We Bought A Washer and Dryer!

Things are getting pretty grown-up around here. I present you with, Exhibit A:

We bought them on Black Friday after our old unit shuddered and skidded to a stop in the middle of a cycle. The washer was on back order, so my persuasive husband got Best Buy to deliver a floor model for us to use for a week while we waited. I’m very excited about these new appliances. They are so shiny and pretty and I can finally design a laundry room that looks like this…

Source: img4.myhomeideas.com via Keri on Pinterest

       Fresh flowers and all!

…as soon as we live somewhere that has space for a laundry room!

This is the first time I’ve been involved in the purchase of a major appliance. It was scary and exciting. I used to hoard quarters for laundry and there I was reading off a credit card number for Keith to type into Best Buy’s online shopping cart.

My history of doing the laundry began right before I left for college when my mom took me down to the basement and gave me a quick lesson on what knobs to turn, where to put detergent and a reminder to clean the lint trap or I’d burn the dorm down. I prayed that the machines at school would have the same buttons and that I wouldn’t forget about the lint trap. I did fine, but the college machines were always in use. People were always throwing your clothes on the floor if you waiting too long to collect them and I had to lug my clean-but-actually-still dirty laundry up lots of stairs because my building didn’t have an elevator. When I lived in my adult apartment on the Upper East Side I had to trek to the laundry mat around the corner. Again, we had no elevator and there was usually a homeless person or two hanging out by the warm dryer. Needless to say, I have never enjoyed doing laundry.

Until now! I gave our new machine a go last night. I inspected all the knobs and buttons with wonder and amazement—did you know these new machines have a “hand wash” setting? I gave that a go, too. I was a little hesitant to throw some of my sweaters in the washing machine, but I figured they were either going to lie on the bottom of my laundry basket for eternity, get wrecked in the wash or get clean. So I took the gamble. Wow! It worked great. My quality of life just got 100 times better.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some more clothes to clean! Indulge me: What was your first grown-up purchase?