Window Shopping!

Right before Christmas, we went to the store to pick out all the things we thought we might want.  Not for Christmas, though, for our registry!  I started an Amazon.com wedding registry awhile ago, but we wanted to add in a real, brick and mortar store just for extra options, and because I like to be able to see things in person and touch them.  (I have a tendency to touch everything when I am in a store; I can't be the only one, right?  But I run my hands over all the clothes and blankets I walk by, so actually feeling the items we were asking for was pretty important).  So we decided to register at Macy's as well.

The Bon Marche!  Now known as Macy's.  Image via Wikimedia

Personally, Macy's is the perfect level of fanciness and accessibility to me.  It isn't crazy expensive, but it still has nice things.  Plus the fact that it bought out The Bon Marche always makes me nostalgic (I can still sing the Bon Marche jingle in my head...).

Anyway, we decided to go to Macy's on a Sunday morning (okay, it was probably like 11 am, but that is still morning, right?), trying to avoid the crowds.  And it worked!  It was actually pretty calm in the housewares section, and we were the only ones setting up a registry as far as I could tell.  They gave us a rundown on the discounts and deals and all that jazz involved with their registry, gave us a ton of information, and then gave us some chocolates and little water bottles.  A+ in my book.  Then we took the gun and went on a treasure hunt.

I wish I had taken pictures, but really it wasn't all that thrilling of a scene.  We made some good decisions, like that we didn't want to get FiestaWare, even though I'd been talking about it for forever, and that we liked the "Architect Series" KitchenAid mixer the best.  The latter decision was thanks to the KitchenAid representative in the store; it was great to ask her questions, even though she did push some extra gadgets that we definitely don't need!  But we liked her thought that the color is fairly neutral, so no matter how we decorate or if we change our minds about other accessories, this bigger appliance will always match.  Very smart!

The Architect Series Stand Mixer by Kitchenaid.  Image from Macys.com

We did get a little tired after making so many decisions, so after adding probably 30 things, we decided it was time to stop.  Then I managed to cut my thumb so it bled quite a bit on the box the chocolates were in, but that is not really related to our registry, just a note of my clumsiness.

Since the big registry outing, we've done a bunch of editing and adding to our registry.  I thought I liked one kind of plates (which they didn't have at the store we registered at), but we made a trip to a different Macy's and decided they weren't at all what we wanted (this is why it is important to touch everything!).  Then we found plates we like, but there are a few versions so it took awhile to make that decision.

Noritake Colorwave Dinnerware in Graphite.  We eventually decided on the "Rim" set on the left.  Images via Macys.com

Now we have about 63 items on the Macy's registry, which they say is way fewer than we should have for our estimated 175 guests, but so many are kind of expensive!  Although we did already receive the Le Cruset dutch oven I've been coveting for Christmas, so who knows, we probably will run out pretty quickly. Overall, though, these are things that we want and that we can actually fit in our fairly small home.

A note on fine china: do people register for it anymore?  I mean, it is pretty, but we don't exactly have room to store it.  In addition, both of our parents have china, as do my grandparents, so I have a feeling someday we'll have china too.

The Amazon registry is a whole different beast in and of itself.  One which will be discussed in the next blog post!