What started out as any classic Saturday activity of cleaning out the old garage turned into one of the most exciting hauls of all time! It was like my wedding day all over again!

In the almost 14 years my husband and I have been married, we have had quite an adventurous life moving all over the US, and finally settling down here in California (at least for the time being :/ ). We have lived in 5 states in all four regions of the US and I completely forgot that we had packed away many unopened wedding gifts that have been in the attic of my in-law’s house the last 14 years. My father-in-law, who also did a satisfying deep purging of his garage recently, was kind enough to fill a whole truck full of boxes and drive it here for us to go through. Normally I would rather watch paint dry or muck a horse stall than go through a pickup truck full of old junk, until I realized these boxes contained all sorts of new, beautiful wedding gifts from ages ago.

This was the most fun going-through-boxes session we have ever had because first came the one and only box I have kept from my childhood, so of course that meant we got to have a glimpse down memory lane via yearbooks. The only thing that stinks about this is that I was not born in a cool decade with really cool, vibey hairstyles or fashion trends.

I find the early 2000’s to be quite underwhelming in that department. However, in that same box we found some fun goodies of old clothes I had held onto such as fun, crazy, genuine disco pants from the 70’s, an oversized “B.U.M. Equipment” sweater from the 80’s and a pair of TINY gym shorts with about a 2 inch inseam that my dad wore in high school in 1971!! You know those tiny, super short basketball shorts they used to wear in the 70’s? I’ve got my dad’s old pair and they are epic! These things are super fun and nostalgic to me, so you’ll have to let me know in the comments if any of these items resonate with you and your memories :)

Anyway, there were also probably 15 different new, beautiful items that we received as wedding gifts that we didn’t want to lug around the country for all of our moves, so we had the pleasure of unveiling them now. The discovery of these treasures could not have come at a better time. Actually, I take that back….too bad I didn’t discover these right before we hosted Thanksgiving a couple months ago, as there were several of the exact items I needed, but didn’t have at the time--i.e. an electric knife to carve the turkey, as well as about 5 beautiful, nice casserole dishes that would have been lovely to serve the green bean and sweet potato casseroles in for the big Turkey Day. Nevertheless, boy oh boy will I be prepared to make side dishes like nobody’s business for next year’s feast! 

My favorite thing had to be the beautiful glass drinking glasses we received that are GORGEOUS and are just begging to be filled with a glass of freshly squeezed OJ next weekend! I mean just look at that beautiful design that 14-years-ago Mary would have never appreciated. The funny thing is, I remember the 14-years-ago Mary not thinking they were particularly beautiful at all--probably gave them more of a “meh” reaction.  I might have even regifted them back then, but boy, would that have been a mistake! Come on, “meh” Mary, you should have known better! Just look at that beautiful craftsmanship! 

I got everything from an immersion blender to new nested Tupperware containers and mixing bowls. Wahoo! I have about 47 new casserole dishes that could have really shined and been useful at the beginning of Covid, when I was doing all sorts of pantry casseroles, which I’m sure you can relate to. I even got a little George Foreman grill, which was to the early 2000’s what the air fryer is now :) Classic!

So as you can see, over the course of the next few months you will find me making ALL of the casseroles and chip dips, blending soups in the pot every chance I get, and drinking OJ in my cool new gorgeous heavy glasses every weekend I can. 2022 is going to be good.

Moral of the story is, if we’ve got any young, soon-to-be-married youngsters out there reading this--get married, store your crap in your parent’s garage attic, move across the country a zillion times, forget about said presents and 14 years later you’ll get to unveil them all over again and have a new appreciation for the things and all their vintage beauty after a decade of life experiences. 

Have you experienced the joy of opening wedding or other gifts years later that are still in their original boxes? It was a really quite thrilling experience! Please share your thoughts in the comments below.