Splurge or Save Thursday: Recycled-Wool Wrap Coat
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A long wool coat is a cold weather classic. While there are some that run into the four-digits, there are many economical options, like this one.
Gap’s Recycled-Wool Wrap Coat is made from a 50% recycled-wool blend. The classic cut (notched collar, double breast, and self-tie waist) is updated with a straight silhouette and relaxed fit.
Don’t just wear it Monday through Friday — it looks equally as good with jeans and a sweater as it does with a suit.
This coat is $228 full price — but it’s now 40% off — and comes in charcoal gray, “holiday brown,” and black. It’s available in sizes XXS–XXL as well as petites and tall.
Sales of note for 5/19/25
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Nordstrom – Lots of markdowns on AGL (50%!), Weitzman, Tumi, Frank & Eileen, Zella, Natori, Cole Haan, Boss, Theory, Reiss (coats), Vince, Eileen Fisher, Spanx, and Frame (denim and silk blouses)
- Ann Taylor – 50% off summer-ready styles
- Banana Republic Factory – 50% off everything + extra 20% off
- Eloquii – 50-60% off select styles
- J.Crew – 60% off sale, and 40% off packing picks (prices as marked)
- J.Crew Factory – New arrivals, plus up to 60% off everything plus extra 50% off clearance
- M.M.LaFleur – Daily flash sales, and lots of twill suiting on sale! Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off. 5/19’s flash sale: Jardigans down to $175-$209, dresses down to $150, blazers down to $250
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
- Talbots – 30% off dresses, skirts, shoes, and accessories
My 5 year old came home taking about Wednesday (the Netflix show). Apparently several girls in her class watch it! I took a quick look and it seems super inappropriate for kids this age. It’s time to set up Netflix parental controls, right? She’s not a great speller but is learning and I can see her finding content we don’t want her viewing soon.
Also wow I was not ready to have to be censoring her TV content so soon. The kids her age I know well still love Bluey and Encanto. Why do kids grow up so fast these days?! 😭
Recommendations for improving fine motor skills for an active 3-year boy who is very much not interested in sitting down and coloring/writing? His preschool teachers shared their concerns and recommended a few games and toys, but looking for other suggestions as well. Or is this one of those things I shouldn’t worry so much about and he’ll eventually figure out once he’s not a whirling dervish of a 3-year old?
I want to send out birth announcements. Any recommendations for companies to do the design and printing?
This feels like a weird question, but has anyone ever gone through periods of time where you feel like your emotional range is more narrow? I have 3 little kids including a 9 month old. Ever since the baby was born I’ve noticed that I don’t feel the moments of real joy I used to feel, even when things are objectively good. It was much worse for the first few months postpartum but has never gone away entirely. I don’t feel overly sad or despairing or anything, and I’m generally content and mostly happy with my life. But it’s a very weird sensation – maybe like just being a little bit numb?
Has anyone else experienced this? If so, did it ever go away?
How much do you feel like early elementary age kids need to see their friends outside of school to develop close friendships? My K daughter has one close friend in her class (also a former daycare classmate and neighbor), whose mom and I have become friends and we’ve started hanging out with them basically every weekend. Which is great in many ways – it’s easy, the kids love having so much time together and I enjoy seeing the mom. But I don’t want my daughter to only have one real friend, especially at such a young age. It sounds like she plays with plenty of other kids at school and aftercare, and I feel like I should be arranging play dates with these kids so she can get to know them better. But the scheduling is always complicated, the small talk is awkward (weirdly, people seem less comfortable with drop-offs in K than they were in daycare) and the invites rarely get reciprocated, even when the kids appear to have a blast, which makes me feel like a weirdo if I keep reaching out. What do you think? Can I take the path of least resistance and just hang out with my friend, or should I push through the awkwardness of play dates with new people for my kid’s sake?
For us the solution to this problem involves Cocomelon songs or Cocomelon story time on Spotify during breakfast. It takes DD’s focus off of the details she wants to control so that she just eats. We don’t do it every day, but it’s super helpful in a pinch. You say your kid’s not distracted by shiny objects, but what’s her happy place?
Does anyone have (or have they had) a toddler who LOVES typically early academic things? If so what kinds of activities, games, and toys did you find were favorites? Asking because of an upcoming birthday and the holiday season.
DS #2’s interests are – letters/phonics, numbers, shapes, being read to, etc. Dude can literally hear the ABC song, in multiple modalities, on repeat. I think he even plays pretend with his alphabets in the bath…
Very different from my first kid who was obsessed with dinosaurs and construction sites at the same age. :)
Thursday positivity. My mom has been here for a week and it’s been so lovely having her around. They moved from the US to Europe to be closer to us and it just makes life really nice (still a 3 hour flight away but still….)
She walked my first grader to and from school everyday, my husband was able to come get me from the airport/train station when I was late back because someone was home, and we cooked together and chatted.
The only problem is that it’s such a stark contrast with my in laws visits which are super stressful, and we are always feeling pressure to make things fair.
Good morning! A good friend just lost her father after a long battle with an illness. Any recommendations for gifts to send? Budget is $200. They are located in Fort Myers,FL if anyone has local suggestions. Otherwise, we can ship something. Thank you!
I have a spirted three year old who is smack dab in the middle of, “I want to do it myself.” Which is great in theory, but in practice it takes us two hours to get out the door in the morning. Any interference to help (and speed things along) results in a meltdown, even for things that she cannot remotely do on her own (e.g., scramble her own eggs). I love that she wants to try and do things on her own (I wish my older kid had more of that … he’s the one I’m worried will end up living in my basement until he’s 40) but it just takes SO LONG to do basic things. By the time I get to work we’ve battled over whether or not she can wear shorts to school (it’s 25 degrees today), which books / toys to bring downstairs, what to eat for breakfast (and on which plate), who gets to prepare said food, getting shoes on, putting on her own car seatbelt, whether or not her baby doll also gets her own seatbelt, etc. etc. Every minute thing is a negotiation. And she’s not a kid that can be distracted by other shiny objects. As an adult, she’ll be a force to reckon with, but right now – my God.
I show up at work exhausted and frustrated. What secret am I missing (or is this just one of those – it’s a phase, wait it out type of things?)
I read yesterday’s thread about the first grader struggling with reading with interest. My first grader is per his teacher reading on a Fountas and Pinnell level “E” but I have my doubts — we’ve been working our way though the Bob books series at home (currently on level “C” Bob books) and sometimes he reads them easily and with decent fluency and sometimes he is clearly just guessing based on the picture without looking at the word and seeing whether it matches his guess. He can sound out words but only does so with a lot of prompting. I think I need to do something more structured at home. What are everyone’s thoughts on Hooked on Phonics (the hard copy materials, not the app version – we don’t have a tablet for the kids to use) versus How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons? Other recommendations?