Wait, you didn't spend at least $300 on your Easter dress? Shame on you.

I finally figured it out. There must be a memo sent out in my hometown newspaper every year that says something along the lines of: 'It's the day we've been waiting all winter for: Easter Sunday! And you know what this means--go out and buy the most expensive, preppy dress for her and tie for him that you can find, because you never know who may have one better than you.' Needless to say, I have never seen so much Lilly Pulitzer in my entire life as this morning at 11am mass. It was borderline concerning. Don't get me wrong: I have a huge, huge appreciation for Lilly, but I am absolutely positive that most of these dresses were bought within the past month for this day. This whole situation is ironic because my buddy SJT wrote a post recently on the 'preppy lifestyle' and how at a certain point it must get exhausting. I completely, full-heartedly agree. I was dressed nicely for church but didn't go out of my way to cover my body in pastels. The whole Easter get-up doesn't stop there however: each of these families, now fighting to get to their cars first once the service ends, are all on their way to The Club for an overpriced brunch. Let me tell you, if you have a sensitive stomach by any means these functions need to be avoided at all costs. That being said, they are almost the kind of situation where you 'do it for the story,' or DIFTS as my friends and I like to say. When I was younger, I admit, my family attended a brunch after mass as well. This was until we realized that we ate about half of the food that we paid for, and the whole afternoon was more of a competition than 'family time.'
This year we did something different, and it was probably the best Easter I've ever had. We packed a picnic, and headed for the beach. We sat at a picnic table right on the water and enjoyed ourselves way more than those fools sitting inside in formal dining room wishing they were outside in the fresh air. I, like SJT, am not trying to bash on preppy lifesyles. Skiing and sailing are my two favorite sports, and believe me I own more than one Vineyard Vines bag. I just don't think the competition involved is at all necessary. So your entire family is clad in Lilly Pulitzer and Tory Burch shoes, including your five-year-old daughter. Good for you. 
I will leave you with this thought: what are these girls supposed to do when they grow up wearing outrageously expensive designer clothes (and not hand-me-downs), and then realize that there is no 'up' from there? Chances are when they graduate college and their parents can't support them anymore for luxuries such as clothing (well, that stopped a long time ago for me but for some people this may be the case), they won't be able to afford them either. Will they ever be able to be happy about a gift that is the same quality as something they received when they were ten? I hope so.