How does Gretchen and Jeff's registry work?

You can browse everything Gretchen and Jeff
might like from a variety of stores on the Internet at
http://www.myregistry.com/public/gretchenandjeff

Over the five years we have lived together we have negotiated a shared style that is thoughtful, eclectic, rustic, and quirky.

Given this we knew we couldn't find just ONE store that captured our style. So our wedding registry is designed to share with you items we like from around the Internet.

We use a service called Myregistry.com. This lets us add things from stores across the Internet to our registry. Stores ranging from Crate and Barrel to Napa Style to Target to Jackson and Perkins. You can view everything we would like at www.myregistry.com/public/gretchenandjeff

If our online registry is too confusing, please use this guide:

• The dishes we would like - to replace our shared collection of dishes left over from old relationships - are the La Rochere Napoleon Bee collection - available on Overstock.com - http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/La-Rochere-Napoleon-Bee-6-piece-Dinner-Plate-Set/3866787/product.html
• The silverware we would like - to replace our Dollar Store finds purchased in between relationships - is from the Stanton Collection at Crate and Barrel - http://www.crateandbarrel.com/Gift-Registry/Gretchen-Kinder-and-Jeff-Cutler/r4910258
• We want to do some landscaping around the house. So we've registered for rose bushes, forsythia and climbing hyrdrangea at Jackson and Perkins - http://www.jacksonandperkins.com/
• We have a duvet/quilt we love for our queen size bed from Garnet Hill 
• Towels and sheets from Kohls are a-ok with us. We decorate using warm fall colors - garnet red, rich teals, mossy greens, rich camels, etc. 
• We have registered for a wide range of cooking and home decor items at Crate and Barrel, and Williams-Sonoma.

There are many unique items you can find on our registry - Eiffel Tower bookends, hurricane lanterns made from recycled wine bottles, etc. We invite you to peek at the registry online - even if you don't buy online - to get a sense of our negotiated style. 

Or do nothing at all. Please remember, we both love presents, but this isn't why we're having a wedding. We're having a wedding to formalize our commitment to each other, and to share with you our excitement about living the rest of our lives together.

No dogs allowed....

After an inspiring conversation with my hair stylist this weekend Jeff and I had a serious conversation about the possibility of our getting a dog to keep us company in the tiny bungalow. Centered around weighing pros versus cons, it went a little like this:

Pros:
We have romantic notions of what life with a dog would be like - catching frisbees, rubbing bellies, chasing intruders, etc.
Most of our neighbors have dogs and we could be one of the "cool" kids.
I want an incentive and excuse to motivate herself for daily walks.

Cons:
We'd want s young dog, and would need to invest time in training the dog. And we don't want someone else to train the dog because we want the dog to respond to our commands, rather than a trainer's.
We don't like the idea of cleaning up steaming hot piles of poop. Or cleaning up dried up piles of poop littering the yard.
My job takes me away from home for up to 15 hours/day. And Jeff doesn't like HAVING to do things, like walking the dog because I can't get home. (I would feel the same way if the tables were turned.)
We aren't sure who we could ask to watch the dog when we spontaneously take off for unknown locales when the spirit moves us. Or we'd feel bad repeatedly asking Margo and/or Cindy and/or Aaron/Katie and/or Ben to watch the dog when we wanted to pick up and go.
I WANT an external incentive to walk because internal motivation isn't working. BUT I am not excited about walking a dog in the rain. Or the snow. Or early in the morning when I am overtired.

After our longish conversation we realized that we both like cats. Having cats could fulfill many of our romantic fantasies without many of the downsides we're aware present themselves with dogs. Or kids. So, no dogs. And we're going to get at least one - maybe two - cats. Why two? Well, I want a smoky gray cat and Jeff wants a light colored cat. No compromises. That's how we roll. Look forward to cute kitten pictures sometime in the future.

(Oh, and I need to find a less pet co-dependent way to motivate herself to get exercise.)

Saturday list

Make list
Make breakfast
Eat breakfast
Finish laundry
Run dishwasher
Put away clean clothes
Frost cookies
Finish card for Robbie
Make cookie bags for people at work
Dump run - computer, sweaters, books and tables
Wrap secret santa presents (GK)
Pull in mail at neighbor's house
Clean bathroom
Make bed
Play
Wrap hostess gift for dinner party
Go to dinner party

Jeff likes eggs and other things you might have missed.

Gretchen is making me do this. Don't ask me why the list has to have 16 things. Just bear with me. Here they are...16 things about me. Most of which will probably be lies just to get a reaction from readers. But some will be true.

16. My license says that I'm six-feet tall. OK. It doesn't say that anymore because I had pangs of conscience and changed it. But at one time I was officially six-feet tall. You see, while standing at the counter at the Registry of Motor Vehicles I overheard the enormous guy next to me say he was five-feet-ten-inches tall. I knew that I was actually 5'10" and I was easily half a foot shorter than him. So I decided - as I'm wont to do - to test the intelligence of the Registry folks. REGISTRY INTELLIGENCE FAIL. When I said I was six-feet, the woman didn't blink. She typed it in and I immediately got taller. Better than Bobby Brady, huh?

15. I believe that someday I'll be called to Hollywood to star in a movie. Don't know how. Don't know why. Just know it.

14. In a guise developed to snag chicks, I had business cards made up that had on them my name, the words The Corporation, and my dorm-room phone number. These were purchased during the Citibank Years - a time when I used plastic to buy everything from sneakers to snacks. They were also used a grand total of once. The cards worked miracles and my roommate and I ended up walking home from a local bar with two hotties. I don't know what he ended up doing, but again the conscience thing got in the way and I told her goodnight.

13. I'm paranoid that I might be autistic and have ADD...and that I'll be misdiagnosed as being just a normal teenager. Please shuffle these parts as you see fit. They work every which way.

12. My feet have gotten larger as I've gotten older. This might not be surprising, but they're supposed to slow down. In the last ten years I've gained a whole size. That's either the real deal OR shoe manufacturers have changed their sizing methods.

11. I cry during West Wing and Scrubs and even during some other television entertainment.

10. Remembering how long I should cook soft-boiled eggs still escapes me. Luckily I don't mind snacking on hard-boiled eggs and the incidence of raw eggs has dropped with practice.

9. Moving to a warmer climate is definitely in my thoughts when it remains 12 degrees out - like it is right now!

8. I once had my finger bitten off by a turtle. It grew back.

7. Wherever I travel, I adopt the local accent. It makes me feel closer to the natives. It's especially difficult in South Boston, Scotland and Jersey.

6. I get really annoyed at shows like CSI and NCIS that are based on real science but really rush results. Conversely, I allow Numb3rs to fly fast and loose with math and science. My prerogative, I guess.

5. My proudest moment was when I saved a Right Whale from swimming into the Cape Cod Canal.

4. My main goals for 2009 are to ride a century and to find an agent for my novel.

3. I'm a little worried that I'm losing my hearing.

2. I'm convinced that I'll either win the lottery or not win it. That way there's no disappointment.

1. I know that I'll push for a MUCH shorter list the next time we get Facebooked into doing something like this.