Budget Thursday: Classic Pencil Skirt
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We’re featuring this very highly reviewed pencil skirt in the “brilliant berry” color, which looks lovely, but it also comes in seven other colors, in sizes 2-18. It just looks like a great, simple pencil skirt — it’s hard to go wrong with this one, and the price is right at $29.98. Classic Pencil Skirt, Only at Macy’s
Here’s a plus-size option at Macy’s.
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Sales of note for 5/4/25
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Nordstrom – Select clothes, shoes & more up to 50% off
- Ann Taylor – Friends of Ann Event: 30% off your entire purchase, including new arrivals (ends 5/4) + extra 15% off $200
- Banana Republic Factory – 40-60% everything + extra 25% off
- Eloquii – Extra 50% off all sale + $19 & up spring steals
- J.Crew – Up to 50% off must-have styles + up to extra 60% off sale styles
- J.Crew Factory – Extra 70% off clearance
- M.M.LaFleur – Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
- Talbots – 40% off one regular-price item + 30% off everything else
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?
My son wanted to stay for aftercare in K this year but he quickly decided he didn’t want to go anymore. It was kind of crazy, loud and not a lot of fun after a few times. I think he needed down time and there wasn’t any quiet in aftercare. So I would vote for a combo if you can swing it.
Maybe too late in the day but looking for thoughts from parents of elementary school-aged kids. I was planning to do after-school care for my rising kindergartner. It’s run by the YMCA and located at the elementary school. It’s $1,999.80 for the year. I was thinking this week, though, and realized that I HATE having 2 pickups. My 2 kids are at 2 different daycares now, with the toddler near my office and the preschooler near our house. Elementary school is also near our house so my routine would be pretty similar. Husband handles the morning dropoff but I’m on my own for pickup because of his schedule. So – long preface – can anyone give me feedback on official afterschool care vs hiring someone to meet kiddo at the bus in the afternoon? I’m thinking grandma might be up for meeting her twice a week, and I’d have to hire someone for the other few days. Any feedback on after-school coverage is appreciated!
Six months after being done nursing (actually, exclusively pumping) I’ve come to terms with my floppy-dog-ear boobs. The question is, how do I find a bra that makes my clothes fit? I got measured at Nordstrom and “diagnosed” with a near-impossible size (30dd). None of their bras fit (the fitter only found three of that size in the whole store). I ordered some online and none fit either, some cups were huge, most others very high for my frame (5’1, protruding sternum) and landed above my collarbone. I’m back to wearing sports bras under my work clothes and feel sad. Pre-preg I was a 32c but feel like I have a much flatter chest now and the old bras don’t fit at all. Do I need to get resized again? Where? Or is there some solution I’m overlooking (not plastic surgery)? Is there some sort of “universal” bra I can buy in the meantime nicer than sports bras? Or, do I need to embrace feminism and my new natural shape?
I have a nanny for my 3 month old for the next 6 weeks until a spot opens up at daycare. She is willing to help him learn how to nap independently. Currently, he naps well when held but only for about 10-30 minutes when put down.
He doesn’t go to sleep independently at night but nights have been going pretty well and I am hesitant to mess with anything while I am getting decent sleep.
The nanny wants a game plan so that she (and we) can be consistent.
Ideas for a plan? Just have her hold him until July and let daycare deal with it when he goes?
I’m really struggling, and I need a little perspective.
I just took a new job, which should be an awesome long-term fit for our family (very flexible, low hours, remote work abilities, but a bit of a paycut from past job), but of course, anything new creates anxiety at the beginning (work product subject to scrutiny by new partners, etc.). Husband is in a high stress, high profile position that is not law and is not as lucrative as law, but as stressful. We live in a high cost of living city, and bought a house a few years ago in a good school district. It was slightly out of our preferred price range, but will be comfortably within once daycare costs go away in a year.
We feel like we have the stress from working, but we aren’t bringing in two BigLaw salaries, so we don’t have the flexibility that comes with extra cash or at least the knowledge we are saving a ton. I just feel stressed a ton lately about about our jobs, savings, etc. In some ways, I have wondered — is this just what life is like with two young kids and a mortgage and being an “adult”? I asked my mom, and she somewhat breezily answered that she thinks we are so stressed because I work outside the home. I cant tell if time has just given her rose colored glasses about what life was like when we were small, and I guess putting aside my career aspirations or money worries, is she right? I grew up in a small city, low cost of living, and she stayed home until my sister and I were in middle school. Are my husband and I making it harder on oursleves by living in a city, working two jobs, and managing kids? Or is this just life wherever you are, and she just doesn’t remember stressing about money on one income or being bored or whatever else was going on at the time?
I think trying to make someone get engaged with something if they’re not interested is a losing battle. Is he making you feel guilty for not paying attention to him, or is this something you’re imposing on yourself? Division of labor aside, if he’s complaining that your chores are preventing you guys from doing something fun, well, he can get up and help you finish. That seems obvious to me.
How can I get my husband to take up a hobby? He quit his regular exercise routine because he was sick of it, quit the sport he played because he couldn’t stand slowing down as a result of aging, and refuses to try anything new. He now spends a lot of time on weekends sitting around reading the news on his iPad and complaining that we never do anything fun, while I am running around like a crazy person trying to get chores done. (Renegotiating household responsibilities will not help–he thinks the division of chores is equitable and if you list them out it does sound equitable, even though mine always seem to take longer.) Once in a while he’ll read a book, but that’s it. I have tried to get him to do various projects with the kid, but he says it’s too much hassle and he doesn’t want to make anything that will just end up taking up space. He is not interested in taking a class because he doesn’t want to be obligated to show up. Ideas to get him engaged in something so I don’t have to feel guilty for not paying attention to him 24/7?
Spirograph and others: thank you! My incredibly wiggly 10-month old has turned diaper-changing time into a messy, risky, frustrating exercise. I tried the leg-over-tummy technique that Spirograph described yesterday and WOW. Game changer! You all are great! This is my third baby; I wish I knew about this tip earlier. Thanks!
I had a little more time this morning, and I’m meeting a friend/former colleague for lunch, so I decided to do my makeup and hair. I’m also only pumping once a day now, so I’m wearing a non-pumping BR suiting dress that I love and have missed wearing.
I’m 99% sure my boss thinks I have a job interview today based on something she just said. Guess I should step up my game on more days of the week.
I’m finally getting a little breathing room in my life, and I have no idea how to spend that time: Ten years ago, I was in biglaw, where I had my son. I left biglaw when he was a toddler and my daughter was born 2.5 years after my son. My daughter is almost 4. For the first time in ten years, I feel like I’m getting pockets of time that are not filled with a demanding job, baby/toddler, or the manic lifestyle associated with those. I’m not saying that I have hours to luxuriate, but on the weekends I may have an hour or two and the same after the kids are in bed. My husband has hobbies that fill that time like tinkering in the wood shop in the barn, playing with legos in order to prepare for the next “Lego Club” at his school, and he knits (also begun due to an afterschool club). I feel like its been so long since I have had consistent time to myself that I’m not sure what I even like to do anymore. And doing an additional load of laundry or organizing or cleaning would just make me angry.
I started an MM LaFleur b/s/t on facebook if you’d like to join!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/376188836108962/
I went in house a year and a half ago. In many ways, my current job is wonderful. Predictable hours, low stress, still doing the kind of work I want to be doing, good pay. But there is absolutely no room for advancement. I am struggling with that so much. I’m working in a small department and most of the people I work with have been here at least 10 years, with no change to their roles and no advancement. I am thinking about the post on the main s ite the other day about being a “badge collector” and identified with that a lot. I’m wondering how to balance my thirst for achievement with motherhood. I was a stressed out lunatic in my old job. I would be a fool to leave my current job since it’s so great, and I keep hearing that I’ll want even more flexibility once my kid is in school. I guess this is what they mean by “you cant have it all”, right? Any thoughts or advice?