HaselBride

Confession...

I've been sneaking peeks at our registries. It started innocently enough, I wanted to check to be sure I deleted a few duplicates before people start purchasing things for my shower this weekend.

Well, now it is a full blown addiction. I'll yell into the other room at Nick, "Someone bought insert-household-item-I-really-want!!!!!" and then, "Wonder who?"

Did you sneak a peek or wait to be completely surprised?

Unusual Registry Additions

In keeping with the theme of my registry post from earlier this week, I thought I would share with you a few things we added to our registry that could be considered unusual.

Scale: Nick's choice. We were walking in the bath section of Bed Bath and Beyond and he pointed it out. The guy hasn't asked for much, so we included it. In normal times {ie, not while studying like crazy for pilot training}, Nick really enjoys exercising and training for marathons. He tries to be as health-conscious as he can. He liked this scale because of the ability to measure body fat. {Don't ask me how it works...I loathe  excerising. I need to get my butt in gear and start doing that.}

Air mattress: Very handy for when we have lots of guests {we have three bedrooms, but only two beds}. We'll also need this as we start our frequent moving courtesy of the military. The movers always deliver your stuff a few days after you've gotten into your house. An air mattress would allow us to move out of our temporary hotel digs and into our house as soon as it is available to start cleaning, painting, etc.

Electric toothbrush: A bit ridiculous? Maybe, but I am dying for an electric toothbrush. Our friends swear by it and share it switching out the heads. {Remember when Big gave Carrie one of the heads for his toothbrush?}

Box fan: I thought our air conditioning was acting up the other day and it dawned on me: we would roast in Mississippi waiting for a repair man to fix our a/c. We have a few ceiling fans and a small, personal one, but no bigger fans to get the air circulating in an a/c crisis.

 

Some other practical ideas for a couple starting a new home: flashlights, an emergency kit, and an crank-operated radio. During a power outage last week I realized we only had one flashlight and no radio. A battery-operated radio is a must! I had no idea if a tornado was a possibility and a radio would have helped me stay up-to-date on the weather. What unusual items did you choose for your registry?

All photos © Bed Bath and Beyond.

Registry Frustrations

I've posted about our registry frustrations before. You all provided great ideas for the registry, but it wasn't enough! Our mothers keep pestering us {read me} to add more! My fantastic aunts are throwing me a shower back home in August and Nick's family is holding one in my honor in September, so it is time to add some more options to the list.

Problem is if we need something new for our house {decorative element, a chair, etc.}, I look for a long time at every store imaginable and eventually I'll come across something I love that is perfect and I'll buy it. I'm not going to walk into one store and find something perfect immediately. I guess I am just picky? Narrowing our registry down to a few stores has been murder on me and deciding what to put on them has been even worse. {Especially since I decided to forgo the headache of registering at the returns-unfriendly Target where I always find stuff I love.}

It is really stressing me out to pick out every utensil, tray, or plate I'd like us to have for the next 50 years while making sure everything coordinates. I know that's so silly to say because it is supposed to be fun, but it is the truth. I don't want people to be upset because they don't have a lot to chose from, but at the same time I don't need 75 chip and dip sets. Seriously. The one I have will do the job.

To relieve some of the stress, I downloaded Crate and Barrel's plain Jane, but very helpful registry checklist. {Available as a pdf and online.} I liked the pdf because it was easy to read and bare bones {no blurbs to read through about each item} and it had boxes for check marks. A few weeks ago before we rounded out our registry at Bed Bath and Beyond, I printed out our registries from Crate and Barrel and Macy's and went through the checklist page by page. Lines went through things we do NOT need {soup tureen, mattress, etc.}, checks went through stuff we'd registered for, and circles or question marks went next to items we should consider registering for. It definitely took a little bit of the stress of and helped me narrow down the items we needed to add at BBB or look for at the other stores.

After it was all said and done I felt a bit better about the whole thing and a lot less stressed. If I had it to do over, I'd have started with that list from the beginning. Circling things we might like, crossing off stuff we don't need. Hopefully my ideas will help you other brides be more organized about it from the get go and not be stressed like me! Did you have any methods for registering? Did it stress you out a bit?

Dream Registry Item #2: Madeline Weinrib Pillows

Photos: top O at Home Fall 2007, p30 & 131; bottom InStyle Home Fall/Winter 2007, p9.

The next item on my dream registry has been on the list for awhile. This past fall when I saw these Madeline Weinrib ikat pillows in nearly every home magazine, it was love at first sight. However, at $450 a pop I don't forsee me owning one anytime soon. A girl can dream though.

Pillow images © Madeline Weinrib Atelier.

The pillows can be seen online at Madeline Weinrib Atelier. They aren't actually available for purchase online, but I'm pretty sure they can be found at ABC Carpet & Home in NYC. {You lucky NYC ducks.}

{Help!} What to register for?

Part of the reason Nick and I went to Atlanta during the holiday weekend in February was to start our registry at Crate and Barrel. There are stores located close to each of our hometowns [and therefore, most of our wedding guests] and their pricepoints for items range from inexpensive to expensive which allows our guests to determine how much they'd like to spend.

We attended one of Crate and Barrel's registry events–the store opens early for couples to peruse the goods without a crowd and with refreshments. Salespeople are all over the floor to answer questions about the different products. In Atlanta, a Calphalon rep was present to ask questions about all the pots and pans. Other added benefits include the demos of some gadgets and a free gift for beginning your registry {a crystal heart candy dish}.

Don't mind my unexcited look – I actually was pretty pumped but I really wanted to sleep in that morning because we were so exhausted that morning from shopping and walking all weekend.

My main goal was to choose an everyday white dinnerware. We aren't going the traditional route because I inherited my grandmother's china. Her set isn't in perfect condition, but I don't see the need for two sets of fine china when we really need a nice set of everyday dishes that I can dress up or down as I see fit. Right now we are using hand-me-downs. I didn't realize how many different types of white china there were. Even with all the options, the decision was easy–we liked the clean lines and bowl shapes of the Maison style {shown on the left}.

While we were in Atlanta, we also started a registry at Macy's. I was dying to see more colors of the KitchenAid mixer in person. I ended up choosing the apple green. I think we are going to register at Bed, Bath and Beyond to finish up. I wasn't crazy about the linens and towels at Macy's and I've heard returns are a nightmare at Target.

As you might know, Nick and I live together so we have some of the things a bride and groom typically register for. Some of those items will get an upgrade {bigger cutting board, knives} and there are some things I've written down to add to our registry as we realize we need them {bigger skillet, pepper grinder}. I'm curious though, what were some of the things you registered for? We don't have very much on our registries and our moms think we need to put more on them. I don't want to pick just random things but I know hearing some of the things you found most useful will help jar my mind!

Top image © HaselBride, dinnerware image left © Crate and Barrel and mixer image © KitchenAid.

Dream Registry Item #1

I'm starting an new category "dream registry" based on Perfect Bound's Registry Bliss. I plan to update it whenever I find an item I just can't live without, BUT probably won't get. :)  This first item is exactly that.

When Nick and I were in Atlanta a few weeks ago, we shopped until he dropped. I could have stayed a few months longer. Before we went, I consulted some Atlanta knotties, the Lucky Atlanta shopping guide {here} and the design*sponge guide to Atlanta {here}. Both the Lucky and design*sponge guides mentioned ShopSCAD Atlanta. I knew I had to stop by.

And when I did, I found the first item for our dream registry: a three panel painting on what appears to be three vintage panel doors {far right in the photograph} by artist Justin Kuhn. I could honestly see this painting in our home. To make matters worse, Nick liked it. We agreed on something for our home! Crazy.

I seriously think about this painting every day. I wish, wish, wish we would hit the lotto. Forget a new car, that can wait. The first thing I would do is jump in the car and drive to Atlanta to buy this. Okay, I could buy both if I hit the lotto, but honestly this painting would be first on my list. It rocks my socks. The texture and the size, I could go on and on.

Part of the reason I love it so much is because it evokes so many great memories for me. My grandmother had a rug like this in her basement. My baby cousin {also, one of my bridesmaids} and I used to spend hours and hours giggling and spinning round and round until we almost got sick.

I think every couple should own at least one piece of art they absolutely love; this is that piece for me.

Photographs © HaselBride, painting © Justin Kuhn.