Budget Thursday: Megan Leather Ballet Flats
This post may contain affiliate links and CorporetteMoms may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
These red flats are on clearance at Saks OFF 5th and are a great deal for Cole Haan leather shoes — they were originally $170 but are on sale for $59.99. I like that they are the classic ballet style but in a bright, fun color. I actually find that shoes like this are easier to incorporate into my mostly gray and black work wardrobe than I would initially imagine. I am a huge fan of the very popular Sam Edelman Felicia flat; however, my least favorite part about it is the logo charm and the logo embroidery on the heel. These Cole Haan flats have the same look without any obvious logos, and I actually like the shape of the bow better. (Bye, Felicia!) Megan Leather Ballet Flats
This post contains affiliate links and CorporetteMoms may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. For more details see here. Thank you so much for your support!
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
See some of our latest articles on CorporetteMoms:
Click here to see our top posts!
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?
What questions did you ask when interviewing your doula? How did you decide to go with the person you went with? Any regrets?
Favorite motherhood books along the lines of “Like a Mother” by Angela Garbes?
Favorite parenting podcasts: I currently listen to “Longest Shortest Time” (don’t love the new host as much), “Mom Rage”, and “Mom and Dad are Fighting” by Slate
Exercise maternity leggings and tops. What works best? Are the Align by Lululemon really worth it?
Help me hire a nanny! I screened a bunch of people on the phone and invited a couple to come to our house to meet the baby. I figured after the in person meetings I’d check references and do background checks before making an offer. But I don’t really know what to ask at the in person interview or how much money to offer. Is it fair to ask about their salary expectations? I hate when employers do that to me but I just have no idea what’s reasonable… Fwiw this position would only be for a few months (it’s a short term solution until we can get her into a good daycare – the candidates are well aware of this) and only 3 days per week. And do you offer any paid vacation/sick leave or not because it’s an hourly position? Husband and I have pretty flexible schedules and lots of PTO so I’m less concerned about reliability – if she’s regularly a few minute late it’s really not a big deal for us – and baby is very young so it’s not important that she have a “curriculum” or anything like that. I just want someone who is going to love on my baby and treat her well.
Now that both kids are in school, I realized that I need to get all of their documents organized and in one place (prob should have done that a while ago…). So, tell me how you have organized your important documents like birth certificates, ss cards, passports, health forms. Is all of that stuff in a binder? File cabinet? Freezer? Help!
We just learned that the teenager next door has been getting treatments for bone cancer for about a year. The family is very nice, but we’ve not really spent much time with them (though they’ve started bringing over some old toys for our little girl, so, like I said, super-nice). We actually learned it from the local paper, which did a story about his high school sports team doing a fundraiser for him. I don’t know what the prognosis is, but the story did say that he’s receiving local treatments, but they are managed by a specialist several states away, and that he’s not expected to return to school this year.
I can’t imagine what that must be like. Is there anything that we could do for them? Like I said, we don’t know them well; I don’t think that I’ve ever spoken to the wife, and it’s been a couple of years since I have to the husband. (My husband’s home and sees them more.) I don’t want to intrude and have no idea what they might need, but I’d like to do something.
I was really psyched up for applying for a promotion at work (different department) but I was just on a conference call with the person who is the interim in the role, who I know didn’t get it since it was just relisted, but now I’m psyching myself out – like, if she can’t get it, why would I? And then I was thinking, oh, and if I don’t, it will be just awkward and embarrassing. And, oh, if I do, I would have to drop off at daycare earlier and change our morning schedules. etc etc
I should just apply anyway, right? Timely post on impostor syndrome the other day, and, I’ll never get a promotion if I don’t apply for something. (We don’t really encourage people’s professional development at this organization.)
I don’t even know what I’m posting for other than someone to tell me, “Get it together, woman! Apply! Not getting a job is not embarrassing!”
Can I get feedback on an idea?
A lighthearted spoken word / poetry or book reading event geared toward moms. Wine and cheese and recitations of the children’s books you have memorized because your child insists you read it nightly.
Currently, I have Dinosaurs Love Underpants ingrained due to the never ending requests to read it.
There’s been a few posts asking about part-time work arrangements (I think one poster in particular). I’ve been able to negotiate one for myself in a field that’s usually pretty big on face time (finance/law/etc.) but I can’t share the details here without potentially outing myself. If you have a throwaway email address, drop it here and I’ll send you a note with how I did it.
Where is everyone buying their large baby items now? I don’t have a buy buy baby close by and my go to was Babys R Us. Walmart? Target? Online? I’m at a loss and feel like it’s a bit ridiculous to travel over two hours to look at a crib, stroller, car seat, etc. Or do I just bite the bullet and make the trip?
I need some new playlists of music to focus at work. Anyone have any recommendations? Is there a way to search for ones on spotify? I have spotify and pandora but I am a tech idiot….TIA!
My rocking chair will not stop squeaking and it’s driving me insane. Toddler is 15 months and we’ve been using it since she was born daily, but UGHHH. Regretting my $400 purchase and wish I had spent more money, even though the chair looks and feels great.
How do I get rid of the squeaking??
We’re into the second week of school, and I’m not pleased with my kid’s before/aftercare program. We’ve used it the past two years, but there is a new site supervisor that is not running a very tight ship. I also don’t love how she interacts with the parents and kids. When I picked up DS early the other day, it was pure chaos. Kids crawling on tables in the cafeteria, running in the halls — things were not under control at all. I’d never seen that before. Site supervisor also was riding DS about not doing his homework during homework time, when I’d specifically told her that we’re fine with him doing it at home. And, they messed up on delivering son’s ADHD medication to the health office, even though we’re required to drop off medications with them. School nurse called us and will now be picking him his meds herself, even though that’s not her job at all.
So I’m strongly considering a change, especially since DS really needs a structured environment to thrive. The bummer is that his program is on-site at his school, which makes life much easier for our family. I’ve heard mixed reviews about the daycares that offer after-school care, so I guess I need to consider a sitter who can pick him up from school and walk him home. The downside is that DS needs the social interaction he gets at a program and would probably be upset if we pulled him from the program. I also have concerns about a sitter being able to handle my kid and his issues. The behavioral techniques that work for most kids usually completely backfire for him, and even though he’s a great kid, I will not sugarcoat it — he can really wear out a caregiver.
What would you do? Bring up your concerns with the program, and hope it turns around soon, or cut your losses and hope you can find a sitter equipped to handle a high-energy kid with ADHD? This doesn’t even address the issue of finding a before-school sitter. Part of me wonders if I need to pitch a new work schedule so I can be home after school — but I don’t think that’s a sustainable solution.
Any baby gate recommendations? Little one is getting pretty close to crawling so it’s time…I’d prefer something easy to install and minimally ugly.
Do I need nursing bras? I’m due with #2 next month, and #1 is in first grade, so it’s been awhile since I’ve had a newborn. I EBF last time and pumped at work and never had any nursing bras, mostly because I didn’t want to spend the money. I had one nursing tank, but otherwise, as far as I can remember, I wore cheap sports bras and either pulled the strap down (when wearing a regular tank or nightgown) or pulled the sports bra and my shirt up from the bottom to BF. For pumping at work I wore regular bras and lifted them up to pump. I recently ordered a few more nursing tanks with a built in bra, which I’m planning to wear during maternity leave. Should I also sleep in those? What’s the benefit of a nursing bra, especially when I have to wear something else nursing friendly over it?