1. Swear that this year, you WILL NOT THROW A BRUNCH. Too much work, too stressful, and there is too much going on.
2. Read in the Washingtonian that the Easter sunrise service at the Lincoln Memorial should be on everyone’s DC bucket list. As a devout reader of the Washingtonian, decide to skip the brunch and enlist all your traditional brunch invitees to join you at the sunrise service, whereafter you will have a simple picnic breakfast of your favorite breakfast food, McDonalds Egg McGriddles.
3. Three days out, call an audible, give in to your true nature, text everyone and say you will just be having a casual breakfast following the sunrise service, preceding the regular church service that you absolutely can’t miss because ORGAN and LITURGY and EASTER in all its lily-filled glory.
4. Spend all of Saturday hoping people will bail for the sunrise service so that you can just sleep in. They won’t.
5. Assemble monkey bread the night before so that Christ is not the only thing to have risen Easter morning. (Too far? Yes? No? Maybe?)
5. Drag sleepy-eyed self from bed at 5:30 am and head to the Mall. So many people share in your sunrise fervor, that it will take 30 minutes and a mad dash to park and walk.
6. Sing about our risen Lord as the sun rises over the horizon and think, maybe, just maybe this was a good idea after all.
7. Repeat lengthy trek back to car and home to start throwing together brunch/ breakfast. Congratulate yourself on getting in almost all your Fitbit steps before 8 am, but know that this will in no way offset the day of tasty treats that awaits you.
8. Know that you will not achieve style perfection. There are not enough chairs, so you drag an arm chair close to the table. There are not enough matching cloth napkins, so you use all the ones you have, in every color, topped with plastic Easter eggs. Scribble “He is Risen!” on those chalkboards from your wedding that still lie around. Last year might have been all bunting and flowers, but this year the theme is “Let’s actually move Hannah’s studying and grading off the table and see what happens.”
9. Though your kitchen is the size of an Ikea couch, let everyone in there, flipping bacon, mixing eggs, washing berries. Keep one person in the hall on a chair, as the smoke detector will go off no fewer than 6 times. Just keep making bacon. There is no time for frittata, no patience for stratta. You will not look like the classy and composed hostess, because you’ve been up since 5:15 and still haven’t done your hair, put on makeup, or gotten dressed. But you just don’t even care because you’ve been throwing back Reese’s eggs all morning long.
10. Hand people mimosas as they alternate in and out of the shoe-boxed sized bathroom, curling hair, tying ties, changing clothes — everyone trying not to look like they woke up long before the dawn.
11. Gather around that tiny table, with its lack of decor scheme and hodgepodge napkins, and thank the Lord for stepping in and changing the course of human history.
12. Eat. Throw on the Easter dress that you wear every single year. Scatter. Service numero dos. Belt out those Hallelujahs with all you’ve got.
13. Find someone who is hosting a potluck for lunch and be the mooch who doesn’t even contribute. Eat the mac n’ cheese with no shame.
14. Stumble home in a coma of candy and barbeque. Glance briefly around the destroyed kitchen before hitting the bed for a long Easter nap. Do the dishes in waves throughout the afternoon, punctuated with more Reese’s eggs and the last crumbs of the monkey bread.
15. Rest content in the knowledge that yours was a perfect Easter brunch. It was not a Pinterest party. It will not be emulated and admired the internet over. But even in a lack of highly coordinated decor, in the absence of impressive menus, even in the presence of a bunch of exhausted and wrinkly-clothed friends, Christ is risen.
Hallelujah.
How about you all, how did you celebrate Easter?
The Art in Life 
Um, that sounds glorious. You are my hostess spirit animal.
That is my favorite compliment ever.
I hosted my first Easter dinner this year, which I highly recommend because it does not involve getting up early and it does involve cake. Win win!
Easter dinner????? Why have I NEVER considered that. And if I did brinner, I could have bacon and cake!
those are the BEST kind of gatherings! sun rise service, friends gathered together to enjoy a meal and church, nap. 🙂 simple..that is the life!
Agreed! It doesn’t actually take much to be wonderful.
Hallelujah! Sounds like a lovely Easter. 🙂
Hallelujah back! It’s the most fun thing ever to yell. : )
Honestly, yours sounds perfect. I think many of us (myself absolutely included) suffer from serious case of Pinterest Paralysis and it’s hard to shake. I often times find myself NOT inviting people over–even my dear friends–because my kitchen/table/napkins/menu isn’t Pinterest Perfect…and that is, well, wrong. Wrongity-wrong-wrong. You are a true inspiration, which is so much better than a pinspiration.
xox
It’s so hard not to get caught up! And I am not bashing perfect parties – I totally love going to them and even on occasion throwing them. I just don’t want to feel like I CAN’T make a simpler affair special.
I just want to hang out with you guys. So fun!
We are probably less fun than you think…. but I appreciate it!
Love Easter festivities. I made homemade cinnamon rolls and wore a coral dress with a cream fascinator, because Easter is one of the few times I feel like I can get away with wearing a hat to church. I took out my wedding china, but dinner was delayed due to an ill husband. I also refused to touch my grading. And I sang Christ the Lord is risen today with the choir on the radio.
I love fascinators – and cinnamon rolls! I think your day sounds pretty perfect.
First of all, I love Abigail’s hair. Those are stellar bangs.
I definitely went to the Episcopal cathedral before my own service so I could hear “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” on a pipe organ and trumpets. It did not disappoint.
Aren’t they awesome? She’s the best. And I’m pretty sure that when you beat death, you deserve alllll the trumpets and organs.
This is the best kind of brunch because it’s real life and you still got to be surrounded with people you love eating delicious food. It’s a win win! Usually for Easter, I fly back to California and spend it with my parents. They host a huge lunch with so much food that I only ever make it halfway through the buffet. Our backyard is crammed with chairs, tables, and loved ones. My cousin, his wife, and their children are always the last ones to leave and they are probably some of the weirdest people that I am related to, so that’s always a great time. This year I flew to Sacramento to visit my sister, brother in law, brother, grandma, and some other family members. We spent the morning at Mass and then went to my cousin’s family winery and dined on delicious food all day. It was really nice. Jesus, good food, family, and warm weather is just about as perfect as it gets!
That sounds so lovely! You had me at buffet… it’s one of my love languages.
I spent Easter in the airport. But this was made up by spending Good Friday with brothers and sisters in Christ at Church Mizpa in Ensenada, Mexico. The interpreter was drowned out by the Pastor’s passionate preaching, but I still got the picture!
That sounds so special!!!
You are a magnificant hostess. A successful dinner(brunch) party is not determined by what is ON the table but by what is AROUND the table. People are magic, far above perfect decorations and cookbook creations. I’m proud of you. -Mom
#5!!! HA! I’ll remember that for next year; this year I only managed a few weak bunny puns. x
How was Easter almost a month ago?? Time flies! The monkey bread looks amazing and I’m gonna have to make some myself! We almost went to the sunrise service on the mall, but unlike you guys we didn’t have anyone holding us accountable *cough* so we slept in. Our regular church service was wonderful, though!
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