Accessory Tuesday: Lacey Ankle Strap Wedge Pump
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I’m always a fan of a wedge as well as a strappy heel — and this one from Cole Haan looks like that rare bird of a wedge with a strappy heel that’s actually kind of sleek and cool as well as affordable, and it’s from a comfort brand. I really like it, and I think it would be great with tights or by itself. It comes in sizes 5–11 in black, tan, navy, and the pictured “stormcloud suede.” It’s part of The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale; it’s $119 and will go up to $180 after the sale. Lacey Ankle Strap Wedge Pump
Psst: See all of our picks from the 2017 Nordstrom Anniversary Sale!
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Sales of note for 1/16:
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Nordstrom – Cashmere on sale; AllSaints, Free People, Nike, Tory Burch, and Vince up to 60%; beauty deals up to 25% off
- AllSaints – now up to 60% off (some of the best leather jackets!)
- Ann Taylor – Up to 40% off your full-price purchase; extra 50% off sale
- Banana Republic Factory – 50% off everything + extra 20% off
- Boden – 15% off new styles with code — readers love this blazer, these dresses, and their double-layer line of tees
- DeMellier – Sale now on, free shipping and returns — includes select options like Montreal, Vancouver, and Venice
- Eloquii – $29 and up select styles; extra 50% off all clearance, plus ELOQUII X kate spade new york collab just dropped
- Everlane – Sale of the year, up to 70% off — reader favorites include their scoop tee, Dream Pant, ReNew Transit backpack, silk blouses and oversized blazers! New markdowns just added
- Hannah Andersson – Up to 30% off all pajamas;
- J.Crew – Up to 40% off select styles; up to 50% off cashmere
- J.Crew Factory – 40-70% off everything
- L.K. Bennett – Archive sale, almost everything 70% off
- M.M.LaFleur – Tag sale for a limited time — jardigans and dresses $200, pants $150, tops $95, T-shirts $50
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
- Talbots – Semi-Annual Red Door Sale – 50% off + extra 20% off, sale on sale, plus free shipping on $150+
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?
Vent: my father came up with a bunch of cool things he wanted to do with kiddo this week. They all involved shuffling childcare and parenting time arrangements, which wasn’t super hard but it’s never easy. So I shuffled the arrangements only to find out that he hadn’t thought through his schedule, and couldn’t take kiddo on the day he’d offered to pick her up from daycare at noon and keep her through the evening. The other event he’d planned included dinner, and he scheduled said dinner about 20 miles away from kiddo’s daycare at rush hour and wanted me to bring her there. I would then drive myself back to work for a meeting. I had to say no.
So now I’m left with a week of disrupted childcare, a miffed father, and a kiddo who thought she was going to hang out with her grandpa and now isn’t.
Maybe too late in the day but…. my 5 year old’s last day at daycare is Friday. She’s only been at this one for 2.5 years, so not her entire daycare career, but it’s been a substantial amount of time. Should I do something? I was thinking maybe buy some books for the classrooms and a nice note for the teachers, or should I do a gift card for her main teachers? Must be primeable.
I’m due this winter with our first and will going back to work when LO is 4-5 months old. My mom has generously offered to watch our daughter three days/week. Knowing her, she’ll also do some light cooking and straightening up around our house too (the woman can’t sit still!).
I would like to pay her for childcare, but I’m not quite sure how much or how to structure it (for example, paying her hourly makes her feel more like an “employee”, which I don’t love; I’d prefer to just settle on a flat weekly or monthly rate). This is our first kid, so I also don’t really know how much childcare costs. I’ve heard from friends that nannies can be $15-$25/hour, but I have no idea about what part-time daycare would cost in a HCOL area (the places I’ve called want me to commit to a tour before providing pricing). I know my mom will take some money, but she probably won’t accept the “market rate” for her services anyway.
Any advice?
I have a dear friend, former coworker, and professional mentor who found out on Friday that she would not be getting a much deserved and very expected (people were already congratulating her in advance) promotion to partner. She’s be busting her @$$ for years but still manages to balance a family and other interests. I admire her so much.
I just… want to do something for her. Would flowers and a note be weird or upsetting or too much or too little? What do I say? She is one of those people who is always fighting the good fight, and the woman who is making partner is very old-school (i.e. believes in face time above everything, thinks work is more important than anything else in life, etc) which makes it even harder. Of course the other woman deserves to make partner, but I’m just so sad for my friend. They told her “definitely next year” and gave her some bullsh&t excuse about a retiring partner not transitioning enough of his book to her, but ugh. What should I do?
Can false labor really go on for weeks?
I still have two weeks til my due date and the BH the last two mornings were pretty intense. I definitely had “more than four in an hour” but since they petered out by mid-morning I decided to avoid a pointless trip to the doctor to sit on the monitor and be told I’m not in labor.
I’m going to talk to my midwife tomorrow, but I’m guessing the answer is either 1) deal with it, this is your life now or 2) try going on some modified bed rest?
On the one hand I’d love to be working from home full time now… but on the other hand, I have stuff to do! Meetings! My type A personality is not ready for bed rest!
I’m 33 years old, have been married for 10 years, have 2 kids, and just recently learned how to “garden” in a manner that is pleasing to me. A part of me is really baffled by this, but looking back I think that hormonal birth control really effected me negatively. I have an IUD now and I don’t know if that makes a difference or not, but the change is real!
Bento box suggestions? I am looking for one that is leakproof, not huge, and has 3-4 compartments all on the same level (not stacked) to accommodate homemade “lunchables” or snacky meals (e.g., crackers, cheese, apple slices, baby carrots). The closest thing I could find was a snap-lock container from Sistema about the size of a sandwich container with two compartments. This is perfect for cheese and crackers, but I’d like an extra compartment or two for fruits and veggies. Most of the bento boxes I can find seem designed to hold sandwiches, which makes them so big they won’t fit in any lunch bag. PB Teen has a stainless steel one that’s about the right size, but it is expensive and looks like it will tarnish and/or leak.
I have finally figured out that a big reason my kid only eats part of her lunch is that she only gets around to opening one container from her lunch bag. I am hoping that putting all of the food in a single container will entice her to eat more.
Spin-off from a post from yesterday, my daughter is about to start Pre-K next year at a private school on the smaller side in terms of class sizes. There is another mom with kids the exact same ages as mine (I have a son in daycare) starting at the same school and I just cannot stand this woman. She moved to town last year and is involved in the same volunteer organization group as me and every encounter I’ve had with her has been negative. She’s really boastful, only talks about herself, shows off her wealth every chance she gets, has made disparaging comments about working moms, etc, etc, you know the type.
There’s a 50/50 chance our daughters will be in the same class and then our sons when the time comes. In total honestly, I’m worried she will try to make all of the moms be in a group with her while excluding me and my daughter. It’s like high school all over again! I’m usually a strong, secure, proud working mom, but this gal pushes my buttons. Looking for advice on how to get along or at least, just not let her bother me?
Stroller question. I’m due with my second this winter, my first will be just over 2 y.o. at that point. We have an UB Cruz, which doesn’t convert (because we weren’t planning more kids, haha). Do we need a new stroller? Is it silly to think that we can just baby wear until kid no. 1 can walk on her own and kid no. 2 can go into the old stroller?
@ Anonymous (commenting isn’t nesting on my phone)- I’m 99% sure my husband is on the spectrum (undiagnosed). He was born in 1979 and went to private vs public schools because he needed some extra help/attention in school, mainly around the mechanics of school (doing homework even though you know all the answers, doing subjects other than your favorite). He was the student that got A+s in any class that interested him, Cs in the rest because he aced the tests and never did the homework. Had extremely elaborate projects, often to the extent it caused issues with his parents (eg. staying up all hours to fiddle with a perfectly complete project).
He isn’t great at making friends- and never was- and was fairly socially awkward when we met @ 25. We only started dating/met because he worked with my roommate and we were all at happy hour and had enough beer to get talking.
All that aside, he’s a great guy and a great dad. He’s really…focused and sometimes it makes me batty, but I’ve learned how to communicate effectively. He had a high paying executive job (business school really helped him- he’s not a natural networker or frankly, a natural talker!). He still knows 100s of dinosaurs and has taught our kids :-)
What is interesting is that our nephew (his side) was just told he’s on the spectrum- and he’s 13. Totally shocked me, as he’s friendly (to adults and kids), makes eye contact, empathetic, etc. but apparently has emotional outbursts and isn’t doing well in school (see: 13) and the school psychologists recommend a specialist who diagnosed him. There is no way this kid will be unable to live alone!
Put down the google and play with your boys :-).
Advice needed! Our 2 year old son has started taking off his PJs and diaper at night. We’ve put him in hannah anderson zip up PJs backwards and he somehow manages to “hulk” out of them – ripping apart the zipper and sticking his hands down his poopy diaper. Any thoughts on what we should do? I’m out of ideas! Wondering if we should potty train – I know he’ll still need a diaper at night, but maybe it’ll change his perspective on things? He’s still in a crib.
Where do you buy nap mats? My oldest is starting a “real” preschool and he’ll need a nap mat for the next two years. Is it unreasonable to think I could also pass it down to my DD, who would then use it for the NEXT two years? Or do they not last that long?
Up to now, they’ve been in a chain daycare that uses cots, so the idea of a nap mat for a 3 year old is foreign to me. Do I need to get one that includes a pillow?
I have three year old twin boys (fraternal). One has been sort of doing his own thing for at least two years now. Very slow to talk. Literally never follows directions (will stop if someone tells him “no”, but that’s it). We’ve been off and on very worried about him, and have seen a specialist in pediatric development — her assessment was autistic tendencies but not autistic give his good eye contact and cooperative play. Now we’re doing the official assessment in November (wait times for appointments are insane around here; it took us a year A YEAR to see the first specialist). We’re also working with the county school system to have him go through their assessment process. He also gets speech therapy and occupational therapy. It’s likely he’ll go to the county’s preschool program for special needs kids this fall while his brother goes back to the preschool they both went to this past year. While we were happy to get the “autistic tendencies but not autistic” assessment last year, I don’t know if that’s really accurate. We’re prepared for a diagnosis of autism.
I’m really struggling with this. At first, we thought well that means he’ll need some support but that’s okay. There’s so much out there for autistic kids now. He seems to be very bright, and everyone says they see no signs of cognitive impairment. He does speak and respond to his name, and he and his brother love playing tag and giggling together, and lately like to pretend to be butterflies (a la the Very Hungry Caterpillar). The social worker from the school system says she would expect him to be in the general ed program by kindergarten.
This is all very encouraging, but then I see statistics about how something like 20% of autistic adults live independently. I came across (okay, searched for) a forum yesterday for autistic adults. They were talking about how difficult it is to get hired. A CPA was complaining that he just works with numbers and there’s even a freaking movie about an autistic accountant, and yet he has been rejected by several employers for “personality issues.” Others talked about how lonely they are and how much they want to get married but they just can’t figure out how to talk to people.
I realize that people who seek out an online forum may not be representative of the whole group (selection bias etc), or that what triggers someone to go to a forum might not be representative of how that person feels on a day to day basis. I also realize that someone who’s 40 grew up with almost none of the support that’s available now, and that my son is receiving a huge amount of support very early.
I should also say that he’s not “typical” of an autistic child. Almost no meltdowns, even fewer than you’d expect for a kid his age. No routines. Very easy going with transitions and schedule disruptions. No food issues. No more picky than a typical 3 yo (and less picky than his brother). No sleep issues. We can easily take him to stores, restaurants, crowded spaces, parties, etc. He’s happy to motor around the room on his own, or sit with a book and recite it to himself while looking at the pictures. And as I said, he loves playing with his brother and with us. He’s also very snuggly and affectionate. Loves to be held. Loves to give hugs (but is never inappropriately aggressive with them). No outbursts or violence.
Not sure what I’m looking for. I guess I’m curious if anyone else has an autistic child, or has any experience with especially older autistic children. Are we crazy to hope that he’ll live on his own, and have relationships and happiness? I live in DC and we joke that we’re in autism central (maybe that’s Silicon Valley — but we’re definitely in the Land of the Socially Awkward here). I have a colleague who is almost certainly on the spectrum but who has a master’s degree, a good job, his own apartment, a girlfriend, and seems to have a good social life. I just don’t know if he’s a total unicorn or if that’s a reasonable outcome for someone higher functioning. (Assuming my son is higher functioning, although we think he is.)
Sorry, lots of rambling. Just not sure how to sort through all of this. Spent yesterday morning Googling myself into tears. Feeling better after getting home last night and seeing my boys playing some game known only to themselves and both in hysterics over it. (I don’t always get 3 yo twin humor.) There’s just so much unknown. My husband and I are both lawyers and lawyers hate the unknown.
I have stick straight hair and don’t know what to do. My 20 month old has lots of moderately curly hair (it dries in soft ringlets), but it is very fine and becomes a small cloud of fluff while she sleeps. If I comb it out it becomes straight-ish. I use detangler post bath and spray it on the comb if she has really bad tangles.
Is there anything I can do to help her have curls, short of washing it each morning? Are hair products okay for toddlers? Do I just wait for her hair to be long enough to braid at night before bed?
Is it worth switching to a crib-size “toddler mattress” that’s a bit softer than the rock-hard crib mattress? My 16-month DD will likely be in her crib for awhile yet, but I need to buy a second crib for her forthcoming brother and thought I might hand her mattress down to him and upgrade DD to a nicer (ie, softer) mattress. Any recommendations?