Get a load of this

 "Did you hear our exciting news?" I asked with a cheeky grin. The question was directed at my mother and father-in-law, who'd just returned from two months away in their native Croatia. 

"Well, our dream finally came true. It's the best thing to ever happen to us. Something I've wanted my whole life." They leaned forward. I didn't check their breath but it was definitely bated.

"We got a washer and dryer!" I exclaimed. I still can't believe how blessed we are.

"Oh," said my mother-in-law. "I thought you were going to say something else."

But really, WHAT ELSE IS THERE? I wanted to scream. In New York, a washer and dryer is a way bigger flex than a baby. Every park and playground is full of those. You can't say the same about these puppies.

my new favorite room in the house

And when I say we got a washer and dryer, I don't mean we got a new washer and dryer. I mean we got our FIRST washer and dryer. For context, I'm 47 years old. If you've ever lived in a big city, you understand the gravity of this life upgrade. If you haven't, you probably don't even realize how good you've had it all these years. You've just been smugly tossing your dirty pants in a home machine for years, not even patting yourself on the back for being such a baller.

Very, very few people have washer and dryer hookups in their NYC apartments and homes. Most New Yorkers use shared laundry rooms in their apartment basements or haul two to three weeks of filth to their nearest laundromat, wherever that may be. In the first month of Covid, when our corner laundromat shut down, I was scrubbing towels and sweatpants with my sad little chapped hands in our kitchen sink and hanging them on the bathroom shower rod to dry. It was... uncivilized.

Every New Yorker can relate to the experience of hoarding certain items in their closet because they want to wear them next week and laundry ain't happening before then. We're all guilty of letting the hamper pile up and spill over, waiting until our laundry bags are hernia-sized before schlepping them across the street. There's not one of us who hasn't made an emergency Prime order of underpants because we couldn't get to the fluff & fold that week.

We bought our house eight years ago, and though we've made many changes to it over the years, this is the one that finally makes me feel like an actual homeowner and bonafide adult. 

So while your family was off picnicking at the beach or barbecuing with neighborhood friends, I spent the slow season reading psychological thrillers and washing every pair of sheets we own. 

It was the best summer ever.