best part

so, i had heard that the most fun part of wedding planning would be registering. and i will admit that the scouring of webpages and building a dream home wishlist is pretty awesome as are the scanning guns at various stores. but i find myself checking out our registries almost daily to see if our generous guests have purchased anything. the first time i saw "complete" next to one of our registry items, i called mr. uva to share my high level of excitement. he only ruined it a little by telling me that he had removed the item and no one had actually purchased it - serious bummer.

dilemmas and resolutions

As we roll into 2010, I'm realizing that all those months of planning have set me ahead of the game in many respects, but we do still have some things to figure out. My two biggest wedding resolutions/to-dos for 2010 include:

1. seriously finalizing our guest list - I have about a week to finish this before our save the dates go out and there are a lot of emotions surrounding the guest list - who knew?!

2. figuring out what we're doing about our registry - our save the dates have the link to our wedding website (thus registry information) and I have already been fielding questions from inquiring relatives about our registry. Mr. UVA and I have been living together for several years now and our house is pretty well set up. The wishlist we have compiled for our house doesn't play very well with gift registries. Seriously, what do you do in this case? Why doesn't Anthropologie have a gift registry? Can you register for cash dolla dolla bills, a down payment on a house, tuition for a masters program? Can you register for big pieces of furniture or artwork? How do people do this and not end up with things you don't need or want? Registries are tough man!

Can't wait for another year with the future hubby though - he's pretty wonderful!

Happy New Year everyone!

Urban BBQ

Good morning! I know, I know. MIA. Well, let me explain that the 3 months before the wedding date turn incredibly chaotic, as many of you know. However, I am caught up and ready to share what has been going on. I have a lot to tell you, but before I get too ahead of myself...I will start slow...with a peace offering....yes I will share one of my special favorite recipes!

We got a engagement gift, and guess what? It was MY FAVORITE thing on my registry! My indoor grill! I was so excited when I received this! When you live in a city apartment, an Urban BBQ (or cook-in, as I call it) is so much fun!
So last night, we used it to make on be of my favorite recipes, which I will share, because it's THAT good. A year or so ago, I was watching Oprah's Summer Special: Favorite things. She said she had the absolute best turkey burger of her life and shared the recipe. So from Donald Trump's restaurant, to Oprah's set, to my kitchen, to YOU- here is his recipe for Mar-a-lago Turkey Burgers. I will warn you, these will ROCK YOUR WORLD! I use less meat, etc to make them smaller, but this is the original recipe.


Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup of scallions
• 1/2 cup of celery, finely chopped
• 3 Granny Smith Apples, peeled and diced
• 1/8 cup of Canola Oil
• 4 lbs of Ground Turkey
• 2 Tbsp of salt
• 1 Tbsp Black pepper
• 2 tsp of Chipolte Tabasco ( I was out of this last night and used 1tsp of Thai chili and it worked)
• 1 lemon, juice and zest
• 1/2 bunch of parsley, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup of Major Grey's Chutney, pureed (found in grocery store)

(My indoor grill!!!)

Saute the scallions, apples and celery in the canola oil until tender. Let cool.

Place the ground turkey in a large mixing bowl, add sauteed items, and remaining ingredients. Shape into 8-oz burgers. refrigerate for 2 hours. (these patties tend to fall apart if not refrigerated, but I usually put them in the freezer for a 1/2 hour and its not ideal but seems to work) Season burgers wit salt and pepper and place on a preheated, lightly oiled grill. Grill each side for 7+ mins until meat is cooked through. Let sit for 5 minutes. Serve with a side of Chutney and on your favorite toasted bread, pita or hamburger roll.

SOURCE: www.OPRAH.com

Ever since I was a little girl, I dreamed of.....

REGISTERING! What did you think I was talking about? Ahhh, registering. The best day ever. I have always wanted to register, even before the idea of a "Mr. CP" in my life. So we first registered right after we got engaged, at Crate and Barrel in Arlington, VA. It is a large one! Now, I know it sounds weird to register so soon, but one of my married friends suggested it. She says, "People are going to buy you engagement gifts, even if you don't expect it, some will. Wouldn't you rather it be something you like?" It took one ugly bowl for us to get moving. My sister in law said that you will get tons of serving pieces, that you don't register for so not to register for too many. With that being said, the gifts we have gotten have mostly been serving pieces...So she was right on!

So we began at C&B. Mr. CP chose the wine glasses and I pretty much picked everything else. We registered for just a few items, knowing the selection would change over the following year. They did give us a "gift" of a cute heart-shaped bowl.

Here are some of the items from Crate and Barrel I am most excited about.

Hamburger Press! (I know, weird, right, but how cool is it!)

Appetizer plates! We got the matching bowls too. I absolutely love these. So chic!

This may be my favorite, and indoor grill! Perfect for us apartment living couples!

And our bookshelves. We registered for 2 of the leaning bookshelves and one of the wine bar.

Last week, New Years Day actually, we finished registering. We went to Bloomingdales. OH. MY. GOD. Bloomingdales is so nice. We got the royal treatment! The gits we left witch included tons of bridal magazines and a photo album. So nice! And the lady we worked with, Jenn, checked up on us a few times. This made us feel very special. She has since emailed me with updates on selected items and sent me a hand written card thanking me. I heart you Bloomingdales...I do.

Anyways, Mr. CP "let" me register for something I fell in love with, that is a little...girly. These Kate Spade Plates. I may be in love! What do you think? Aren't they adorable? I just love them and people who know me, say they are "so me." I think this is what I am most excited about. I love the mis-matching patterns and the color.

We also registered for fancy luggage and bedding, as well as a cookware set. Lastly we went to Bed Bath and Beyond. While the selection was good, let me tell you, they are no Bloomingdales! We had to wait 15 mins to be helped and then we were given a clipboard to fill out. And no gift. But as Mom CP says, "People LOVE using those coupons!" and we do want our guests to be able to use them. Additionally, they sell almost everything that Bloomingdales and Crate and Barrel sell. I mean, its insane! So, to make our registry more affordable we did all of our appliances and most of the kitchenware there. Obviously, my favorite it the KitchenAid Mixer, a staple for all registries. (Can you tell I like green?)

We registered for a Dyson Vacuum!!! How fun is that! All fancy...yay!

We even selected a few Le Creuset items at Bed Bath and Beyond....I know its not the Dutch oven but I know myself and lets face it...I won't clean that. I have one random Le Creuset Spatula and I love cooking with it. So....

What were you most excited about in regards to registering? Any registry tips from the married girls?

Registries

Making a registry reminds me a lot of people asking me what I want for Christmas. When people aren't asking me, I have a laundry list of things I want. When I am actually put on the spot, I am a sputtering fool left shrugging saying I have no idea.

Mr. JeffMemorial and I have dilly-dallied around in the arena of wedding registries. We've made quite a few actually, with only one or two actually surviving our picky tastes. To be honest, though, I never really focused on it. The registries were a stressful topic. I couldn't find anything I liked, and for some things, what I did like was just too expensive to put on a registry.

Needless to say, I sometimes ignore things that cause me stress, which is exactly what I did... until I started receiving e-nudges from friends, asking when I was going to be making our actual registries public.

With a sigh, I went back to the drawing board.

I think the thing that stressed me out the most was our wedding china. The reality is we don't have space for it and our lifestyle is not conducive to the safety of fine china. We made the decision to get a nice set of dishes (that will always be our wedding dishes), and then on our 5 year wedding anniversary (or perhaps the purchase of a new house) we will get ourselves a set of nice china to celebrate.

Thus a new search began, and I began knocking on the e-door of Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I was pleased with the selection and found two items that restored my faith in registry creation:


Classic Dots 67-Piece Dinnerware Set

While this is by no means $150/place setting china, it's stunning. I love the stark simplicity and classic look. I love that it's a large set of dishes that will allow us to throw dinner parties with a more pulled together look.


Tuscan Countryside 5-Piece Pasta Set by Mikasa

I am thrilled about this find. I love buying kitchen pieces that have such a social gathering aspect to them. I could just see setting up a pasta girl's night, watching movies, etc... or just having some friends over for a collective dinner.

I think what's really helped us get better at putting our registry together has been, quite honestly, living together. While we've known each other for years, we got engaged pretty quickly after we started dating, which was only a month or so after we started living together.

As time has gone on, we've been able to determine what kind of family unit we are, how social we are, etc. That's really helped put into perspective what we want in our kitchen, on our beds, in our bathrooms, and just for fun.

What are some of the best pieces of advice you've heard about when creating registries, or are you a den of wisdom when it comes to the subject?

Sip and Scan a Review

Tonight Mr. GP and I got to indulge in a bit of Registry Fun. I've previously posted about this event - the Knottie Sip and Scan Event at Macy's in Pentagon City.

My thoughts?

Well, it was a great event. Aside from the catering being near non-existent, it wasn't bad. Except...that's how I conned Mr. GP into going by promising free food and drink...what? Sip? Sip what? Sparkling water that we got five minutes before we left? Sure! The people however, were incredibly helpful, and answered all of our questions and were around when we needed them. I gave Mr. GP command over the super scanner (it was huge!) so at least he got to have fun with that.

I digress.

It was very helpful being able to talk to vendors, having my list that they suggest, swooning over the Martha Stewart Collection, we registered for Ralph Lauren bath towels, Vera Wang china, everything Kitchen Aid, and new pots and pans that look incredible.

Some of my favorites?

Kitchen Aid Slow Cooker
Vera Wang Blue Duchess Fine China
Martha Stewart Spice Rack
(all photos from Macys.com)

We're also registering at Crate and Barrel which...has not yet been started if only because we haven't had a free weekend to get out to Clarendon to do so. Now that Macy's is almost done, I'm excited to go register for the rest of our goodies, and check another box off the list.

What are your favorite registry items? Favorite store to register at?? Anyone else go to the Macy's event? What did you think?

Registry Fun

A few weeks ago, Fiance and I have started our registries. So far, since I haven't planned much - aside from one or two days dress shopping (unsuccessfully), a couple wedding shows, an unfinished wedding website (two months later), and a few unsuccessful attempts at researching photographers (usually leading to much frustration and anger at the outrageous prices!), I feel like I haven't done much.

But one Sunday, about a month ago or so, fiance and I decided to trek down to Macy's in Metro Center to get this party started.

The ah-hem, party, lasted about an hour before we headed back to the Hill for 5pm Mass, thus our registry was left unfinished, and hardly worthy of being shown to anyone. Anyone except our parents of course, both of whom responded "YOU REGISTERED FOR A HEINEKEN BEER TAP BUT NOT POTS AND PANS OR DISHES?!?!"

Well, really we just wanted to have fun with the scanner and get things started, why not right? We did register for other things...you know, some utensils...a Kitchen Aid mixer....with attachments...you know, the fun stuff. Fiance insisted to them that we weren't done yet, and that we still had research to do which, is no lie. We've just kind of been lacking on having the time to do so.

So a couple weekends ago, we went to a lovely Bridal Show up in Woodley Park (which I got him to go to promising tastings as there were some at the last one I went to in Alexandria, there were none at this one. Whoops?) and saw the Macy's table. Macy's, oh how I love thee, especially with the Martha Stewart line. You've never done wrong by me Macy's.

So a lovely woman was talking to us about our registry, the china we plan on registering for, and told us about a fabulous event which today, happened to end up in my Inbox thanks to The Knot yesterday.

Sip and Scan - "an event featuring fun beverages, hors d'oeurves, music, and fabulous registry experts to help you create your dream registry. Bring your fiancé and he can play 007 with the scan gun while you sip your drink and approve his choices." NICE!!!!

Now, not only can we finish our registry (well, one of them) but also, have a fun little date night out at the same time and please both of our mothers by completing the registry at the same time!

Any other DC brides planning on going to Sip and Scan on October 2nd?

China and Crystal and...Turbo Tax ?! Oh, my!

I was REALLY excited to register when we first got engaged. The future Mister and I love to cook, we love kitchen gadgets, and have been known to refer to Sur La Table and Williams-Sonoma as “The Toy Stores.” Since we’ve maintained separate households up until recently, we’ve amassed a number of kitchen essentials already (garlic press, espresso maker, waffle iron, you know, the things no kitchen should be without…).

I also got scammed into jointly purchasing silverware and matching dishes for Mr. Fairfax’s place before a) I lived there b) we were engaged. Should I have been suspicious when he insisted that we invest in a nice set of Oneida flatware? That he could no longer take the rag tag assortment of dishes? Perhaps yes. I was blindsided by his proposal to say the least. But I digress.

The real point of this post was to say, it’s easy to be so dazzled by traditional registry items that you neglect to think about what else you might need to run your household. Dishes, silverware, and napkin rings are all very useful and necessary, but don’t forget to “think outside the kitchen.”

So suddenly you’re married, you have in-laws who want to come visit! Where to put them? Thank goodness you registered for that handy Aero Bed!

The Aero Bed is a real life-saver whether it's a college bud looking for some
place to crash or your new in-laws visiting. There are other brands of air bed out there, but I like the Aero Bed best, personally. A Bed Bath & Beyond or Target registry is probably your best bet for this. Picture via www.amazon.com.

You’re finally in your first apartment together! You’ve just hit Ikea, Crate and Barrel and hey, your wedding pictures just arrived from the photographer. Sweet! How are you going to hang all your gorgeous picture frames and pictures ledges you lovingly picked out? Why, with your new cordless power drill…Seriously, power tools are where it’s at. Start out with a cordless drill with multiple bits. It will revolutionize the way you hang pictures and assemble furniture.

Stores like Lowe's and Home Depot now allow you to create gift registries. Visit their home pages and do a search for "gift registry." Picture via www.cordlessdrilling.com.

Ah, wedded bliss! Oh, home ownership! Boo, filing your taxes jointly and itemizing for the first time. Hooray, for Turbo Tax Deluxe! My big sister is a personal finance wiz kid and she swears by Turbo Tax. Go for the deluxe version as it allows you to itemize your taxes among other neat tricks.

Target carries Turbo Tax products and
also has a gift registry function. Picture via www.static.howthingswork.com.

What are some of the items you plan to register for?

I am Fed up with Fine China!

Ok, so I am new to this blog... A big HELLO to all the DC brides out there!

I am getting married in a little less than a year from now- on May 24th, 2009. I thought that a year is quite a long time to plan for a wedding. Well apparently not! I am dizzy with the thought of booking the perfect photographer, booking the band that will get everyone out of their seats and dancing, ordering food that the guests will be talking about for months, buying a wedding dress that doesn't make me look like I drowned in a sea of white ruffles, and on top of all that, dealing with two very involved mothers that live 1,000 miles away from each other.

However, during the past couple of weeks, I have only been obsessing over china...like I have time for that! My fiance and I went to Bloomingdales to begin our registry. The registry consultant asked us to describe our personal styles and at the same time my fiance uttered "modern," I blurted out "classic!" Then, I quickly said we liked angles while my fiance stated that we liked solid white. I think that the consultant was confused. We also stated emphatically that we did NOT want to register for china! Who needs china? We are in our 20's! Casual, everyday dinnerware would do just fine!

Guess what? We left registered for fine china, and lots of it! But....since we had told the consultant about our modern, classic, white, angled style????, she subsequently recommended Fusion White by Bernardaud. The registry consultant had persuaded us into registering for china, telling us that we would have it for the rest of our lives and someday, at some point in our lives, we would want to entertain. We conceded.

However, I have been pondering, no obsessing, over this fine china for the past few weeks. I have been studying pictures of china on our online registry site. If we are going to register for fine china, why should it be plain, white and boring?? I decided I need some color in my life. That is when I secretly deleted our white plates and registered for Laque de Chine Gold by Haviland. The plates and other pieces come in all sorts of fun, funky colors and you can mix and match! It took me a while to decide on colors but I ended up registering for the pistachio and chocolate combination, but I love the azure and mandarin combo as well! I am absolutely giddy. There is one problem- I have not told my fiance I changed this on our registry. Hopefully, he won't mind our dinner parties where I serve a steak on pistachio-colored plates and a salad on chocolate-colored ones! Who cares? I love it!

Registering for Sheets?

If sheets are on your registry then make sure you read this article in the Washington Post on how shops and manufacturers are cheating consumers...hint: Those 800 thread count sheets for $150 might not be as soft as you were hoping for.

Feather Our Nest

I know it's been a while since I've posted, but Mr. Georgetown and I just closed on our first house together on Monday. Our purchase was even featured on a local Brooklyn blog today! We can't be more excited...or over whelmed. The whole home buying process has me really questioning the need for the items we registered for so I started doing a little research on registry alternatives.

For those of you who haven't made the biggest purchase of your life yet, here is a neat alternative to more traditional department store registries. It's called Feather Our Nest. The idea is that your guests give you money for a downpayment for your first home together, instead of towels, sheets or the china you'll never use. When your guests contribute, they even get a gift card so they'll have something to "physically" give to you on your wedding day. It costs $300 per couple to start your registry, but it's fully refundable when you close on your new home!