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This washable fit and flare dress from Target looks lovely, particularly with a structured blazer or cardigan on top for work. It comes in a zillion different colors (and two prints) and is on sale for $19.60. Merona™ Ponte Fit and Flare Dress
(L-2)
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
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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?
L says
I recently tried this dress on. It was a solid choice, especially for the price–substantial fabric with a nice drape, and a neckline high enough that there won’t be any accidental “mishaps” while carrying my toddler–but at least on me, it just seemed a little blah. I ended up returning it and continuing my search for an office LBD
Sam says
Thanks, can you comment on the hemline? I’m 5’5′ and like to have dresses knee length to avoid mishaps as you said.
Anonymous says
I’m glad to hear about the fabric and drape. I’m going to try it. (I’m okay with a bit blah).
Thak says
I’m going to do the family photo Christmas card for the first time this year. What sites have you had a good (read: easy and nice looking but not very expensive) experience with?
JJ says
I’ve always ordered my Christmas cards from mpix. Excellent quality, a ton of options, great prices, and the shipping is insanely fast.
Anon in NYC says
Tiny Prints and Minted have never failed me.
anne-on says
Minted has free recipient addressing with cute Christmas designs – that’s enough to decide it for me ;)
Pigpen's Mama says
+1
and now that my addresses are all in my Minted account, I’ll be using them FOREVER…
PinkKeyboard says
Ditto on the minted. The addressing plus a 30% off coupon I got in the mail made that a win.
Anon says
I have shopped around the last two years and both times ended up with Zazzle during one of their sales (usually 40-60% off, often with free shipping).
mary says
Not as cheap because didn’t have the crazy sales but I am really pleased with our cards from Artifact Uprising this year if you like a clean look.
Wow says
I love our photo cards from Paperculture. They will address and MAIL all of your cards, which is a huge time savings for me. They also plant a tree with every order, and have a designer that you can correspond with if you want any tweaks to your card (free service). But, I think it is more pricey although they usually do a 30% sale around the holidays.
Also, thanks so much to everyone who responded to my rant yesterday about the state of our messy home. Great to know that I’m not alone in this!
frustrated academic says
We use Costco’s photo center, there is a new higher end line of cards that we like and the envelopes get your return address put on for free.
hoola hoopa says
+1 to Costco. Always great quality, very low prices, and no coupon code games. Love the free return address. Was very pleasantly surprised by their upscale designs this year.
EP-er says
+1 to Costco, if you are a member. We have used and like TinyPrints and Zazzle, but Costco is so much less and just a nice. Plus they preprint your return address for free! They are awesome. (Finishing writing out the cards is my plan for tonight during my son’s piano lesson!)
In House Lobbyist says
I’m a huge Snapfish fan and there cards are 60% off until Dec 6. I have used them for years and also do mugs, calendars, magnets, photo books. The app makes it easy to upload phone pictures.
Anon says
How do those of you who don’t celebrate Christmas handle this time of year when your kids start asking questions and/or getting jealous of friends or families who do? DD is too young to notice this year but she will notice next year. I grew up in an agnostic house, but my family did “secular” Christmas – tree, stockings, Santa. I married a Jew and “gave up Christmas” (totally ok with that) and don’t know what to expect our what to say so that she doesn’t grow up resenting not having Christmas.
Sam says
Get her a little gift (that’s surely all she cares about, and you probably buy her random stuff from time to time just because) and don’t act like it’s a big deal otherwise. I’m not Christian either and I’m fine with singing along with Christmas songs on the radio or talking about Rudolph when my preschooler asks (there are lessons in there about playing nice with other kids!). My kid knows that some families do diwali and others do Christmas and it’s NBD either way.
Anon says
DH feels very, very strongly that nothing Christmas or faux-Christmas or “not officially Christmas but happens to happen on/near Christmas” things are part of our family. It’s hard enough to be bombarded by Christmas stuff at the mall, on public streets, in advertising, in our freaking office lobbies – our home and our family are entirely Christmas-free, just like our home and family are entirely Diwali-free or Kwanzaa-free. Those are simply not holidays we observe, so getting her a little gift when all the other kids are getting Christmas presents is not the message we are comfortable sending.
Anon says
I think Sam’s response was a suggestion to help avoid resentment. If your set on having a 100% Christmas-free household, resentment may just be part of the package and nothing you say is going to offset that. Society is pretty Christmas-obsessed and your kid is going to see that. If she doesn’t get to participate, that is fine, and you can use it as a lesson about how different people do things differently (acceptance, etc.), but she will probably still feel a little left out.
pockets says
I’m 32 years old, Jewish, never celebrated Christmas, and I am still annoyed that I do not get to have a festive tree in my house. And I grew up in NYC so it’s not like I was the only Jew around – I knew and know plenty of Christmas non-observers, I have a whole elaborate Jewish Christmas ritual, and I was and am still resentful, although resentful isn’t really the right word – it’s more like, Why does everyone (even secular atheists) get to do this fun thing and I do not? Oh, it’s because I’m Jewish and to be Jewish is to suffer.
pockets says
And since you asked for help, not some random internet lady’s musings on Jewishness, my parents told me that we were Jews and Jews didn’t celebrate Christmas and instead we celebrated Hanukkah, and that was that. It was the same reason why I didn’t eat pork or cheeseburgers. Although, I grew up in a moderately religious household so it made sense in the context of my life, in which we went to synagogue every Saturday and kept a kosher home. It might be harder if no Christmas is one of only a few Jewish things your family does.
It might also help to have a Jewish Christmas ritual – ask your husband what his family did on Christmas. The whole family will be home and everything will be closed, so you can go see a movie and eat Chinese food and make that a family tradition. It’s not as good as Actual Christmas (so I’ve been told) but you can still have fun.
anon says
She might get a little upset, but that’s not the end of the world. You can remind her about all the awesome holidays Judaism has that her friends don’t, many of which have really neat customs/foods/costumes etc. (i.e. Purim, Sukkot, etc.)
mascot says
Have you asked your husband what his suggestion is? Presumably he went through this as a child and is in a better place to start the conversation. Perhaps he can point out traditions in his own faith and explain in an age-appropriate fashion.
shortperson says
if you make a big enough deal of hannukah (8 nights!! 8 presents!!!) then it shouldnt be a problem. it would also help to go to hannukah events, learn hannukah songs, eat doughnuts for breakfast every morning of hannukah, etc.
Meg Murry says
We celebrate Christmas, but relatively secularly (mostly just tree, stockings and Santa) – but I think one thing that has made a major difference is we have “All families are different and that’s OK” conversations a lot. So we have it in regards to “Billy got a baby sister, can I have one too?” and “Why don’t Susie’s mommy and daddy live in the same house?” and “Why does Ellie have 2 mommies, where is her daddy?” and “Bobby’s family goes to church on Sundays, why don’t we?”
We also have these conversations about rules and priorities, like why do they have to eat vegetables and other friend doesn’t; why don’t we have an XBox/cable/other newest toy; why do Mommy and Daddy both work and not have a SAHP; why can’t we go on vacations as often as family XYZ; why do some people live in cities and other rural areas; why is so-and-so’s house bigger/smaller, etc. In general we try to avoid casting judgements but rather just talk about how I’m our family we are lucky to have what we have, and some families prioritize saving money more while others prioritize travel or others prioritize a big house, etc.
Basically, you just have to expose your kids to lots of other families, so you can point it out all year long. Even if it isn’t celebrating Christmas, could you and your husband come up with some kind of fun ritual for that day, since you will probably always have it off for school and work? It could be little, like “stay in PJs all day, make grandma’s Chicken Soup recipe and watch a movie” – it doesnt necessarily have to be religious. Could you do something fun and traditional for Solstice or New Years Eve? Or make the time from Thanksgiving to New Years a time for giving thanks and giving back to your community (participate in Coats for Kids, food banks, knit socks for the homeless, etc).
Anon says
http://themenschonabench.com
Judaism’s answer to ‘elf on a shelf’– all the rage in Canada at the moment – don’t know about the use
Point being that there are lots of ways to-have new fun non Christmas traditions for your family
Taking Care of Multiple Sick Kids says
Serious question for moms of 2 or more. How the heck do you take care of 2 kids when they are sick? Question prompted by a few nights in the past few weeks where my toddler son wasn’t feeling well and had to be held and rocked through the entire night. My husband and I were able to take shifts so that one could rest while the other was up. We do want to have another baby and wanted to try again soon but both of us confessed having some cold feet due to this issue. Ultimately, I suppose the answer is that you just muddle through as best you can, but I would appreciate some real life wisdom if you have any!
OCAssociate says
This isn’t a helpful response, but we go without sleep if both kids need help throughout the night. Each parent takes a kid and deals as best they can. We’ve been lucky so far, even when they’re sick at the same time, they usually have the worst night on separate nights.
It’s super hard and sort of miserable. I’ll be interested to see if anyone has better coping tactics.
JJ says
That pretty much sums it up. Last December, everyone in my family got the flu (and we all got the shot, oh well). I had one kid in our bed with me, and my husband slept in the guestroom with the other kid. We both stayed home from work as much as possible and just tag-teamed.
Other than the Great Flu Outbreak of 2014, in our house it more than likely goes like this. Monday: one child starts getting sick and is sent home from daycare. Tuesday: same kid home sick. Wednesday: sick kid feeling better, get call about other kid being sent home for fever. Thursday: other kid home sick. Friday: back to normal. Saturday/Sunday: Dad sick. He has a man cold, so the whole world stops all weekend. Monday: kids and husband are better, but I start to feel sick. Tuesday through Friday: I’m sick and feel like crap.
Meg Murry says
Yup, same here, pretty much. The good news is after a few years they stop getting EVERY single thing that comes around, but we usually have at least 2 bad weeks.
The thing that I feel like no one told me/ I didn’t really is what JJ is mentioning – that they don’t usually get sick at the same time, they usually get it 2-4 days apart – which means figuring out 2X the number of work from home/call in backup babysitter days because the kids can’t go to school. And then I get it, and then my husband does and now we’ve all been sick for 2 weeks and are out of PTO.
Usually the nights are the worst and kids feel moderately better during the day, so we’ve called in backup (grandma, a babysitter) for a few hours some days to keep an eye on the kids so whichever adult stayed home with them that day. And sometimes, like during teething, the kids are up all night but can go to daycare the next day, but the adult needs to take a “sick” day to stay home and sleep.
hoola hoopa says
+1 to all. It tends to hit in series rather than parallel, so you’re not usually with two equally sick kids at the same time. It really does seem to affect your time off work more than anything. If you don’t have alternate caregivers in your family/friend network, it helps to find a sick kid caregiver off care.com etc.
BeenThere... says
Can we discuss requests from daycares for parents to make crafts/bring in food/celebrate things like teacher appreciation days? Our daycare (in an urban center with mostly duel working parents in law/finance/medicine/etc.) has assigned each classroom with a room parent. At various times throughout the year, we are asked by the room parent to have our kids make crafts, cards, etc. for the teachers. As parents, we are asked to bring in treats for various teacher appreciation type days (maybe 2-3 times a year). This is on top of a slush fund we all contribute to yearly for teacher holiday gifts and birthday gifts. There are times when I have received these requests during a busy work period and I have gotten (maybe unreasonably) angry about adding one more thing to my to do list. I could not imagine asking my law firm’s clients to make me a treat/craft. In fact, I actually think the daycare should do nice things for the parents that pay the tuition!! Am I alone in this?? I’m really not a Grinch, but…
TK says
I just don’t contribute or otherwise respond to those requests. What’s the worst that could happen? I can’t imagine what of my son’s teachers confronting him to say, “so where’s YOUR card, little TK?” Maybe my thoughts will change once he’s old enough to recognize that he’s the only one who didn’t bring a gift (though I suspect I’m not the only parent who ignores those things.)
anon says
I hear you, but this how the daycares and schools fund their staff appreciation events. Law firms just fund/plan these internally. Just give whatever you are comfortable giving (time, money, nothing) and move on. Now that we are in “real school”, there are several parents who head up the collections and organize the parties. I make my holiday donation and maybe send in juice boxes to a party if I have time. Otherwise, I let them handle it and I am thankful that someone can do it.
Crafts would annoy me; can’t they do that at school?
Maddie Ross says
Not a great solution, but I just decided for our family that I do them when I can (i.e., I already apple juice to send in for the holiday party next week), and ignore them when I need (i.e., I did not participate in staff participation week because I just couldn’t commit to going to get a gift card, or trinket, etc. that week and skipped Halloween entirely (except for sending in my kid’s costume) because I had a trial that day). I know I’m not the only person each time who participates when I do, and not the only who skips when I do. Like so many things in the life of a working parent, I think you just need to do what you can (or in this case, want to) and ignore when you need.
NewMomAnon says
Related but different – we are in an urban center where about half (or more) of the kids are on subsidized tuition (sidenote: it breaks my heart to hear a mom in the principal’s office promising when she can make up the $25 or $40 she couldn’t pay as this week’s tuition). Some of the parents will do literally nothing for the teachers. Many others will bring in baked goods or just a card. I know the teachers aren’t making much, and I can afford to give a bigger gift; last year I gave $35 gift cards to the main teachers and felt really tacky about it. I’d like to give $50 gift cards this year (4 teachers main teachers) because I think toddler teachers work their butts off, and then give a little basket of $10 gift cards for the floaters. Is there a way to do it discretely? I almost don’t want them to know that it’s from my family (but they will, we are one of the few families that can afford something that big).
Anon says
You can definitely do this anonymously. Just put the various gift cards in a fedex envelope with a note explaining who gets what and send it to the daycare. Alternatively, you could tell only the director and ask her to distribute according to your wishes but not mention it’s from you.
Meg Murry says
I think it’s great that you do can this. You could also ask the director what, if anything, the teachers are buying out of their own pockets or wish they had more of, like board books, playdough, markers, etc and make a big donation of “stuff” to the school at some point.
Anonymous says
our previous daycare (which was actually in a very wealthy suburb) did a pooled gift. Director put out a box and sheets. Parents picked pu a sheet, wrote one check, and listed on the sheet how much goes to who.
Parents and kids signed cards that were posted in the main lobby. Director put one check in the card and give it to the teacher.
That way, the teacher got the gift (and it was cash, which is >>> than food or candles or 10 $10 cards) and it was “from the class” and no real indicator of Betty’s Mom gave $100 and Suzy’s gave $30. I donated and then did a separate card (not $$) from my kid.
I like that model a lot and could really see it working in your scenario.
Sarabeth says
Late, but we are in a similar situation. We just give the gift cards and don’t stress about it. It might be kind of awkward, but the alternatives all seem worse (we don’t have an option for a pooled gift – I don’t think they’d want even a small suggestion that people should feel obligated to give anything).