i've got a confession to make

i don't know how many of you there are out there exactly who are like me, but i'd imagine there are quite a lot of you (or so i'd like to think)

my grand confession is... i stalk my registries... there i've said it...

since there are only a limited number of weekends i have a pretty good guess when my "surprise" shower is going to happen...and i think it's going to happen soon (i'm calling it~!)

and earlier this week i noticed that some "things" were getting "fulfilled" SQEEEE!!! that means that it's going to really happy... REALLY SOON! right? or i'm just an eager beaver and hoping it's going to happen!

how many of youse stalk/stalked your registries?

China Patterns

Chris and I finally completed our registry, we've decided to just maintain two as registering at more places just seemed rather daunting, so if you feel so inclined to buy us a little something something, you can find us at either bed bath and beyond or crate and barrel (which i previously did a post on if you will remember)

the one question i kept asking myself was, do people still register for fine bone china? i'm assuming they do considering the section that we saw at bed bath and beyond was ginormous! far more selections than the casual dining china...my original thought was to just register for some classic white dishes...something like these:

(image via corelle)

classic, white and totally replaceable if i broke one, i get another white dish, it matches and i don't have to worry about discontinuity and such because, well a white dish is a white dish!

BUT in reality when we stared registering, my fiancee kept picking out these earthenware style dishes, and instead of casual white we ended up with these puppies:

(image via bed bath and beyond)

this is the nova black collection by sango...it's not white, it's not classic but it's not too bad, i can live with it... and if it means so much to C, i will happily eat off of these for the rest of my married life...so for a set of 8 we registered these for and ready to move on.

UNTIL i started thinking about what happens when i have the inlaws over for christmas and i want to actually set a nice dinner up for everyone? or when i have a giant fancy house, i'm not gonna serve my fancy dinner that i will spend hours slaving over on plain casual china, NO i will need the fine bone stuff...so enter in what I dub thee worthy:

(image via bed bath and beyond)

this is the lenox continental platinum set...its classy, simple and totally up my alley, like what i would've wanted in the white casual china that i for went...but C was not sold...he asks why are we going to register for "classic" white fine bone china? if we're going to be serving a fancy dinner, we better serve it on fancy ornate china, so he picked this out to illustrate his point:

(image via bed beth and beyond)

Vintage Jewel set by Lenox, it's medieval looking, it's positively ornate beyond description and it evokes all kinds of dungeons and dragons motifs ( to me at least anyway) but it is oddly charming in a weird dorky/geeky way...so our registry coordinator (?) Laura showed us what this would look like on a table, and once we matched the crystal goblets and the crazy silverware,napkins and napkin rings...it looked pretty good to me. i was able to envision my fancy thankgiving meal, giant turkey and my "king arthur" dishes... alright that sold me, and it's totally us...it was fairly painless. So i didn't choose the china patterns, the fiancee did...but hey i got him to promise to buy me a castle to live in so we can use our wedding china the way they're meant to be used for, meals served fit for a king, thats us... royalty... :)

Did you choose your china patterns? or did your future husband have a hand in all of this?

(p.s. i better be getting a castle in the not too distant future, complete with moat and snapping turtles! from a certain man i am to marry!)

Crate and Barrel

Crate and Barrel's wedding registry event went really well! (it was also my first ever foray into registering). the store was open only to those who were participating for the event so it felt very, how shall we say "exclusive"? we were greeted at the door by two employees who told us to proceed to check our coats and to help ourselves to some breakfast:

fruits, muffins and cake

mimosa!

then we were handed registry guns and proceeded to zap things! awesome!!

Chris scanning our cupcake set

what was also really informative/helpful about this event is that there are demos stationed around the store to help you decide what you should register for, this was extremely helpful with our knives selection:

here's the knife demo guy demonstrating the shun knife (what we ended up registering for) and explained that this knife was designed with right handed users in mind, so it is particularly comfortable... i couldn't agree more! they are also hand forged steel(durability) and aluminum (lightness)

here is chris testing out the wusthof knife, which is weighted(steel) and balanced also a really good knife (i think this what most people register for?) but they were a bit heavy for me when i tested them so we went with the other :)

the good thing about both these knives are that the WHOLE knife is in tact, so that it eliminates the handle coming loose factor which is dangerous for knives and they are built to last (alton brown from food network also said this, i'm a fan!), only needing to be sharpened twice for the rest of our lives (or so we've been told)...and if they don't happen to last that long, the manufacturers will replace them for us free of charge...both sets have been around for many many years, hundreds in fact, so they're time tested...

we spent the next hour or so visiting other demonstration sites and scanning other objects for which we will furnish our married home with. We finish up and return our registry gun, print out our list and head back to coat check for our things. Upon leaving though, we were also handed a gift at the coat check:

heart shaped candy(?) dish, how cute! we're told that the gift actually changes from week to week

after the wedding we'll be given a coupon to purchase the balance of our unpurchased registry at 10% off

all in all this was a very positive experience for us, albeit tiring! we give crate and barrel a thumbs up for throwing this event for engaged couples, it's really helpful and informative, so if you have a crate and barrel near you, i'd highly recommend you to pop in on one of their registry events.

How many registries?

this sunday C and i are going to be registering at Crate and Barrel, though i'm totally excited to zap things that i want that i hope people will buy for me... i'm slightly intimidated... i mean when confronted with, lets use dinnerware as an example...how the heck do you choose? and how do you decide where you register? oh and how many sets do you register for? do you register for one formal set for a "fancy shmancy pants dinner Pah-tees" set? AND one informal set for "everyday i don't care if i crack you while doing dishes" set? or do i only register for one? i feel like i need to like research high and low and read every consumer guide out there to make sure i don't get duped into getting the wrong plate! now with that said...how many registries does social etiquette dictate that you should have?

lets look at my options:

crate and barrel - love this place, very modern and stylish, has everything from home decor to kitchen utensils, but i don't think there are any physical stores out on long island...nyc folk though uber easy, SOHO! oh and they throw you a little party to register so we're all over that =P

bed bath and beyond- return policy is awesome! not to mention shoppers can use those 20% off coupons that never expire!! oh and can i also mention they have everything that you will need in your home short of the kitchen sink?

tar-jay/ target what have you - awesome prices, but terrible return policy...but they got everything and i can register for all the camping gear i'll ever need! well not that i'll camp out much (ever...)

macys - what can i say? it's macys! i can register for fancy brand things like a hotel collection duvet and ralph lauren silverware...oh and you can always find some kinda coupon that can be used here too!

williams sonoma - the holy grail of all things cooking related, everytime i walk in its like i died and went to culinary tool heaven! plus i've always coveted this slate cheeseboard i haven't seen anywhere else nearly as , as...whats the word...exquisite!

isn't she a beauty?!?!?

can i register at ALL these places? or is that like registry overkill and social etiquette suicide? i like to think three would probably be my maximum...does anyone know?