Accessory Tuesday: Loraine Loafer
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Looking for a versatile loafer that won’t break the bank? I just ordered Sam Edelman’s bestselling Loraine Loafer and it looks and feels more luxe than its price suggests.
This loafer comes in 27 (!) different leather and textile uppers. It has a low, walkable heel, comfortable foam insole, and modern almond toe. This versatile shoe works with almost any trouser cut, or even jeans. It even comes in wide widths to accommodate my bunioned feet.
The Loraine Loafer is $150 at Zappos and comes in whole and half sizes 4–14.
P.S. Happy Halloween!
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+
I know it’s late in the day, but can someone please talk me into or out of a minivan? Feel free to share your favorite minivan. I never thought we’d be a minivan family but now in addition to my husband and I, we have 2 school aged kids and a soon-to-be extra large dog. The van seems to be the logical option if we want to travel together regularly and pack our suitcases in said vehicle.
Parents with ADHD kiddos, please give me some encouragement. My DS is really struggling in K, so formally requested a 504 plan and am going for an ADHD eval next week with the pediatrician. But man, for a type-A perfectionist who never went against rules I’m so overwhelmed at the constant barrage of emails of all the behavior problems. I know logically I am doing the right things and doing some thing like grounding him at 5 for something clearly stemming from some underlying issues is not ok. But ugh it is challenging to deal with the reality that your kid is having real and significant problems that you can’t just fix overnight.
Any recommendations for supplemental math for a 6 year old? My kindergartner has been asking for extra math. We’ve been making her worksheets at home, which she’s loved, and she seems to be learning a lot even only spending ~10 minutes per day on the worksheets, but I feel like we should maybe be doing this in a more organized way? A friend recommended Beast Academy workbooks – thoughts on those, or other suggestions? I’d prefer a screen-free option. Since she has some TV at home on weekday mornings and they use computers at school I don’t really want to add to her screentime.
Any recommendations for an online couples or solo therapist? Dealing with lack of intimacy that’s gone on too long and need some new strategies. Talk space is useless. My EAP has a billion options and I don’t have the energy to sift through them. Thank you!
MIL Rant. At this morning’s Halloween parade, which due to covid, we haven’t had in years – the strollers of babies came first. In the midst of the awwww’s, my MIL frowned and said “Wow, how sad. So young and they have to be at daycare.” I turned on my heel and walked away. !!!!!!!!!!! Our child is her first grandkid to have been in a full time daycare program so this isn’t the first time I’ve heard a remark like that, but UGHHHHHH so frustrating. End rant.
I’m sympathetic but I think you are overly focused on yourself. I had to explain death earlier than 5 to my kid who really struggled with a close loss. I don’t know who you think are the lucky ones that avoid sickness and death in life. Life is just mean to everyone even if we manage to anesthetize ourselves for periods of time.
In need of a vent in to the void. I have some really good girl friends but I’m just not ready to talk about it yet.
I’m 36.5 weeks pregnant. My dad, who I am very close with, is in the process of being diagnosed with lymphoma. Don’t know what type yet. But, I’m just gutted. My family has been hit my cancer more times that I care to count so I’m unfairly aware of the realities of treatments, prognosis, etc etc., though it would be our first dance with lymphoma. Still waiting for the grading and course of treatment, but my NP-sister who read all of his reports herself suspects it warrants going immediately to chemo after the next round of tests later this week.
This is the fourth cancer diagnosis between my parents in about 20 years but the first when I have a family of my own (5 year old daughter and almost-born child). I don’t know how to be upset/process all of this for myself, but supportive of him, support my mom, but also not scare my daughter who dearly loves her Papi… all while trying to birth a child and get through all of that. DH is supportive but he’s sort of in the same boat as me. We’re just tapped.
Also, my FIL dropped dead when I was 35 weeks with my first ~5 years ago. While we have so many more answers about my own dad to get, I’m suffering from intense de ja vu? PTSD? I don’t even know what to call it. I think DH is too but hasn’t said as much.
Life is unfair. Really, intensely unfair.
I have a kid who is in 2nd grade. She is signed up to play soccer and is hot or cold. She will often participate and play during practices, and play until she’s tired in the weekend games and then shut down. Like, is DONE. Will stand on the field and do nothing until she is subbed out. Sometimes she’ll wander the field making patterns with her cleats or something.
This happened in K soccer so we didn’t register her for 1st grade. She begged to return in for 2nd grade and asked me to coach, so I’m one of 4 coaches. She acts the same whether it’s me or another adult; she’s probably better with me because I’m pretty used to managing her behavior and can sometimes get her to “kick the ball 5 more times then we’ll sub you out.”
This last weekend we didn’t have any subs and she just shut down and stopped playing (she was cold, didn’t want to be there, etc). Her teammates for the first time were REALLY annoyed with her– and the coaches were, too. We’d normally just pull her for the game but there was nobody else.
So, two questions as a parent:
1) Is this something we can help with as parents? How? OR do we just say this is the end of team sports for you, kid, you aren’t able to be a team player? I can’t bring myself to sign her up for a sport where she will take a spot on a team and then just not play for half the season.
2) she wants to play other team sports– and very VERY quickly it’s going to become frustrating for everyone because it’ll be expensive, she’ll be put on a team where people expect her to actually want to play. We have her signed up for basketball which in 2nd grade is still a clinic with no teams/games but that changes next year.
She has ADHD, and I think part of it is she gets “stuck” fixating on what’s bothering her (too hot, too cold, too tired, etc). I should add that she wants to sign up for these things.
My 9year-old daughter is lying about brushing her teeth in the morning. How do you handle this?
Background: she wakes up to her own alarm, gets dressed, brushes her hair, then makes herself breakfast. She claims that she brushes her teeth after she gets dressed, but I can clearly see that her sink and toothbrush are dry, not to mention the morning breath. I don’t point these things out to her because it seems like that will just turn her into a better liar.
She’s a very bright, very strong-willed kid with a solid sense of self. She’s doing great in school, has healthy friendships, is self-reliant. I know this is a normal developmental stage, but I’m unsure how to respond. We try to let the kids feel the natural consequences of their mistakes (if they lose a library book, they pay for it out of their allowance; no play dates until their chores are done, etc.), but here the natural consequences are so far downstream that it has no effect. It’s the dishonesty that bothers us the most. Increased surveillance (forcing her to brush her teeth in front of us) backfires. What would you do?
Neighbor with similarly aged kid is having a little cookout tonight for a few people in the neighborhood before trick or treating. I asked her if we needed to bring any food and she said no but I feel weird showing up empty handed, eating her food, and leaving.
Any last minute host gift ideas? I’m not sure if they drink. Her daughter and my son are friendly but not bffs
Any tips on helping a sensitive preschooler adjust to a classroom full of kids who definitely aren’t?
3-year-old is suddenly struggling in the preschool classroom at daycare (moved up about 2 months ago, and this has all come up in the last week). Kiddo is definitely on the shy and sensitive side – likes being active but has never been into very physical play (play wrestling, tackling large stuffed animals or pillows, etc.). Most of the other kids in the class were in a toddler room together last year and play pretty aggressively together.
The teachers are suddenly saying that my kid isn’t following directions, last to put shoes on, etc. We’re not really seeing this at home, where she’s pretty independent unless there’s an obvious reason (tired, sick, etc.). The past few videos they’ve sent home show the other kids screaming happily at the table while eating snack while my kid is cowering and covering her ears or playing aggressively together while my kid is off to the side coloring or doing some other quiet activity. Seems pretty clear that she’s overwhelmed, and as a former sensitive kid myself, my guess is that she’s so overstimulated that she’s just shutting down. I pointed this out, and it seemed like the teachers were surprised that this could be the explanation. I’m really frustrated that the teachers missed this completely and just assumed we weren’t working with her on following directions and being independent. I’m also frustrated that the expectation seems to be that my kid has to change to fit in.
Hair style/texture advice: my 5 year old has hair that I don’t know how to style. Where do I look for advice?
I think what’s going on is that it’s got a wave/curl to it but since it’s long (mid-shoulder) the weight of the hair masks the waves. It’s not curly hair, and it’s not straight hair. When I blow dry it straight it stays straight for the day, but if I blow dry it at night it’s all wild in the morning. If she goes to bed with wet hair she wakes up with a lion’s mane that we can smooth out and throw a headband in to contain it but it’s still pretty wild. I’ve tried braiding it (wet and dry) at night and it isn’t quite long enough to hold a braid unless it’s tight…in which case she wakes up with poufy hair from the braid.
Neither of my other daughters have hair like this. We suspect she has DH’s hair texture- his is short but when it grows out it gets wavy.
Halloween question – do you give out peanut candy? I usually get all nut-free, but my husband was doing candy this year and he got Reese peanut butter cups (among other things). I usually do it all nut-free, so I’m wondering if we should pick out the Reeses (and eat them all ourselves, lol) or if it’s fine to hand out and the parents of kids too young to manage their own allergies will be there to oversee. And on a related note, how many pieces of candy do you give out, give or take? I feel like we always give too much at first and then get stingy towards the end because we’re running out. And now I’m wondering if I should run to the store and get extra because our street is a popular Halloween destination.
My daughter recently had a birthday and I’m pondering if I should say or do anything– I think the answer is no, but it’s just niggling at me.
She turned 10. My parents are divorced. My mom, dad, and in-laws all asked me for b’day ideas for kiddo and I gave them a bunch, as well as some general suggestions. I was careful to keep all my suggestions separate so there aren’t duplicates or issues with so-and-so getting the “favorite” gift. My mom asked several times and I gave her ideas in all price ranges and level of complexity (eg. order from amazon to actually have to put some thought in). So birthday time comes- my MIL tells us in advance which suggestion she is going to take, then gets the gift and adds a few things of her own. My dad never told me what he was going to do, but ended up getting a gift card to her fave place + two great gifts (one I suggested and one he came up with on his own that my kiddo loved).
My mom makes this big deal out of being with Daughter on her birthday, which is fine, but a little stressful because DH and I took her to a sports event on her b’day, but we made it work. So Grandma comes over and my kid opens…a (clearly to me used) black long sleeve cat t-shirt in an adult size M.
Readers, my kid does not like cats, does not have an interest in vintage ts (this isn’t even “vintage”- it’s like, from the walmart weird shirt discount rack several years ago and since worn, and isn’t anywhere near an adult size M.
My daughter smiled and said thank-you and we moved onto cake. But like…this gift? It basically said “I don’t know anything about you, I have no interest in getting you something you like, and I found it at the bottom of my closet on my way over.” If it were just a bad gift, then whatever. But it’s a bad gift that is *clearly used* and of no relevant interest or connection to my kid to whom she is fairly close. AND she spent like 3 straight weeks asking about birthday ideas. I really do think my daughter was confused, or had some hurt feelings– in the moment I think I was like ha, you know that Grandma, she can be such a weirdo. One time she gave me music box clown when I didn’t like clowns OR music boxes. Gotta love her!
The weird thing is, my mom spends a decent amount of time with my daughter. My daughter has a lot of obvious interests. My mom is also a teacher at an elementary school so like, even absent any ideas of her own, she’s around same-age kids all the time and can figure out like hey, a pop it or squishmellow is an easy hit if you literally have no other ideas because all the kids have them.
What, if anything, should I have said anything to my daughter, or to my mom? I was so shocked by the pure weirdness of it all, I think I may have said something like…”so…is there anything particular you think she’ll do what that shirt?” and she said something like “well it will be great pajamas.”
To be clear, it has nothing to do with not getting a nice gift. It was more…the presence of a gift that was so clearly NOT purchased with her in mind that bothers me after my mom was so insistent on all these gift ideas being sent to her. A homemade card and a balloon would have meant a lot more than this. My cash strapped sister sent her a $10 starbucks gift card via email and she was overjoyed. Not to mention, it sort of makes my mom look bad since the other grandparents got gifts that aligned with her interests–I guess that’s all up to the adult to decide but I feel a little guilty since I gave them all equally good ideas?