The Laundromaniac

Wednesday the week before last, I got THE call I’d been waiting months for.  The call from Frigidaire saying my new Affinity washer and dryer, which I’m receiving as part of the Frigidaire Mom’s Test Drive Team – were on their way.  I was SO EXCITED!! Better yet?  They wanted to bring them the NEXT DAY!

So now, these two beautiful babies are making my basement look a WHOLE lot prettier:

my new babies

Aren’t they BEAUTIFUL!!?? (now, who wants to give me a basement-laundry room makeover?  IKEA?  Target? Kmart Design?  C’mon, somebody!!)

As soon as the door hit the delivery men, I was all about trying out my new toys.  So I loaded up the washer, and threw in some detergent.  And then, while it was running, I read the manual and discovered that there is a little compartment that you are supposed to put the detergent in. WHOOPS!  So, I ran that load again. 🙂

Here’s what amazes me thus far about the washer:

1) It’s SO QUIET.  When I ran that first load, I had to press my face to the glass door to see that it was actually on.  Really, standing two feet away from it, it was so quiet I couldn’t tell!!

2) It’s SO SMART.  I turn one little knob, say to “delicates” and it automatically picks what water temperature, length of cycle, etc. will be best for those clothes.

3) It’s SO FLEXIBLE.  Should I decide I’d rather change one of those settings my washer so kindly picked out for me, it’s super easy with just the touch of a button.

The other thing I LOVE about my new Affinity washer is that it’s so efficient!  As I learned at Fabric Care University last week, the average top-loader washer uses 32 gallons of water per cycle.  The average high-efficiency like my new Frigidaire?  USES 5!!!  Five gallons!! That’s IT!  I cannot WAIT to see the reduction in my water bill!

What I love about the dryer is similar to what I love about the washer: SMART, FLEXIBLE, and also oh-so-quiet.  The only disadvantage of this quietness is that I can no longer stick my head in the basement door and hear whether the dryer is still running or not.  I actually have to go all the way downstairs, because it’s THAT quiet!  Another great feature of both machines is the “quick” wash and dry cycle – if you need something washed and dried fast, you can get it done in less than an hour!  Oh, and did I mention the MASSIVE amounts of STORAGE in the pedestals under each machine??  It rules my world!

storage!!!

With all I learned about the science behind laundry detergents and HE washing machines last week at Fabric Care University, combined with my amazing new Frigidaire laundry machines, I have been a laundromaniac this past week! Doing laundry like a crazy person and I LOVE it! Unfortunately, I still HATE the folding and putting away. But the actual process has been much more enjoyable.  If these Frigidaire machines can get ME excited about laundry and get Emily excited about COOKING, then they must be pretty incredible!!

You’ll hear more about my adventures in laundry in the upcoming months -next up – hopefully a little video tour!  Stay tuned!

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If you didn’t already figure it out, Frigidaire provided me with an Affinity washer and dryer in exchange for my honest reviews.  Thanks Frigidaire and Mom Central for making me a part of the Frigidaire Test Drive Team!

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A Frigidaire Love Story

Perhaps you may have read that on Friday that Frigidaire announced that 40 lucky bloggers were going to be the proud recipients of Frigidaire appliances. Woohoo! Free refrigerators and washers and dryers for everyone!

Um, well, ok, not everyone. Sadly, Emily and I were not cool enough to be chosen to be a part of Team Frigidaire (though some of our friends were! Congrats!)

Frigidaire, I think we speak for the entire blogosphere when we say, “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?” I mean, come on. We are undeniably fabulous and also would love new appliances. You missed the boat on this one, dudes.

But as much as we would have LOVED to have been chosen for this campaign, we can’t hold a grudge against you. Because you see, Frigidaire, if it weren’t for you, Emily and I wouldn’t be here.

Grandpa was a sailor

In 1946, after our grandfather Laton came home from fighting in the Pacific in World War II, he returned to his home in Eastern Kentucky and married his high school sweetheart, Kathleen. In 1947 they had my mother Diane, and in 1948 (*ahem*11monthslater*ahem*) they had Emily’s dad, Dan. In the hills of Eastern Kentucky where they had grown up, there was not any real opportunity for my grandparents to make a living. So in 1950, our grandfather and his young family came to Dayton, Ohio, where there were jobs, to start a new life. And, like his older brother who had come some months before, and like his younger brother would soon after, our grandfather took a job at the booming Dayton plant of a company called Frigidaire.

He and my grandmother and their two toddlers settled in the nearby little town of Germantown, Ohio, where eventually my mom met and fell in love with my dad, and Emily’s dad met and fell in love with her mom.

Our grandfather worked at Frigidaire until 1970, when he died of a heart attack at age 44 (sadly, about three weeks before Em’s parents got married. My mother was pregnant with my oldest brother at the time.) Emily and I never met him, but we sure are glad he had the courage to come to Dayton and start a new life as a young man. Because if he hadn’t? Our parents would never have met their spouses, Emily and I wouldn’t be here – and – tragedy of tragedies – you wouldn’t be reading this blog! {Shudder!}

But seriously, our grandfather’s employment at Frigidaire is nothing if not the model for the post-war American dream. He was a boy from the holler, who wasn’t even able to finish high school because he went off to fight for our country, but in no small part because he pursued opportunity, both of his children and all five of his grandchildren are college graduates.

Now perhaps you know from reading this blog that I am the sentimental sort. And you definitely know that I am the FRUGAL sort – so fortunately, when buying appliances for our home when we moved in eight years ago, sentimentality and frugality aligned perfectly, and as an ode to my grandfather, Bobby and I chose these:

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Seriously!

Yesterday as Emily and I and our families gathered at our grandma’s house to celebrate Mother’s Day, we couldn’t help but notice that Grandma has retained some Frigidaire loyalty as well. Her fridge is old-school but still hanging in there!

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So Frigidaire, you may not have given us shiny new flippin’ awesome appliances to blog about, but that’s all right, because in a way, you gave us something better:

Each other:

Friday nite cocktail par-tay!

Not to mention these little boogers:

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sophie loves to swing

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So thanks, Frigidaire. Really, the WORLD owes you thanks. Cause let’s face it, our kids are pretty awesome.

(And so are we. So call us, mmkay?)

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