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Sales of note for 9.10.24
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Ann Taylor – 30% off your purchase
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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
Anonymous says
DH and I have an anniversary coming up in October and we’d love to go away for the weekend. We can’t secure childcare for longer than that, We’re in the DC suburbs and looking for something within driving distance (2-4hrs). We like hiking a lot and I like being by water if possible. We also like good food. For this trip I’d like a hotel/BNB vs Airbnb (which we do a lot!). We’ve already been to Omni Bedford Springs and Omni Homestead. We’ve also been to Deep Creek lake but I could be persuaded to go back. Also spent significant time on the Eastern shore and Annapolis (I’ve been in this area 15yrs). We are not City people so going to Philly or NYC is not our idea of fun. What ideas am I missing?? Budget for hotel is $400/night probably.
Anon says
Are you 100% set on driving? A short flight would take less total time than a 4 hour drive and would open up a lot more options.
Anonymous says
Yeh but getting to the airport early, boarding, potential for delays, then traveling to destination….
Anonymous says
Yeah, there is no flight that takes less than 4 hours for to door and driving is just so much less of a hassle.
Anon says
It depends on how close you live to the airport maybe? But I take tons of 1-2 hour flights that take less than 4 hours door to door. I have TSA precheck and never show up more than 60 minutes early for a domestic flight.
Anon says
This is a total preference thing, but for me, if it’s 4+ hours of driving and city-to-city (vs. driving to a beach or national/state park type of thing), I prefer flying.
I flew recently to a city (~6 hour drive), and the ~1 hour flight was well worth the time saved to me, even with the drive to/from our (very large international) airport. I’m also going to a nearby city (4 hours away), and taking a high-end bus vs. driving because I’d rather zone out/read/nap, and I won’t need a car once I’m there.
Mary Moo Cow says
It’s close but the Inn at Little Washington? The Salamander? Another idea is Richmond, VA: there isn’t super strenuous hiking but lots of trails on the James River and lots of quirky/critical darling restaurants. Hotel options include The Jefferson, Quirk, Graduate, The Berkeley.
Anonymous says
Girl. She said $400 a night be real.
Spirograph says
Ohiopyle in PA is beautiful at that time of year. If you want a luxe hotel, Nemacolin is nice (and has a great spa), or there are lots of BNB options. Fallingwater is nearby, plus a lot of hiking, biking, cute little towns, etc.
NYCer says
I know there are mixed feelings about this hotel on this board, but what about The Greenbrier? Though it might be more than $400 per night.
NYCer says
Oops, I missed the by water part!
Artemis says
Nonspecific reccs but aren’t there a bunch of nice resorts on The Chesapeake?
Anonymous says
Cape May! You could get a great ocean view and it’s such a cute town with a million hotel or old Victorian bed and breakfasts.
Anona says
Keswick Hall isn’t on the water, but it has a beautiful pool and great access to the food and trails around Charlottesville. Or what about something down on the James River like Kingsmill?
Anonymous says
Maybe Charlottesville if you can skip the water part. Or Cape May perhaps?
anon says
Last I checked, ages ago, there was a lovely Relais and Chateaux hotel near Charlottesville.
Paris, Virginia has a lovely inn and restaurant.
Anon says
Ohhh! Those are all our favorite requirements for a nice kid free getaway night. Inn at Perry Cabin in St. Michaels is absolutely and completely gorgeous in October, but you’ll need to find a discounted rate if possible, and the Tides Inn will meet your needs with lots of reservations for $409/night in October (but shhhh, don’t tell anyone about it bc it’s my favorite sneaky romantic spot near DC on the water). When I need to feel like I’m on the water, but we don’t have time to travel, I’ve also gotten a lot of mileage out of going out for a really nice dinner on the wharf.
anon says
Lake Gaston NC? You won’t get Omni level hotels but water and hiking.
Anonymous says
Thank you all for the suggestions! I think we’ll look at Ohiopyle (I’d love to go to Falling Water) or Gettysburg. I grew up not far from Gettysburg so it’s funny that we forgot about this option. If anyone’s looking for a similar trip, we went to Harper’s Ferry this past fall and it was lovely!
busybee says
Not near water, but my husband and I had a surprisingly wonderful time in Gettysburg for a weekend last summer. There’s a cute downtown with some good restaurants and we stayed at a really beautiful B&B about ten mins from downtown, within your budget. We didn’t hike but I think there are several options in that vicinity.
Anonymous says
I’m 5 weeks pregnant and obviously excited but I think as I’m trying not to get my hopes up too much I’m focusing on how worried I am about telling people. I’m 38 and most friends are loudly DINK by choice, it’s always been on the cards for us but I’m quite private and have never really commented either way. I have this horrible worry that friends (and family) are going to be happy for us but ask ‘why now’. I know if they are polite they shouldn’t say that but I can’t help feel we will get a lot of it. I feel like I need a breezy answer that doesn’t invite more questions. It was really just a now or never, which might have been earlier if not for the covid years. (We are not in the US and healthcare here wasn’t great over that period).
Anony says
I heard something like that a few times (for me, it was after infertility treatment that I was pretty private about, so the truth wasn’t an easy answer). I would usually say something about how we were waiting for the right time and then immediately bring up another topic.
Spirograph says
“The stars finally aligned, we’re so excited!”
anon says
This is perfect. Also, people who are going to be nosey and rude will be that way pretty much no matter what.
Anonymous says
Why would they ask that question? 38 is not an unusual time to have a baby. I’d probably say “What do you mean?” and move on.
Clementine says
People will have Opinions. Whether you have a kid at 18 or 28 or 38, they’ll have Opinions. I actually think they’ll be psyched for you.
Also – not super uncommon in my circles and I swear, people are happier with their choices than friends who had kids at 24.
Anon says
Yup, people make weird comments no matter what! I had my kid at 32 at a time when it made a lot of sense in terms of our lives and SO many people (including my boss!!!) asked me if the pregnancy was accidental. I was so baffled – what is it about an early 30s married woman with a settled life and career that would scream “accidental pregnancy”?? The only thing I can think is that we’d been married for quite a while (~7 years) so I guess a lot of people just decided we weren’t ever having kids. It’s so weird. You just have to tune it out.
anon says
I got a similar reaction. We also were married for quite awhile (six years), and I guess some people assumed that meant it was never happening? It was so weird. We waited until we felt ready, and luckily, we had the luxury of the biological clock to do so.
Anon says
I’ve found with news like this, people are looking for you to take the lead on how you want them to respond. Our third pregnancy was a twin pregnancy, and it was a very, very, very wanted pregnancy after trying unsuccessfully for a third child for a very, very, very, very long time. Very few people knew that — and most assumed we were done, until suddenly – to most people – I was unexpectedly pregnant with two older kids, and then unexpectedly, it was twins. When I shared the news without any context, people almost universally responded with “wow! you are going to have your hands full” Or “I could never do that,” or some other vaguely “oh, I’m so sorry that this totally unexpected thing happened to you; hope you survive!” If I just added one line in there — something like, “we feel so lucky” or “this is something we wanted for a long time” – the responses were almost universally positive.
So, I guess, share the news and tell them how YOU feel about it subtly, and then let them respond accordingly. Only the most obtuse will continue to make it all about themselves, and even then, just remember, a negative response is usually just giving you more information about how that person feels about the idea of a baby – not how YOU should feel about it.
Anonymous says
100% this. This is one of the best pieces of communications advice I’ve ever received generally – deliver news with the tone in which you want it to be received.
Also, reading between the lines, it sounds like you are concerned that based on your age/length of marriage, people are going to speculate either that (a) you didn’t want kids but accidentally got pregnant or (b) that you needed fertility treatment to get pregnant. If you are trying to head those questions off, in your shoes, based on what you wrote here I would honestly say something like “We’re pregnant! We’re thrilled – we’ve always wanted kids and decided it was now or never.”
anon says
People make so many comments about pregnancy! (And kids/parenting in general). I think a lot of it is blurted out frankly. If you lead with positivity, MOST people will get the hint and keep their comments to themselves/at least not to you. I’m pregnant with #3, after having a boy and girl, so I get all these weird comments from people who assumed we were done (even though I never said that myself…why the kids’ sex mattered in this at all could be a topic for another post lol). Try to remind yourself that they may ask “why now” but that’s about them/their assumptions/choices, not you.
Anon says
Same! Pregnant with third after already having a boy and girl and the comments are so odd…
anon says
YES! So many variations of “but you know babies/kids are annoying/tiring, right??” or “but you had one of each!” like they’re variety pack or something wth?? As Anon AT 10:49 AM wisely put it, it shows more about how they feel about babies, but still weird.
Anon says
I’m pregnant with my fourth and feel like a side show attraction when I’m out with all of them. Almost like I have no right to have “so many kids” (which wasn’t really that many until a generation ago)
Anonymous says
“Because we wanted a kid”. I think you’re overthinking this.
Anon says
Thank you to this amazing community for your support on Friday when I posted about my angst sending my daughters to the International Parade their school in shirts with an Israel flag. Fortunately, the parade was lovely. Lots of different countries represented, the school also handed out flags from many different places and the students carried signs with the school’s values (things like Kindness, Respect, Integrity, etc.) in all different languages from English to Arabic to Hebrew to Korean, etc. It was short, but sweet. On Saturday we had the International Festival, which was mostly nice. All of the tables, with the exception of one, focused on the cultural elements of each country/place – like the Korea table had someone who could teach you how to write your name in Korean, the India table had someone doing Henna, the Germany table had a wheel you could spin to answer a question related to a map of Germany, etc. with lots of yummy foods to sample and performances to watch. Except the Palestine table who thought it was appropriate to include a book titled The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine and some factoid on their poster about children dying in the 70s, alongside the pita and hummus the woman was handing out. There is a time and place for everything and this was not the time or place.
Anon says
Definitely inappropriate and inflammatory, especially in the current moment when Hamas and Iran, both of which have pledged to exterminate Israel and Jews, are on the attack.
Anonymous says
Agree, so inappropriate.
But, I’m glad that your kids had a great day :)
Anonymous says
How would you feel if someone told you it was not the time and place to mention the Holocaust?
Anonymous says
I would feel like they were right! It’s not the time for either! They are CHILDREN at a celebration! You don’t talk about how much your deceased grandmother would have enjoyed your sister’s wedding at her wedding. There’s a time and a place for everything. OP I’m sorry that happened. You seem like you are choosing to have a positive attitude about it.
Anon says
“You don’t talk about how much your deceased grandmother would have enjoyed your sister’s wedding at her wedding.”
Wait what? Isn’t this a normal thing to say? I mean not to go on and on about a deceased relative but it’s normal to say “grandma Nora would have loved this, too bad she couldn’t be here.”
Amelia Bedelia says
I think OP – and pretty much everyone regardless of nationality – would agree that a children’s international festival is not the time and place to mention the Holocaust.
Anon says
+1. There are lots of important issues in the world, some of which may feel very painful or ever-present to those suffering. That doesn’t mean that we have free rein to hijack others’ events.
GCA says
+1. This is an event that was meant to center children’s joy.
OP says
I would agree. There was literally no other table there that mentioned anything relating to history or politics. It was all about food, dance, art, etc. That was not the purpose of the event and not the place for a discussion. Most of the elementary aged children don’t know what that means.
OP says
replying to myself – my grandparents are in fact Holocaust survivors. I have visited Auschwitz. The Holocaust had absolutely no place at this event.
Anon says
I’m Jewish and I think it would be very inappropriate to talk about the Holocaust at an international festival for elementary schoolers. There is a time and place for Holocaust education, but this is not it!
Anonymous says
Respectfully their children are dying by the thousands.
Anon says
“Ethnic cleansing” has a specific definition. Civilians dying in warfare isn’t it, as tragic as it is. I wish more than anything that Hamas cared about those lives lost and would do something to stop it.
In any case, a children’s food festival is not the place to explore those nuances.
OP says
Which is tragic and terrible. But how does that make sense at an International Festival at an elementary school? The purpose of the festival is to teach kids about different cultures, traditions, etc. The Israel table did not mention Hamas’ attack. The Ukraine table did not mention Russia’s offensive. This was not the place for that type of discourse.
Anon says
I agree w you completely. Glad your kids had a good experience.
Anonymous says
+1
Anon says
i am genuinely flabbergasted, though perhaps shouldn’t be, that some people commenting on this thread think an International Festival at an elementary school is the appropriate place/time to bring attention to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. No wonder our society is such a hot mess.
Anon says
I don’t think it’s appropriate but I’m also not going to spend a lot of time criticizing someone who’s watching children get slaughtered in real time. Have some empathy.
Anon says
I think it would be easier to be empathetic toward someone who could understand what was appropriate at the event OP describes. Also seems like a good opportunity to educate people about their culture outside of the current conflict
Anon says
I’m not surprised but I am horrified.
Anonymous says
How long did you have to wait to see your OB when you were pregnant? My practice insists on scheduling appointments through the patient portal, and I requested an appointment a week ago but haven’t been scheduled yet. I am probably 5-6 weeks along now. Is it just too early for them to schedule something?
anon says
12 weeks unless something is wrong
Anon says
In the US, for someone with no prior complications related to pregnancy, it is usually entirely normal to have your first appointment and ultrasound at the 8-10 week mark.
NYCer says
My OB scheduled the first appointment at 7 weeks. My most recent pregnancy was almost 6 years ago though, so not sure if protocols have changed.
Anon says
My OB sees you for the first time at 10-11 weeks unless it seems like something is wrong (bleeding, etc.). It varies a lot even within the US. My friends in California got seen a lot earlier.
anon says
In California and I was seen pretty early. maybe week 5 or 6 for one and week 8 for another. Symptoms consistent with an ectopic for the earlier one, though.
Anon says
6-10 weeks is standard in my area. IMO, this is way too late, especially for first-time moms who have early questions or who need to be warned about specific symptoms (e.g., symptoms of ectopic pregnancy). It’s also an issue for women who take medication for chronic conditions and need early advice on whether to continue it – it’s surprisingly hard to get an early appointment even in that scenario. Some practices will do a patient navigator or nurse phone outreach for that, which is nice, but it’s by no means universal.
anon says
I had an in-person education appointment with the nurse at 8 weeks, but didn’t have an exam or see the doctor until 12 weeks. In the US, at an OB practice I trust for good care.
Anon says
For so many women, severe nausea starts at 5 weeks. Some practices won’t bring you in for that until the “first appointment.”
Anon says
I didn’t see the doctor until 11 weeks but they told me I could call/message with any questions, and I took advantage of that a few times.
Anon says
My OB schedules the first visit for ~6-8 weeks to check for a heartbeat and to get a dating ultrasound.
Anon says
Around 8 weeks. Dating ultrasounds are most accurate when performed by 8 weeks or so. It’s also good to get an early read on whether the pregnancy is viable (I know too many women who weren’t seen until 10+ weeks, but baby had stopped developing much earlier) and to get help with any early symptoms (eg, advice or meds on coping with nausea).
Anon says
Adding – also good to get your progesterone checked by 8 weeks. Some women benefit from supplementation in the first trimester.
I actually make an appt for a pregnancy confirmation shortly after I get a positive test. They will do a blood draw to check for HCG and progesterone; I’ve needed supplementation in the past so don’t like to leave it too long
Anonymous says
Where I live 12 weeks is the standard. I had to really push to get in earlier when I thought something was going wrong.
An.On. says
10-11 weeks for my first appointment, although it was during COVID, so not sure if that changed their practices at all, and even then it was just a routine blood draw and handing me a folder of information, no scans or anything. I had to specifically ask them to confirm I was still pregnant.
Anon says
I’m in Canada and my OB wouldn’t see me until 12 weeks, so I saw my PCP right after my first positive test to get a prescription for nausea medication. He also gave me basic advice on what to eat, prenatals, etc. Not sure how it works in other places.
CCLA says
First one I was nervous (for no reason other than first time mom jitters) and they saw me around 6 weeks. Next kid around 8 weeks. I would push for first appt not later than 10 weeks, and in OP’s case would call to get on the schedule. My youngest is 5 so maybe things have changed, but there were some types of testing (nuchal translucency and CVS, IIRC) that had to be done in a very specific window that was around the end of the first trimester. While not everyone has that testing, waiting until 12 weeks would have left virtually no time to schedule if that testing were warranted/desired.
Anon says
I did the NIPT genetic testing at the first appointment. It was part of that initial blood draw where they test your levels of everything.
8 weeks says
Honestly a practice that won’t even let you schedule over the phone might not be the place you want. If that’s your only option fine, but I don’t think we should be encouraging such shenanigans. They’re being pushed on us by private equity and we need to reject it. I was with a rigid practice with my first, wouldn’t see me until 10 weeks, and wouldn’t’ let me see the ob until 12 weeks. Not to be a downer but I miscarried in between and the trauma of it all and how that practice handled it was a lot. With my second, I found a new office, told them i was nervous and wanted an US as soon as a heartbeat could be found and they got me in. Way better experience. I had to find yet another new OB for my 3rd pregnancy (long story) but it was a similar story, they got me in to hear the heartbeat and meet the doc around 8 weeks.
Anon says
I’m eight weeks pregnant and am having so much trouble with insomnia in the early morning hours. I’m tossing and turning and am lucky if I can fall back to sleep. I’m able to fall asleep quickly at bedtime and stay asleep for several hours, but then it’s hell after that. Any ideas on what might help? I’m exhausted.
Anon says
I have this issue with both my pregnancies. Sometimes I found a filling snack (for me, peanut butter) helped. I also really consciously do not look at screens / turn on lights unless I’ve been awake >20
Minutes, at which point I usually give up. I’ll do a couple hours of work overnight, figuring if nothing else it makes working during the day when I was exhausted slightly easier. It sounds crazy but with my first, sleep was actually better with a newborn than the end of my pregnancy. Hoping for the same with current pregnancy.
Anonymous says
Using unisom for nausea did help. Otherwise I got a lot of work done at 4:00 am.
Betsy says
Unisom. I am someone who hates taking medication in general but I had an incident in early pregnancy where the exhaustion led to a really poor decision while driving that thankfully didn’t have consequences but scared the crap out of me. My next stop was to Target to buy a bottle of Unisom! I usually find that taking it a few nights in a row sort of resets my ability to sleep for a week or two so I’m not constantly taking it. My insomnia follows the exact same pattern as yours, and Unisom lets me go right back to sleep after waking up to pee. Get the tablets rather than the gel caps, because I often find that half a tablet is plenty.
anon. says
I just had a flashback to 8 years ago when I was in my first trimester and driving and had the very conscious and considered thought at a red light that it was a good time to take a nap. It genuinely seemed sane at the time. I immediately realized it was NOT a good time and I needed to figure out my sleep situation. I was never that tired, including with a newborn.
Betsy says
Yes! First trimester exhaustion is just next level, especially if you aren’t sleeping properly. You really need like 10-12 hours of sleep a night. All the sleep hygiene stuff helped when I was a little more caught up, but after multiple nights in a row of insomnia I just needed the meds to get me back to a workable baseline.
Anon says
My doctor recommended using a meditation app. InsightTimer is free and has many good options. I like David Gandelman if you need a place to start.
I also find it helpful to have a small snack, like a piece of bread and butter with milk.
It also helps to remind myself that laying there still counts as “rest” and sometimes I will drift in and out without realizing it, so all is not lost. This helps me to stop worrying so much, because worry makes it even worse.
Anonymous says
I’m still working on scheduling summer camps for my kids and it is a full time job. That is all. Happy Monday!
Anon says
Hi – I’m wondering if anyone has any fun ideas to help my kids when my husband has to work overnight. For background my husband alternates between day and night shifts almost every other week. He has always worked this schedule but for the last three years when he only worked days. So with my oldest being 6 it’s really all they remember. He’s back on night shifts now which means he simply doesn’t see them for 3-4 days at a time because he’s asleep by the time they get up. On occasion he will wait up for them but he can only stay up 5-10 minutes because he needs to sleep while he’s still tired in the morning.
My kids are very sad when he works nights even after 2 months of this schedule.
Any ideas to make nights he works a little more fun? The added complication being I’m solo with kids 4 and 6 who need to be in bed by 8. Haha
Anon says
this sounds hard for you too! different, but my DH travels a lot for work and sometimes works late and goes in early so the kids don’t seem him either. Yours sounds a bit more consistent. What about something like paper chain countdown to when he id not working nights? they leave him some kind of note with a question that he can respond to when he gets home and so then they can be excited by seeing his response? or you and the kids start a story and he adds a line to it when he gets home and you go back and forth?
Mary Moo Cow says
This somewhat depends on your location, but having dinner outside, or a picnic dinner at the park/playground, or an early dinner and outdoor games or a trip to the ice cream shop. Bonus if you can meet up with friends. An indoor pizza and a movie night, and you can make it picnic style or pick up a special desert, themed plates and napkins (bonus that you can just throw them away instead of doing dishes). I’m drawing a blank on family games that worked for us when my kids were the same ages (maybe picture charades?) but a family board game might work. A fun bath, like glow sticks and music. Can DH leave them notes or funny pictures?
DLC says
I work evenings a lot and at lest once or twice a week, those nights are TV nights for my Husband. The kids do their chores, get into pjs, brush teeth and then watch an episode of a thirty minute show.
On other thing I do sometimes is have library pj time. Our library is open until 8pm, so if we are done dinner by 6:45 or 7pm, i’ll have them out their pjs on and we’ll go to the library for 30 mins.
CCLA says
My husband works overnights a few times a month and the kids know that those nights, or when Dad works quite late, they get “special dinner” (something they like and is easy, often breakfast for dinner). Sounds like yours is more consistent so I’d pick a couple of days and designate them for something special, whether it’s an extra show on Tues, ordering pizza on Thur – the routine will give them something to look forward to, though you can also mix it up with random park outings and the like when doable. I also like the notes idea above, which could also be pictures for the younger one. Maybe a pin board or other system where they can leave notes for each other sometimes? I actually want to do that now, my kids are 5 and 7 and would get a kick out of it.
I’d also consider letting the kids get up 15 minutes earlier if that doesn’t wreck them. That could get them a quality 20-min session with him instead of the occasional 5-10 min you mention. Enough to read a book, play a board game, or just snuggle to start the day.
Anon says
Lots of good suggestions here on making things “fun” in the evenings! My DH travels a lot for work and I solo parent (with various types of help/support) regularly and try to make the evenings low-stress and more fun for all.
Another perspective since it sounds like your DH may have some variation of this schedule regularly. My kids are 3 and 6, and they are…used to DH traveling/working? We have really framed these things as part of work – whether it’s DH’s travel/long hours or something related to my job. This is obviously more germane to the older kid than the 3 year old – he may ask for DH but then I remind him he’s on the plane or working or whatever.
DH also spends all the quality time he can with kids when he’s not on travel. 6 yo recently asked DH why he has to work so much and they were able to have a good chat about it.