A few weeks ago, when I was visiting my parents in Milwaukee, I was awakened by a crazy Midwestern thunderstorm that was so loud I couldn't fall back asleep. So I did what any normal woman would do at 7:17 a.m. in her pajamas. I went shopping!
I checked out the online registry for Gillian and Mike, high school friends who were getting married that weekend (hence the Milwaukee trip), and bought two things from their Williams-Sonoma registry. They live in Brooklyn and don't have a huge kitchen, and I know they're worried they won't be able to fit their gifts in the house. Since I was late in getting to the registry, though, I wasn't left with a lot of options. I have a feeling my bundt pan and pastry decorating set might not get much use for a few years yet.
The other gift I bought is for Meg and Dan, who got married in May. Of.... um.... 2007. Oops. Tim and I couldn't go to their wedding because we had a concert in Rome the same weekend, and I was really bummed. I mean, obviously I was beyond thrilled to get a paid trip to Rome with my man, but I was honestly torn when I found out it was the same weekend as the wedding. I've been friends with them since college and also went to grad school with them, and they're really some of my favorite people. They were also around when Tim and I first started dating, and they put up with my whining about this annoying guy who kept taking the train to Boston just to see me. And they put up with me when I admitted I actually liked him.
For over a year I had been guiltily reminding myself that I owed them a wedding present. They are some of the most generous friends around, and I feel like such a tool that I kept putting it off... but the year was really tough with the move and so much traveling, and whenever I had a spare bit of money, it disappeared all too quickly. But living with my parents for a week left me with a little leftover cash, and Meg & Dan's present immediately came to mind.
They actually didn't register for gifts, opting to ask for donations to several charitable causes. I made a small donation in their honor but still wanted to get them something tangible, and I found the *perfect* thing (which I unfortunately couldn't help telling them about EIGHT MONTHS AGO): the gurgle pot!
Make sure your sound is on when you click this! source
Oh yes indeed, I'll admit it: this is one of those gifts I would love for myself. In a similar vein, Tim and I gave our friends Brian and Molly a gift certificate to Blik for their wedding this past winter.
One of Blik's freakin' awesome designs. Oh Blik, how I yearn to affix you to my paper-white walls...
Yup, we're that "quirky, artsy" couple who likes to stray from the registry. I'm convinced that Blik is one of the awesomest things ever and would TOTALLY buy some for our house if I had 60 extra bucks. The gurgle pot, though, strikes me as a true necessity. It's random enough that hipsters would love it, but it's also similar enough to this that even a Boston society girl might display it in her china cabinet.
What do you think? Do you strictly purchase gifts from friends' registries, or do you buy something more unique if you know the couple better?
No comments:
Post a Comment