Washable Workwear Wednesday: Zip Back High/Low Tunic Sweater
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Before kids, I was generally of three minds when it came to sweaters: cashmere or merino (for work/play), or sweatshirt material (for lounging/working out). These days, though, I find myself more likely to reach for easier to care for sweaters like this nice cotton blend one from Caslon — I have it in black but it also comes in a zillion colors and prints. It’s been around forever — mine is at least three years old — and it’s a nice basic for a casual day, particularly with skinny pants in wool, velvet, or corduroy. A bunch of colors and sizes just got marked down to $45. This gray one seems to have a separate product page, but it also is $45 — and you can see the exposed half-zipper in the back, which I don’t mind on this item of clothing. I’d suggest wearing the sweater with a long pendant necklace, such as this one or this one. Zip Back High/Low Tunic Sweater
Looking for other washable workwear? See all of our recent recommendations for washable clothes for work, or check out our roundup of the best brands for washable workwear.
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Sales of note for 9.10.24
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Ann Taylor – 30% off your purchase
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything + extra 20% off
- Boden – 15% off new styles
- Eloquii – $29 and up select styles; up to 50% off everything else
- J.Crew – Up to 50% off wear-to-work styles; extra 30% off sale styles
- J.Crew Factory – 40-60% off everything; extra 60% off clearance
- Lands’ End – 30% off full-price styles
- Loft – Extra 40% off sale styles
- Talbots – BOGO 50% everything, includes markdowns
- Target – Car-seat trade-in event through 9/28 — bring in an old car seat to get a 20% discount on other baby/toddler stuff.
- 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
- Carter’s – Birthday sale, 40-50% off & extra 20% off select styles
- Hanna Andersson – Up to 50% off all baby; up to 40% off all Halloween
- J.Crew Crewcuts – Extra 30% off sale styles
- Old Navy – 40% off everything
- Target – BOGO 25% off select haircare, up to 25% off floor care items; up to 30% off indoor furniture up to 20% off TVs
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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?
Hi Ladies! I’m trying to plan a family vacation for this spring and need help. My family is my husband, our 26 month old daughter, and me. Thanks so much!
1) What is a realistic amount to spend on a Caribbean or Mexican vacation in the months of Feb-April? Will I save money if we wait until early April?
2) We really want accommodations where the sleeping space is totally separate from the living space. My daughter goes to bed early and naps, and we need to be able to use the room/place while she is sleeping. Any ideas for destinations or resorts?
3) Other wish list items: kid friendly pool and kid friendly beach, restaurants within walking distance (if not on resort property). At this age, we’re not really looking to send her to a daycare/camp, but kid friendly activities would be appreciated.
Any help would be very much appreciated! Thank you!!
I like the zipper on this, it doesn’t feel suggestive or stupid and adds a nice detail.
Sleep question. My daughter recently turned 2 and we decided that it was time to give up the nighttime pacifier. She had no issues giving up daytime pacifier, but ever since we got rid of the nighttime one, she has been taking between 1-2 hours to actually fall asleep. So far it’s been just 5 days so I’m trying to be patient. But also wondering if there is anything else we should be doing? She seems to have accepted that the pacifier “went bye bye” and hasn’t been crying for it or asking for it after the first 2-3 days. But she just can’t seem to settle down without it and it’s a constant barrage of “turn on night light,” “water, please” and “cover me.” One of the reasons we decided to do this now is because she was already on the path of prolonging bedtime by throwing the pacifier on the floor so we would have to come in to look for it and give it back, which was super annoying. But that used to take maybe 25-30 min of going in 4-5 times and last night she didn’t fall asleep for a full 2 hours. We’ve tried moving bedtime later thinking maybe she’s ready but that doesn’t seem to help. Moved it back last night and it only led to a longer ritual. Thoughts?
My 3 year-old’s nighttime routine is out.of.control! We do dinner around 6, bath at 7, jammies, teeth brushing and books around 8. She then hits some sort of reserve energy tank and either runs around the house like crazy or plays quietly and ignores our attempts to move things along (this is the more infuriating tactic). When all is said and done, she doesn’t fall asleep till 10pm and wakes up around 7:30am. I think we need to do a “hard reset” – a term I learned on this s it e, but I am not sure how to do it. What does a hard reset involve? I also think we need to be more authoritative, but I am not sure what does that actually look like? I try to redirect and try not to say “no” very often, because that leads to tantrums and it is really hard to get back to a calm state once a tantrum hits. Another complication is that both DH and I do different parts of the routine bc I usually have to nurse the newborn during some parts, so it feels like different people are incharge at different times.
Thanks for the tips on workout vids! I tried a short 10-minute fitness blender workout yesterday and am sore today. Obviously, this was a long time coming. I don’t really do new years’ resolutions, but I very much support committing to positive changes. Next up: reduce my social media consumption and read more books!
Hi ladies, what are your best tips for limiting your “just got to my desk” procrastination and internet consumption?
I’m a mid law litigator with fairly high annual billable hours targets. When I have internal or external deadlines, I’m totally motivated to work the moment I get to my desk. The pressure from the court, client, partner kicks my people-pleasing self into gear. The fact that I might miss bedtime or weekend time (or know I will be missing it twice this week, let’s not make it three) to meet deadlines is a huge motivator too.
When I don’t have that pressure, like in the last month, I find I waste a lot of time not working. Even though there’s stuff i could be doing, if it’s not deadline driven, I can’t get myself to meaningfully work until like 2 hours of internet wasting have occurred. By the time I get to my desk, I’ve already been in mommy mode for the last 3 hours, so I suspect part of it is just needing a break for a few minutes. But that break just extends and extends and extends.
The problem (only in law) is that I’m really efficient, but of course when your comp is tied to how many hours you bill, getting a full day’s work done in 5 hours is not helpful.
Any tips you have on building better habits here would be so appreciated!
What do you, as parents, get for a baby’s first Christmas?
I just realized that while I’ve given everyone else gift ideas (mainly useful stuff), I haven’t bought anything or even thought of ideas for our 4mo. It seems silly to get him useful things because I’ll just end up buying them anyway. So we should get him some sort of fun or sentimental toy, right? Ideas?
Our daycare does a school-wide donation collection for teacher gifts that are somehow split up evenly among staff (I assume teachers get more than assistants, etc). I would like to be generous with this donation, but am wondering if I should give my kiddo’s teachers individual monetary gifts as well. What would you do?
I’ve been thinking it would be nice to have an update session, so I’ll start. We really enjoyed the opera last month and ended up getting switched to the best seats I’ll probably ever have. The lad enjoyed it as well, and we all felt really hip seeing the opera everyone was talking about. (“The Exterminating Angel”)
The lad had his first babysitting job last night, and it went well. He babysat for the daughter of my new boss, so I am doubly relieved that it went well. She may call on him again sometime.
I think I might have posted a question on the main board ages ago about traveling to see family for the holidays and how that feels like too much on top of my church work on Christmas Eve. I am happy to report that I am much less cranky about it since 1) we did not have to travel for Thanksgiving (oh, bliss) and 2) it turns out I don’t have to serve in the morning on Christmas Eve (=serve at the usual number of Christmas Eve services).
Any updates from anyone else?
Not posting under my usual handle– but wanted to give this fantastic group of women an update. Still so grateful for all your support.
DH is totally done with the hospital and is now seeing a therapist and psychiatrist for meds. He is so emotionally stable and we have honestly gotten closer than we have in years. It’s amazing to continue to be surprised at how my formerly kind, emotionally generous partner is back from the depressed, angry one I’d been living with. We are both doing a ton of practicing different and new ways to communicate with each other. It’s hard but we are both really committed to the work. We’ve got a marriage counselor who we really like who is on maternity leave, but we agreed that it’s a good idea for DH to have a little more individual counseling before we jump back in. It feels good to have a solid plan.
Kiddo seems to have totally dealt with the emotional fallout of having been molested. Obviously there’s no way to know– she’s a toddler– but she’s had a few therapy sessions and we are meeting with the therapist this weekend to hear her thoughts on everything. All of the disorganization and emotional distress we saw when visiting my in-laws has faded. She has asked “are we going to [state where Uncle Dirtbag lives]?” a few times and my DH has sad no, and she has said, “good. I don’t want to go to [said state].” My husband’s sister, married to Uncle D, has actually broken her initial “never talk to me again” silence and is in contact with DH. She seems to be blaming me, which I can totally take. My husband is worried about his sister– in many ways she is Uncle D’s longest-term victim.
I’m still relishing holiday preparations and traditions this year. They are giving me a lot of joy. We’ve really renewed our family’s church involvement and attendance, which is also really sustaining me. And I’m gradually really getting my juice back at work. Trying to be kind to myself about being easily distracted and otherwise not totally on my A game.
So grateful for all of you this holiday season! Happy Hanukkah to those who celebrate it!!
TRIGGER WARNING – – child loss —
So, I am having a hard time processing an acquaintance’s loss and have been in tears off and on for her, for the world in which a G-d allows this to happen, and for the potential for this to be me. This is someone I know through an organization – I don’t have a personal relationship with her and don’t live nearby. Her son died unexpectedly. He is the same age as one of my kids…the picture on the obituary looks like my kid (it’s a school picture of a grinning kindergartner). My heart is just shattering for this family.
But, I think my reaction is maybe not normal? I’ve been literally brought to ugly, can’t-breathe tears when I think of it (right now for example). I don’t cope with death very well, having thankfully managed to avoid it in my close circle of family and friends. I think I might have some anxiety? I am also very sensitive to books and films where bad things happen to people with whom I identify – I literally cannot finish them, as I seem to internalize or feel what is happening even though it is not actually happening to me.
Not sure what I’m looking for here, maybe just sharing thinking that if I unload this sadness it will make me feel better? (Which makes me feel awful, because this poor family has lost their child forever; how can they feel better?)
I’ll do an update! My life is stable and I love the stability. For the first time in maybe my entire life, I’ve had several consecutive years in which there are no huge decisions or dislocations. It’s amazing to have the emotional space to work on my own insecurities and anxieties, and to have the confidence to help kiddo as she learns to deal with her emotional life.
I’m having the busiest, most successful period of work since before getting pregnant. It’s stressful sometimes but overall I’m enjoying it. This won’t be our most elaborate Christmas season (kinda flying by the seat of our pants, tbh), but I’m finding little times to decorate or honor the season as we have the time and energy. My budget is balanced for the first time since separating from kiddo’s dad.
Kiddo started a Montessori last spring and she is blossoming – she sleeps through the night consistently (!!), and is so verbal that I sometimes laugh at her precocious vocabulary. I am surprised at the richness and comfort of our relationship; I didn’t expect that one could feel so close to a not-quite-four year old kid. I am excited for 2018!
It’s amazing how even the 10 minute videos on Fitness Blender can be so brutal. Especially the abs ones. Congrats on getting it done!