bridal shower!

Saturday was My Very First Bridal Shower, and by very first, I mean that I...um...haven't gone to one before. Ever.

Greg made fun of me beforehand by saying I was "Always a bride, never a bridesmaid." Thanks.
i have a ton of pictures of just rooms of people milling around...what should one do with these things?

So I didn't know what to expect out of a shower, but it ended up being really fun! There was a nice mixture of college girls and married ladies, friends and family, and there were a bunch of foods that were based on either sugar, cheese, or meat...you can't go wrong, really. Cupcakes were also present, much to the delight of the bride to be and the flower girl to be (who ate part of my cupcake in addition to her own)

I was a little afraid that we would play Stupid Party Games, but we just did one game of Shannon and Greg trivia. It was funny, but I suspect that most bridal shower trivia games are a little...um...less weird.

Some of my favorite questions:

before they met in person, what was shannon's opinion of greg? --that he should date katie--

when greg assisted directed a uno show, he had to direct shannon in a scene in which she did what? --had sex with another dude.

(many people got this one right, and answers varied from 'kissed another boy' to 'humped jeff bell' and it was by far the one people were most enthusiastic about answering) shannon and greg once had a large shouting match in public. they were arguing about the best plan of defense in the face of what sort of attack? --zombies-- what is ruffles' favorite movie? Kate & Leopold

(this...um...has nothing to do with us as a couple about to be married. But somebody actually got it right!)

And of course, there were presents. I'm not going to lie...I was pretty excited about the presents.
The theme of the shower was...time? Clocks? I don't know exactly what you call it. Everyone got a specific time of day (8 a.m., midnight) and they were supposed to bring corresponding gifts. Luckily, I am in the kitchen like sixteen hours a day, because I wanted cooking stuff and boy brother, did I get it! Cookie sheets, muffin pans, mixing bowls, pyrex (in red! I didn't know they made red pyrex!), candles, towels, goblets from an honest to god ren fair, and all the awesome plates we registered for from CB2 (the commas from Katie M and the "mmm" from Katie C...Katies love CB2 I guess?) and a whole lot more. It was awesome, and everyone was so generous and you could tell with some presents that the people really thought about what Greg and I would most use and like.

Oh, and did I mention:




Ohhhhhhhhhh, lover.

Okay, I knew my mom was getting me the mixer because she told me. But she said she was giving it to me at the wedding. So when I opened it at the shower I made a lot of fluttery hand gestures and high pitched noises because it was MINE right then and there.
Which is a little Veruca Salt of me but whatevs.

I felt kinda bad flipping out like that. I liked everyone's presents equally it's just...you know...it's a stand mixer. Everything I have ever wanted in a kitchen. My mom had decided that she was bringing so much other junk up for the wedding week that she would just give it to me now to save space in her car...but she pointed out that this WAS IT. Shower, wedding, birthday, Christmas...and I'm like THAT IS FINE CAN I TAKE THIS OUT OF THE BOX NOW?

I can't wait to break that baby in. I think I will call her Nigella.

But, um, back to the shower...I really liked it, and I had a lot of fun. I already have my thank you cards done (I just have no stamps) and I put everything away that I could, minus things like the mixer and the really pretty mixing bowls, which I"m just going to display for a while.

I think I want someone else to get married so I can GO to a shower. I would even like to plan one someday, although I think at this point it'll probably be a baby shower instead. Whatevs. I like making cupcakes in all shapes and sizes.

missing the point

So, a side story about our registry and towels:

First, I have to say that the wedding registry, or the promise of soon having a registry, has affected my life. When a household item stops functioning, especially a kitchen tool, I will usually refuse to buy a new one. That is what the registry is for, and the money I would spend on these things should really go towards wedding stuff like CANDY. My towels are suffering at the moment. They're not shredded yet but they are thoroughly, deeply used.

Secondly, When you register pretty much anywhere, you get what is essentially a souped up inventory gun. It might not even be souped up. It is probably just the same gun they use for inventory. You scan and item and tell the little gun how many you want of something and it goes on the registry. It also tells you how much the item costs, and whether or not it will be in regular stock or if it's just a seasonal item (we tried to avoid most of the college stuff but I think some of it snuck on there...)

Anyway, so we were registering for towels. I had my eyes on the very fancy damask ones because they're just incredibly gorgeous towels.
But they're kind of expensive and I knew we would just end up destroying them and using them to dry off the dog or something, so we looked around more and found a very affordable but still very pretty line of plainer towels. I of course liked the green, Greg liked a stripe, and we also found a coordinating teal blue that we thought would round it out nicely. So we scan the towels, and when we get to the teal ones the little gun goes "BOOP!" and says "This item has limited availability and might not be available in all stores. Continue?" And we said sure, figuring it was a discontinued color or whatever. And then when it came up on the screen, it said
"Towel: $1.84"
And Greg said, "What? Is that towel two dollars?"
So we took it over to the little scanner doohickey that they hang at the end of aisles in Target and checked and yep, the full size, super soft bath towel was $1.84. There were no sale signs, no clearance tag. They just lowered the price and never told anybody.
So we registered for the other towels and then bought the cheap ones. They gave us a weird look when we turned in our gun with a big pile of towels. They were like, you want to buy these? But you could just click them and have someone else do it...

So I now have a few nice towels and they're WONDERFUL. And this is maybe the dumbest post on here ever but I thought it was neat.

REGISTRY!

(before I begin, let me explain yesterday's hiatus in: How the Internet Conspires Against Me
My yesterday: "Oh yeah! I'll post every day! What a great idea! In fact, let's go out an do wedding stuff this morning so we can talk about it with the internets later!...Wait, what's this? The internet isn't working? All day long? No internet at all? Well...damn.")

So I wasn't able to post yesterday which is really too bad because we did a HUGE to-do: the registry.

I have a crush on the club wedd bird logo. It's adorable.

At the moment we are only planning to register at Target. I was a little worried for our relatives, few of whom live near a target or are online-shopping savvy, but I figure they can just be told some of the things on the registry and find them for us in other stores--the bake wear, for example. I don't care what BRAND of cookie sheet I get, but damn do I need new cookie sheets. Also, they'll be able to go off the registry fairly easily since they are mostly old married folks and this isn't their first time at the rodeo, you know?

We're also considering doing a small online registry with CB2 for people who want to get us something "different" while still getting something straight from a registry. They have a great selection of modern stuff that is DIRT CHEAP. Which appeals to that part of my heart that is still an undergrad--i.e. all of it.
The CB2 "Yum Plate" (also available in Mmmm and Ooooo!) only $2.95

But currently, we just have the Target registry, and it is not lacking in amazingness. A brief preview:


Some stuff is stuff we need, but since Greg and I have been living in sin for almost four years, we have a lot of home essentials. We really had to consider what we already have. Some of it desperately needs upgrading, like our cookies sheets and our foreman grill and those TONGS THAT DRIVE ME F'ING NUTS. Sigh. But some stuff just needs to be expanded, like our collection of guest-worthy silverwear and plates. We're not into fine china, but we do occasionally entertain and those plastic dorm dishes won't cut it. We have nice settings for four. The dishes we currently have are these:
from my dad for my last birthday. We thought about adding another set of the same, but then we decided instead to just get more plates and bowls in a very similar pattern, only round. Our nice flatware is from my mom for Xmas:
We just needed more regular silverware (where are all my forks? Seriously. If we go one day without doing dishes there are no forks and hardly any spoons.) So we're signed up for this simple but very effective looking set...and now that I'm thinking about our spoon situation, maybe we'll add another one...
Of course every good registry has some things on it that the groom will enjoy as well:And either Rock Band I or II and a drum kit will join the ranks as soon as the reviews of the newer version are out.

We were also told to register for some bigger ticket items for group gifts and the incredibly generous. Of course I knew what I wanted...my finger was itching to shoot it as soon as we got the scanner gun, and it felt so good to put it on the list...maybe we'll get it or maybe not, but if someone DOES get it for us they will get the supreme pleasure of watching me pee my pants:
Yes, the red Kitchen Aid stand mixer is on every registry ever but I don't care. I could beat some serious egg whites with this baby.

Now, let me just say that yes, there are bigger things that need to be done before the registry. Very big things. But setting up a registry is 1) free, 2) fun, and 3) means other people don't have to wait for me to do it anymore (mainly those wily bridal shower planning bridesmaids)
And sometimes, in all this vendor paying paper ordering stresstastic mess of planning, you need to do something where they give you a gun and say "shoot what you want and maybe people will buy it for you." That relieves a LOT of stress.

Oh, and if you look at our registry please forgive me. A lot of the items don't have pictures online, and there will probably be much editing in the following weeks.