shopping spree...for {practically} free!!

I didn't expect registering to be so stressful when we got engaged. I thought it would be a process that was fun and exciting. But, it did stress me out when we were actually registering....are we making the right decisions on plates, cups, pillows, towels, ect. AHHH! I was so worried about it all. We knew we were inviting a lot of people to our wedding and I had 4 showers, so we made sure to register for a lot of stuff.

You've seen the post about our house being a mess from all the presents we got before the wedding. Well, things haven't improved with stashes of gifts, Crate and Barrel boxes, and tissue paper. It's insane how much stuff we've gotten {and we're working on thanking all of our family and friends for their generous gifts!}. Since we've gotten back from our honeymoon, we've been going through all of our presents and making three "piles." 1. Keep at home. 2. Keep at my parents {no room for it at home but we'll eventually want it and won't want to spend the money on it}. 3. Take back.

Although we received many, many gifts from our registery, we decided to take a decent amount back mainly because we really feel we don't need

it/won't use it and would like the money for things we didn't get that we do really need/want and will use. So onto this "free" shopping spree. Monday and yesterday we took back a lot of presents to the stores where we registered. We've been going through our registeries thinking about what we'd still like to get. After we returned some things, we decided it was time to start using our 10% off at these stores and work on getting these things we still wanted to get.

First up, Target. We had a gift card there for 80 some dollars and also a 10% off card. Here's what we picked up {none were actually the original things on our registery but similar products}. We did spend $12 here to cover a few other things that aren't on here...

We picked up two of these puppies. Great for tailgating and sitting in the backyard {since we don't have patio furniture}. Oh, and the lake! Note the cooler on the side of the chair...selling point for Kurt.

And we grabbed this for the same reasons as above.

We may have gotten ourselves in over our heads. We'll see when we test it at the lake in 2 weekends...!

Then we headed to Crate and Barrel. I wasn't expecting to be there for as long as we were, but I remembered why registering in the first place was difficult....I WANT EVERYTHING! That store just pulls me in every. single. time. We got a lot {for free} and still have over $300 to the store to use very soon! :)

We got too much stuff to put all the pictures up. So here's a quick list:

Small Salad Spinner

White Butter Dish

Non-slip Over the Sink Cutting Board & Colander {love this one!}

Grill Tool Set {with green case}

2 Dylan Highball Glasses {to finish up our set}

6 Dylan Double Glasses {to finish up our set}

2 Black Silicone Mitts {for Kurt while grilling}

Square Grill Basket {for veggies, potatoes, etc}

Grill Half-Grid "Basket" {for fish}

Pepper Blend

Another set of corn picks

Spoon Rest

2 in 1 basting brush

Meat Tenderizer

Ice Scoop

Zester/Grater

I have absolutely no idea where we're going to put all this stuff, but I can't wait to find places and start using them!! We're trying to find time to clean out all of our kitchen cabinets to see what we have and to reorganize. Let's hope this happens soon!

Lastly, after dinner, we went to Macy's. I've been really, really wanting a new vacuum {which is crazy because Kurt does most of the vacuuming!}. We returned a few things and went straight to the vacuums. We knew we wanted the Dyson Animal one. It just so happens that a sale started today and part of the sale is newly married couples get 20% off everything {on top of sale price} instead of the usual 10%!!! We were able to "preorder" the stuff, aka buy it last night and pick it up today for the sale price. We also picked up two awesome pillows that we didn't get. I can't wait to use them!!! We had to leave because the store was closing, but we're planning on going back and picking up a few more things. Oh, by the way, we got a over $500 vacuum and 2 pillows that are originally $200 a piece for $50 of our own money. Sweet!!!