Okay, friends.

It has been over a year — a year! — since I hosted a giveaway. I’ve been wanting to start a “Things I Like” feature on this blog for quite some time. You know I’m not a super consumer — I hate commercials, and I hate buying stuff just to have stuff. If I’m going to purchase something, I want to use it. So I decided to only feature products that I use myself and actually like.

What a novel idea, huh?

The first one, over two years ago, featured a little bathroom product that still serves our family well to this day.

And The first actual giveaway involved a doodad that held a water-filled wine bottle so plants could drink.

Now today’s giveaway involves a doodad that holds water-washed glasses so people can drink.

And so the glasses can dry.

Maybe I better just explain.

See, you might not know this about me, but I enjoy wine.

A lot.

And the problem I was having was that I couldn’t figure out how to dry my wine glasses.

Don’t give me that look.

It’s true.

If I used a towel to dry them, they’d end up with streaks or lint or other nastiness. Plus, using a towel — even a lint-free one — can cause glass breakage if you’re too rough.

And glass breakage makes me cry. Remember this?

So then I started setting them upside-down on a towel on the counter to air-dry.

I thought I was brilliant.

That is, until I tried serving wine in a counter-dried glass. It had a lovely bouquet — black cherries, cinnamon, and… what’s that? Stanky, 2-day old wet laundry?

That’s right. Upside-down counter drying was a huge fail because it trapped that moisture inside the bowl of the glass.

And there’s nothing that will ruin a glass of wine more than the mental image of mold.

And also, when I dried them this way, they were still easy to knock over.

And then more of this happened.

So.

I did what any privileged, middle-class white girl with first-world problems would do —

I searched Amazon.com for a solution.

And what did I find?

This.

It’s the Architec AirDry Wine Glass Drying Rack.

And here it is in my kitchen:

I placed a towel under mine to catch drips, but that’s not really necessary since wiping a counter isn’t too difficult.

What I love:

• It does what it’s supposed to do. (Isn’t it awesome when that happens?) It holds the glasses off the counter so that the air can circulate and dry them — outside and inside. No musty laundry smell!
• It’s surprisingly sturdy. It looks metal, but it’s actually made of a fairly light-weight plastic. Still, the base is just wide enough to hold her steady while not taking up too much countertop real estate.
• It comes apart for storage. I initially bought this thinking I wouldn’t have it sitting on the counter all of the time and wanted to be able to put it away while it wasn’t in use. Turns out, when you drink a glass (or two) of wine practically every night, this isn’t exactly a realistic expectation. But that’s okay, because —
• It doesn’t look half bad! It’s kind of sleek with its fancy curves and brushed nickel look. The rubber grips aren’t exactly easy on the eyes, but hey. I can’t hardly blame a company for choosing function over form and wanting to protect my wine glasses.
• It’s affordable. At less than $15, this was a no-brainer purchase for me. I use it more often than I use shampoo, for crying out loud.

What I don’t love:

• I wish it were metal. I do. I just like shiny things. But of course, if it were metal, it would probably cost a lot more.
• I still find the occasional water spot. It claims that the glasses will dry spot-free, and most of the time they do. But sometimes they still have some spots.

Bottom line:

Would I buy this again? Oh, yes. Like I said, I use it every day. It saves me time, and it saves me from broken, musty wine glasses. What’s not to love?

And the reps at Architec have been nice enough to offer to send one of these babies to a lucky Domestiphobia reader just in time for the holiday binge drinking inspired by quality time with extended relatives.

I’m trying out this giveaway gizmo that I saw on a friend’s site, MyBeautifulAdventures.com. She’s currently hosting a great giveaway over there, so you might want to check it out!

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post and use the little RaffleCopter gidget below to tell me you did so. You can also get extra entry points by Twittering and Facebooking and all of that. If you already follow me on Facebook or Twitter, just enter that into RaffleCopter as well! Easy, peasy.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I will send an email to the winner so the lovely people at Architec can send you your prize! It would also make a fantastic (and inexpensive) holiday gift for your stemware-loving friends.

And, just so we’re clear, Architec has not paid me for the promotion of their product. I just love the one I bought so much, I wanted to share the information with you! And Architec was nice enough to offer to send one to one of you guys, which I think is pretty cool.

P.S. I’m really sorry, but this giveaway is only open to people who live in the continental U.S. OR, if you live outside the U.S. but know someone living here, you can enter and have it shipped to them. Thanks!