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I am stalking this top until it goes on sale — admittedly it looks a bit casual for work (or at least too low-cut), but something about it looks perrrfect for the weekend. It’s drapey and forgiving but not schlubby — sign me up. I’m stalking the navy, but the coral (pictured), green, and light blue versions look great as well. The blouse is $46. Pleione Pleat V-Neck Top Here’s a plus-size alternative. (L-3)Sales of note for 7.10.24
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Nordstrom – The Nordstrom Anniversary Sale has begun! Here are all of our picks.
- Ann Taylor – Semi-Annual Sale! (Ends 7/12)
- Athleta – Extra 30% off semi-annual sale (ends 7/10)
- Banana Republic Factory – 40-60% off everything + extra 20% off your purchase
- Boden – 10% off new women’s styles
- Eloquii – Extra 50% off all sale
- Everlane – Up to 70% off
- J.Crew – End of Season Sale, up to 60% off all sale styles
- J.Crew Factory – 40-60% off everything + extra 60% off sale styles
- Lo & Sons – Summer sale, up to 50% off
- Loft – 50% off tops
- Madewell – End of season sale, up to 70% off with code.
- M.M.LaFleur – Save 25% sitewide. (Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I think this is the biggest sitewide discount I’ve ever seen…)
- NET-A-PORTER – Up to 60% off sale styles
- Rothy’s – Lots of great finds in the “final few” section
- Sephora – 25% off a ton of shampoos and conditioners (ends 7/10)
- Talbots – Semi-annual Red Door Sale, extra 40% off markdowns
- Banana Republic Factory – 50% off everything plus extra 15% off purchase
- Eloquii – Semi-annual clearance, up to 85% off
- J.Crew – Up to 50% off warm-weather styles; extra 50% off sale styles
- Lands’ End – 50% off your order
- Loft – $39 dresses and 40% off your purchase (ends 6/26)
- Talbots – 30% off all markdowns, summer favorites starting at $24.50 (ends 6/25)
- 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 – Summer clearance up to 70% off; 50% off tops, shorts & more
- Hanna Andersson – Up to 50% off all dresses; up to 50% off all baby items
- J.Crew Crewcuts – Up to 50% off warm-weather styles; extra 50% off sale styles
- Old Navy – 50% off all polos; 60% off steals
- Target – 20% off women’s swim; 50% off patio furniture, garden items & accessories; up to 30% off kitchen & dining
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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?
mascot says
I like the look of the Pleione tops on the models, but they just don’t work for me. I’m busty so I appreciate the ease across the bust, but it then hangs like a tent.
AIMS says
Me too. I only looked good in things like this when I was pregnant. But not pregnant I tend to just look frumpy.
EE says
I have an older version of this top that I like, and that I wore to work tucked with a cardigan or blazer. However, I’m now 7+ months pregnant and can still get into it (in an XS) with room to spare… Which makes me wonder if I looked ridiculous in it before!
Legally Brunette says
Completely agree. Looks very frumpy on me. I need a fitted top.
hoola hoopa says
I was admiring this top and had to remind myself of that same thing. Not for me, but cute for someone else.
MomAnon4This says
Hoping this shows up as a new thread.
How do you find time as busy parents/professionals to TALK to your spouse? Not even a date night talk – budget, schedule, daily check-in?
We are typically out of the house and apart from 7:15 am – 6 pm or so, if we’re lucky. Usually more like 6:30 pm. Then kid time/making them go to bed until 9 pm (!) I know — but that’s the way it goes.
At this point I am SHOT, having been up since 5:45 am and downstairs since 6:45 am. And I am ready for my bath and “me time” – seriously, 20 minute bath almost every night keeps me sane. 1 7yearold and 1 1yearold, if it makes a difference.
But Husband thinks 9 pm (or even later) is a great time to bring up budget questions, the schedule for the summer, what we’re doing 2 weekends from now, check-in about our days (we had a check-in before during dinner, maybe, but that one was kid-friendly and this one could be deeper or more serious). I just seriously canNOT do that then. Seriously – I ask him not to bring it up, point out I can’t see the email or calendar, and he keeps asking and says how important this is and why don’t I want to talk about it and that this is him making an effort (!). If this is him making an effort, frankly, I’d rather he didn’t, but what alternatives are there? Note that I’m talking about date night reconnect, but just a daily every-two-days hey, what’s going on in our lives check-in?
Thoughts?
Anon says
It’s tough. We try to do lunch dates (we both work downtown) every couple of weeks to talk family business, and there are nights when we have the kids watch t.v. for an hour while we do family stuff. We’ve also found it helpful to split up who is “in charge” of certain things – I schedule our vacations, he plans our grocery / meal list – and we trust each other to do those tasks independently, without each other’s input on the details.
We’ve also mutually called in sick a few times just to have a ‘staycation’ day after the kids are off to school – to buy/ wrap Christmas presents, write thank-you cards, plan family events, etc.
Can you skip the bath one night a week (likely Monday, since you’re likely more worn out later in the week) to talk to your husband about the things he thinks are important?
Anon says
um, I wish my husband wanted to talk about those things. All of the administrative tasks fall to me, and he is blissfully unaware of all the appointments, plans, budget issues, etc (can’t you tell that this is a major source of resentment for me?). From my perspective, I’d encourage the good behavior and engage in that conversation for a few minutes. Or maybe you guys can discuss these things via messenger or text while at work?
Meg Murry says
Yes, we handle a lot of that kind of thing where it isn’t making a decision (should we send kiddo to camp A or camp B but rather just confirming already made decisions) via email, or text reminders like “hey don’t forget to deposit that check in your truck today”.
But I totally hear you. My husband is perfectly fine wanting to discuss things like this (or politics, or information about our friends or other things that I might be interested about if I wasn’t exhausted) starting at 10:30 pm, getting to sleep at midnight and bouncing out of bed at 6 am refreshed and ready to go. Sometimes I’m up for it, but if it’s an at all touchy subject I’ve tried warning him that discussing it when I’m tired and cranky is not going to get him the outcome he wants.
I’ll admit we let the kids eat dinner in front of the TV or let them watch an hour after dinner 1-2 nights a week so we have some time for “grown up talk”. It gets better once the youngest can fend for themselves a little bit more.
Could you let daddy do bedtime 1-2 nights a week while you take your bath at 8 or 8:30? Or are you working around kiddo bedtime routines that need the only bathroom?
I also bribe/incentivize my now 9 year old (since he was 6 or 7) with rewards like TV time, Minecraft time (or Minecraft YouTube videos), extra privileges on the weekend, etc if he gets the bulk of his homework done at the after school program and doesn’t save it for us to slog through together. Nights not spent taking 1.5 hours to coax him to do 25 minutes of homework are so much more pleasant.
Overall though, we just kind of struggled/staggered through everything when we had little kids, made a lot of “I’m going to do X in case you strenuously object” or “just take care of it and don’t spend more than $Y” decisions just to get past that phase.
I think there needs to be an “It gets better” series of commercials for parents of kids under 2. It really does get better, because they can fend for themselves more and you learn more how to juggle/deal.
Anonymous says
we schedule the bigger talks in advance. So like on Monday we’ll decide to talk about the summer schedule on Thursday after kids go to bed. We’ll give each other a break and postpone if someone had a super rough day at work and can’t handle a discussion at that time. Knowing the topic in advance also allows for more time effective discussions because we’ve both had a chance to think about the topic.
Also, lunches dates are so huge. Time when you are not exhausted and no kids around. Even if our schedules don’t allow us to get together in person we try to do a 20 minute phone lunch date at least once a week.
Anonymous says
We usually handle discussions of admin tasks by email or text during the workday. My schedule is basically identical to yours and I agree it doesn’t leave any room for quality time with my spouse. And I am even more shot on the weekends after running around with our kid all day.
Philanthropy Girl says
We’ve tried to go the family meeting route – regularly scheduled, ours is generally Saturday nap time. We try to actually plan an informal agenda (Pinterest even had some nice printables if that’s your thing). We both keep track of items we want to bring up and save them for family meeting time.
Maybe a Saturday or Sunday morning coffee date, since your kids are old enough to get themselves up and breakfasted without your assistance?
In between, we do check-in at bedtime a few times a week. We don’t really talk about anything serious, just a kind of “what’s up with you” sort of chat that doesn’t require much mental or emotional output.
hoola hoopa says
Ditto pp:
Lunch dates
Staycation days
Text/email during work day
Add: Weekend nap/quiet time. Even my older, non-nappers have a quiet time in their room alone, partly so that we can get stuff like this done at daylight hours.
Try doing different types of communication at different times of day. Perhaps night time is a good time to discuss plans broadly and action is taken during the work day. Or email background/research during the workday and make the final decision together at night. That way you can both contribute at your good times.
Samantha says
I totally hear you.
My husband tends to bring up something like this (“so did your 401k setting change in your most recent paycheck, the amount looks lower than before, or did you change your dependent care allowance?”) usually (1) on a weekend or weeknight, (2) when I’m unloading the dishwasher to desperately find a bottle while carrying my baby (3) when said baby is yelling “milk!milk!milk!” and (4) when my older one is yelling “aaaa” loudly to drown out the sound of the baby yelling, because it is disturbing him.
Unsurprisingly, I usually snap at my husband in such a scenario. We’ve gotten to the point where I’ve told him not to ask me questions like these unless he sees that I’m sitting down. I don’t have a solution for you, just wanted to say you are not alone, and that this too shall pass!
What works best: questions like these over email or text during the workday, or more open ended discussions during weekly date night. I cant handle anything heavy after 9pm on a weekday, even netflix has to be under 45 minutes and funny.
Diclegis says
I just want to say that Diclegis is a wonder drug for morning sickness. I’m 7 weeks and threw up so much over the course of a few days that my throat started bleeding, and I was pretty nauseous even when not puking. My OB prescribed it so that I could stop throwing up and not cause further damage to my throat. The food aversions haven’t really gone away, but the nausea is significantly better and I haven’t thrown up or felt like I needed to since I started taking it. Also, it’s Category A (completely safe for pregnancy…it’s just a time-release combination of Vitamin B6 and Unisom. There’s actually a pregnant lady printed on the pill).
No affiliation with the drug company or anything, just wanted to share in case someone else is miserable and pukey. For some reason it didn’t occur to me to ask for something to help my nausea because it’s such a normal part of pregnancy, but I’m glad my OB offered.
MomAnon4This says
Yeah, at first I thought if I wasn’t hospitalized for morning sickness Kate Middleton-style, that it wasn’t THAT bad. But after throwing up AFTER eating, and 6 times in the parking lot at work… I definitely called and asked for the anti-nausea drugs. I love Zofran! There’s no threshold you HAVE to meet – don’t get me wrong – bleeding in your throat sounds horrible! – it just has to be too uncomfortable for YOU.
Glad you’re feeling better. I highly recommend reading “Expecting Better” — there’s a lot of medicine that IS safe during pregnancy and also ways to think about the data that you might not realize.
Diclegis says
I loved that book and it was actually where I heard about Diclegis for the first time. It is the only pregnancy book I have read that made me feel better instead of worse when I was done with it. I’m a total data geek, so it was very empowering to actually see the numbers behind the “pregnancy do’s and don’ts” type lists and be able to make my own decisions.
Butter says
We have used a mini P&P since Day 1 for LO in our bedroom and LOVE it. It is so darn cute, doesn’t take up a ton of space, and our LO has never had a problem sleeping in it. But I’m afraid he’s going to outgrow the bassinet insert soon (weight limit 15 lb), and I’m not sure what to do next. We’re not ready to transition him to his own room yet, so need a solution that can buy us some time from ~3 months to ~6+ months. Do we just take the bassinet insert out and put him on the bottom? That seems like a killer on the back, and I’m not sure would solve the space issue since his little arms are already getting close to touching the sides (does that matter?). Buy a regular sized P&P and put him on the bottom of that? Again, seems weird to me bending that far down/having him sleep that close to the floor. Is that what people do? Or should we just give in and move his real crib into our room?
For the record before we had him I declared he would be out of our room by 3 months. Now I joke he shall stay til he’s ready to go to college ;)
Anonymous says
Does it have to go all the way to the bottom? Most PnP have a way to keep it near the top (straps), or does that max out at 15lb?
HSAL says
THANK YOU for this comment. I had no idea that the top level had a weight limit – and yeah, it’s 15 pounds. My kid is just getting there but I wouldn’t have thought about the weight limit for months.
MomAnon4This says
It’s not so killer on your back — you’re only putting him down there 1x/night, then picking him up in the morning, right? hahahahhahahahahahaha
We did this – kept baby in P&P in our room, close to the floor, and transitioned to the crib in his room, with audio baby monitor, around 6 months. We did keep a swaddle on him as long as possible and watch the temperature in our room, also warm pjs helped. it is getting to summer now in the northern hemisphere, that should help.
Meg Murry says
Yes, we also moved the baby from the bassinet insert in the mini P&P to the lower level P&P and kept him in our room for a while (9 months?), because we didn’t have central air so it made more sense to keep him in our room with a window AC unit rather than buy a second AC unit for his room.
And I hear you on keeping the baby in your room forever – my husband made me move the P&P from next to our bed to across the room at around 3 months old and I cried because then I couldn’t reach out to touch him to make sure he was still breathing when I woke up in the middle of the night.
If you are willing to buy another baby containment device, a cosleeper (arm’s reach is the brand I’ve seen most) would put the baby on the same level as your bed, but not actually in your bed. I’ve seen them go for free or cheap on listservs when baby outgrows them or from people that found that they didn’t work for their family for one reason or another – they seem to be one of those items that are either “best thing ever for my family” or “ugh, that totally didn’t work for us” or “that was great for kid #1 but not kid #2”.
Butter says
Okay good to know! And yes, he still sleeps a couple of feet away from my bed and I love being able to reach out and check on him. Great idea about the cosleeper idea, I do see those posted everywhere.
Butter says
Love this. Yes of course only putting him down and picking him up once during the night ;)
Anon in NYC says
One of my friends had the Fisher Price Rock n Play bassinet that is elevated off the floor and I think it has a higher weight limit, so that might be a bit easier on your back. My LO is very long so she grew out of her bassinet, length-wise, at about 2 months and we put her in her own room. I wasn’t entirely prepared to move her at 2 months, but it wound up being great for us/her.
BabyThighs says
Yeah, some sort of cosleeping arrangement might be a good fit. Some parents “sidecar” their cribs to the bed (please read up and do it safely!) so baby is at the same level as the parent, but on their own surface. We had a “Dream Home Travel Bassinet” that lasted from birth until ~6 months (except when she was sleeping between us in her sweet little co-sleeping thingie). Then a tiring, awkward month of a full sized pack n play on the floor of our bedroom, and now she’s in her own crib!
Too Much Moving says
My husband and I bought a house that is in need of major renovation. It’s in our dream neighborhood and perfect for us in every way (or will be after we’re done renovating). But we’ve run into issues with construction and the house will not be ready for us to move in to for a few months. The sale of our current home is going to close soon and we’ve tried to delay it or negotiate a post-possession contract but that’s failed. So we are moving in with my in-laws for about two months. This is the best move logistically and financially (renting for 2 months on short notice is prohibitively expensive in our area). All of our stuff except the essentials is going into storage. Their home is small so the only option is for us to share a room with our 11 month old son.
I’m stressed about all of this, of course, but I’m even more worried about how the move to the in-laws, then move to the new house, is going to affect the baby. He’s been in his own room since he was 3 months old so sleeping in the same room as us will be a new experience. I would love to hear any and all advice on how to make this all easier on him.
Maddie Ross says
I think that at such a young, for what is really such a short amount of time, you honestly just deal. As long as you don’t make a big change (like him co-sleeping with you at your in-laws when he’s been in his own room till now), you’re likely not to have a big issue with him I would guess. We often stay in the same room with our child when we travel and it’s a pain, but it doesn’t change much. The biggest issue for us is just trying to quietly come to bed. Is there any way to clear out the bottom of a closet or a bathroom (even if it makes it otherwise unusable, assuming there are others) just to give him some privacy/separation? Or maybe invest in a privacy screen?
Meg Murry says
Any chance there’s a closet big enough for a pack and play or even a crib? That would be almost like his own room, at least.
Honestly, if it were me moving in with my in-laws I suspect the baby would probably have an easier adjustment than I would. The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is to get a white noise machine now and start using it, so you can continue to use it at grandma’s house, and to consider buying some blackout curtains for at grandma’s house.
As far as sharing a room with the baby, the only thing I can think of is to make a point to do things like picking out your whole outfit (down to shoes and accessories) before putting him down for the night, and putting it in the bathroom or hallway (maybe buy some over the door hooks?) so you aren’t fumbling in the semi-dark in the morning trying not to wake the sleeping kid and wind up with a black skirt and navy shoes.
Also, if right now the timeline is for only 2 months, put that into your head as 3-4 months, because chances are it will still run over – so it’s better to be happy it only took 2.5 months than upset that it’s running over into close to 3. So keep that in mind when you pack your storage – make sure you put the “stuff we might need if the delay gets longer” into clearly labeled boxes, preferably put in the storage unit last. I learned that lesson the hard way when we started packing up a house expecting to have a closing in April and having it delayed until August – we were starting to flip out worrying we would need to break back into the fall clothing, etc.
anon says
+1 to using a closet Growing up, one of the criteria my family judged a beach rental house by was the presence of a large enough closet to stash a kid or two in sleeping bags. Adventure! for kids and money-saving for parents.
MomAnon4This says
Kids are very, very resillient – is there a reason to think your kid is especially sensitive to the changes? 3 days should be all you need for a baby to get used to their new place & schedule – it’s not like they’ll be sad and miss their own place. As long as you emit mom-fidence, the kid will be fine. Real question now — this is a VERY anxious situation!! Are you sure you’re not projecting about how YOU’RE going to adjust with all the changes!
Too Much Moving says
Oh I know I’m going to be bad! But putting my brave mom-face on and isn’t it fun living with grandma and grandpa!! SO MUCH FUN!!!
Anonymous says
Good luck! We lived with my parents for a good 6 months while we were waiting for our dream house to be ready… Between that and finishing renovations, etc. My kids have been in a number of different rooms, with my 3-year-old sleeping on a mattress on the floor for the better part of a year. They do not seem to care AT ALL.
pockets says
I had to move in with my parents for a month between places. My situation was different in that my kid had her own room (and we brought her crib with us to ease the transition). But, she didn’t care at all. The move didn’t phase her and our subsequent move to a brand new apt was equally undramatic.
Too Much Moving says
Thank you all! Glad to hear others have survived similar situations :)
Meg Murry says
One other thought – will you have room in the bedroom for his crib or will you be switching to a P&P? If a P&P, you may want to set it up and start using it now in his room, and then plan to use it for a little while when you get to your new house (or plan to set up both crib and P&P and let him pick between them for bedtime and naptime). That way, at least it’s only one change (P&P in baby’s bedroom vs P&P in grandma’s house vs P&P in new house) as opposed to a new place to sleep in a new space. When we were traveling and wanted our toddler to sleep in a P&P on the trip, we were given the good advice to practice with the P&P at home first, and talk up how exciting it was that he was going to get to go on vacation and sleep in a P&P while on vacation. It sorta worked, although he did still end up in our bed some nights on the trip.