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Sales of note for 8.30.24
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Ann Taylor – 30% off full-price purchase; $99 jackets, dresses & shoes; extra 50% off sale
- Banana Republic Factory – 50-70% off everything + extra 20% off
- Boden – 20% off
- Eloquii – Up to 60% off everything; extra 60% off all sale
- J.Crew – 40% off sitewide; extra 60% off sale styles
- J.Crew Factory – Extra 20% off orders $125+; extra 60% off clearance; 60%-70% off 100s of styles
- Lands’ End – 40% off sitewide; 50% off backpacks, 40% off kids’ apparel
- Loft – Summer sale, 30% off new arrivals; up to 50% off much more
- Talbots – 25% off regular-price purchase; 70% off clearance
- Zappos – 28,000+ 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 – 50% off everything
- Hanna Andersson – Up to 40% off everything
- J.Crew Crewcuts – 40% off sitewide; extra 50% off sale styles
- Old Navy – 50-60% off; 50% off pants for the family
- Target – 20% off select clothing for all; up to 50% off home; up to 30% off select nursery furniture; up to 30% off kitchen & dining
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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?
Unicorn jobs says
I’m curious by what, exactly, people mean when they say they took a lifestyle job. I get that it should involve fewer hours than BigLaw, but how does overall stress enter the equation? I’m in what a lot of people on this board would probably consider a lifestyle job — 40-50 hours/week, although I could certainly work more if I actually had the hours in the day. But I still find my job stressful and I don’t consider my work/life balance to be great. I have a government job but we’re staffed so lean that I find it very hard to take my vacation time and actually take advantage of my benefits. There’s nobody to delegate *to*, and I often feel like the demands of the job are too much, even though I’m working normal hours by most people’s standards. For my field (not law), the pay is actually pretty good, so I can’t complain about that.
So what’s up? Am I a weakling who doesn’t know a good job when she sees it, or is a “lifestyle job” mostly a myth? And how can I get into a better place and actually enjoy the job that I worked really hard to get?
mascot says
I don’t think it’s a complete myth, but it does get romanticized a lot and what constitutes lifestyle job varies greatly based on the individual. My spouse has a “lifestyle” job mostly. It’s work from home and flexible when he’s in town. Trade-offs are 25% travel, not a lot of room for advancement unless he wants to significantly increase travel, salary is good, but he could earn more doing something else, work isn’t super exciting or intellectually challenging, and it’s a little lonely. There’s still stress.
CPA Lady says
I’ll bite. I’m in a lifestyle job. I work 40 hours a week on the dot most of the year and maybe 10 hours of overtime a week during March/April. I bill my time but I don’t have billable targets. I don’t manage anyone. I take every single hour of my vacation without a problem. I can work from home when I need to. I get stressed out sometimes, but that’s because I’m anxious, not because the job is stressful. I only make ~65k though, so I’d imagine the big money lawyers would cringe at having to make that little. That’s about the same I made when I worked like 70 hours a week in public accounting though, so I’m pretty happy.
The trade off is that there is no room for advancement and I will probably not make much more money while I’m at this job. I got a 1% raise last year and have no reason to imagine I’ll ever get a bigger one. The work is easy but interesting. The hardest part of the job is pretending to be busy during the summer, when there is basically nothing to do.
CPA Lady says
FWIW, I really really struggle with the idea that I’ve gotten off the ladder. I’ve been an achiever my whole life. I feel like a failure sometimes. I don’t think I can do this forever. And then I criticize myself for not being grateful enough for this great job. So it’s not all sunshine and roses, as mascot points out.
mascot says
yes, i should mention that my husband struggles with the idea that he is not the high earner and that he’s settling. although he also admits that he’s never wanted the corner office. My earning potential is higher (niche practice, midlaw) hence why we prioritized my career at the moment, but it comes at a higher cost to my family as far as demands on my time and stress level. I also feel my own pressue to stay where I am because I bring home more and lifestyle jobs are much harder to find in my field.
anne-on says
+1 – I have a ‘lifestyle job’ in a big corporation, work from home, and make a good (though slightly under market rate for my role) salary. I have what I jokingly call ‘flexibility handcuffs’ – I won’t leave while my child is still young and in school as my husband’s job has long hours and is very inflexible. One of us needs to have a job with ‘give’ and that’s me. But is is hard on my ego to turn down the offers from recruiters to take a higher paying more ‘prestigious’ job even though it would be a bad fit for our family? oh yes, it is.
CPA Lady says
Yes! Flexibility handcuffs! That perfectly describes my situation. Husband travels 2-3 weeks each month, I have to have flexibility.
GCA says
@CPA Lady – There was some discussion on the main s!te about hobbies to fill this time and provide a sense of fulfillment, too; perhaps you could revive an old hobby or take up a new one? I also take on occasional freelance work to keep myself busy and learning new stuff.
I’d say I work a ‘lifestyle’ job, compared to my last one. The biggest difference between my last full-time job (daily news reporting) and my current job (not news) is the amount of deadline pressure/ firefighting. I may work 12-hour days one week and 6-hour days the next, but being able to turn off my computer for the kid bedtime tunnel, then pick up again after kid goes to bed, is invaluable. I wouldn’t have been able to do that in a daily-news role. So 1. stress plays a huge role, and 2. definitions of a lifestyle job are relative!
Unicorn jobs says
See, I don’t think you sound like a failure at all, which maybe shows that the grass is always greener. :) I would absolutely kill for downtime during the summer.
I went from being in a situation where advancement was near impossible to a situation where I advanced fairly quickly. While I’m grateful for that and recognize that I’m really lucky in some ways, I’m not actually happier in my career.
More to the point, I’m asking myself a lot of questions about how I can make this work/life thing easier on myself. I’ve been encouraged by my superiors to take advantage of my benefits (i.e., vacation time), but it is so so hard to do that when I know that projects will come to a standstill. Or that I’ll come back and be completely buried for weeks. That’s how I’m wired. Mostly, I think my boss and her peers are kind of clueless about the realities of our jobs.
I’m also wired for stress and anxiety, and sometimes I wonder if I’m my own worst enemy. I’m in mid-level management and I beat myself up a lot for finding it difficult at times. I’m not saving babies, for crying out loud. About half my peers seem to handle it well; the other half seem unhappy. My predecessor eventually retired because she was starting to have health issues from the stress. So, I think it’s partly my problem, and partly the environment.
NewMomAnon says
I’ve been trying to spread the message that the only way to fight understaffing is to do exactly what is in your job description, nothing more, and use every tiny bit of vacation time/flex time/company holidays. Otherwise you are literally giving your time away for free. Companies have gotten so used to creeping into employees’ personal time to cut costs, it’s disgusting.
And you shouldn’t come back from vacation “buried.” If that’s happening, that means your company has not appropriately delegated workflow and is *understaffed.* Appropriately determining workflow means companies should plan for employees to work 40-50 hour weeks, every week, except for vacation/holidays/sick days. If you have more work than that, it’s OK to say to your boss, “This project is going to come to a halt while I take vacation, is that OK or should we move it to someone else’s plate? I don’t have capacity to do X, Y, and Z other things on my plate and bring someone else up to speed; what should move down my priority list?”
Pogo says
I’m a lot like you, and I’m my own worst enemy as well. I’m super stressed leading up to my maternity leave because I had this idea I needed to get everything “done” which is a complete and total myth.
NewMomAnon’s advice is spot on. That’s how we have to work, especially if you’re not in a position where you’re being recognized/advanced/compensated for always going above and beyond.
CPA Lady says
Oh yeah, I know this is totally a grass is greener situation. I’m friends with an accounting professor who is friends with tons of people in the industry in town. I was lamenting a bit to her and she told me that the partners she talks to are freaking miserable and envy people like me. Which I had to laugh about.
I am doing a professional mentoring program this fall. That should help fill some of my ambition emptiness. Other than that it’s hard to plan for any hobbies because I have to get a baby sitter and all my husband’s trips are last minute. I probably need to push myself to do it more though.
Anonymous says
I think they’re pretty rare but I consider my job to be one. I work 40 hours a week and can pretty much set my own hours (e.g., I can work 7-3 or 9-5 or 10-6 and I can change it whenever I want). It’s low stress, no real deadlines, but still pretty interesting work. I have copious vacation time (5 weeks/year plus major national holidays) and it’s easy to take, and I occasionally duck out for appointments without using official PTO.
Trade-offs are low pay and pretty low raises (2-3% each year for top performers) and a culture that is not work from home friendly (as noted above, I have a lot of flexibility over when I work, but I’m expected to physically be in the office for ~40 hours/week).
Nanny Taxes says
For the poster in California yesterday asking about nanny taxes, we used Breedlove (later bought by care.com so now called HomePay). I found it expensive but extremely user-friendly. And I’m all about paying a premium to delegate hassle/worry. Their website is good, easy to change payroll when needed, and the people who answer the phone when you call are efficient and knowledgeable. It’s exclusively household employer-focused as opposed to a bigger payroll service used to corporations. We don’t live in CA but they handle all state & federal paperwork, payroll, and direct deposit (of course there’s a fee for each). At the end of the year they do the W2’s for the employee and send you what you/your accountant need for your personal taxes.
FTMinFL says
+1 to everything here. We’ve used HomePay for our nanny for a year now and I literally don’t think about it unless I need to add overtime hours to her paycheck. They also have personnel on hand who can point you in the right direction regarding insurance, etc.
Sabba says
+1 to this as well. Their people are always amazing on the phone if you have any issues at all.
PEN says
help? My three-year-old son has been potty trained since December. Magically he just was, over night, #2, everything. But now, all of the sudden, he is peeing the bed a few nights a week. And sometimes twice in one night. For the past 3 weeks or so. Nothing new, nothing different. Should we go back to night time pull ups?
anon says
I’d probably try taking him to the bathroom before you go to bed if you aren’t already. The dream pee helped a lot for us. Otherwise I think you do what you need to do to get through the developmentally normal backslide. Our pediatrician said that this is mostly a laundry issue more than a medical issue and that it’s normal for kids to have temporary regressions in the first few years of being potty trained.
Anonymous says
This is just me and my preference, but I am totally anti the dream pee. I am also anti the “dream feed” for infants. I do not under any circumstances wake or bother a child once asleep. That said, when we had this happen we went back to pull-ups. So long as your child is ok with it (mine seemed indifferent), it was easiest.
Anonymous says
Does he have a UTI?
Anon in NYC says
Or constipation. I once read (or maybe it was discussed here) that constipation doesn’t necessarily mean a complete inability to go. So a kid can still be having BMs and have accidents/bed wetting because of pressure.
PEN says
Thanks!! I called his ped and she wants him to come in to screen for UTI. She said it could be caused by life changes (we just got an au pair and we are prepping to move) but wants to screen him for UTI too.
NAS While Pregnant says
Would desperately love to shop for new clothes, but at nearly 35 weeks with no idea how my body is going to look post-pregnancy, I am loathe to buy things (even with Nordstrom’s awesome return policy). Any suggestions out there for things that might fit if I were inclined to make a purchase? None of the bags or shoes really did it for me – I’m mostly focused on clothes.
NewMomAnon says
If you’re going to nurse, the advice I got was to get fitted and buy a nursing bra at 36 weeks because that’s the closest you’re probably going to get to your postpartum chest size. Nordstrom’s is good with bras, so maybe? I don’t think they sell maternity/nursing stuff in the store, but they could probably measure you and order from the store for you.
Otherwise: Stretchy wrap dresses, skirts with elastic waistbands, cardigans. Pjs. Slippers. Maybe fancy undies (maybe). Tights and nylons, if you wear those. Yoga pants, sweat pants, nursing tops (if you plan to nurse). Bigger baby clothes (seriously, your baby will probably be in 6m and possibly 9m sizes before the holidays come).
Just steer clear of anything fitted, anything with an unforgiving waistband, and non-knit tops.
Anon in NYC says
I would avoid anything too fitted on top. My ribs expanded with pregnancy, and even though my bra band/cup size is now back to pre-preg sizing (2 years PP), it took a while to get here. Some of my former dresses are still a little uncomfortable. My postpartum wardrobe was mostly dresses with stretch, comfortable pants, and looser tops.
NewMomAnon says
Yeah, I would not buy professional pants for postpartum wear until right before you’re going back to work (unless you’re a Betabrand dress yoga pants wearer, in which case I salute you). My waist and hips are the first things to shift when I gain or lose weight, and the pants I bought two weeks before going back to work were too big within 6 months.
Anonymous says
There are some insanely adorable little girl clothes included in the NAS, in case that is applicable. :)
NewMomAnon says
Ok, true confession: my underwear choices since having a child have veered toward “frumpy.” Seriously, cotton Hanes hipsters in boring pastel colors, bought from Target in 6 packs. If you were going to spend $50 on more exciting undies during the Nordstrom’s sale, what kind would you buy? I get so overwhelmed at underwear selections….
anon says
Hanky pankies lace thongs (regular rise) are my favorites. Suprisingly comfortable, forgiving of weight fluctuations, and they come in a million colors.
Anon in NYC says
Yep.
And, NewMomAnon, same. They’re so comfy!
Blueberry says
Not on Nordstrom, but I think based on a recommendation here, I’ve started wearing the Soma Vanishing Edge bikinis. They are much more comfortable than the Hanky Panky thongs IMO, and really give you zero pantyline unless you are wearing something very tight. I’m a true believer — they are all I wear now.
JP says
I love them, too. I can’t wear thongs and I truly have no VPL in the Soma Vanishing Edge. I wear them every day.
anon says
I’m right there with you NewMomAnon, except I still have Gap maternity cotton undies in rotation. My son is 5. Yes, they are stretched out and terrible and I should really get rid of them.
Blueberry says
Lol, these are my I-ran-out-of-clean-clothes-and-I-really-need-to-be-a-grown-up-and-buy-myself-more-d*mn-underwear option (so an exception to my post above…). My son is 4.5…
Unicorn jobs says
They aren’t fancy, but the Warner’s bikini and hipster undies have been great for me. They have a really nice stretchy lace waistband so they look more fancy than Hanes but are still really comfy. I have them in cotton and a silkier material. They’re easy to find at JCP, Kohl’s, and the like.
ElisaR says
hanky panky
Butter says
Natori Bliss, and they’re part of the Nordstrom sale. Perfect combo of comfy while still looking nice. Fwiw I tried the Soma vanishing edge and while I appreciate that they don’t move and result in no VPL, I was not in love with the amount of plastic/rubber involved (or whatever provides the magic edge that doesn’t move). They just felt a bit much for everyday wear for me.
ElisaR says
sooooo i’m kinda obsessed with Nordstrom all the time which makes the anniversary sale very exciting for me. Except i’m pregnant so it’s less fun this year. I thought in the past they had some maternity items on anniversary sale but i don’t see them on the site – any insights?
Anon says
I definitely saw maternity items when I was going through women, but some of them looked to me like stuff that I’d previously seen – a few new things though. Also a lot of it was that Kimi & Kai brand, which at a 14/16 I just don’t fit into.
ElisaR says
ahhh you’re right! i searched by brand and that came up. i wish it would allow me to sort by maternity but that doesn’t seem to be an option. ahhhh the lengths i’ll go to for the nordstrom sale!
ElisaR says
if anyone else is looking – you can click on size and click on the maternity options at the bottom.
Anonymous says
Same! I had all these things in mind, both specific and general things that I still want to grab for the last four months of pregnancy, and nothing is on sale that I wanted! Bummer.
Anonymous says
There were definitely a couple of maternity dresses. I know because when I scrolled thru, I remember thinking that they hadn’t been there last year when I was pregnant.
Last year when I was pregnant I definitely checked out and bought some non-maternity stuff, too – I can recommend the Barefoot Dreams cardigans especially.
Annoyed says
I’m about to deliver in a few weeks and am sitting for twice-weekly non-stress tests at my perinatologist’s office. Their testing setup is in a room where they herd all the expectant mothers into the same room and discuss their care with them in a non-private setting. They kept the door open while the Fedex dude was making a delivery. I pointed out that this entIre setup is a HIPAA violation and asked that the door at least be closed, but can see everyone rolling their eyes and it’s extremely irritating. Sorry–I’ve had it with pregnancy and I’ve also had it with everyone in medicine, which is hilarious because I’m also a physician.
EP-er says
That is a horrible set up! When I had to have my weekly ones, I had a private exam room that was set up for the NSTs. I can’t imagine the doctors discussing my health in front of others — especially when there is no guarantee the results are rosy…