Accessory Tuesday: Dez Bar Studs
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I love turquoise jewelry. I think it’s flattering on every skin tone and is classic in style when used the right way. These earrings are minimal and appropriate for both the office and the weekend. I like that they are noticeable but won’t compete with a necklace if you want to wear both. Being as busy as I am, I also appreciate that if I forget to change them I can wear them with all different outfits and they will match pretty much anything I wear. Also, since it’s a stud, my son is less likely to try to pull them out of my ears. The price is right at $40 at Gorjana, but they look like they could be more expensive. Dez Bar Studs
Update: Unfortunately, these earrings have sold out — but for substitutes, Etsy has a few.
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Sales of note for 12.10
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Nordstrom – Beauty deals on skincare (ends 12/14) including La Mer, Kate Somerville, Dior, Sunday Riley, Dyson, and gift sets — the deals include reader favorite lip balms Dior Addict, NARS Afterglow, and Clinique’s Black Honey, as well as Too Faced mascara and Sunday Riley’s Good Genes.
- Ann Taylor – 40% off your purchase, up to 50% off outerwear
- Banana Republic Factory – 50-70% off everything + extra 20% off
- Eloquii – Extra 50% off all sale + extra 25% off 2+ items
- J.Crew – Up to 60% off everything, with 40% off their newest styles
- J.Crew Factory – 50% off everything + extra 25% off when you buy 3+ styles
- Macy’s – 15% off beauty, including Tarte, Clinique, Dior and gift sets
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off, plus free shipping on everything (and 20% off your first order)
- Talbots – 50% off everything + extra 25% off when you buy 3+ styles
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?
A paralegal friend in our in-house legal department has made multiple disparaging comments about attorneys whom she’s deemed as not “making it.” She’s particularly snobby about document review attorneys, and those attorneys applying to be paralegals. She’s also made various comments about school rankings, and proudly states that she can tell you where each of the department attorneys attended law school. Her background as a paralegal is in Big Law, and she extends this attitude to other paralegals as well.
I’ve told her (gently) how strongly I disagree with her, and she pretty much dismisses it, although is polite—I myself am from a fairly middling law school so I’m sure she thinks I’m just defending myself. I’m not going to change her mind, obviously. I guess I just want to vent. And figure out how not to hang out with her – I find this kind of talk and judgment so unpleasant and unkind, and even if she drops it, I don’t want to spend time with her. I think the thing that bugs me the most is that she clearly thinks she just has high standards and is discriminating, when in fact she’s being incredibly short sighted and, frankly, dumb.
How much money do you guys spend on gifts for preschool birthday parties? $30? $50? Less? More? I have a little one, but anticipating birthday parties next year..
How have you handled thank you notes for children’s birthday parties? We recently had our first “kid party” (i.e., not just family at home) for our preschool aged daughter, and I can’t figure out what “voice” to use on the thank you notes. Since the gifts ostensibly came from the kids and not the parents, it seems odd to write notes to the parents (some of whom, I don’t even know their names). And I’ve received cards written by the mom in their kid’s voice (e.g., “I really enjoyed playing with the book you got me. Your friend, Johnny.”). Either way seems kind of weird. Thoughts?
Erin, how does your part time work? what hours do you work? How old are your kids? Id love to do what you’re doing and our hHI and Mortgage are similar, but just debating how and when to take the part time leap.
When DH and I both worked full time, our mortgage (inc. taxes and interest) payment was $3600/mo. We had 2 kids in daycare and paid about $2800/mo.
We are in the same house now, so approx same PITI payment, but I’m very part-time and our 2 kids go to preschool/daycare about 15 hours/week each. We pay about $1100/mo for that, plus some occasional mid-week daytime babysitting.
Can anyone recommend some good bra brands? I’m finishing up nursing and desperately need new, non-nursing bras that fit me. I am small-chested. My main complaints are that the cups gape, and I seem to muffin over a lot of bands. Any ideas for me? Pre-baby I wore Victoria’s Secret, but only because they were easy. They never fit me well. They’re just accessible and were wildly popular in my age group in high school and college (which was way too long ago for that to still be a valid excuse!). Thanks in advance!
HSAL’s post about the cost of childcare made me look at our budget and wonder: what percent of (household) take-home pay do you spend on childcare? For us, it’s 29% (for two). That’s more than we spend on rent…
I’m looking for some advice or tips for traveling solo with my 2 year old to Europe next week. We’re going to visit family and for a friend’s wedding. My husband can’t come but I really wanted to go and have the travel bug (haven’t gone anywhere for a few years and I love to travel). I realize it’s not going to be an easy breezy trip, but it will be manageable. My son isn’t potty trained yet but is very mobile and fun, so I’m looking forward to it. We have a layover in Boston and then onto Europe. I’ll be driving over there (what I’m most nervous about lol) so I’m bringing a car seat and will bring it on the plane. I’m planning to bring a carry-on bag for the two of us plus a bag as a personal item. I don’t want to lose our luggage so I’m not checking anything. I’m not bringing a stroller but I do have a cart for the car seat in the airport. I’ll bring plenty of diapers on the plane but buy more when we get there. I’ll have access to laundry too. I’m bringing a kindle with his favorite shows/movies and having no shame in sticking it in his face as much as he wants (he never gets it at home). And lots of snacks. Anything else I should bring? I’m open to advice. I have accepted that parts of this trip will be hard but I think the good will outweigh the bad. My son is so fun and cute at this age and I’m looking forward to spending time with him!
Do you have any experience with dealing with a bone infection and surgery? A friend’s 6 year old developed a rare (but common among kids) bone infection and is going in for surgery soon. The recovery is about 2 months in a spica cast. So, also any tips on how to entertain an energetic kid in a body cast?
Can people who have experience with au pairs talk about those? I’m having a bit of a childcare crisis – I live in a university town in a rural red state. Childcare here $ucks because so many women stay home. The university runs a couple of daycare centers for faculty families (which we are) that are supposed to be fantastic, but they have 2+ year waiting lists (I got on them when I found out I was pregnant and they won’t have a spot for daughter until she’s 18 months and we need care beginning when she’s about 6 months old). There are only a couple of licensed non-university daycares and I’ve visited them and am really unenthusiastic about my baby being there. People I’ve talked to have told me nannies are not a thing here, and the only people I’ve been able to find on care dot com are college students looking for very part-time babysitting gigs. We need care from 9-5 at least three days a week, ideally four. It’s getting to the point that I’m thinking about leaving my job and staying home even though I like what I do and we can definitely use my salary. But I want to exhaust all options before I do that and I haven’t looked into the au pair thing at all. But I have no idea how it works or if we could even get a foreign au pair to come to our boring Midwestern town.
I just learned last week that my beloved aunt is transitioning to hospice. I live far away. It sounds like she is planning to visit in June, although I may make a visit as well. Any advice for things I can do or say?
After 7+ years of motherhood, I finally got myself the mother’s day present that I’ve wanted: two nights by myself at a resort on the coast (off-season) starting Thursday and coming home Saturday. Its about a 2-3 hour drive, which means that I need audiobooks for the drive and then more books to read by myself while not getting anyone else a drink/snack/talking about the farm/finances/therapies for the kids. Any suggestions? I love young adult books (Wonder, A Wrinkle in Time, Divergent Series) good chick-lit (Katherine Center books, Crazy Rich Asian series) and books about how the mind works (Habit, How We Learn, Blink).
My kids (5 and 3) are struggling lately, like since the beginning of the year. I’ve been majorly stressed with a new assignment at work, DH has been traveling multiple weeks at a time, and he and I are not connecting like we should, which means we have lots of “discussions” that the kids overhear. Plus it’s finally nice outside after a long dreary winter in the Chicago area. Clearly all this household stress is affecting them, and they’re acting out at school. They’re not listening, really whiny, and generally being disruptive.
I took a day off work last week to recharge myself, which helped me lower my own stress levels. DH won’t be able to do that until the end of the month. We spent the entire weekend outside playing and biking and digging in the dirt, hoping the exercise and focused attention and fresh air would help calm down the kids. They had at least one parent fully engaged at all times all weekend, except for a much needed date night on Saturday evening. But I got yet another note from teachers (one last night and one this morning) that they both were majorly disruptive yesterday. One was hitting/ chasing friends, the other was doing the opposite of every request. (Line up to go outside was met with dumping the truck bin on the ground.)
Any ideas on what we can do? I feel like I’m drowning with the job AND having to manage the house/ kids all by myself. I thought last week was a turning point, and I feel less stressed now that the work is calming down a bit, but I feel like the teacher notes back-to-back just knocked the wind out of me again. I feel so guilty that my stress is clearly affecting them, and I don’t know how else to address their behavior. They’re pretty good at home, although a little whiny each time DH leaves, and I feel like I’ve talked about listening and being kind to others until I was blue in the face. What am I missing? Any tricks I can try? Any harsh words I need to hear?
PSA: Check out Cup of Jo’s best parenting advice post. The comments are full of some really lovely insights that I’m going to put on the fridge.
Parent-neutral question but can’t drag myself over to mainsite. What is the best flat iron these days? Left my beloved 8-year-old Chi in a hotel room and looks like I’m not getting it back. Is there a better option? I have thicker, curly (read frizzy), dry hair FWIW.