I usually don’t have a problem with getting these types of outfits for the kids. I mean it is nice to go looking for pretty pastel dresses and airy shorts with matching shirts, instead of heavy sweaters and dark colors. However, this time I saw Easter sneaking up on me and didn’t know what I was going to do. The kids needed new shoes, which was a tortuous event and not at all due to the kids. Since we were at the mall, why not look for some Easter outfits so the kids could get pictures with the Easter bunny and I don’t have to scramble at the last minute for appropriate clothing for Easter festivities. I looked and looked and found nothing.
There were a few problems with picking out Easter clothing: 1. I would like to use the outfits for an upcoming wedding 2. Everything was either too dressy or too casual. Nothing in between. and 3. I didn’t want to spend a small fortune. This cut out all the little boutiques that I would go to as a last resort.
We don’t do much for Easter, just church and searching for Easter eggs, but it is tradition to get a set of Easter clothes and look fresh and new to welcome Spring. So we don’t need either dressy, but maybe special. But since I wanted to use the clothes for a wedding I needed them to lean more toward the dressy side. As usual there was tons of stuff for Amber. (I got her this one.) The problem there was I didn’t want her to be mistaken for part of the wedding party, but I didn’t want her to look as if she just stepped off the beach. And that seemed to be what I was finding. JCPenney’s had tons of beautiful dresses that I would have normally snapped up in a minute, but they all seem a bit too much and I wanted to make sure I had something for Sam first. I am not into matching the kids, but I didn’t want him to look like the poor little matchboy next to his big sister. The other side of the coin was worst. Sam’s choices were either shorts with polos and sweater vests or to look like a mini AIG executive running for his life. There was no middle ground. And trust me I went to all my normal stomping grounds and they all seemed to disappoint.
After much deliberation and teeth gnashing, I sat down this morning and looked online. Back in the early days of Internet shopping, I swore up and down that I would never shop like that. I needed to feel, look and try on anything before I bought. Now, it seems feudal to even go to the mall, because I can look at any store’s entire selection with one scroll, compare with other stores within seconds and best of all find things that I would never have found if I was hopping from one store, or mall, to another. I still have a problem shopping for shoes online, because those really need to be tried on. Other than that I think I am liking this whole sitting on my sofa, watching a little TV and maybe munching a bon bon or two while getting all my shopping done within minutes instead of hours. The lure of the mall is still there it is just getting weaker with time.
When it came to Sam’s outfit, I wasn’t sure what I was looking for, but I would know it when I saw it. I thought I didn’t want a sweater vest and I definitely knew that I didn’t want a mini suit, so I looked at every option offered in the boy section. I found what I was looking for at OldNavy.com. I am really loving the new look of the Old Navy, GAP, Banana Republic and Piper Lime website. You can shop all 4 stores and pay one shipping fee. Love that, because it means that I am more willing to shop on that site than others, because of the choices and convenience.
Simple, yet classic.
I know I said I didn’t want a sweater vest, but I like the slight color contrast
at the neck and bottom and the lion.
If this was just for Easter, I would have went with shorts, but since I want to use this
for the wedding I thought pants would be better.
Found at OldNavy.com
If you are interested these are the sandals that Sam found on his own at Stride Rite.
I think we are set and it was all done within about 20 minutes. It would have been less if I didn’t order the same dress twice for Amber, but a quick call to customer service and all was taken care of. Now, let’s hope I get all the pieces before the Easter bunny hops off into the sunset.
Sidenote: The wedding will be held at a vineyard, which I am assuming will be an outside ceremony, so I don’t think it will be that dressy. Now, all I have to do is find a nice maternity dress that doesn’t make me look like an Easter float that got away.
