Budget Thursday: Wool-Blended Jersey Volume Skirt
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Sales of note for 2/14/25 (Happy Valentine’s Day!):
(See all of the latest workwear sales at Corporette!)
- Nordstrom – Winter Sale, up to 60% off! 7850 new markdowns for women
- Ann Taylor – Up to 40% off your full-price purchase — and extra 60% off sale
- Banana Republic Factory – 50% off everything + 15% off (readers love their suiting as well as their silky shirts like this one)
- Boden – 15% off new season styles
- Eloquii – 300+ styles $25 and up
- J.Crew – 40% of your purchase – prices as marked
- J.Crew Factory – 50% off entire site and storewide + extra 50% off clearance
- Rothy’s – Final Few: Up to 40% off last-chance styles
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
- Talbots – Flash sale ending soon – markdowns starting from $15, extra 70% off all other markdowns (final sale)
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?
Does anyone else feel like it just never ends? That getting a full week of work, uninterrupted is completely elusive? I figured since it was the school year and we have preschool plus an au pair, we’d be rolling in the childcare. Haa! October was a s—storm. Partly just converging things — au pair vacation, husband on lots of travel, MIL sick and so not available for back-up. But this week I’ve had one kid out sick for three days (and missing the autism eval appointment it took SEVEN months to get, as the last step in a two year process; we’re now on for first week of March), then my other one has been fighting a nasty cold but did get to school today, only to be stung by a yellowjacket and sent home. My amazing au pair cut short her morning off to pick him up and schlep him to the CVS for treatment, but I was counting on her working late this evening so I could catch up on the pile of stuff I haven’t gotten to. Nope! Now I’ll have to be home close to normal time, after taking half the morning trading texts about yellowjacket stings. Did I mention the dog was throwing up red crayons all over the carpet all day Sunday and Monday? Oh, must have missed that one.
Can’t reply on my phone.
We give a week in summer that we try to plan for mutual vacations (although this year, our first with a nanny, we took two weeks back to back and paid her for both), the week between Christmas and NY, and five personal/sick days. we give about half the federal holidays outside of Christmas/NY; if my office is open, we have her work, and I don’t get MLK, Presidents, Vets or Columbus Day.
Apparently, today was a half day.
I found this out when I got a call from the school district that nobody was there to pick kiddo up off the bus. We’re switching afterschool programs and this is kind of a gap week, but h0ly cow. Husband was WFH so it shouldn’t have been a big deal… except that the time when the bus went to drop her off was literally exactly when he had run out to do an errand.
The school was great – acted like it was NBD and just brought kid back to the elementary school where husband retrieved her.
Please reassure me I’m not the only one this has happened to… right?
Hi all, I’m looking for some advice on extending maternity leave. My company offers 18 weeks paid leave and allows you to take up to six months (with everything after 18 weeks unpaid). I started my leave in September and at the time expected (and told my group) that I would only be taking 18 weeks. Now, about eight weeks in, it’s looking like I might want to go ahead and take the full six months. I know I should let people know sooner rather than later, but how should I approach this? Reach out to HR, or directly to the partners I work for? Provide a reason other than “turns out this new guy is really cute and I’d like to stay home longer”? I don’t want to come off as flaky for changing my mind but really, pre-baby 18 weeks sounded like a lot. And it just doesn’t anymore.
Thank you for any thoughts/advice!
Just wondering: Does everyone feel like a slab of meat on the sonogram/ultrasound table, or is it just me? I went in for a 16-week early anatomy scan this morning. At one point, the person running the exam laid her checklist on top of my chest while she was reviewing the images she needed. So now I’m a table. I’m sure I’m just overreacting (thanks, hormones!), but I nearly burst into tears because I felt like I was just a slab, not a person, laying there for 90 minutes.
Okay hive, I’m taking you up on the offers of support. My husband has been at home for a week now, and while in general things are peaceful, I’m carrying around a giant overflowing bucket of vulnerable feelings today. There’s just a lot of uncertainty and change, all for the better in both cases, leaving me kind of weepy and sad and wanting to sleep and sleep. I’ve got some kind of virus and am just exhausted but obviously can’t miss any more work. Waaaah.
A friend of mine is going out of town this weekend to a mountain house and invited me and kiddo along. I don’t know if it’s the best idea or the worst idea. The thought of packing/schlepping and not having time to address laundry and other house stuff this weekend is exhausting. But the thought of having a break, a change of scenery, and a break from my husband’s emotions, which are just taking up a ton of space right now, sounds marvelous. I think I’m going to err on the side of quiet and stay home, mostly because it sounds like the path of least resistance and I ain’t got much resistance left in me right now. I’m just really, really tired.
DH has discovered the concept of codependency (which is definitely something I own having a problem with , as I think y’all have picked up on), and I’m hearing a lot of coaching me and otherwise treating me like I’m the one who needs treatment. I think it’s pretty normal projection, but I’m so tired right now that my fuse is short. I’m tired of feeling blamed for everything, especially my husband’s problems. So even when he’s right and I am being codependent, I just feel so wearied by it all. Running away to the woods appeals.
I’m trying to strategize about ways to take care of myself and give myself some space this weekend, and I welcome suggestions.
Help me plan my two year old’s bday party. Small party. Just family and one friend. Dozen or so people total. Bday is on a weekend, so I was thinking to do an easy brunch – bagels, lox, some other morning items but the hang up is the earliest everyone could get to us is 11 and really 1130 and kiddo usually naps at noon.
If we do it after the nap, it’s logistically easier for kiddo because yay, naps, but the issue becomes what to serve for lunch. Seating is somewhat limited and we’d prefer to keep it informal which is why bagels, etc., seem so appealing. But DH thinks it’s weird to serve bagels to people at 2 p.m.
One possible solution is to just say ‘to h3ll with the nap’ and let kiddo nap later, which sometimes works out but I don’t want to have it throw the whole day off either for kiddo or us, and I’m not sure when people will be likely to leave if they arrive around 1130/12. Having kiddo nap while grandparents and cousins are there isn’t realistic. I certainly don’t want to push anyone out the door so I’m thinking it will be around 3 before we have a quiet house again.
What do I wear to a bachelorette party? We are going to a trendy restaurant and bar hopping after, in Austin (very casual but trendy). I don’t want to be frumpy, but I also don’t want to buy something new. I have some dresses I could wear, but nothing really clubby. I could wear skinny jeans and a top. I have a pull on skirt I could roll up the waist band to make into a miniskirt, but it is a little loose and doesn’t quite look right, but at least it shows some skin.
Yes we are still breastfeeding so I guess it’s a blessing in disguise. I’m a first time mom and I’m usually not that concerned with milestones, this one just has me anxious!
Sort of teething question.DD is 7 almost 8 months with no teeth in sight. I’m starting to get an irrational fear that she’s never going to have teeth. Please tell me about your late teethers!?
I’m the mystery reader in my daughter’s kindergarten class tomorrow. She’s really into “The Chupacabra Ate the Candelabra,” and I love how much she loves it and it will be the first book I read. But do you all have any additional suggestions for off-the-beaten path funny/great read aloud books? I know the Andrea Beaty books and B.J. Novak’s “Book With No Pictures” have been read. I have a few of the Jolly Roger Bradfield books, but she’s not super into them (must be generational, I loved them as a kid).
Thanks for all the thoughts yesterday, ladies. I think mini crib on wheels is probably how we’ll deal.
Opinions on the Cat & Jack or Surprize by Stride Rite toddler sneakers at Target? I’ve had great luck with regular Stride Rite brand sneakers for my two yr old thus far, but now that the stores have closed I’m browsing online and the Target shoes are cheaper and look cute. Do they hold up? He’s a boy and very active.
For those of you with nannies, how much PTO are you offering them? Also, do you dictate when they take vacation time? How many holidays are you offering?
We are using a full time nanny for the first time. We offer 3 weeks vacation – 1 week between Jan – June at our choosing, 1 week between July-December at their choosing, and then 1 week for sick, personal time, etc. We also offer federal holidays and give them the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, and a holiday of their choosing (ie Good Friday, their birthday, etc).
I think this is fair…maybe bordering generous. We actually had one nanny, whom we were pretty serious about, request 6 weeks of PTO. … I don’t even get that much time.
Looking for a reality check here – what are you offering??
Thanks :)