Want Not

So you know how I’ve got all of these cool new Frigidaire appliances as part of their campaign to help moms find more “me time?” Today it was announced that Jennifer Garner is teaming up with Frigidaire to help support Save The Children.

To read more about what they’re hoping you’ll do (give an hour towards kids in need before we reset the clocks on November 1st), check out this post at Mom Central. And then go visit Frigidaire.com to pledge one hour of your time towards children in need, and be entered for a chance to win a brand new professional double oven.

Pretty great, right? Gosh, it’s a good thing I have all these shiny new appliances. Otherwise I might feel a little drab next to Jennifer Garner….

It’s been a while since we checked in with my awesometastic new kitchen appliances. And today I’m going to tell you some more about my new dishwasher, but first: a bit of background.

I happen to believe in every human’s inalienable rights to life, liberty, and a machine that does the dishes. I mean, I am not anti-housework, per se—I actually sort of enjoy doing the laundry, and I don’t even mind scrubbing toilets because it’s not terribly time-consuming—but dishes just seem like never-ending drudgery to me. Having a dishwasher is part of what keeps me sane. And now that my kids are old enough to help with the dishes, I still really appreciate it, because I probably wouldn’t trust them to do a decent hand-washing, but it’s hard to screw up putting plates in a rack.

The dishwasher is an Extremely Important Appliance to me, is my point. And our old dishwasher often didn’t actually get the dishes clean, so I was more than ready to fall into love with this new one. Thank goodness, I was not disappointed! (more…)

One of the first appliances I received was my new refrigerator. And other than being able to say “ooooh, shiny!” when it arrived—the stainless steel replaced a boring old white fridge—I really didn’t think too much about it. Because, well, a fridge is a fridge is a fridge, right?

Well, yes. But also no.

In replacing my old side-by-side with a new side-by-side I didn’t expect to see much of a difference. But it turns out that my new fridge has several differences from my old one. Some are good. Some are a little less good. And still others are just plain nifty.

I recently realized that mostly what I notice about my new fridge is the ice. If you, too, find you have a strange obsession with ice, read on. (more…)

When we last left off, the installation of my new Frigidaire kitchen appliances had hit a small hiccup. And by “small hiccup” I of course mean “possible disaster.” It took five tries, but I now have a flawless range/oven—it’s a thing of beauty. And it’s clear that some of the problems we saw before (like the dent in the door facing) have been fixed at the factory level; the construction is actually different, now. We can see that there’s now a spacer by the door handle that wasn’t there before, and the spacer is preventing the denting that was happening before.

So, yeah, I now have a beeyoootiful oven. I’ve been going about all of my usual sorts of cooking, and enjoying it, sure, but I hadn’t really put this new machine to the test. I’d never said to myself, “Self, what would be a good way to see if this oven really is superior to a conventional oven?”

Well, until this weekend, anyway. This weekend I decided it was time. (more…)

I wanted to give y’all a quick update on my appliance situation, because I’ve been meaning to tell you about something other than just my awesome new washer and dryer.

I’ve also received a new refrigerator and microwave—both of which I’ll tell you about soon—and, most recently, a new stove. Now, it was the stove I was super-excited about, because it has a “Fits More Oven” and comes with four racks, as well as a special rack that allows you to convert it to a half-rack in case you’re cooking something tall down below, but still want to slide a smaller dish in above it. Also, it can be used as a regular oven or a convection oven, and it has all kinds of special stuff with the burners (adjustable size, a rapid-boil burner), too.

But I can’t tell you about all of that yet, because there’s been a small snafu, and I feel like I’d be remiss in not sharing what’s been happening. (more…)

When we last checked in on the miracle that is Frigidaire making over my kitchen, I’d just gotten delivery of my first few appliances. And then I promptly left town without getting to play with them at all. Oh, the humanity!

And guess what I’m doing now? Getting ready to leave town! Again! But I’ve been home for a week, and you know what that means—my new washer and dryer and I have developed a very special relationship. I have done upwards of ten loads of laundry since my return, and I have learned a few things.

Like that I really can sit there and watch the washing machine rotate and be entranced. Hee.

Want to read more about my experience/review of the Frigidaire Affinity washer and dryer? If so, there’s more after the jump. (more…)

I had a visit from the appliance fairy on Friday.

Okay; there was no fairy involved, and the crew of burly men who came to my house might take offense at that. But Friday I got the first shipment of my new Frigidaire appliances.

“Hey, your truck says Electrolux!” I pointed out, because I’m helpful that way.

“Electrolux owns Frigidaire,” the nice gentleman explained. Of course, I knew that, but given that they’re going to be having bloggers take pictures of their trucks and stuff, I’m surprised they didn’t plaster the Frigidaire logo all over the place. Heh.

But all was forgiven once I got a look inside the truck. Because inside the truck? Inside the truck was lots and lots of boxes containing shiny things.

I was so excited, I almost forgot to snap some “before” shots, but I did get a couple. Here’s my old fridge, and here’s my old washer and dryer. For the record, there’s nothing wrong with my old fridge. I mean, it’s boring, but it’s fine. But I have hated this washer and dryer with a passion ever since my husband and I got married two years ago. The washer becomes unbalanced if you look at it funny and the dryer has a *BZZZZZZZT* that scares the bejeesus out of me every single time, and then the clothes usually aren’t even dry. Hmph.

Three hours later I had all kinds of awesome new machines. And the sad part is that then I up and left town, so I haven’t really even gotten to play with them yet. I’ll have to report back once I’ve played with them. But in the meantime, I just have to tell you one thing. Wait; two things. First: Have you ever seen anything sexier than my new washer and dryer, even considering that I can’t open the pedestal under the dryer more than a few inches? And second: I did sneak a quick test-spin of the washer before I left, and it was virtually silent. The water pouring down into the drum was louder than the spinning. I may have swooned.

Once I’m back home again, the rigorous product testing begins. Woo!

So, a funny thing happened about a month ago. I got an email inviting me to apply for a test drive program with Frigidaire, in conjunction with this new campaign they’re doing with some of their new appliances. It’s all about helping moms have more time for things other than chores, because they did some market research and discovered that—are you ready for this?—the average mom spends 200 hours every month doing household chores rather than doing things we love better. Like, shopping for shoes. (In fact, they’re so sure these appliances will give you more time, they’re guaranteeing it—buy three or more select Frigidaire appliances, and if you don’t end up having at least eight extra hours that first month thanks to their fabulousness, you can return them for free.)

I filled out the application and spent a long time deciding which of the offered appliances I’d most like to receive. On the one hand, the washer/dryer pair sounded positively sexy; on the other, my dishwasher is in the process of dying a slow and painful death. After a day of telling my husband, “But! High efficiency machines! And they’re red!” I sucked it up and applied to receive the dishwasher, because I’m all responsible and logical and stuff.

I also checked the box saying that I’d be interested in being on a special team that receives everything. I mean, why not, right? And then I promptly forgot about the whole thing. Until I got an email back telling me that I’d been selected to get an entire kitchen full of shiny new appliances.

(Feel free to scream loudly and dance around the room. That’s pretty much what I did when I found out.)

So buckle up, my pretties—I’m going to take you along on my Frigidaire adventure, and tell you how you can win new appliances, too! (more…)