Monthly Archives: September 2009

Why I appreciate each of my 5 new Frigidaire appliances

As I’ve gotten to know my new Frigidare appliances better, I’ve become very dependent on features of the appliances that I didn’t have in my old appliances and I now rely on and appreciate the following features of each appliance all of which I use almost every day.

The Frigidaire Gallery Refrigerator
I love that the refrigerator’s ice and water dispenser has a lock feature which makes it so that Sebastian and Madelyn aren’t able to get water or ice when I don’t want them to.
USAGE EXAMPLE: I don’t want Madelyn using the ice or water dispenser is after 6pm because I don’t want her to have to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. If she gets up, I get up. Another thing I like about the Frigidaire refrigerator is that it makes smaller ice cubes than my mom’s does. We use thin tall glasses as opposed to wide short glasses and the smaller that ice cubes that the Frigidaire Gallery Refrigerator makes fit my glasses just right.
The drawers in the refrigerator are tall so I am able fit heads of lettuce and other large items including a whole watermelon (the kids favorite!) in the drawers without stuffing without the drawer being difficult to close.

The Frigidaire Gallery Electric Range
Almost every day I use the quick boil feature on the Frigidare Gallery Range.
USAGE EXAMPLE: I drink tea and used to have to wait for what seemed like forever for the water to boil and would sometimes put my teacup in my old microwave to boil the water, but actually broke two tea cups doing that, so the quick boil feature is something I really appreciate. I also appreciate the high rim around the edge of the range which keeps food and spills from being wiped onto the floor. My son and husband thought it was really convenient to wipe the crumbs off of the range onto the floor or in-between the range and cabinet thinking I wouldn’t figure it out. Talk about being embarrassed.. imagine all of the crumbs and dried up spills on the floor that the appliance installers saw when they removed the old range.

The Frigidaire Gallery Dishwasher
The dishwasher racks are sturdier than my old dishwasher’s racks and the adjustable racks and silverware compartments are great for small stuff.
USAGE EXAMPLE: I was often frustrated when the top rack would tilt downward almost as if it was going to cause the dishwasher to fall out from the cabinet. The dishwasher’s drawers have lots of folding/storage options which are great for small lids and those little plastic things that go inside sippy cup tops. I wash Madelyn’s bath toys in the dishwasher so the small storage areas are wonderful for those as well. The sanitizing option is great for moms who’s baby uses bottles and for those bath toys that have built up soap scum on them.

The Frigidaire Affinity Front Load Washer and Dryer
The washer and dryer are fabulous! My favorite features are the seven wash cycles including one especially for whites and deep clean sanitize and the door lock feature.
USAGE EXAMPLE: Not that Sebastian (my 10 year old son) or Tim (my husband) do laundry very often but it annoyed the daylights out of me when they would add clothes 10 minutes after a load was started. Now, they think twice before adding garments because they have to hit the pause button first so the door will unlock. Otherwise, the door can’t be opened during a cycle. Adding detergent is simple with the small dispenser drawer that holds the laundry products you use including detergent, fabric softener, and bleach.
It’s really easy to remove the link trap from the dryer and unlike my old dryer (over 10 yrs. old) the lint doesn’t get stuck or snag on anything when I pull it out.

The Frigidaire Gallery About the Range Microwave
I’m not so fond of how loud the beep is but I do appreciate the repeating beeps when I forget about the cooked food.
USAGE EXAMPLE: There are times when I go upstairs to do something while chicken nuggets are cooking, and there used to be times when I would forget about them and not remember them until I found them in the microwave 1/2 an hour later. You know how kids are, if they are busy, they’re not hungry. Madelyn could care less about food most of the time so if I was cooking for her only, I would sometimes forget about the food in the microwave because the beep wasn’t very loud or would not repeat if I didn’t get the food out, on my old microwave. I have not forgotten about food in the microwave since getting the Frigidaire Gallery Microwaver because it continues to beep (very loudly) until I open the microwave.

My love.. in photographs

I love my Frigidaire appliances!

I know you will enjoy your new Frigidaire appliances and they WILL save you time as you will learn more about with their More-Me-Time Guarantee explained on the Frigidaire More Me-Time Guarantee site here.

P.S. Follow me on Twitter to be kept up to date on me and my new Frigidaire appliances!

More Frigidaire links to check out:
• Frigidaire More Me-Time Guarantee
• The Frigidaire DAILYDARE
• Tell Frigidaire what 5 things you would do with an extra hour and you’re automatically entered for a chance to win a suite of NEW Frigidaire appliances!
Frigidaire on Facebook

Crayola introduces new products including Crayola Window Crayons

Crayola new products

Did you know that Crayola has several new, innovative, affordable variations on classic Crayola products? I am a huge fan of Crayola and find myself buying Crayola stuff that the kids don’t even need. I stock up on Crayola crayons, markers, and colored pencils thinking that the kids will need more later. I received the following products from MyBlogSpark and Crayola recently and the kids have had a blast tyring them all out. The Crayola Window Crayons are a huge hit and I love that I can wipe the crayons off the window easily because the kids sure as heck aren’t going to! Sebastian likes the Crayola Color Switchers.

Crayola window crayons

  • 24-ct. Crayola Crayons, the quintessential back-to-school tool that kids love for their vibrant colors, and moms and teachers choose for superior quality and value
  • 10-ct. Crayola Markers, with an array of consistent, true colors to complete any task
  • 12-ct. Crayola Colored Pencils, which come pre-sharpened with thick, strong lead made to tackle touch projects and art activities
  • Crayola Pip-Squeaks Colored Pencils and Glitter Glue, which give children big color in a small size and are perfect for jazzing up art projects with bright, bold, shimmering colors
  • Crayola Window Crayons, to help let your little ones transform glass surfaces into instant decorations with bright colors that lay down smoothly, dry quickly, and wipe clean with a damp cloth
  • Tadoodles Washable Crayon Buddies, which are colorful little characters that hold a triangular-shaped crayon that twists up when the tip wears down – perfect for little hands!
  • Crayola Color Explosion Black Extreme Surprises, which comes complete with a stencil sheet and two Broad Tip Color Explosion clear ink markers that reveal a different surprise design as they´re colored on 18-page tablet
  • Crayola Color Switchers, which are dual-ended markers that allow kids to magically change the colors of their drawings with a swoosh of the “color switch” tip

You´ll be excited to find that Crayola is helping to stretch those back-to-school dollars even further this year with a lineup of school tools that are priced under $9 (with many of the school list must-haves like the 24-ct. Crayola Crayons and the 10-ct. Crayola Markers priced under $1.00 at retailers nationwide). But more importantly, what makes your investment go even further is the investment you´re making in your child´s development. Giving your kids the tools to power their imaginations doesn´t have to be expensive.

Crayola pip-squeek colored pencils with sharpener

To learn more about these and other great back-to-school products, check out http://www.crayola.com.

Check out these fun Crayola stories on other blogs:

My iPhone 3G screen shattered last night!

iPhone 3G shattered screen

I can’t say it wasn’t my fault. I was getting out the car, holding two books in my arm with my iPhone on top of the books. I think I was trying to hold the door open so Madelyn’s fingers wouldn’t get squished while she was trying to squeeze past Sebastian who was not in a hurry to get out of the car. Things were just a little chaotic. My iPhone slipped off the book and landed flat on the driveaway then bounced over to land on its back. Serious, major, HUGE bummer! I feel like an idiot for letting that happen.
Over the years my iPhone has been abused by the kids and myself (not on purpose) and I guess that I started to think it was invincible. NO, it’s not. Just the right fall, the right angle, and the right surface shattered my iPhone screen and not as if I didn’t already, but I realize how attached I am to it and how much I rely on my iPhone.
Every night when I put Madelyn to bed, I lay with her and read the news on my iPhone. I check my email on my iPhone when I’m out, I have several applications I use regularly such as Things, iNotify, and TwitterFon.

What am I going to do? Oh wait.. I also make and receive phone calls from my iPhone. Huh, I forgot it’s a phone. There really is no point to this post except to remind my readers that iPhones aren’t unbreakable and unfortunately, you can’t get insurance on an iPhone through AT&T (when I purchased mine that wasn’t an option).

Today I’m struggling with these options:

  • Apple will replace the screen at the Apple store for $199 (the cost of a new iPhone!?)
  • I found several online stores that sell replacement iPhone screens for $25-$60+ and extra for the tools required to replace the iPhone screen myself (Tim would do it).
  • Get a new iPhone
  • Borrow my Dad’s extra iPhone.. but I feel bad about that.

Have you ever had to replace your iPhone screen? What do you think I should do?

Get Personalized with a Custom Address Stamp

personalized-stamps

Now that summer is over and the kids are back in school, I’m determined to be organized for the busiest time of year. Along with fall and winter come multiple holidays, social events, birthday parties and then as soon as you can catch your breath Christmas has come and gone. No more attaching return address labels on our family’s holiday cards until the wee hours. This year I plan to order a personalized return address stamp. I found these self-inking customized stamps that will be my new personal-izing assistant! Not only can these be used for return addresses, and look great on the back flap of an envelope I might add, but they can be used to personalize note cards as well. The personalized stamps from Three Designing Women (love the name!) are designed to personalize blank note cards, wine tags, gift tags, notepads and calling cards. You can also use these self-inking stamps with your own blank stationery or stickers. I love all of the unique designs and cute, modern note cards. They have something for classic tastes as well as modern design fans. The stamps are available at the Neiman Marcus website and you can also find coupon codes for Neiman’s here.

Products featured above:
Three Designing Women Square Stamp or Round Stamp, $48.00 at NeimanMarcus.com
Three Designing Women Retro Stamper Note (green and brown design), $13.25 for 10 at papersyoulove.com
Three Designing Women Blue Stripes + Brown Floral notes – 1 set of 10 $22.50 at Finestationery.com

From our friends at TheFind.com.

The new dual nozzle, sturdier Swiffer Wet Jet

Small Wet Jet KitOMG!  If you get as excited about cleaning and gadgets as I do you will LOVE the new Swiffer WetJet. No, the one you buy at the store doesn’t come package like this one, sorry!
Swiffer and MyBlogSpark made it nearly impossible for my heart not to flutter when I received this incredible Swiffer WetJet Mission Impossible kit.

I am a huge fan of the Swiffer WetJet.  I haven’t used a traditional mop in years, over 8 to be exact.  I was thrilled to learn about the new Swiffer WetJet which has been redesigned with dual nozzles, a bigger scrubbing strip, and sturdier construction to help ensure my cleaning efforts are worth it.

Here are a few reasons you will love the new Swiffer WetJet:

  • The larger scrubbing strip on the new Swiffer WetJet and the cleaning solution break up and dissolves tough messes.. no hands and knees required!
  • Unlike the mop and bucket you’ve used in the past, it’s light and maneuverable, so you can easily navigate under tables and chairs.
  • The Swiffer WetJet takes up minimal storage space making it easy to store in small closet areas.
  • My 10 year old son loves to use the WetJet.  He uses too much solution most of the time (he gets trigger happy!), but that’s better than not helping at all, right?

Get your hands on a Swiffer WetJet at your local super market.  You can learn more about the new Swiffer WetJet on the Swiffer web site here.

Alicia, Editor TMI