Building your baby registry

I’ve talked before about what my registry checklist of baby essentials would be, but one thing I didn’t mention was how, in hindsight, I would have handled building the baby registry differently. I registered with an online site where you could pull in items from various stores, which seems nice in theory but ultimately made things more challenging overall. It’s really valuable to find a store with both a wide online selection and wide physical selection; a place where you can go see things in person—and your guests, many of whom would prefer to walk into a store and out with a gift and a card for the shower—can go. And some guests with less online experience are likely to find a purely web-shopping process confusing. I’d suggest finding someplace with locations in most cities, inexpensive shipping, flexible and friendly return policies, and which carries plenty of things you’d like to spend store credit on, should you make any returns (highly likely), after the baby arrives.

Target didn’t have a Manhattan location when I was registering for Hudson (now they do), or it would have been the obvious choice.

In fact, Target asked me to make a sample registry with all of my favorite baby essentials (as well as some additional items I’d love for a nursery). Every single one of the items pictured here is from Target.

Here are ten suggestions for registering for all things baby…

This post is sponsored by Target. The adventure begins here: Discover all Target has to offer for your baby registry and throughout your motherhood journey.
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Simple Olive Garland centerpiece

The Sunday evening before last, a few of us hosted a dinner for a girlfriend who is expecting. She and her husband already have two adorable daughters (whom Hudson is wild about) and so she specifically asked for an un-shower-like celebration. I thought it might help to keep the centerpiece green, as opposed to setting out flowers. Pretty, but not precious.

The thing is, I’m kind of terrible when it comes to arranging flowers, so it was really just an excuse to go out and buy a garland! I went to the local florist and showed them some pictures. They could do something nice using green filler, but the cost was going to be pretty high owing to labor. Luckily, the young woman I talked to assured me I could do it myself and gave me a quick tutorial and sold me some some paddle wire. Here’s what I learned:

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UC Davis Arboretum Loop

The UC Davis arboretum is such a lovely place. We routinely visit to bike or walk the 3.5-mile loop and see what blooms are in season (there are tons of native plants that make for good garden inspiration), or to count how many new foals have been born at the campus barns.

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