After I returned from the very amazing Mom 2.0 Summit last month, I was on a total emotional high. I attended the conference with both with my consultant and blogger hats on, and everything went so swimmingly for my client and it was amazing to reconnect with my blogging colleagues. Sometimes I still can't believe how much joy and energy and pure fun there is in my work. I work hard, yes, but it also feels like such a gift!
So it seemed like an embarrassment of riches to find out after the conference that I won a 4-door refrigerator from Whirlpool, one of the conference sponsors. I don't enter to win giveaways often, so I was truly shocked! Also, the timing was sort of crazy amazing because our fridge was limping along; the drawers were off the rails, a mysterious erratic leak was creating puddles on the floor, the water filter was broken, and so on. We needed to replace it but researching another fridge was, well, another thing to do. We just weren't getting around to it.
I wasn’t planning on blogging about the fridge; I actually was almost a little embarrassed about winning such a fancy prize and I didn't want to seem like I was showing off! But I have been shocked by how (cheerfully) obsessed people are with appliances. Online, people have asked me to share a video or photo tour. In person, friends have asked me about the fridge's features. When we've had guests over, people have been eager to peer into the fridge.
OK, OK, I HEAR YOU! And as a result, I decided to share a little fridge tour. There are lots of snappy features you can read about, but I'll give you the layperson's rundown. Here's what I love about the Whirlpool 4-door:
1. The main doors. Our old fridge had two side by side doors (freezer on the left, fridge on the right) and given the way our fridge is wedged into a nook in the kitchen, it made it very difficult (sometimes impossible) to get anything large into the fridge. Amazingly, the Whirlpool perfectly fit the dimensions of our weird nook, but the dual door layout changes everything. It's easy to get in and out of and I can make and refrigerate my sheet cakes again! YAY! No joke, I just baked one a couple of weekends ago and cried a little with happiness when I fit it into the fridge.
2. The drawer and shelf organization. There are more shelves and drawers than our old fridge, which has forced us (in a good way) to figure out a good organizational system for our food. However, I've found that the really big win has been that being more organized has led to us being way better about consuming our leftovers. Less food waste = good.
3. The refrigerator drawer. One of my very favorite parts of this fridge is the refrigerator drawer that sits under the main fridge cabin. Because our fridge sits in an aforementioned tight nook, we still need to be mindful not to bang the right door into the wall when we open it. We put the most frequently used, kid-friendly items (cheeses, meats, tortilla, fruit) in this drawer and not only is it easy access for us as we're making meals, but the kids can help themselves to snacks! WIN.
4. The freezer, part 1. Our former side-by-side freezer/fridge was horrible for organization; basically, it was a vortex. The large lower bin freezer we now have is great for organizing and I love that there are designated freezer pizza slots. Incidentally, this has led to us buying and consuming more freezer pizza.
5. The freezer, part 2. Immediately above the main freezer bin is a drawer that's handy for smaller items; we store our nuts (man, we have a lot of nuts...it's because of this easy and awesome homemade granola), chocolate (most often used for these killer brownies), and frozen bananas (almost always used for this banana coconut bread). Also, a mustache ice cube tray. Of course.
6. The freezer, part 3. I didn’t even realize there was another secret drawer above the nut/chocolate/banana/mustache ice cube tray drawer until Jon found it. It's perfect for frozen treats (hey, who put the stray banana in the wrong drawer?). This is Violet's favorite drawer. Of course.
7. The water/ice system. I haven't even explored all the electronic options on the water/ice dispenser but I've been happy with basic use and I love the in-door ice system. Inside the left door, the ice collects in a receptacle with it's own door and you can remove the ice bin, which is super handy when I'm loading up a pretty drink pitcher or want to dump all the ice in a cooler.
8. The beeping reminder. Finally, this might sound very minor, but one nice little feature on this fridge is that it beeps at you if the doors are left open too long. We used to accidentally not close our old fridge with some regularity; we'd joke that you needed major torque to close that thing. Anyway, on the occasion that we or the kids don't shut the fridge all the way, beep beep. So handy.
In a nutshell, we love the fridge! I highly recommend you check it out if you're in the market for a new one. Also, it turned out that Lowe's delivered our fridge and we arranged on the delivery call that they would remove and recyle our old fridge, which was just fantastic. However, if you want to earn a little money, check out Mass Save's refrigerator recycling program. I think this is awesome (and hey, I could have used the $50 for more freezer pizza and popsicles); I just didn't have the bandwidth to coordinate another thing given that we were having some other work done on our house when all of this was happening.
Let me know if you have questions about the fridge! And finally, thank you Whirlpool for being an incredibly generous sponsor of Mom 2.0 Summit, and thanks Mom 2.0 Summit for making crazy magic like this happen!
Image credits: Christine Koh
The Oontz Curve lives up to its descriptive full name; it is, in fact, a super portable wireless Bluetooth speaker. I recently bought this gadget and it kind of blows my mind that you can get a Cambridge Soundworks speaker for $29.99. The Oontz has been the perfect solution for enjoying music outdoors, though it would be great for the office too. The speaker connects via Bluetooth, the sound quality is great, and the battery is rechargeable.
Without fail, every time we visit with our wonderful friends Anne and Michael, we pick up lovely hosting ideas. And this New Year’s Eve we learned about raclette, a dish/serving method that’s wonderfully communal and conversation inspiring. It’s also perfect for people like me who like to sample a little bit of everything at dinner, and it presents elegantly while being super simple to prepare.
I don’t typically post about contests on other sites, but I wanted to share this 
Pursuant to yesterday’s broadcast of my NECN interview on cool kitchen gadgets for parents, you now can see the video at 
Wish me luck, folks! This afternoon I’m off to tape my first TV interview, with 
I’m not sure whether it’s coincidence or consequence that June-born Jon loves cherries, but every year he’d rather have cherry pie than cake. The year Laurel was born, in my sleep deprived, frantically trying-to-bake-while-on-a-conference-call state, I dropped my fully assembled pie as I tried to put it in the oven. I thus was too traumatized last year to try again, but when Bon Appétit’s June 2008 issue featured this 