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The Easter Dress Hunt

It’s sort of like the Easter Egg Hunt, except you get to shop instead of wandering through the tall grass, foraging for a morsel of chocolate.

After school this morning, I asked my daughter if she’d like to go to the mall to pick out an Easter dress.  Being my daughter, of course she said yes. 

My kids love the mall.  Of course, this may have more to do with the fact that they know an Auntie Anne’s pretzel and an artificially colored drink generally accompanies the trip.  But they’re just young mall rats in training.  They’ll soon learn that the racks of clothes hold a magic with which no savory food item can possibly compete.

After filling them full of their favorite mall cuisine, we made our way to the Gap.  As far as my kids’ closets are concerned, if the Gap doesn’t carry it, they probably don’t own it.  It used to be Gymboree; now it’s the Gap.

I know I could expand my horizons, but the Gap for my kids is like Ann Taylor LOFT for myself — they always carry way more things that I like than I can afford to purchase, so there really is no need to go elsewhere.  There is enough to covet right there within those four walls. 

Today I was not disappointed.  Right now, my 5-year-old is right in between the toddler and little girl departments.  Sometimes this is annoying because I’m never sure of what size to buy her, but it’s nice in that we have twice as much to choose from. 

We walked around and gathered 5 or 6 dresses to try on.  She was so excited to go into a dressing room "just like mommy".  Of course she loved every single one of the dresses and wanted to buy them all.  She wasn’t bratty about it, just very matter-of-fact.

I explained that mommy always sees lots of things I want but that I have to make choices.  And we were going to choose one dress for Easter.  And perhaps, in a few weeks, some of the other dresses will go on sale and we can come back and get another.  Seeing how we have the whole summer ahead of us and will be in need of more church dresses.  Oh, the pain, the drudgery…  You’re not buying it, are you?

Finally we narrowed it down to two dresses.  The one I like best is a yellow seersucker, which is not a color I normally put on my daughter, with her blond hair and brown eyes and pale skin.  But the style of the dress is sweet, and it looks very cute on her.  The other dress is light pink, and it’s a bit more dressy for Easter, but it looks like a BEAR to iron, and I’m not sure that light pink is a great color on her either.  There was a blue dress that looked gorgeous on her, but it wasn’t a style I was crazy about.  (Hello.  Spaghetti straps in March?)  It was also the most expensive of the three, so that took it out of the running. 

At the suggestion of the sales associate, we decided to take the pink and yellow
dresses home to try on and show Daddy.  We can return the one we decide
against.

Fortunately I only have to do the Easter Dress Hunt with one child.  My younger daughter is blessed with numerous hand-me-downs from her older sister was well as a neighbor down the street, so the biggest decision for her will be picking which one of the lot to wear on Easter Sunday.

That just leaves my 8-year-old son to clothe, and as all moms of sons know, there is nothing exciting about picking out another button-down oxford and khakis just like the same ones he has worn for the past five Easters in a row.  This year I did get daring and chose, instead of the customary blue striped button-down, a nice solid aqua.  And the pants?  Stone, not khaki this year.  Oh, we’re living on the edge.

After a quick walk through the Loft and Banana Republic (where I exercised extraordinary restraint), and an unusually brief trip to the shoe store (where we scored white Sunday shoes for my 5-year-old and struck out for my 2-year-old), we piled in the minivan and headed home, just in time to meet my son’s bus.

And thus ends another exhilarating day in the Musings household.  Thank heavens for the Trader Joes prepared meals waiting in my freezer.

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14 Responses

  1. Iron? What’s that? I thought that’s what the dryer and a spritz of water was for. The pink dress is super cute! But then, I’m a sucker for pleats.

  2. ha! lucky you. I managed to get dd’s dress at Target this year. It kind of looks like that blue dress you linked to, but with wider straps. She called it her turkey dress, because for some reason she can’t remeber Easter. And she wants to wear it NOW! I hope we last until Easter.

  3. I think I have Sweet Pea set for Easter.. Unless I see something I like better LOL..
    but hers is a pink and white dress and they also had easter bonets on sale so I picked up two a pink one to match the dress I got her and then a white one in case I changed my mind and found a different dress LOL
    I got a light tan pair of pants for Mr Man but haven’t found the shirt yet.. We have the basic white or blue but I’m thinking maybe looking to see if I can find something different.. I have the pants for Little Man already also.. and I did pick him up a nice button down yellow shirt(back when i thought I was going to go with Yellow for the girls) I don’t have a clue what to get Princess I think I showed you the skirt and top she liked but it won’t go well at all with the pink dress of Sweet Pea’s Maybe I should get over my needing to match all 4 of them for christmas and Easter thing..

  4. What, no sperm whales on those Khakis? Or mallards? And stone? what about lime green or pink – boat shoes without sox?? You don’t think your little boy would go for those?

  5. Adorable dresses! I scored my DD’s at TJ Maxx this year. I haven’t been there before so this was super cool. It was a cute dress with a matching dress for her baby doll and it was only $15 for both! Yeah~

    I do like the blue dress too……with a little sweater, adorable! But I love that yellow one too!

    Oh for the boys, I love light pink shirts for Easter. Will your son and hubby go for that? I love to do matching shirts for the boys and hubby.

  6. We still do vests for the little boy for Easter. Last year’s will still fit so I just need a shirt for underneath.

    I would LOVE to shop for little dresses!!!!

  7. The spaghetti strap dress is SO cute. I hope it goes on sale soon so she can have that one too! I think I actually did a little “ahhh” out loud when I clicked over to the picture of it. But you’re right, too chilly for a March Easter.

  8. Sounds like you had fun! Cute dresses too. Sometimes I wish I had a girl to shop for… ; ) Like you said, button downs and khakis get a little old!

    Can you fill me in on what Trader Joes is? I have heard the name of this place SO much lately. I assume it’s a grocery store, maybe gourment? Just curious…Thanks!

  9. My vote is the yellow one. Might have to mosey myself over to the mall and get my own daughter her Easter dress. Forgot that was coming up so early this year.

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