If you’ve been following my blog, you know that this quarantine has given us the opportunity (motivation) to make a few upgrades in our home.  After I’ve lived with some of them for a while, I’m going to give you a review on some of them and whether I would buy again.

Here goes.

Cuisinart Digital AirFryer Toaster Oven

We purchased this oven from Costco with the thought of consolidating our (perfectly fine) countertop oven and (perfectly fine) airfryer.  After using this oven several times here are my thoughts.

1. It cooks too hot and you need to be very vigilant if baking.  Probably much like you, I’m a multitasker and I need to know the timer and temperature are going to take care of me, not work against me.
2. It’s fairly complicated to program.  Turning a knob works just fine for me.  I see other reviewers don’t like the combination of knobs and buttons and selections needed to cook something.
3. Airfrying makes a big mess in the entire oven.  When using an airfryer the mess is just inside the basket.

The oven gets really good reviews on Costco.com but maybe the reviewers never owned a simple convection oven or small airfryer before.

I would NOT purchase this again.  A lot of buck for not much bang.

Window World Windows and Doors

Our big project of 2020 was window replacement.  We won’t really know the impact of this until we see some power bills next summer, but for now, the windows are certainly sturdy.  We chose Window World based on the recommendation of friends and the fact that they are ¼ the price of our other choices.

We had a couple problems with sliding and the company scheduled a follow-up technician within a few days. Hopefully all is well now.

We opted for the highest energy-saving finish on the windows which is a blue hue.  It’s quite pretty both inside and outside, but it does make the house a bit darker.  Luckily, we have a lot of windows and skylights, so our house is bright, but I do prefer the light.  It probably just takes some getting used to and I think the energy savings will be worth it.

One other note, because the windows are sturdy, I find them difficult to open.  Probably something else I’ll just have to get used to.

I WOULD purchase them again.

GE Profile Microwave

There wasn’t much choice in getting our microwave replaced since the old one croaked.  We used a local electronics/appliance store we’ve had good luck with in Phoenix.  The service was great.  The microwave is just fine and has a few features the old one didn’t, but I’m not really too motivated to learn all the wonderful things it can do.  Can it heat my soup?

It was quite expensive, but it’s a built in and we needed something that would fit in the space and match the oven below it.

I WOULD purchase it again.  But I would also prefer the old one not to croak.

Anthropologie Candle

I never wrote about this candle before, but here is my review anyway.   I bought it a couple of weeks ago when I ventured out of the house and I have been enjoying it every single morning.  The Boulangerie Jar candles are among my favorite go-tos.  I love the Angel Food Cake, but Anthro didn’t have it in stock so I tried the Whipped Cream and Pear.  Yummy smells in my kitchen while I’m brewing my a.m. beverage.

And no baking mess to clean up.  And no calories to burn off.  WIN.

Roxy Update

Thank you to everyone who inquired about Roxy and sent us your love and prayers.  We spent a couple of hours at the vet Saturday, got x-rayed, etc.  It’s still inconclusive, but she’s feeling a bit better, cuddling and eating and drinking.  She’s not really playing or being her wild self, but I’m taking what I get right now and a purr made me feel like I won the lottery Sunday.

What I’m Reading

As promised, I finished The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine who Outwitted America’s Enemies.  Did one of you recommend this book to me?  DF Connie?  I cannot remember because I had it on order quite a while before it came though.  I love a non-fiction that reads like a fiction.  I love history that spans WWI and WWII.  I love hearing about brilliant women.  I LOVE spies.  Well, I guess I don’t actually know any spies and if I did know they were spies they wouldn’t be very good spies.  But I love their stories anyway.  Jason Fagone is a good writer and makes this character interesting and likeable.  Highly recommend.

On audio I listened to a new author for me:  Haven Kimmel.  The Used World was a really slow start and pretty uninteresting.  But then.  The characters started intertwining better.  They became more interesting and I wanted to know their stories.  And their back stories.  I will certainly read more by this author and am giving this a recommendation!

Has 2020 been a nightmare for you or are you taking this time to do some things you might have wanted to do or needed to do?  I hope you’re finding golden nuggets and enjoying what you can.  I’m still praying like a monk so let me know if there is anything specific you need lifted to God’s ears and I’m on it.

Thank you for reading my blog and have a good week.