Finally Friday: Carmen Sandal
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I was looking for a mule to recommend today because right now it’s the style that everyone and their mother seem to be wearing. There are high-heeled mules; low, flat mules; slides; there are furry mules… A lot of them cost a pretty penny, in the $400-$700 sort of range, but then I saw these. They’re not strictly a mule, but I can’t believe it because Sudini was the maker of some of my favorite mules several years ago — they made sort of sleek, pump kind of mules — and the brand went away for a while. They seem to be back, so I’m excited. This one with a peep toe is obviously for a more casual workplace, but the chunky stacked heel and the taupe leather would work in a lot of offices for spring — or for the weekend, as well. There’s also a black if this isn’t your style. It’s $129 at Nordstrom. Carmen Sandal
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Sales of note for 11.25.24 (Great Black Friday Sales!!)
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Nordstrom – Early Black Friday, up to 60% off — great deals on Natori, Vince, Theory, Boss, Cole Haan, Tory Burch, Rothy’s, and Weitzman, as well as gift ideas like Barefoot Dreams and Parachute — Dyson isn’t marked down at all but you do get 3x points on beauty purchases.
- Ann Taylor – 40% off your purchase, plus extra 15% off full price styles
- Anine Bing – Shop more, save more (spend $200-$300, get an extra 15-25% off)
- A.P.C. – Shop 40% off
- ba&sh – Up to 40% off Fall/Winter styles, including select colors of reader favorite Gaspard & Guspa cardigans (also included in Tuckernuck’s sale)
- Banana Republic Factory – 60% off everything + extra 20% off (or extra 30% off with your Gap Inc credit card) ends 11/26
- Bloomingdales – Take $25 off every $100 you spend on items labeled BLACK FRIDAY; ends 11/24
- Boden – 30% off on 1000s of styles, including reader favorites like this blazer and these dresses
- Cuyana – Free shipping over $95 (and 10% off your first order over $150)
- Demellier – 20% off with code, free worldwide shipping & returns
- Design Within Reach – 25% off sitewide (including reader-favorite office chairs Herman Miller Aeron and Sayl!)
- The Fold – Black Friday, up to 30% off everything
- Eloquii – 50% off everything + extra 10% off $125 or more
- Everlane – Up to 50% off everything
- Furla – Up to 50% off select styles
- J.Crew – Up to 50% off almost everything – LOTS of winter coats 40% off, down to $204-$230
- J.Crew Factory – 50% off everything, plus extra 25% off orders $125+
- Kule – 30% off sitewide
- Kohl’s – Earn $10 Kohl’s Cash for every $50 Spent – includes Travelpro luggage!
- LaLigne – 30% off in their ONLY sale of the year
- Lo & Sons – Up to 70% off – reader favorite laptop tote is under $200
- Macy’s – 20-50% off beauty brands like Clinique and Armani, 50% off designer handbags, 50-75% off sparkly jewelry, and 40-50% off women’s boots
- Mansur Gavriel – Winter sale, up to 60% off
- M.M.LaFleur – “20% off everything” (but exclusions apply)
- Ministry of Supply – 30% off sitewide
- Mulberry – Up to 40% off, including Bayswater, Islington, and more
- Neiman Marcus – Earn a $50-$1250 gift card, including on beauty and fragrance purchases
- Rothy’s – Everything up to 30% off (some also on sale at Nordstrom)
- Shopbop – 25% off storewide with code, including great blazers from Rag & Bone, IRO, Smythe, and select L’Agence (also lots of nice Black Halo dresses)
- Soma – Early Black Friday $29 bra event (up to 50% off)
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off, plus free shipping on everything (and 20% off your first order)
- Sue Sartor – Week of Joy sale, 30% off sitewide
- Steelcase – 25% off sitewide, including reader-favorite office chairs Leap and Gesture
- Strathberry – Pre-black Friday, enjoy up to 30% off select styles!
- Stuart Weitzman – Extra 25% off full-price and sale styles
- Talbots – 40% off your entire purchase + daily deals
- Theory – 25% off sitewide + up to 40% off select outerwear
- Tory Burch – 30% off $250+
- Tuckernuck – 20% off sitewide
- Universal Standard – At least 30% off sitewide, up to 70% off all styles
- Victoria’s Secret – 30% off everything, and 7/$35 panties
- White House Black Market – 60% off clearance, 30% off sitewide for WHBM members
- Zappos – 26,000+ women’s sale items! (check out these reader-favorite workwear brands on sale, and some of our favorite kids’ shoe brands on sale)
Kid/Family Sales
- BabyJogger – 30% off sitewide
- BestBuy – Lots of deals on gaming consoles, including PS5, XBox Series X, and more
- Carter’s – 50-60% off entire site and store
- ErgoBaby – 25% off bouncers
- Graco – Up to 30% off sitewide
- Hanna Andersson – 50% off sitewide
- J.Crew Crewcuts – 50% off almost everything, prices marked
- Nordstrom – Lots of deals on Stokke, Maxi-Cosi, BabyJoger, Posh Baby, Silver Cross, and more
- Old Navy – Everything on sale
- SNOO / Happiest Baby – 30% off Snoo, up to 50% off sitewide
And — here are some of our latest threadjacks of interest – working mom questions asked by the commenters!
- The concept of “backup care” is so stupid…
- I need tips on managing employees in BigLaw who have to leave for daycare pickup…
- I’m thinking of leaning out to spend more time with my family – how can I find the perfect job for that?
- I’m now a SAHM and my husband needs to step up…
- How can I change my thinking to better recognize some of my husband’s contributions as important, like organizing the shed?
- What are your tips to having a good weekend with kids, especially with little kids? Do you have a set routine or plan?
I’m still really struggling with the daycare question. We visited several places, including licensed in-home, independent center, and large corporate center. It feels like such an important decision but I don’t really have any leaning one way or another. I can find good and bad things about every place.
I also feel terrible because the in-home we liked was significantly less expensive than the centers (and for good reason – it’s a woman watching kids in her house, not a whole school with all the amenities). I know cost shouldn’t really factor into it, but thinking about what we could do with that money every month that we wouldn’t spend on daycare is hard to ignore.
Other than speaking with references, what did you do to help choose? The last time I asked it seemed most people didn’t have very many choices, but I feel like we have too many!
Breastfeeding help/ Suggestions? I weaned my baby completely around 10 days ago. I ended up engorged (thankfully no illness/ mastitis), but it was painful and I went through about 5 days of sports bras to try to help the pain. Two days ago I really thought I was on the upswing. Suddenly today one of my breasts hurt all over again! Should I just wait it out another day or two to see what happens? I’m not sure of any other options at this point, maybe just looking for others who have gone through this. The other seems to be adjusting better :) Thanks.
happy Friday, all! My parents have offered to fly my lil family across the country for a weeklong vacation. Our kids will be 3 1/2 and just barely 2 at the time. The flight will be 4.5 hours and will be followed by a two hour car ride. Add to that the 2 1/2 hours from leaving the house to wheels up at the airport, and it looks like a very full day of misery that just has to be repeated a week later. I’m considering declining the trip (which my parents would totally understand). Am I being a pessimistic wuss?
Thanks for everyone for the tips on Paris with a toddler earlier this week! Didn’t get a chance to post follow ups but really appreciate the tips. I’m so excited for the trip, and your advice made me eager to start planning.
StrategyMom– we don’t have a well-planned itinerary for Provence yet and will likely play by ear. We plan to take a train from Paris to Avignon, rent a car, and drive to Aix-en-Provence, where we’ll stay in an Air BNB for a week. I’m envisioning hanging around Aix mixed with day trips to nearby towns (Cassis, Iles de Porquerolles, Orange, St. Remy and some of the Luberon towns are all on the list, although I am sure we’ll only get to a couple of them). We chose to stay in Aix because although I’ve heard wonderful things about the smaller towns as a home base, we’re generally city people and I figured there’d be more to do there with a toddler who might not be up for day trips every day.
My daughter turns one in a few days and so we are thinking about the transition away from bottles. Currently she nurses in the AM and PM (which I hope to continue for awhile) and takes two 4-oz bottles of formula at daycare. She also loves water from her sippy cup. Has anyone had success in phasing out the bottles without phasing in cow’s milk? She is already prone to constipation so I’m a little reluctant to start giving her 8oz of cow’s milk a day — my hope is that she will make up the extra calories needed with more food, but maybe this isn’t realistic?
We are flying to Europe (12+hour flight) with one stop to visit family. DS will be 8 months. We have the Nuna Mix stroller and plan to take it along. We are not purchasing a separate ticket for DS but reserved the seats with bassinet in front.
I was thinking to take the stroller base and car seat (Nunna Pippa) with us. However, once we reach the gate we need to take the car seat off and fold the stroller separately. My understanding is that they will put the stroller in a special place along with fragile items. Did anybody have issues traveling international with stroller? I am afraid it will damaged although it shouldn’t because we are not checking it.
How do you keep a 8 month old active baby happy on a long flight? Thanks!
Can we talk school districts? I am struggling, you guys. We’re going to be moving in the next year and I’ve started doing casual research. I’ve been pretty floored by what I’ve found. I like our general area of the city, and there are four distinct areas that we’re naturally looking in. Our current school district is in Township A, Township B is very close to us, and Suburb A and Suburb B are to the north. Both of the suburbs have excellent school districts, but are very expensive and also very, very white. Township A has a good but not great school district, and is well-rated for diversity. Township B, where I like a lot of the houses, is absolutely dismal. Shockingly dismal, and I had no idea how poor it was – a vast majority of the students there get free lunches. I know these poorer districts need to keep engaged, affluent parents in the schools, but I really can’t see us moving to a school district with such bad rankings on so many academic measures. And I feel pretty terrible about it.
Our current school district is still in the mix, even though their scores aren’t great either (but significantly better than Township B). But I feel like we’re going to be moving to the suburbs. It seems to make more sense to buy a more expensive (but still affordable) house and have better quality public schools than to stay in a worse district and send our kid to private school – clearly more expensive over the long run. I just hate feeling like I’m “giving up” or contributing to white flight.
Tell me I’m not the only one who dealt with this. Other stories, options I’m not thinking of?
My kid and husband are both suffering from eczema, which we have not had to deal with in years. They both say that any type of lotion makes it worse. I remember that switching to California Baby soap helped when the kid was a baby, so I am going to pick up a bottle of that for them to try. What else should I try? Aquaphor?