Registration

The drive from Ann Arbor to the following cities takes around 4 hours: Chicago, Traverse City, Toronto, Indianapolis, Niagra Falls, and Cincinnati. I mention this because we could have made the drive to any of them in the amount of time it took us to get registered at Bed Bath and Beyond today.

It started off innocent enough - it was around a quarter after 2:00 when we arrived. The first thing we did was to go to the registry section, chat it up with the girl, and then we started. First things first - we actually picked out a China pattern. (Do you capitalize China here? Well, I am going to.) And we both love it. I don't know why, but having China was never all that important to us - when Tiffany visited last year, she and Carrie had a discussion about it, and Carrie later asked me my thoughts on the matter. I figured we would just inherit some from somewhere. But today we chose 3 China patterns from the displays to take a closer look. However, it took the two of us about 10 seconds to just fall in love with the square, white with a platinum lining pattern that we ended up settling on. It was one of those moments when you are trying to find the perfect something, and you see it - you just know. I am still waiting for this emotion on the used car front.

Then, wine glasses. We are gonna do the Chip thing - we want 2 of each of the Riedel glasses for each type of wine. Heck, I think we even registered for 2 of the Quarts de Chaume glasses for the half bottle of Baumard we bought when we thought it would win wine of the year.

Next - silverware. Some neat stuff, our first real moment where we didn't sync up, but I just didn't care enough to fight it. The ones we decided on are kinda skinny for me, but whatever - I am excited about them nevertheless.

Next, some everyday plates and all. It is a cool little design, and it will work. They are the ones that are unbreakable - we see this as more of a challenge than a luxury. We couldn't find any silverware to match, so we are just sticking with what we got.

After that - about 3+ more hours where part of me died. I did get to carry around the gun and shoot stuff, so that was cool. I think they do that just for the guys, as part of a stroke prevention thing. There is so much stuff in that store - are we really gonna register somewhere else? What is left? We registered for roughly 250 items in the store, meaning that if we get 2 gifts from everyone we invite, then there might be some overlap. Of course, I imagine we are just gonna get 250 of the Good Grips drain stopper that I put on there.

Some highlights - a rice cooker, pots and pans, towels, 3 toaster ovens (if we get more than one, we can just take it back), a bunch of knives, sheets and duvet covers and shams and pillow cases and fitted sheets and yadda yadda (odds are that we only get the shams - I had to call Steph to ask what a sham was), a vacuum, a wok, an electric blanket, an etc., and so on. I am excited about the whole thing - for some reason, we generally put in thought on every single thing we shot with the cool gun thingy. The 3 toaster ovens are on there as a result of much debate and the fact that there were some that we didn't see the first time through. I heard that you just go through shooting at things, but no - each item on the list involved a decision. It will be interesting to see what we end up getting - I know it will probably the strangest hodgepodge and all, but everyone says that you end up getting more than you expect.

The only thing I can come up with as an analogy is baseball cards. You know there is a 300 card set you are hoping to build up, and the showers and the wedding will be like buying a pack of cards - you get a mixture of a bunch of players. You will land the occasional Pujols or A Rod card (like the vacuum or the down comforter), you will want to get all the Tigers cards since they are so awesome (the China), you will probably get some multiples that you can trade for other things you don't have, and someday the set will be complete. Of course, you want some cards more than others, but at the end of the day, having the whole set would be pretty awesome. Each item counts.

When we left at the end of the day (which was literal in this case - it was dark when we left, and we were late for our 7:15 couples date - as a point of reference, we paid for the lunch we got at the Noodles in the same strip mall as BB&B at 1:51, according to the receipt) we were happy but utterly exhausted. I feel in a way that we have also knocked out our Christmas and birthday wish lists for the next 2 years as well. Of course, there were several things that we didn't find that we do want (a dehydrator - I want to make my own jerky)(that's what she said), but at Christmas and birthday times, I will update my amazon wish list. But hey - I want my 4 and a half hours to mean something - chances are, you can get us some China at Christmas time too!

PS - don't go look at our list yet, as she put the entire Good Grips catalog on there for us - we need to go and remove some of the things. I just don't need that thing that helps you open jars - I still have my pride. And we have to discuss whether we really need a melon baller (shot caller) as well. Also, I think I registered for some king sized sheets on accident - we have a queen sized bed in case any of you ever want to get us sheets or whatever.