Accessory Tuesday: Grand Ambition Oxford
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I have zero desire to purchase or wear any sort of heel nowadays. Maybeeee I’d consider a block-heeled sandal, but the days of wearing uncomfortable shoes are now firmly behind me. I’ve always been tempted by Cole Haan’s Oxford shoes and hybrid sneaker/office shoes, and now may be the time to grab them.
I like this version because it has laces (always a bonus for someone with a narrow foot), a black sole (better to disguise a sneaker as a dress shoe), and an almond-shaped toe. I also like the gold on the toe to further dress it up a bit.
The shoe is $89.97 at Nordstrom Rack. Grand Ambition Oxford
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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?
I’ve been networking with a former colleague and friend the past couple of months about a potential opening at his organization. They have my resume, and he has vouched for me.
Of course timing had to work out where they emailed me to set up a screening interview mere days after I gave birth. My former colleague texted saying I should have received an email from so and so to set up an interview. I responded letting him know I had just given birth and would get back to the interviewer, but it has continuously slipped from the priority list with all the newborn chaos.
It’s been a little over a week now, and I have got to send a response today. Is there any way to even salvage my very delayed response? Should I mention that I just had my baby (which they likely already know from my friend)?
For some context, I’m pretty happy in my current role, but started networking over lay-off concerns which are still possible but a lot less likely than 3 months ago. Though the new org is remote now, they are located In a different city that could force me to relocate eventually and I don’t want to.
TLDR, I’ve been a crappy candidate so far due to new baby for a job I don’t necessarily want, but that company is doing really well compared to my current employer. Should I and can I even salvage this? Don’t want to burn any bridges especially with my former colleague who vouched for me.
These just look like men’s shoes.
Can anyone speak to the quality of cat & jack or the stride ride for target sneakers? I usually buy regular stride ride for my twins but they don’t have exactly what I’m looking for right now
Hi, I am expecting my first child in October and trying to get my hospital bag ready. Does anyone have recommendations for a pj/robe set to bring to the hospital? Or anything else that I should include in my bag that I might not think of?
Thanks!
My 2 year old has a very clear preference for two of her daycare teachers over the other one. When we get to school in the morning and Ms. A answers the door she says “Where’s Ms. B!? I wanna see Ms. B!” and then when she sees Ms. B she runs right past Ms. A to give Ms. B a hug. In the afternoon she has Ms. C who she also adores. Is this behavior we need to try to correct and if so how? My gut is that if she said something like “I don’t like Ms. A” then we would talk to her about how that’s hurtful, but just acting more enthusiastic about B and C isn’t something she should be scolded for. I definitely don’t want to tell her to hug Ms. A if she doesn’t want to (I’m a big believer in teaching bodily autonomy even from a young age) but maybe I should be discouraging hugging the other teachers? I can tell Ms. A is annoyed/hurt but honestly I do understand my daughter’s preference – from the brief interactions I’ve observed I think B and C are way better at interacting with kids in general and especially my daughter.
School what would you do?
I have a Kindergartener and a 2nd grader. 2nd grader, like many, had a terrible experience with distance learning last year. We have two options for this coming school year, and DH and I are leaning different directions. Assume we’re equally comfortable with the health&safety measures for both. We can cover tuition for either, but it’s not nothing-money.
Option 1: Private Montessori school. ~100 total staff and students, age 2-3rd grade. Ends at 3:15, no after care, about 20 min drive with light traffic, could be 30+ min if traffic returns to pre-pandemic levels. In person for K beginning in a couple weeks, in person for 2nd grade starting in October. Total cost ~$45k
Option 2: Public school via learning hub at our neighborhood elementary school. Enrollment TBD, but the aftercare program running it usually has about 100 kids. 8:30-5:30. The after care program is fantastic and we are 100% confident they’ll make the best of a bad situation. Cohorts are 13 kids + 2 counselors, who supervise and facilitate distance learning and do fun stuff during the breaks and outdoor games after the school day, but are not actual teachers. Instruction is via the public school’s virtual offering. School is fully virtual through at least January, *if* the second semester starts phasing back in to a A/B in-person schedule, I have no idea what options we’d have on the at-home days. Total cost ~$25k
Obviously I think the Montessori school will be a better academic experience whether or not it stays in-person, but I can’t realistically supervise remote learning during work hours long-term, and I wouldn’t want to afford a babysitter on top of that tuition. I believe the school and the hub will be subject to the same county orders on open/closing, but if the hub closes we wouldn’t be on the hook for payment. School offers only a slight discount if they have to do remote for more than 2 weeks.
DH thinks this school year is a wash anyway, so why pay extra? He also thinks the hub will be more fun for the kids, but I’m still concerned about the 5 hours with a computer every day to do the actual school part. I’m also concerned that my 2nd grader is already not a huge fan of school and I don’t want my kids forming lasting opinions about school based on a terrible computer-based year if I can avoid it. The hub wins on logistics, and saving $20k would be nice. DH also is annoyed with how the Montessori school has backed out on their initial “in-person unless required not to be” stance, and thinks (based on nothing but preconceived notions) that he won’t like the subculture of parents at the school.
I could argue this either way, and I feel like I’m going in circles. What am I missing? How would you weigh these?
What do y’all think Halloween will look like this year? My kids have started discussing costumes and I’m not sure how far to let it go…
Anyone care to share what their daycare is doing for sick policies these days? I saw some of the threads from a few weeks ago and wondering if there’s any more info now. The parents are all working together at our center with management to come up with an updated policy. Right now it requires 48 hours symptom free plus negative covid test, but we’re thinking it could be more nuanced…or maybe this is reasonable…I realize there is no one definitely right way but hoping to crowdsource from what’s working elsewhere.
Anyone know how intermittent fasting works with exercise? I’d like to try it out for a few weeks to get of a few pounds to get down to my pre-pregnancy rate. I run 4-5 times a week and do core workouts about 3 times per week. Can’t imagine running in the morning and then continuing to fast?
Can someone help me make sense of this data? It is not at all what I expected to see (disregard the source and let’s assume the data is reported accurately): https://nypost.com/2020/08/17/remote-only-school-requests-jump-by-40000-in-one-week/
The number of NYC families opting out of classroom learning jumped by 40,000 in the past week — with Hispanic families accounting for the highest number of those choosing the format, according to new Department of Education data.
Latino kids, who comprise 41 percent of the overall DOE population, accounted for 37 percent of those who selected fully remote instruction.
Asians, who are 18 percent of the system, made up 28 percent of the total.
Black students, who comprise 22 percent of the nation’s largest school system, accounted for 20 percent of those who chose full-time distance learning, according to the DOE.
White city kids, who are 16 percent of the DOE population, were 12 percent of the remote-only total.
Do you spank your kids? I live in the south where it’s very common still and I wonder if the people that spank have better behaved 2 to 5 year Olds? I can’t bring myself to do it because I have absolutely horrible memories of my mom spanking and while my daughter exhibits normal acting out, I can generally manage it without spanking. Just not sure if it would be more effective in preventing tantrums, interrupting etc. At age 3.
I’m 5 weeks pregnant with my second, and have my first prenatal appointment scheduled for 9/23 (I’ll be 10 weeks). I just got a call from a nurse in the midwifery practice (which is part of my normal OB-GYN practice) basically asking if I was ok with not having an early ultrasound (heart beat scan only) and just waiting until the 20 week ultrasound. I think I was taken aback, and since I am not high risk and pretty much know exactly when I conceived, I said ok. Now I’m wondering if that was a mistake and if I should insist on a 8 week ultrasound (apparently this is a COVID precaution they are taking to limit the number of patients at radiology). Thoughts?
More School Questions:
Yesterday we got an email from our school (it is a pre-school) that informed us instead of offering before/ after-care for total coverage of 7:30 am – 6 pm, they will only be able to offer school day (8:30/8:45 drop off – 3:45 pm + after school until 5:00 pm). This means 2 hours less childcare per day.
Kiddo is 3 and an only child. The pre-school program is bilingual (something we value), 2 blocks from our home, has outstanding facilities etc. (definitely a step up from the daycare) and is a really really good fit for our son (obviously why we picked it – in addition to proximity to home). My office officially fully reopens mid September. Hubby is home until December. Maybe possible that normal childcare will open in Jan at the school.
Option 1: Give up on preschool program (uncertain that we would get in next year – very hard historically to get into in year 2). Forfeit say $10k in prepaid tuition (balance for the year due Sep 1), go back to normal daycare, with caveat that since we have given up our spot we now only have 4 days coverage and would need to find 1 more day.
Option 2: proceed with school know that 5 pm pick up increases probability of logging in after bedtime. A recently laid off neighbor can likely get her kiddo and ours to school in the AMs (e.g. we do morning drop off to her) – and we would work with them to figure out a morning plan if / when he gets a job. Hope for the best or look for more permanent before / after care for January. (care + school would be more expensive than Option 1 – not impossible for us, but a factor).
I think given the regulations it is slightly less likely that the daycare shuts down for extended periods BUT that is a crapshoot.
what would you do? Certainty now for the whole year with second choice care (assuming we can find coverage for Wednesdays) or hope for the best at school?