Happy Shoppers.

If I were to make a list of things Mr. Ly loves it would surely include video games, movies, music, and of course ME, but do you know what Mr. Ly does NOT love?  Shopping.  ESPECIALLY on the weekends.  So to entice him into enjoying our day of registering, I let him hold the scanner, which I convinced him was sort of like a video game remote. (See he even holds it like a Wii remote) and promised him free food.

And I let him choose whatever he wanted.

We first registered at Crate & Barrel, during a Wedding Party Event.  Getting Mr. Ly up early on a Sunday was not going to be an easy task, but there was food and beverages. And the fact that the store wasn't open during the registry event made it even more appealing.  I strongly suggest signing up for one of these events if you are bringing a reluctant shopper with you.  It was so much fun, we had some breakfast, got to sample some products from vendors who were there, and racked up a list of things we would love to receive without the typical weekend crowds and stressful shopping environment.  It was actually a really laid back time and we had a ball!

Just lounging on the couches, after an easy morning of registering (doesn't he look like he's having fun??) 

So what did we register for?

SodaStream Soda Maker via Crate and Barrel

This soda machine is top on our list of things we really want.  We don't drink a ton of soda, but we go through seltzer like it's going out of style.  Seriously, I started drinking seltzer when I gave up soda sometime last year, and got Mr. Ly hooked on it too. We go through four or five liters of seltzer a week. Maybe more. It's not expensive, but still - paying for bubbly water seems a bit lavish when you can make it yourself. What we love about the SodaStream is that you can control the carbonation, and also we won't have to pay much for our seltzer addiction anymore.

We also registered for some dishes, glasses, kitchen gadgets, and some cookware, but nothing too exciting to note.

Our next trip for registering was at Bed Bath and Beyond.  Unfortunately they don't have any Rock Your Registry events near Philly, although I hear that this is like THE registry event if you can get to one.  But I wasn't going to make the mistake of taking Mr. Ly to BBB on a weekend (I've heard some horror stories about registering there on a Saturday or Sunday!), so we headed over one night after dinner to create our registry. We probably got there around 8 pm on a weeknight, and as you can probably imagine, the store was pretty dead.  By the time we got our registry set up, and started scanning, it was probably closer to 9.  The store closes at 9:30, but since we weren't making any purchases, just scanning, they were willing to let us stay as long as we wanted - long after they had closed.  It was, again, a very low-key, no pressure experience.

My favorite thing from our BBB registry?

Kate Spade New York - Darlington Toasting Flutes via Bed, Bath & Beyond

Surprised? No, probably not. But we only registered for these and the matching dessert set for our cake cutting.  I didn't make Mr. Ly register for an entire set of Kate Spade china, no matter how badly I wanted to!  I let Mr. Ly pick the pattern he liked best, and he coincidentally picked the same china that my sister and brother-in-law received for their wedding 8 years ago - at least the pattern is still around! And if we don't get a full set, we can combine with them and share!

Noritake Aegean Mist  via Bed, Bath & Beyond

Finally, we have our Amazon registry.  I love the Amazon registry because I can add anything I want to it, from any website.  I have a universal "add to registry" button on my toolbar, and if I'm browsing the internet and come across something I love - it goes directly on the registry.

This is how we ended up with not one, but two cookie jars on our registry.

Mr. Ly doesn't know I added this one... so it's kind of a surprise.  If we don't get it for the shower - I am definitely buying it for his birthday! (shhh. don't tell.)

Portal Weighted Companion Cube Cookie Jar  (a must have for ANY Portal fan!) via Think Geek

And this super adorable cookie jar is more decorative, but I love it.

Wide Eyed Cookie Jar via Anthropologie

We haven't touched our registry in months. I haven't even really thought about it to be honest but Mr. Ly said to me just the other day, "you know, we should go back to those stores and finish our registries."  I think I nearly passed out because Mr. Ly never suggests that we go shopping. Ever.  He must have really enjoyed himself.  

I think the secret to a happy shopper is 1) an empty store, 2) a full stomach, & (most importantly) 3) ONE STORE PER DAY. Both times we weren't hungry (which means we won't get hangry!) and we had the run of the store to ourselves.  I'd say, if you can swing those two things and can spread your registering out over multiple days, you can get almost any non-shopper to enjoy registering! 

Anyone else surprised by how much your fiance enjoyed registering? Any other tips for keeping reluctant shoppers happy?