misadventures in registering

Aaron and I spent all day yesterday registering. We went to Macy's Department Store in the Beverly Center. I was super excited- I had been waiting for this day for a long time.  I remember when I was little and I would accompany my mom while she shopped for housewares at departments stores and I'd wander around the china section and pick out which pattern I'd register for if I were getting married.  Aaron, having no idea what registering was all, about was a little wary about the whole process.  But once we got there and the lady put that scanning machine in my hand Aaron said seeing how happy I was made it "worth the price of admission."  And we ended up having a lot of fun.  A little too much fun I'd say. Our rowdy behavior and outbursts of laughter got mixed reactions.  Some customers smiled at us with that "aw, aren't they cute" kind of way, while many employees and older customers gave us looks like "you can't be that loud around the crystal!"  And I think we just pissed-off the entire bedding department.

  

Aaron's attempt at a picture of us.

I had a bit of an "ah ha!" moment when Aaron and I began shopping for silverware. I approached it from a purely visual standpoint where-as Aaron would grab the knifes and hold them checking how they were balanced and how they felt in your hands. I didn't even think about that! And it made me smile to see how much we balance each other when it comes to decision making.  The first silverware set I chose was balanced all weird, the knife wasn't counterbalanced and the fork felt heavy.  Aaron said that you shouldn't be thinking about the silverware when you hold it. That made sense to me. So utilizing my desire for aesthetics and his desire for comfort we picked out these:

Gorham "Studio" flatware

I love these! I'm totally excited to have my own flatware and not use the stuff that my mom and dad got from their wedding over 30 years ago!

Oh yeah, and we also stumbled upon these:

Yamazaki "Gone Fishin'" Flatware

We had to register for a couple sets. How AMAZING are these? The lady who helped us with the registry thought we were nuts for asking for these first of all, and second of all only registering for two sets!

The next thing was plates! Aaron didn't think we need these, but I know one day we might be a normal couple who may have the chance to entertain and we'll then wish we had an entire set of plates and platters and stuff. I mean, the dishware we have now we LOVE. It's from Cost Plus World Market...

"Cherry Blossom" Dinnerware

...but we don't have enough of these plates! And if Cost Plus World Market had a wedding registry we'd be registered there. It's our favorite store. So I thought we should register for a full set of plates that can match these if we need them to. And that's when I fell in love with these:

Villeroy & Boch "Dune Lines" Dinnerware

Love these! And they'll match everything throughout the years as we change styles, decor, everyday plates, etc. they even look great with the pattern we chose for our serving dishes and platters. Check out the awesomeness that is:

the Villeroy & Boch "New Wave Acapulco" Collection

I'm totally in love with this pattern! When I first saw it I thought Aaron would hate it. We had already been in Macy's for about 3 hours when I stumbled upon these and what I call "Registry Fever" had started to set in. We started scanning things we didn't need or didn't even like just for fun. And I thought Aaron was joking when he said "scan those" about this collection. And I said "really?" And he said, "No seriously, you really like those and I think they're very you, you should scan those." :)

The entire time we were consulting a "Registry Essentials" guide from, I think, Martha Stewart Weddings- my favorite magazine of all time. I had put Aaron in charge of the holding the list and I had the scanner. But then I made the mistake of trading with Aaron so that I could read over the list. That's when all hell broke loose. I was checking out the list when Aaron walked away from me. At that same time I was distracted by a sales lady who asked me if I needed any help. That's when I heard that loud and familiar beeeep coming from somewhere behind me. I whirled around to see what Aaron had scanned and I caught him holding a  gigantic rooster in his hands. No! I yelled as if I were scolding a bad dog. "But both of our mom's have one! Don't you have to get one when you get married?" "No it's not a requirement." But Aaron would not be swayed. A few moments later after I had dragged him away from his beloved rooster he said, "You know, I saw a really cool pitcher over there." 

"Is it shaped like a rooster?" 

"As a matter of fact it is," he said smiling devilishly. "And the spout is the roosters beak!" 

"Ah, so it's like a rooster is barfing into your cup every time you pour?" 

"Exactly." 

"No."

Megan, Aaron and our buddy the rooster.

The next thing on the all-mighty Registry Guide was bedding. This was the main reason I wanted Aaron with me at Macy's. He's very picky about bedding. And I found a collection that I fell in love with online. So we wandered around the bedding section forever trying to find it. I couldn't ask for help because I couldn't remember what it was called! So we wandered, we scanned towels, we scanned bathroom accessories, we picked out pillows until I remembered what the bedding was called. When I asked the guy he told me they didn't carry it in that store... yet. So Aaron was really sweet and said that if I liked the bedding, he was fine with it. So here it is:

Natori "Tree of Life" Bedding Collection

I registered for everything you see here except for the $300 accent pillow because I would NEVER pay $300 freaking dollars for a tiny useless pillow no matter how pretty it is!!! And it is VERY pretty. And I didn't register for the $500 coverlet. Let's be real here folks. We registered for a comforter instead and we're going to use a $30 duvet cover from Target instead. 

After hours and hours of registering we were finally finished! The Registry Guide came in really handy for us because we had NO IDEA what to register for, it was overwhelming to say the least but Aaron was a great List-Master.

before Aaron 

After Aaron

If you look at the "after" picture of the list, everything with a "T" next to it are the things we need to find at Target. So that's what we're off to do today... if Aaron ever wakes up. ;)