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I originally had my eye on this little number for Washable Wednesday, but I’m trying to limit that feature to things where the care instructions are actually “machine wash,” not just things where they say something other than “dry clean only.” This one says “dry clean,” but I wouldn’t even give this one a grace period — it looks totally washable to my eyes. I like the slightly fitted nature, the collarless jewelneck, and the slight peplum flounce in the back. It comes in charcoal and “nude”, sizes 2-14, for $96 at Nordstrom. Topshop Tailored Peplum Jacket
(Although this piece is (sadly) not part of the Nordstrom clearance sale, lots of other great pieces are — please do check out our workwear roundup.)
(Psst: the Kate Spade surprise sale ends today, with prices up to 75% off — baby bags are included.)
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?
(former) preg 3L says
I am SO excited to share that baby slept 10 hours straight on her own last night, woke for a feeding at 4am, and then slept another 2.5 hours!! Thank you all for your advice/support yesterday!
Anonyc says
A solid night’s sleep can make a world of difference–that’s awesome (go baby!). Don’t worry much if there is backsliding; with mine it was always inevitable but if you hang in there, it does get better. Good luck!
FVNC says
That IS amazing! Way to go mama and baby!
ANP says
Hmmm. Definitely not in love with the styling of this piece. Belly shirts at the office!
Mamas, help me out. I’m probably 6 weeks pregnant with my third kid and I’ve totally given up on eating well and/or working out. I was just starting to get into a workout routine and eating better — with the end goal of losing 10-15 lbs — when I found out I was expecting (TOTAL SURPRISE).
Although I think some of my apathy about eating/health stems from the fact that I’m pregnancy-tired, I also realize that deep down it’s because I know I’m going to blow up 30 more lbs. with this baby so in my head, what’s the point of even trying? These feelings are likely somewhat related to the totally shocking (and, if I’m being honest, unwanted) nature of this pregnancy. I would welcome tips for getting out of this funk.
Anonyc says
Fist pump in solidarity. My third was not a surprise and the expected (and actual) weight gain for all my pregnancies was closer to 50+lbs. I did not have ANY energy for any exercise whatsoever, and I am not one to ever deny myself a nice dessert. The main thing I did was force myself to walk to the far salad place for lunch pretty much every day (almost a mile), take the stairs when it was reasonable (holla! fourth-floor walk-up), and walk as much as I could in general. I basically ate a salad for lunch every day and limited my meat intake.
But I didn’t go crazy, as I value mental health over those extra five or ten pounds. Later on, when I was about eight months and in for a doctor’s appointment, I was whining a bit about how tired I felt and that I was feeling pressure on my cervix (sort of hoping unrealistically the doctor would be all, “go on early leave and take it easy!”). Not only did she point out that I was totally fine, she continued by way of explanation: “Well, you know, your uterus is all stretched out and plus there’s all that weight you’ve gained.” I’m so thankful this wasn’t my first go-round as that sort of response would have serious crushed me earlier in my life. Also, I hadn’t even gained more than the recommended pound/week at that point! I told my regular doctor about that exchange later and we both laughed our tushes off and agreed that’s something you really can’t say to an expecting lady, period. Now that anecdote is one of my favorite tales of sh*t you put up with when you’re pregnant, right up with Horrible Subway Stories.
Spirograph says
I hear you. I’m further along than you are, but I’ve had a very stressful last month and let all my healthy habits go because I just had no time or energy. I’m up 25lbs already and still have 2 months to go, so I’m pretty much just going to look like a whale until the baby’s born no matter what. As of this week, I’m trying to get back on the wagon, but it’s so hard to break out of that defeatist mindset!
My suggestion: set smaller goals related to what you’re going to do rather than the results you want to see, but be flexible about them. I have decided I can eat all the Halloween candy, office donuts, and forthcoming holiday treats that I want, but I have to drag myself to the pool 2-3x per week on my normal, non-pregnant schedule (even if I only swim half the laps at half the speed), and bring my lunch to work so that I’m not tempted to go get Chick fil a (with a milkshake, obv) every day. I’d been doing NROLFW, but that was the first thing to go with all the stress, and getting back into it is proving to be a hump I can’t get over. So if I manage to do one or two of those workouts, great, but if not, whatever. Feeling guilty about it doesn’t help anything.
I know you know this, but reminding yourself that exercise and healthy eating is good for you and your baby even if you don’t actually *see* any results might help, too.
mascot says
Be a little gentle with yourself. You’re exhausted and hormonal and emotional. Right now, you probably don’t have the energy to work out and fix super healthy meals. So try to make the small decisions count. Swap out a salad for fries on take-out, walk a little further if you have the energy, get rest when you can. You’ve been through this before and hopefully you will feel a little better once you are out of the “sleeping sickness trimester”
sfg says
I had just gotten into the best shape I’d been in for 4-5 years when I found out I was pregnant. Always thought I’d be super active throughout pregnancy, crave vegetables, and have arms that were way more toned than when I got pregnant. (Are you laughing hysterically yet?)
Yeah…. NO. I have been blown away by the fatigue and overall changes in my body. I’m just doing the best I can to stay active, which means different things on different days. Extra lap around the block on some weekdays is good enough some times. Other times – like this week, when I am slammed – I just keep telling myself that the baby NEEDED the two bags of Halloween candy to help me power through. Right?
JEB says
I had worked very hard to lose approximately 25 pounds before I got pregnant. I also assumed I would keep up with the gym and very healthy eating while pregnant, because why not? I was shocked by the exhaustion of the first trimester. Just getting through the work day was enough for me…I think I went to the gym once. My body also wouldn’t tolerate vegetables (I’m in my third trimester now, and I’m still having a tough time choking down any veggies). I beat myself up over it for weeks and weeks until I finally just accepted that I was doing the best that I could, and sometimes that meant a carb and meat heavy diet because it was all I could stomach.
It’s great to have healthy goals for pregnancy, but I agree that you must be gentle with yourself. Celebrate the days that you’re able to extend your walk a few extra blocks or make it to a yoga class. And give yourself permission to come home and crash on the couch when you need it. Pregnancy is hard enough without imposing extra guilt on ourselves!
Anonymous says
Wait until you know for certain? I was mistake about being pregnant twice before it happened. Also a miscarriage in there. Lot of heartbreak.
Maybe you aren’t pregnant?
Husband talks sometimes about adding more rugrats to the litter – after the last 2 year struggle I don’t have it in me to do this again or to even try to.
I wish you the best and good health. :)
Newly pregnant says
We just announced our first pregnancy to our families (and found out it’s a girl!), and this morning I started to think about the holidays and early baby gifts. We’re still several months out from baby, but our families like to get lists of items we want for the holidays. My husband and I need very little for ourselves, but I was hoping to give our families ideas for useful baby items that we will need. Not expensive items like strollers or cribs, but small things, like a first aid kit or bottles.
Any recommendations for items? Recommendations for websites that tell you how to build a registry?
Maddie Ross says
Everyone said it yesterday too, but it’s true – the book “Baby Bargains” is the bomb.
Newly pregnant says
We do have the Baby Bargains book (and I’ve only glanced at it so far) but I find it a bit overwhelming because I haven’t reached the stage yet where I’ve decided that we “need” a bottle warmer and I’m just trying to figure out which one to get. I’m looking more for ideas of “you can never have too many of these” or “one night when my baby was inconsolable, this was really helpful.”
pockets says
OK I can play that game. You can never have too many burp clothes, and the one thing that helped my inconsolable baby is a swaddle (I got the velcro summer infant ones)
ANP says
Burp cloths, swaddles, white onesies, board books, muslin blankets (double as nursing covers if you’re BF’ing and burp cloths either way), diapers (boring but true), wipes (ditto). You could also get some relatively neutral crib sheets and changing pad covers; even if you haven’t decided what color, etc. to paint your nursery, you always need crib sheets!
Maddie Ross says
Gotcha. I can play that game too. For me, the non-negotiables were the Aiden & Anais swaddle blanket (we had like 8 and used them for everything – blankets, changing pad covers in a pinch, burp cloths, etc.), gerber cloth diapers as actual burp cloths, the Halo sleep sacks (our baby liked arms out), wubbabub pacifiers, board books, a Boppy, and our Fisher Price swing.
Maddie Ross says
Another item that you could request for xmas is a crib mattress. They are all the same size (unless you get a mini-crib or round or something), and you definitely need it.
JJ says
I’ll second the recs for Aiden & Anais muslin blankets (I didn’t like the bamboo ones as much as the regular muslin, just FYI) and bibs/burp cloths, Gerber cloth diapers as burp cloths, board books, our Fisher Price jumparoo and snugabunny rocker and swing, the JJ Cole diaper caddy that we used to keep diapers and wipes downstairs (the baby’s nursery was upstairs, so it was nice to not have to go up there for every diaper change), extra crib sheets and extra sheets for the bassinet or wherever the baby will be sleeping the first few months, Nuk and Mam pacifiers were my kids’ favorites, and colic drops.
pockets says
I wanted to add – no one told me to get these, but they were the two most used things during maternity leave: a stroller caddy and a diaper clutch. I got the Skip Hop versions of both.
Carrie M says
Something I use every day that I probably wouldn’t have bought myself: a bottle drying rack (we have the Boon grass one) for all the bottles for daycare. It’s nice just to have them in one contained spot on the counter.
Something that consoled our inconsolable daughter: mamaroo or any kind of swing (but the mamaroo has a much smaller footprint, which is great for small spaces); bouncing on an exercise ball! seriously. she loved the motion and that she was still in my arms. I probably spent hours bouncing on really bad days.
Something I used every day on maternity leave and now almost every weekend: a carrier. First the K’tan, now the ergo. Even if I wasn’t leaving the house, it was nice to be able to strap her to me and walk around (putting away dishes, prepping for dinner, etc.).
And I totally agree on the zip-up footed PJs, cloth diapers to use as burp cloths (you will need LOTS), and a Fisher Price rock-and-play.
Carrie M says
Oh one other thing – if you think you might try breastfeeding, a My Breast Friend. I know, the name is horrible. But I found it to be a much better nursing pillow than the Boppy. If your house has two levels, you could go crazy and ask for 2 pillows so that you don’t have to cart it around with you up and down stairs.
Spirograph says
Congratulations! What kind of person are you? Do you want ALL THE THINGS, or are you a minimalist? There are oodles of lists for both types. If you’re the first type, you can also just go into any Buy Buy Baby / Babies R Us and they will happily hand you a list of about 150 items you “need” to put on your registry and give you a little scanner gun to go around scanning all their barcodes. It made me want to run screaming out of the store, but YMMV.
Newly pregnant says
Definitely the latter – we live in a tiny space, so I don’t want to be overwhelmed with stuff. But a good idea to get a list from a big store. Thanks!
Minimalist list? says
Does anyone have recommendations for a MINIMALIST list? I’m a bit overwhelmed thinking about what to get for the baby (or register for), and would love a list, but we have a really, really small space. I’d love a comprehensive list or two of baby things for people in really small one bedroom apartments…
hoola hoopa says
That’s apartment therapy / ohdeedoh’s niche, so worth a search. But IMO there’s no such thing because what’s valuable to one family is worthless to another so there’s no true absolute minimal list because minimalists will have a wide range of ‘must haves’.
That said, here’s mine for a baby up to ~3-6 mo old:
– carseat
– snap and go (will need a real stroller eventually but not until they sit up)
– ergo carrier
– crib, including pnp or minicrib/portacrib or cosleeper, but you will eventually need a full-size crib
– changing pad for top of low dresser or floor, plus two covers
– comfortable chair/couch/bed for nursing (you may have this already)
– ~10 sleepers and 2-4 knit jersey ‘outfits’
– fleece bunting or sized up fleece sleeper, if cooler month baby
– 3-4 A&A cotton blankets for swaddling and misc uses, and 1-2 cozy blankets
– burp clothes/prefolds
– washcloths (you’ll probably need more than you already have)
– diapers, wipes, and diaper cream
– nasal aspirator or nose frieda, tiny fingernail clippers
– bottles
– breast pump
– white noise (separate machine, CD played on repeat, ipod dock, etc)
Extras:
– footstool for nursing (doesn’t have to be a “nursing stool”) if you’re short
– boppy
– baby bath tub if your bathroom sink isn’t big enough
– bouncer (you can get travel sized swings, but IME they aren’t as helpful as the full size, so I’d just get a bouncer that vibrates)
– a few soft toys and rattles/crinkles
pockets says
For build-a-registry, check out Lucie’s List.
Personally for the gifts I would go with fancy things that are nice but you wouldn’t necessarily splurge on yourself. Off the top of my head, some things you might want to have them get you are: the aden & anais muslin swaddle blankets (or anything aden & anais), embroidered burp clothes (something like these: http://designerdribbles.com/), Lamaze rattles, Haba wooden toys
FVNC says
We used Baby Bargains to build our registry, but that mostly related to big ticket items, if I recall correctly. In no particular order, here are a few random small, inexpensive items we found useful in the first few months:
– Zip up jammies with footies (no snaps). Our baby basically lived in her jammies the first six months, so we rarely used the cute outfits we had for her.
– Little pads that sit on top of the changing pad cover so that we didn’t have to wash the cover every time there was a leak. We have about 10 of these, and at the beginning, we used four or five per day.
– Amazon prime membership if you don’t already have one. It’s probably not the most economical or environmentally friendly approach, but we order ALL our diapers and wipes from there.
– Nice thick jersey sheets for crib; less expensive sheets for daycare crib
– Bouncy seat and bumbo
– Pottery Barn and little giraffe blankets given as gifts. A little pricey, but they’re so soft and baby loves them.
– Stroller accessories, like cup holder and adapter for car seat
– Board books
– Insert for baths in sink
First aid kit is also a good idea. Also, nail clippers — those little nails are like daggers unless they’re trimmed regularly. I wouldn’t recommend buying a bunch of bottles until you know if your baby will have a brand preference.
FVNC says
Oh, and the Baby Bjorn! We used it for walks/hikes, naps and to settle her down when crying inconsolably. Which was a lot.
HM says
-Moby Wrap and/or Baby Ergo (I love my Baby Bjron, but 9 month old is too big for me to carry in the Bjorn)
(former) preg 3L says
I loved the K’Tan — used it as a newborn carrier and still use it (baby is 9 months old tomorrow)!
NewMomAnon says
Yes to everything already posted, and these – bulb syringes, saline for little noses, and diaper rash cream, which we needed almost immediately. A friend once told me that all you really need for a baby is clothes and rags to clean things up, and even though I have all the things, I think she is right. I agree on the zippered pajamas too – keeping socks on little feet is no fun, and snapping tiny snaps on a screaming baby is also no fun. Footed zippered pajamas for the win.
If you don’t want things, you might also ask for gift cards for food delivery places, prenatal massages, baby classes (seriously, take the classes about babies before baby comes – you will appreciate it later), and cleaning services.
Msj says
So many great ideas here, but I would suggest the NoseFrida over the bulb (which our hospital gave us anyway). The NoseFrida is awesome and people like buying it for you because it’s so weird sounding
KJ says
These! http://www.amazon.com/Boppy-Changing-Liners-Count-White/dp/B001CDFPY0
(former) preg 3L says
Ha, yes, buy 2-3 packages of these (there are 3/pkg, you’ll need more than 3)!
(former) preg 3L says
Also – stain remover. Baby poo is very greasy. It will get on everything. I use Shout and it works great.
FVNC says
Oh that’s what they’re called! Yes, you cannot have too many of these.
Sophia says
Agree with all of the other recommendations, including the zipper pajamas, anything footed so you can skip socks, the rock n play and some sort of bouncy seat, we have been in LOVE (yes, all caps) with our Keekaroo Peanut changing pad. It’s impermeable foam, so all you need to do is wipe it down with a wipe, or rinse it off in the shower, if there’s an accident. And given all of the mid diaper change accidents our son has had, it’s saved us so much trouble and laundry.
Newly pregnant says
Thanks, all! This is really helpful. It will definitely give us something to go on when the grandparents start asking.
Anonymous says
I found close relatives liked to be asked to buy one thing – especially a lasting thing rather than get lists or registries. We asked someone to buy a high chair for example. Also, anyone with kids (ex your parents or spouse’s parents) knows what will last and what is a waste of money so you can give them a lot of discretion. A lot of people bought us stuff unprompted and unexpectedly (my dad’s workplace for example) and that was kind of cool. At a certain point it felt like we didn’t need to buy anything for baby except the super expensive things like car seats and the super boring things like burp cloths and bibs.
NewMomAnon says
A while ago, someone was looking for help convincing her husband that a doula was a good idea. I hired a doula, who pointed me to an awesome prenatal yoga center, which posted this link on its blog:
http://bloomablog.com/reasons-why-you-want-a-doula/
Thought I would share.
Anonymous says
The husband and I are book people- think shelves to the ceilings stacked with books and books piled everywhere.
We live somewhere without a good used book store – definitely no good used children book store. From talking to friends they told us that books that will appeal to our kid will last from 0-2 and possibly even longer than that. Libraries can be tricky for us, I now borrow books digitally because we are terrible at returning things to the library. I grew up in a house with a lot of children’s books so I like to believe they will get read and that buying them is worth it.
What are good ways of acquiring a children’s library? I’ve looked into buying lots of books on eBay – shipping to where we live makes that absurdly expensive, I’ve looked into buying them used on amazon (usually the books are a penny but shipping is 6.50, and I’ve tried without any luck on facebook/kijiji mom groups. Thanks!
greenie says
I love library sales. People donate their books, you pay about $5 for a box or bag to fill up with whatever you want, the library makes some $. They have them pretty regularly in towns surrounding me and I alway make sure to stock up.
ml says
Yes. Also, if you have any teachers in your family, they may want to purge some classroom books or know when a school library is getting ready to. I have an aunt who recently retired from teaching elementary school, and we’re now the proud owners of pretty much every book ever written at a 2nd-6th grade level.
Anonymous says
I’ve gotten lots of kids books at kids consignment stores for $1 each, so maybe check there if you have consignment stores near you. There’s also a parent listserv in my area and people frequently sell lots of books inexpensively on there (this week I saw a post offering to sell 50 baby board books for $10).
Anonymous says
That is crazy to me! In Canada a board book new retails often for over $10. I’ve been happy to pay $5 each and thrilled with anything less for them used.
mascot says
Garage sales, thrift stores, mass market/discount stores, craigslist, friends with older kids. Books just multiply in our house.
hoola hoopa says
Like rabbits. They multiply like rabbits.
I know it seems daunting right now, but believe me you’ll build up a library in no time. Since you’re book people, I think I book shower is completely appropriate (I know some people don’t like being told what to get etc, but if this is ‘totally you’ then I think it’s fine). That will give you a huge head start. Then you buy/receive books for birthdays and holidays and spontaneously. Buying 1-2 at a time doesn’t break the bank, but it really adds up. Then your kids start coming home with scholastic book orders and whoa baby, you’ll have plenty of books.
Ditto mascot’s used suggestions. For low-cost new books, scholastic and costco. Amazon usually has particularly good deals on black Friday/cyber Monday.
anon says
Powells.com — huge cheap used selection in addition to new! (I grew up going to Powells in Portland, and it’s where we got almost all books.)
Anonymous says
Another thing to consider is that your kid(s) may show a strong preference for certain books. For instance, my daughter currently loves lift the flap books but will not let us read any thing by Sandra Boyton and couldn’t care less about books about cars/planes/train. She really likes rhymes, but they can’t be too wordy. We’ve been slowly been adding to our collection to match her interests. I’m glad we didn’t buy a hundred books she wouldn’t like before she was born.
If you are going to buy some books, I’d pick up some lift the flap books since you can’t get them at the library and they are hard to buy used since the flaps often get damaged.
mss says
Does your daycare participate in Scholastic or do you know someone with school aged kids who does? The book club will often do paperback versions of hardback favorites and you can get deals on packs…
Pogo says
Definitely with the crop top ! lol.
hoola hoopa says
Nothing says “new mom” like a crop top, lol!
I do really like the jacket, though.
Anonymous says
Crop top in fall color with jacket…this stylist…