Budget Thursday: Metro Luggage Leather Strap Watch
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.
Every so often there will be a discussion on this site and on Corporette about watches. Some readers think that watches have gone the way of the dinosaurs while others would look down upon a potential new hire if they didn’t wear one to a job interview. Some readers see watches as a reward for a big bonus check and will spend thousands on a classic piece. Others don’t view watches as an investment and feel that as long as they tell accurate time, they’re good enough. Personally, I love wearing a watch but have never felt that I had enough disposable income to invest in a really pricey one. This watch from Kate Spade is fun, inexpensive enough to be an accessory that you can swap depending on your outfit, and yet still professional. I like the combination of the gold with the tan leather, and the easy to read face. It’s currently on sale for $146 at Macy’s. Kate Spade Metro Luggage Leather Strap Watch
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 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+
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?
I have a 1 year old that cries, sobs, screams nightly before bed for 10 to 15 mins. Is there anything I could do? Does this ever pass? she’s always done this with us, but sleeps with no crying with the nanny for naps, even though she always cries even at naps with us. it’s just horrible and I feel awful about this.
We get home by 6pm and feed baby immediately. Baby takes around 30 minutes to eat and then he either has a bath or plays with his toys for 15 minutes. At 6:45 we head upstairs to get ready for bed and he’s down at around 7pm.
You didn’t ask, but our morning routine is. Everyone wakes at 6am. I get baby while husband showers. Baby drinks milk in bed next to me while I do my make up. Baby toddles around our room while my husband and I get dressed. Husband dresses baby while I do my hair. We leave the house around 7am.
Oh yes. I work less than DH, and therefore do more of the household management, but he is very much in the game. Every time my parents come over, they remark at how “present” he is. “Oh, your father would NEVER change a diaper!” says mom. “Oh, yeah, I never really did that.” says dad.
But you know what? It was my Mom’s Thing. She was largely a SAHM and to this day (she’s 62) she takes a lot of pride in her child rearing and maintains that my father “couldn’t possibly have done it without me.” But you know what? Nobody ever asked Dad to change a diaper or put the kids to bed. Or, my mom in a moment of bitterness/sheer desperation would hand off a kid to my dad and then be annoyed that he didn’t know what to do. Dude never had to change a diaper or give a bottle before, OF COURSE he might not get it exactly right.
I ask. I work with DH to set expectations (his and mine). Our kids don’t see Daddy as the “fun one” and Mom as the “mean boring one.” our kids go through mom and dad phases, but it all evens out. Sometimes I pull the “I’m going to tell your father about this…” line, but just as often, DH says “You’re going to have to go tell your mother what you did…” and both of those phrases elicit equal fear.
My mom was one time ranting about how little my dad helped with the kids, so I straight up asked: did you ever ASK dad to be a cub scout leader/take us to the doctor/take a day off so you could have a day to yourself/put the kids to bed/whatever? “No, he couldn’t have done it.” (meaning, “he was not competent enough to do it”) was the reply, to which I call BS. Everyone learns this stuff.
Word. I’m a bean counter, too, and I think our marriage is more equal because of that insistence that we’re both going to pull our weight.
I thought the columnists gave a great response to the question.
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/05/08/style/household-parenting-marriage-share-work.html
If I see one more article like this I am going to SCREAM. Why. are. people. marrying. these. people. They are always described in these letters as “great guys.” ARE THEY? I just ranted to my mom friends on FB: “Like IS he great? IS HE???! Is the reason he can’t do the GD effing laundry because he is gently nursing a baby squirrel back to health with a dropper of milk? Or because he is so overwhelmed doing the laundry at the ORPHANAGE???”
I admit I do the “management” of the household: doctor’s appointments; vet appointments; getting our son screened for speech delays; the majority of the meal planning; seasonal clothing swapouts; making sure we take family pictures and do memory-making activities; haircuts; car maintenance; any phone call that has ever had to be made.
In return, my husband does: all the laundry; all the cooking; all the dishes; all the bill paying; 95% of the cleaning; 80% of the yardwork; EXACTLY 50% of the parenting (we have twins– I do a poop, he does next poop, we each dress one, I do day care dropoff, he does daycare pickup, I rant a lot about maternal gatekeeping so he got to learn how to do our daughter’s hair and does it one weekend day). Sick days from day care mean we each take a half a day. I am a bean counter.
We are both fairly low-paid government employees so we can’t outsource anything, but we both work 40-50 hour weeks, so we… split it. It blows my mind that anyone– ESPECIALLY working moms– puts up with doing all of this stuff! But I see it all the time on Facebook, on here… what is this nonsense. I almost blew a gasket over Anon’s mother’s day rant yesterday (I am the one who offered to punch him in the teeth FWIW).
I know part of it is faulty data– like people whose husbands are doing enough are not complaining about them on forums. But still. I just want to note for anyone struggling with this… you can demand more. Other husbands are doing more. This does not have to be your normal…
Reading the bedtime/schedule discussion above made me realize just how much I’ve forgotten/blacked out from my first kid, and she’s only 2 1/2! I’m expecting twins in the next month and I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing, and will be relearning everything as I go. Will it come back to me? I feel like even if it does, I’ll still have to adjust it all because there will be two babies and a toddler.
Sigh. I just got back from a conference, during which I was working for 14-16 hours a day including responding to work e-mails. Several people at the office have now asked me about my vacation, with one even making a snide remark about how nice it is for me to be able to “take time off.”
In the meantime – I’m exhausted, overwhelmed with work backlog, and irritated. This too shall pass, right?
Just coming to rant. My husband bought our toddler son pink shoes because he loves pink. I was on an important work call and daycare called both my work phone and my cell phone, so I texted my husband to call them and see what they needed. They just wanted to know what shoes we had sent my son with, because there were only pink ones in his cubby.
How often are you nursing? Is she good at drinking from a cup and eating solids too? My answer will change depending on that.
Talk to me about weaning. My 18 month still loves nursing. I’m okay with it, but interested in getting pregnant and think this may be interfering. She nurses morning, after work and before bed right now. How do you get the kid to wean that doesn’t want to?
To complicate this, I went away for a week last month and thought it was weaning time. But my body rebelled. I had clogged ducts (despite pumping) and very nearly courted mastitis. The pain was excruciating. When I got home, it was all I could do just to get her nursing again to help me with the pain. I had an horrible oversupply when she was little.
Any tips, tricks or how-tos would be appreciated! I’m going away for a week again in a month and would like to her to be weaned at that time.
I have a two year old and one on the way. I’ve always worked full time but have been thinking lately of trying to go reduced hours/part time when I go back after baby 2. My husband is very into financial planning and pursuing financial independence. He feels that if we keep going on our current path we could be there in the next 7-8 years, so oldest would be around 10 and younger 7. Reducing my hours now would delay that. Does anyone have any input in whether it’s more beneficial to be part time or just generally working less when your kids are little or when they are elementary /middle school age? I feel like I’m missing out now but my child likes daycare and seems to be doing great. I wonder if my kids might “need” me more when they are a bit older. I know plans and careers can change and 7-8 years is a long time. I like my job a lot and have a lot of flexibility, but I do have full time billing requirements which is tough. I’m also fearful that going part time before I reach partner level might prevent me from getting there ever (at least at my current firm). Part of me feels like being home more now would really just be for me (which is okay!) but being around more later would help kids more.
We had a really bizarre experience last night and I’m hoping someone can shed light on what might be going on or convince me that it’s a complete coincidence. My 14 mo woke up crying at 4 AM, which is unusual (he normally sleeps through the night) but it’s happened from time to time. I go in to comfort him, and he has a bit of a runny nose and a little bit of an intermittent cough. Normally we are able to do 5-10 mins of holding and patting and he will go right back down, but in this instance he would not go back to sleep for over an hour. My husband and I tagged-teamed, and as we were dealing with him all of a sudden our noses got stuffy and we got a little sneezy too. My husband also has asthma and needed a puff of an inhaler. When we woke up in the morning, everyone seemed to be better.
My question is…wtf?! These were all allergy-like symptoms, but the pollen count outside was pretty low yesterday. My worst fear is that we have some kind of mold issue, particularly because we have had some roofing problems and it was raining last night, but we searched the attic and found no evidence of moisture, let alone mold (and our symptoms didn’t seem to get worse when we were in the attic, and they were better this morning). Did we all have some kind of brief cold? Weird coincidence? Help!!!
My husband is a VP (department head) at his company, and I think his corporate persona is absolutely hilarious/such a double standard. I’ve decided to lean in and exploit it rather than be bitter.
DH has had to take a bunch of time off/WFH/skip a big work event recently to do Parent Stuff for our kids (we have 2 under 5 and one due shortly). Yesterday he worked from home all afternoon so I could take my 4 y/o to her mid-day dance recital. He took a half day Monday to get our 2 y/o to her checkup. He has been leaving early to be home in time to do childcare pickup because my consulting work has me on the road more than expected.
Instead of his peers rolling their eyes, his peers are smitten with the idea that peer/boss/coworker is Super Dad to 3 girls. He’s taking 3 full weeks of paternity leave and nobody is batting an eye.
The reaction to my taking this kind of time is so, so different. So instead of being bitter, I’m making DH do more. It’s amazing. He’s going to the preschool parent-teacher conference this AM :-).
I have a question about baby/toddler bedtimes. I have a five month old who is currently sleeping roughly 9 pm to 7 am (we don’t wake her, she wakes naturally). This works perfectly for me because I can nurse her once before work and twice after work. Our pediatrician told us 9 pm is too late and encouraged us to put her down at 7 pm. We tried that and she woke up naturally at 5 am after the same amount of sleep, so we switched back to 9 pm bedtime because 9-7 is a more convenient overnight for us than 7-5. But the doctor says at some point she’s going to want to sleep 12-13 hours and will need to go down by 7-8 pm so she can wake naturally by 8 am (I need her up by 8 so I can nurse and get to work). 8 pm bedtime seems doable, but 7 pm just seems insane – I work pretty normal hours but I’m not normally home until 5:30 and I feel like we’d have to start the bedtime routine basically the second I walk in the door, especially once she’s crawling and needs a bath every day (we’re currently only doing 2-3 baths per week). Can anyone shed light on what your routine looks like with a 7 pm bedtime? Do you eat dinner after the baby’s in bed?
Yikes! Just got email about settling in dates for nursery – baby T will be 11 months when he starts. Any tips for starting nursery? Tricks for getting out of the house in the am?
Logistically, it seems stupidly complicated. Nursery is midway between our house and our offices (we work 5 min apart). We’ve arranged for early dropoff but will still have a 15 minute wait between when my husband can drop us off (due to his start time) and the nursery opens. Thought I’d just use the sling and take baby for a walk beforehand. I’ll then have a 40 min walk to work. Husband will do pick up in the evening and I’ll take the bus home a bit later.
Nursery provides milk/food/wipes but we’ll working with them to use our cloth nappies.