Maternity Monday: Cornelia Dress
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I can’t remember how I first learned about Of Mercer. However, I must have been intrigued enough to schedule a personal shopping appointment during a (pre-COVID) work trip to New York. I wasn’t pregnant at the time, but if I had been, the Cornelia dress would have definitely been on the top of my must-try list.
I am a huge proponent of non-maternity maternity clothes (or at least, maternity clothes that look like clothes you’d wear even when you’re not pregnant) that you can wear long after welcoming your baby into the world.
This dress checks all of my boxes: I love the softness and drape of bamboo fabric, it’s machine washable, and the three rich jewel tones are perfect for fall and winter. Given the stretch of the fabric and the neckline’s hook-and-eye closure, this dress looks nursing and pumping-friendly too.
It is $185 and available in sizes XS–2X. Cornelia Dress
Sales of note for 5/14/25
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Nordstrom – Beauty Deals up to 25% off (ends 5/17)
- Ann Taylor – Suit Yourself! 30% off suiting (ends 5/16) + 25% off your full price purchase (ends 5/18) + extra 60% off sale (ends 5/14)
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything + extra 25% off
- Eloquii – Up to 60% off everything + extra 60% off sale + $1 shipping on all orders
- J.Crew – Up to 50% off long-weekend styles + 50% off select swim and coverups
- J.Crew Factory – Extra 50% off clearance + extra 15% off $100+ + extra 20% off $125+
- M.M.LaFleur – Lots of twill suiting on sale! Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
- Talbots – 40% off all markdowns (ends 5/18) + 30% off dresses, skirts, accessories, and shoes
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 want to get my 2 year old a little chair for our living room area. Are PB Anywhere chairs worth it? Does anyone have something else that they like for this, maybe a little bean bag chair or something?
Anyone know any holiday “pick-me-up” I could send to long distance friends where shipping wouldn’t cost an arm and a leg? Like, I was looking for something like smallish box of chocolates or hot chocolate bombs, but shipping is usually an extra $8. Maybe this just doesn’t exist?
Anyone have a child’s bathrobe to recommend? My nine year old has requested one for Christmas. A lot of the ones I’m seeing are fuzzy fleece, and I’m not crazy about that option. I’d prefer smoother fleece or cotton or terry cloth. Pockets ideally. Hooded would be fine. Not navy blue.
Thanks!
How necessary is pre-school for a three year old? we both work full-time and I cannot find any full-day programs I love in our area (all good programs in our suburb are half-time and don’t extend the day , which is mind-boggling). I am finding it so hard to reconcile the idea of spending 20-30k a year for a full-day program AND 50k a year for a nanny. i guess the alternative is to find a part-time nanny, but I am imagining that it might be hard to find a good part-time nanny? Plus our son loves our current nanny and I hate to switch her.
Another twin parent here, though I suspect this can also be a challenge with siblings of different ages. One of my twins has much more advanced fine and gross motor skills than the other, which is evident when doing everything from getting dressed to building a tower with Duplos. I don’t know if it is a coincidence or if the skill is correlated with interest, but even from day one has been more interested in things like playdough, building with blocks, etc. My other twin is starting to notice that their sibling can do things very easily that they can’t do yet and i think is starting to get upset about it, but is still too young to verbalize that exactly. i’ve read Siblings Without Rivalry and i recall an anecdote about a sibling who wanted to stop playing piano, even though they enjoyed it because they weren’t as good at it as their sibling, and we try very hard to focus on the effort rather than the results. My less fine motor inclined twin mostly likes engaging in pretend play and having us tell stories, which is fine, but also much more mentally exhausting. We try to give them each some time to play alone. I don’t want my other twin to feel like she isn’t as capable with anything since most things that toddlers do involve some gross and fine motor skills. Any tips on how to navigate this?
Help me shop: I want to find a divided piggy bank with save/spend/give options, but the only ones I’ve seen either are too small (like would only hold a few dollars’ worth of pennies) or are individual jars. I’m looking for something that’s all one unit with different slots. Has anyone seen something like this? Thank you!
For the first several years of my career, I worked closely with “A” and “B.” A was the senior of the two and the leader of our de facto team. B was midlevel and brought me onto the team as a junior. A and B were both very, very difficult to work with for different reasons. I was the only junior who could survive working with them, so I was continually getting staffed on their projects and got pigeonholed in their line of business, which limited my career development in some ways. B was an incredibly toxic person to work with. He was manipulative, sabotaged me and undermined me as I moved up in the organization and began to bring in my own projects, and engaged in a lot of gaslighting. It got so bad that I was about to quit, when suddenly he left the organization because his wife got a better job and they had to move. That was two or three years ago. I am now senior enough that I run all my own projects and don’t work directly with A much anymore.
I am leading an initiative to take our org into a new topic area. A has decided he’s interested in this topic area, despite having declined an invitation to participate in the initiative. He has reached out to B and is now trying to take my initiative’s product and spin it into an interorganizational partnership with B that will give A control over the topic. I am furious. Our org is very much an “eat what you kill” environment, and management is declining to manage the situation. I suppose I could try to leave, but I’ve been waiting for some things to fall into place that will put me in a position to command a higher-level position and a better salary. My job is also specialized enough that there are only one or two halfway relevant openings in the entire country each year, and I don’t want to grab at anything that isn’t exactly right out of desperation. Ugh. Advice?
Small success to report! My almost-5-year-old has been an INTENSE thumb-sucker her whole life. So much so that a year ago, even talking about stopping sucking her thumb would result in a full meltdown. But the mask requirement meant that she wasn’t able to suck her thumb at school, and we were happily surprised that she stopped doing it there with minimal complaint. But she was still thumb-sucking constantly in the car, while reading stories, on Zoom with her grandparents, etc. In August we started broaching the topic of someday stopping sucking her thumb, and in September I told her that whenever she was ready, I would order her a special necklace to help her stop (from Munchables.ca, which makes chewing necklaces). We didn’t push her at all, but about a month ago she suddenly told me she was ready for her necklace. We ordered it, had her wear it at home and in the car, and…IT WORKED. She would chew on her necklace instead of sucking (and we would gently say “necklace!” if we saw her sucking), but within a week started wearing it less and less and this morning she said to me “Mama, I don’t think I need my necklace any more.”
She may well have a relapse but I’m so proud of her for making the decision herself and then following through.
Does anyone have good recommendations for some type of engraved or similar style jewelry that would have a child’s name or initial? I’m thinking a gold bracelet or necklace but am at a loss for brands, etc.
I haven’t had a haircut since early summer and decided to make a salon appoint for just a trim to get in and out with no blow dry. Now, the salon is requiring every patron have a recent covid test from no less than 4 or 5 days ago. I’m pregnant and not about to add an additional chance of exposure with a completely unnecessary test (we haven’t seen anyone or traveled and have no symptoms). This is crazy right? For a haircut?
Help! I think parenting a very extroverted only child 3 year old in a pandemic in winter will be the death of me. We were so desperate this weekend we ended up taking her to a shoe store (fully masked up, of course) where she engaged the salesman in a 20 minute conversation about nothing. Does anyone have suggestions for other things like that where we could get her a tiny bit of social stimulation with everyone in masks? We’re going to try the library soon, although I think it might be a bit weird for her because the kids’ play area is understandably closed. Unfortunately, kids’ activities are out because I can’t find anything for kids her age with a mask requirement. We will do outdoor soccer and swim this summer even if the pandemic is still raging, but neither DH nor I are comfortable with indoor activities with a bunch of maskless kids. It’s going to be a looooooong six months until summer.
one of my 2.5 year old twins, twin A has become so challenging in the last month. He is very verbal and has no trouble speaking, but whenever he wants something, he has taken to grunting or whining rather than asking. When I remind him to ask, he just says, “I said yes,” as if he gets to determine the outcome of whatever he is asking for (a month ago, he was fine asking for things). it just turns into a huge very loud tantrumy power struggle, where we don’t really want to give in, but he refuses to ask. we did start potty training two weeks ago, which has been going pretty well, and i know is a big change, but nothing else has changed as of late. any tips?
Can anyone recommend books or other resources on raising bilingual children?
German/English in our case, American father, German mom, living in Germany, German nanny, if that matters.
I hear conflicting opinions on rules like one parent – one language or home language – outside language and on how stricty to comply with those rules.
If anyone has a good book or such to recommend, it would be greatly appreciated.
Also, anecdata stories welcome :)
Inspired by the commenter last week who reported about what her OB-GYN said about a COVID vaccine and pregnancy, has anyone talked with an OB or other expert about pregnancy after a COVID vaccine? As in, will it be recommended to wait several months before trying? Ideally we would like to start trying for Kid #2 (Kid 1 is 21 months) this spring. But if I can get a vaccine in late spring/early summer, I’d rather get the vaccine first (for several reasons, including the fact that it will be a high risk pregnancy – more appointments, etc – due to complications with my first). Unless I would then have to wait several months and not start trying until fall/winter? Even with my ideal timing I’d be 38 when I deliver, so I don’t have unlimited time here. I’ll talk with my OB when it gets closer, but I’m wondering what other people are thinking/doing.
I actually rented this dress on RTR in navy when I was pregnant and was so obsessed with it that I purchased it from RTR (something I never do!) I’m 1.5 years postpartum and (finally) back wearing my old size, and this dress magically still fits! Maybe It’s time for me to buy it in another color.