Ready, set - no, no wait!

It was when we found ourselves standing among 10 different sets of pots and pans at Macy's that we realized we were woefully under-educated. Coated non-stick or stainless steel? Copper core or aluminum? Three-ply or five-ply? All-Clad or Calphalon? Woah... I'm feeling a little dizzy.

Who knew copper could be so sexy?
This is pretty much how our first pre-registering trip started. If we're going to look like idiots, I prefer we look like idiots at Macy's instead of Williams-Sonoma. But that didn't happen. After a long, careful study of the various WS cookware lines, things weren't much clearer.

The Wall o' Cookware (personal photo)
We waved the white flag and a kind lady explained the differences. Ah, got it. Once we figured ourselves for "stainless people", it became how many pieces: 7, 10, 15? Do they do this on purpose?! Still, our scouting missing was productive AND we'd have the added benefit of knowing exactly what we wanted when we actually pulled the (scan-gun) trigger.

Now that we had whet our appetite, I was ready for the entree. Bring on the scan gun!

What is your registering style? Are you a "fly by the seat of your pants" kinda girl, carefully calculated with list in hand or somewhere in between?