Makeup & Beauty Monday: Mama Stone

I like lotion bars – something about it feels quite luxurious and I like that they dry quicker than lotion. I’ve moved to bar formulations of things in an effort to reduce plastic waste, but haven’t found a shampoo bar I like. Lush is alright, but too smelly, and most locally-produced ones rely heavily on lavender, which make me sneeze.

Can somebody help me find a pair of plain old thick black leggings for less than $40? Looking for something to wear to the grocery store. High waisted is good, wide waistband is better.

I tore a small hole in the knee of my beloved luluemon leggings while trying to navigate 2 kids through an icy parking lot in the dark… they snagged on a bent license plate. They’re less than 6 months old – do they have any type of a warranty that I can use? (yes, I could google this, no I don’t have the time).

I receive shares of my company’s stock that vests after a period of years as part of my compensation. My first grant is set to vest in one month. My company is well-respected, highly regarded, and doing well right now. Nonetheless, I am hesitant to leave those funds entirely invested in my company. Thus far, my financial strategy has been pretty straight forward: no consumer/student loan debt, have 6-12 month emergency fund (single parent to two kids), max 401K and save for retirement, save for college and pay down my mortgage (initially purchased with less than 20% down). Is it time to look for a financial adviser? I feel like my financial picture is getting more complicated with the vesting of my company’s stock. For those who receive company stock as part of your compensation, do you keep those funds entirely invested in your company? Any advice?

I’m not really sure what my question is, but would appreciate any advice/commiseration. I blew up my career a few years back, leaving a really demanding, stressful job for something much more laidback and so different it’s almost a career change (think Big Law attorney to JD-not-required contracts analyst). I enjoyed the job for the first few years (nice people, enjoyable enough work, tons of vacation time, etc.) and it was challenging enough while I was learning the ropes, but I now know the job very well, have done all my work tasks literally dozens of times and am finding myself bored out of mind. However, I’ve earned the trust of my boss and have enormous flexibility about when and where I work. It’s been absolutely invaluable with babies/toddlers and will be even more invaluable with elementary schoolers. I don’t even have to put in a full 40 hours so long as I get my work done. I really value time with my kids, and hate to give up that flexibility/time at home, but I also can’t imagine doing this job for another decade or so (figuring that when my kids are in middle school or so I can take a job with more face time requirements). I think what I want – a more demanding, intellectually challenging-job where I could be part time or full-time with a ton of flexibility about hours in the office – doesn’t really exist, and at this point I’m not sure whether to prioritize my career or my desire to spend a lot of time with my family. On Monday mornings I always remember how miserable this job makes me and think I need to find something more interesting and challenging, but I feel like as soon as I took a new job I’d immediately feel regret about not being with my kids as much. Any thoughts welcome…

scooter recommendations for soon to be 2 year olds? they want to steal all the ones they see at the park

Speaking of leggings, does anyone have a smart way to organize your leggings? Right now I am folding them and stacking them on a shelf in my closet, but they all look the same! I have like 5 variations of black leggings that are all slightly different, and I have to pull them all out to find the ones I want. File this under a first world problem, but I wanted to see if anyone had an organizing tip!