markers (some of which I know are about $3 a piece). Doodle city.

I dug through one bin for almost 15 minutes– not just because I found Lego (which are as expensive as dental work) but because I got talking with another woman rooting through the same bin and it was fascinating. She had a similar look to me, we shared like mannerisms and we had so much in common. Even our bins carried the same kind of items (the water bottle I found was the same as the one in her car).  It was weird — it felt like I was talking to my twin.

So there we were, two strangers digging through junk, talking about kids, and favorite colors, and how we would have never guessed that all those years ago when we had careers that we would someday be digging  through mostly garbage trying to find a Lego piece to make our minions happy. I knew that if she lived near me or our schedules overlapped we’d be dear friends. (Laura, if by chance you read this, thanks for the advice on the headband I found. You’re right — it does look cute on.)

Portland is such an amazing place that you can even make friends digging at Goodwill. And because we are Portlanders, we both took the time to find out what pieces one another was looking for, and then shared those Lego pieces without worrying about lining our own pockets.

A few other random treats. I nabbed a fab beaded necklace that I saw retail for $32 two weeks ago. I also grabbed some simple stuff like a brand new plastic picnic table cloth and bags to keep in the trunk of the car just in case. Also included in my stash was a gorgeous blue top (not pictured) from L.L. Bean that I am hoping will fit a friend and a gardenia-graced bowl that will be perfect for soup drop-offs. Oh yes, also swooned over a darling vintage pillowcase and threw that in the cart. Me-ow.

And one last treat for my third child. See it briefly in the right corner of top pic? Blink and you’ll miss it.

Right after I took the picture Bailey just helped himself to it. As if it was rightly his, and he was claiming it.

He sat on the grass afterward, taking in the brief sunshine, admiring his secondhand raccoon and licking it until it was damp. Why can’t we all be as grateful for small pleasures as a rescue dog?

I give my expedition a B+ for variety and value.

Total spent on all items: $6.35