Wishlist for Laurel & Kevin
Wishlist for Laurel Krahn (of tvpicks.net, et al) and Kevin G. Austin
Things we covet or otherwise think are cool, just in case you were wondering.
Laurel's birthday is July 5th; Kevin's birthday is September 4th.
We got married on September 17th, 2005.
This page last updated December 2011.
For Both of Us
We both appreciate gift certificates/cards for area restaurants and movie theaters. If you live in our area or will be passing through, taking us out to dinner and/or to some other event is always a very fun and pleasant thing. It's especially useful if you do the driving.
We both appreciate gift certificates/cards for restaurants that deliver to us (or which are within a mile of us) for times when we're too wiped out to cook or go anywhere. Gift cards from Pizza Luce, Davanni's, Green Mill, Milio's and/or The Malt Shop are excellent choices.
We both enjoy video games; we have a Playstation 2, a Wii, and a couple of Nintendo DS Lites. You may find games or accessories on our various wishlists.
We're both big fans of the Twins and are interested in acquiring more jerseys or other clothing (we tend to share these things). Size XL or XXL is generally the best for most jerseys or shirts. Gift cards for the Twins and Twins Pro shops are nifty too. I don't know if they sell Target Field gift cards, but some sort of card that could be used for buying stuff from concessions at games next season would certainly get used.
We enjoy receiving postcards, cards, and letters. Our mailing address is listed at the bottom of the page.
We also both love books and like to support local bookstores. Gift certificates for DreamHaven Books or Uncle Hugo's are always nice things to receive.
For Kevin
When asked what sort of things he'd like as gifts, Kevin usually says he'd prefer not to receive physical objects as our house is cluttered and we're still working on getting organized. So what can you get him? We're doing a lot of organizing of our stuff with products from Ikea, so gift cards for Ikea would be great.
He's also interested in tickets to concerts or other events, dinners out, movie tickets, and so on (as listed above as things we both like).
His bike needs some repairs and maintenance done. A gift certificate for a local bike shop and/or a ride for him and his bike to one would be much appreciated.
We have some home maintenance that needs doing. Recommendations (and/or gift certificates) for folks to fix or replace our bathtub, update faucets/sinks in kitchen and/or bathroom, refinish/sand/repair our hardwood floors, replace the carpet in the basement, and so on would prove helpful. Or gift cards to Home Depot, Lowes, or whomever. Or help with any of that if you're local and handy or good at having that sort of thing set up.
Recordings of concerts from Minicon (audio or video or both) or from concerts by folks we know or from music parties.
Memberships for area cons that he might attend (but doesn't have memberships for yet). CONvergence, MarsCon, Fourth Street, Diversicon. Next year's Minn-StF Fallcon.
Kevin also has an amazon.com wishlist which he keeps more or less updated.
If you need other ideas for gifts for Kevin or have questions about any of these things or want to know if someone else has purchased certain items already for him, you should ask Laurel.
For Laurel
Laurel's primary wishlist is at amazon.com (it's worth noting that some items on this list ships from other retailers; Amazon tends to be speedy about shipping their own stuff, you never quite know how long things will take from other suppliers). If you want to buy her any of these things from other sites or stores, that's totally fine (our mailing address is near the bottom of the page).
Laurel links to her Best Buy and Target wishlists (and any other she might have) from her primary Amazon wishlist; the Best Buy and Target lists should also be findable at the stores in question if you search on her name at the appropriate kiosk or on the websites for each store. At Amazon, you can sort the items on her wishlist by price, priority, date added, etc. She also has additional wishlists on Amazon that you should find easily enough linked from the sidebar of her primary wishlist; there's one for stuff from other retailers (that don't sell through Amazon such as Urban Outfitters, Ikea, west elm), one with stuff for her cats, one with holiday music, and so on. It varies. She does a lot of browsing on Amazon and tends to do virtual shopping by adding things to wishlists which is cheaper than buying all this stuff!
Laurel is a big fan of Apple products and uses a number of them so gift cards for the Apple Store or iTunes/App Store are nifty things.
Other things Laurel likes: Soft fun colorful socks and slipper socks; Christmas ones, goofy ones, whatever. Long soft brightly colored scarves. Weird scents from Demeter. Fun oversized flannel pajamas (XXL, 1X, 2X, 3X, or XL). Products or gift certificates/cards from Fantasy Bath, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, and Lush.
If you want to buy Laurel clothing, she can give you a list of items she's interested in or direct you to a clothing wishlist, just let her know. If you want to give her gift cards for places she shops, she has been known to buy things from J.Jill, Spiegel, Newport News, Torrid, Lane Bryant, Coldwater Creek, Macy's, Zappos.com, 6pm, Amazon, and other places.
Useful Things To Know
Kevin's working on gathering stuff so we can build a Tiki Bar in part of our garage some day. Yes, really. So if you run across any particularly cool (or cheap) tiki stuff, keep us in mind.
Laurel is collecting kitchen gadgets from the '50s (and before and a little beyond) to use to decorate the kitchen, particularly items that are red and/or yellow or which go with the classic Fiestaware colors.
Laurel also collects holiday decorations with a space or science fiction theme. And we both like Christmas ornaments that are space/SF oriented or just generally geeky. Laurel likes vintage ornaments and decorations from the '50s in particular. Kevin and Laurel both like ornaments or decorations that look like vintage toys. We're always happy to get more ornaments for our Christmas tree.
The plates and bowls we use every day are Fiestaware. We're always interested in acquiring more colorful pieces for our collection (at this point we're focusing on bright colors and pastels and classic colors and not buying any more of the darker colors). One of these days we'll get a page back online that lists what items we have and what we're looking for; Laurel does have some Fiesta on her amazon wishlist and even sometimes has a separate Fiestaware list at Amazon. We are looking for more pieces in chartreuse or lilac (both colors are retired and harder to find). (Basic Fiesta Info: List of colors, List of pieces/items).
Our flatware is the Oneida Community Stainless in the "Twin Star" pattern (here's a link to a page that shows what this looks like). We could use more serving pieces, but. otherwise we are pretty well set, but if you happen to run across more cheap at a yard sale or someplace, keep us in mind.
Laurel's favorite cut or potted flowers are iris, tulips, gerbera daisies, peonies, sunflowers, most brightly colored flowers. Mini roses, violets, etc.
Laurel loves good design (particularly mid-century modern stuff), bright colors, clever gadgets, classic movies, Daffy Duck, and hats.
Laurel Krahn & Kevin G. Austin
4316 Bryant Avenue South
Minneapolis, Minnesota