Coffee Break: Mozart Timer
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I was recently reminded of the existence of Kikkerland, a fun store with a lot of little clever devices like this Mozart timer. (In fact, they have a TON of kitschy timers, if you're on the hunt — Father's Day is coming up on June 15!)
I still use my timer cube all the time, usually either to a) limit the time I spend on a task or b) to encourage me to spend at least a little bit of time on a task… but if I was looking for a new one I'd definitely get this one.
The bust is $20, at Kikkerland.
Sales of note for 6/4/25:
- Nordstrom – The Half-Yearly Sale has begun! See our full roundup here. 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)
- Nordstrom Rack – Refurbished Dyson hairdryers down to $199-$240 (instead of $400+) + Father's Day gifts up to 60% off
- Ann Taylor – 50% off dresses, jackets & shoes + extra 30% off sale
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything + extra 25% off
- Boden – 15% off new womenswear styles
- Eloquii – $19+ up select styles
- J.Crew – Up to 50% off women's dresses + up to extra 50% off sale styles
- J.Crew Factory – 50-60% off summer styles + up to 60% off everything + extra 60% off clearance
- M.M.LaFleur – Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off
- Rothy's – Up to 50% off last-chance styles
- Spanx – Free shipping on everything
- Talbots – BOGO 50% off everything, includes all markdowns
Anyone have any current food/outdoor things recommendations for Bend? We’re going later this month and everyone is in the throes of little kid parenting so planning has been haphazard.
This item really wants to be a metronome instead of a timer.
Amen. But I do love it. I hope there is a Bach out there somewhere.
Kiddo has a Cesar pen holder that looks like it has been stabbed in the back. Takes Latin at school.
That is awesome. I want one for my middle schooler who takes Latin!
Etsy has options; maybe also World of Mirth
Hahaha This is a good one for April 1st!!!
Does anyone use an alternative low cost cell phone company and how do you like it (like Mint mobile etc). Thanks!
I was perfectly happy with Mint mobile for years. Because of my low usage lately, I switched to Tello just to pay less, but if I’d used more of my plan I’d have been happy to stick with Mint.
I use Visible, which uses Verizon’s towers. I pay $20/month and have had no issues in the last year I’ve been using it.
I have boost and love it
I also have Boost, no issues and it was easy to switch
I had Republic Wireless for years, and then Boost bought it and it has been trouble free for me.
I love mint! Only possible issue is that you cannot have an Apple Watch with cellular service on it. It’s kept me from getting an Apple watch which is probably a good thing, but I know some people love theirs.
I am pretty loyal to Garmin (though mine also has no cellular service)
ATT prepaid- which is like half the not-prepaid version. It’s been fine.
I also have Mint. Sometimes when I go somewhere off the beaten path internationally, I have to buy an eSIM but otherwise no complaints! It has T-mobile coverage which is what I had before so seamless for me.
For anyone who grew up in the 70s and early 80s, you need to know that someone has brought back the Famolare brand of shoes!
https://www.famolare.com/collections/sandals
Awesome (I think) and groovy. But are they comfy? I live clogs but the real ones are rigid and my feet want something softer. Crocs are too casual and I need real straps for walking (so no Birk Arizonas or flip flops). Perhaps these?
When you say real clogs are too rigid, do you mean wooden sole clogs or that something like Dansko is too rigid?
Wood is too rigid. Dansko works but is not so trippy as these.
I meant trippy good, not tripping or ankle-twisty. I just need cushion and to be funky would be nice.
I like Kork Ease, which are similar & the cork is very cushioned.
I bought some red Famolare sandals last summer and can confirm that they are both cute and very comfy. The sole is squishy without being too soft, and the leather is high-enough quality that I didn’t get any blisters. I wear a size 10, narrow/bony feet.
These were my favorite shoes when I was 7! Slightly tempted nearly 50 years later.
Ok but where are the Yo Yos? Bare Traps?
I think this is the second resurrection of Famolare. I delightedly bought a pair in the early aughts, but they did hurt my feet.
Haha I saw those! Just need a pair of Dittos jeans in a fun color to complete the outfit!
I’ve become one of those boring people who gushes about how great Costco is. DH wanted to start shopping there for the deals on alcohol and meat, but we’ve discovered things I didn’t even know Costco carried. I got my prenatal vitamins there for less than Amazon! And pool floaties I saw on Wayfair for $200 ea were $80 ea! And they have PLANTS!! Their mix pack of herbs for planting was like $12 for 6 plants!!! Teenage me is totally rolling her eyes at 40 year old me.
So now I’m curious: what should I be on the lookout for at Costco? It’s just the two of us rn but I’m having our first this summer. As an added perk, we just got our AC replaced through Costco so we have like $2k on a gift card/rebate to spend there.
Contacts (or glasses if they happen to have glasses you like there).
Real parmesan and pecorino cheese if you eat Italian foods at all. The regular, non-organic Kirkland olive oil is also good.
If either of you have allergies, we usually get our anti-histamines there.
they have ridiculously cheap prices on things if you ask the pharmacist — they’re behind the counter. I get boxes of the pseudoephedrine pills for less than $3.
Husband has recently discovered Costco. He might marry it. He loves it all — the hotdogs, the clothes. I just think it’s another place that is free to enter but costs several hundred dollars to leave (like Target).
Yeah, Costco has some conveniences but I don’t understand people stanning for it or going there as a hobby. It’s still a chore to buy things…
the website has a lot of really nice skincare – I’ve seen La Mer. The travel deals are also pretty good.
If you’re planning to use formula at all, their formulas prices are really good – same with diaper and wipes.
Their diapers are now awful fyi, the manufacturer switched from Huggies to Cuties.
Are you sure they were Huggies before? I thought they were something different because Huggies got criticized for using fragrances and irritants that I thought Kirkland didn’t have. Either way, I have heard people are mad about a decline in quality.
We haven’t had any quality issues with the switch but our 1-year old isn’t prone to blow outs at this point and we use huggies overnights for nighttime. But their prices on Huggies are still better than I’ve seen elsewhere if you don’t like the Kirkland brand.
I never used the old ones, but use the new ones overnight with my 11-month-old and don’t have any leaks (we cloth during the day). They actually irritate her sensitive skin much less than Pampers or Huggies
Infant Tylenol is about half the cost that I’ve seen anywhere else. That $6 adds up over time as I deal with a teething toddler
The Kirkland wipes are hands down my favorite. Also love Costco for toddler snacks.
WELCOME! I live across the street from Costco and am there almost every day just wandering the aisles. It also enables me to just grab a thing or two here and there:) My go-to buys:
– the rotisserie chicken obviously!
– skincare/makeup that I already use
– bodywash/shampoo/conditioner
– trufru frozen fruit for dessert
– frozen seafood/meat
– sauces (tomato, pesto, mayo)
– kimchi
– canned tuna
– smoked salmon
– seeds of change microwaveable grains
– protein shakes
– chomps meat sticks
– pura vida veggies
– sparkling water
– just bare spicy chicken strips
– frozen chicken burgers
– deli meat and cheese
Maple syrup, also beach stuff- we got beach chairs and umbrellas there for much cheaper than anywhere else. We also get feta, butter, olive oil, shampoo and conditioner, and designer sunglasses, although the selection isn’t amazing.
Sometimes they have frozen pastel de nata
We always earn our annual membership fee back with rental car discounts every summer – they are far, far less than what you will pay anywhere else. Travel deals in general are quite good, though you will give up the ability to earn points if you are in a loyalty program.
If you use a Brita filter, the Kirkland ones fit and are much cheaper! I find they filter water more quickly too.
I’m looking for a lawn chair that can also be used at the beach. Does this exist?
Do you mind how short the Tommy Bahama beach chairs are?
Different poster: we had the TB chairs and they are short. Rather than rebuy and have to lug and set up, we paid for chair service. I usually don’t do that sort of thing but for a family where the kids can’t carry their own chairs, recommend considering if that is an option.
I prefer the shorter chairs for the beach, but for versatility a 17″ height may be less “I’m in a beach chair on my lawn” than the standard 8-10″ or so Tommy Bahama style.
https://www.acehardware.com/departments/outdoor-living/patio-furniture/folding-and-beach-chairs/8079888?x429=true&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20158973737&gbraid=0AAAAADtqLJHsycqJaL7LrbF91h1Y1NVBO&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqcby1cLTjQMVSVtHAR2QjhGbEAQYAiABEgKj2PD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Are you thinking like plastic stackable lawn chairs? Or something collapsible?
I love my helinox low-rider style for the beach, would not use it in my actual lawn.
What the eff was up with the morning thread on divorce?
OP here and I got unexpectedly busy and couldn’t come back until later, but it looks like it went a few different directions. The original was semi-hypo – my sister is considering divorce and we were talking over the weekend about how the kids would probably be OK (it would in theory be amicable), but she was saddened at the thought of potentially causing them long-term harm. Ages 5 and 3.
Hugs to your sister. My anecdotal observation is that every woman who seriously contemplates divorce eventually goes through with it although in many cases it takes years or decades from when she first thinks about it. And if she’s going to divorce eventually, now is the best time. Not that there may not be some sadness or resentment down the road, but divorcing with kids this age who will never even really remember their parents together is so much easier than splitting up the family when they’re tweens, teens or even adults. My daughter’s best friend’s parents divorced when she was 5. They’re at the extremely amicable end of the spectrum (they’ve taken the kid on joint vacations, they sometimes share holidays so she can have both parents their on Christmas morning, etc) and I know not everyone is likely enough to have divorced parents who get along that well, but the kid is so loved and seems like such a happy, well-adjusted kid. Both her parents are lovely people and amazing parents who are role models for me in parenting (I was disgusted by the comments in the morning that only bad parents get divorced) and their daughter is thriving. I’m sure your nieces or nephews will do more than ok too!
I found out as an adult that my mom first considered divorcing my dad when I was 3-4. She didn’t actually go through with it til I was in middle school.
It was a rocky couple of years, but they’re both happier and have always been perfectly amicable at any events for which parent presence is expected, including occasional Thanksgiving / Christmas celebrations.
Are there a bunch of women here who have trapped themselves in miserable marriages for the sake of the kids and feel the need to defend that choice?
Yes. Plus some women who had crappy parents and blame it on their parents’ divorce (but they would have been crappy parents even if they stayed together)
Article in the NYT recently basically about how millennials blame their parents for everything and that’s one of the multiple reasons why they’re having fewer children. The discussion this morning seemed in line with that article. Personally, I’m GenX and have a perfectly fine relationship with my (boomer) parents as do the majority (but not all) of my GenX friends (with boomer or older than that parents), so have no insight into this topic. I’m grateful for this but don’t presume my experience is anything but anecdotal.
I wonder if some of the divorce patterns are generationally different too? It’s got to be really different and less stressful if your parents divorce, remarry, and then everything is stable for years and years, vs. the pattern I remember friends dealing with as children in the 90s where one or both parents divorced and remarried repeatedly and there were always kids from different exes cycling the house for custody reasons. Even with relatively amicable divorces that always seemed hectic at best.
That’s interesting. I was presuming it was conservative/religious boomers with the anti-divorce take. Also a Gen Xer here. I guess it’s the people who went before or after us.
Blaming their parents for everything should really read “blaming their mothers for everything.”
There was a different anti divorce post not too long ago where a commenter was strongly against divorce because when her parents got divorced, her father refused to pay child support, so she and her siblings were suddenly poor. She still blamed it on her mother for divorcing her father in the first place.
I have a nephew who blames everything on my sister. His dad’s cheating, their money problems, you name it. He went to live with his dad and after a few months of that realized that maybe no one lives in a world where every bad thing is 100% someone else’s fault. Must be right to never be wrong or in the wrong.
Huh. I don’t blame my mother for her divorce. Yes it was traumatic for me. Being in that house listening to him beat her was traumatic too. Of course I didn’t blame her.
But she’s still not a good mother. I blame her for the stuff she did, not the stuff she tried to escape.
I feel like a lot of this is just the new therapy speak. The concept has always been around. I know plenty of gen-xers and boomers that effectively went, what we’d call low contact or no contact with their parents, without any fanfare. It was just called “so and so isn’t close with their parents,” or the costs of contact (long distance calls, plane trips) were just so high it provided a natural excuse. It’s the same concept as all the early 90s research into chosen families rebranded.
I think one thing that’s relatively new is the idea that the “body keeps the score” and that a parent’s (usually a mom’s) choices underlie all of their children’s physical maladies and unexplained symptoms. This has come up before (when refrigerator mothers were blamed for autism, or when soft parenting was blamed for psychogenic death in the military that was later discovered to be from inadequate rations). But it feels like it’s suddenly become much more wide ranging (any chronic symptoms, any autoimmune disease, any physical condition that’s made worse by stress which is nearly all of them, can all be blamed on parenting).
Hard agree. Some parents are just crappy, but at some point, making it your whole personality as a grown adult is a “you” problem not a “them” problem.
Is my sister reading? Can someone please tag my sister? Thx.
Same people who told me if I dated post divorce I would double ruin their lives. Jokes on them, kid’s favorite parent is step-dad.
Absolutely yes there are
It makes you wonder, doesn’t it. Lots of big “divorce is a sin” energy.
It came across to me more as “women who care about their kids are often trapped in bad marriages” and a critique of custody law.
I used to have a friend who won the marriage lottery: met the guy at an event, engaged two months later, married five months after that. He loves her, supports her in whatever she does, is generous in bed, has a great job to provide for their family (she wanted to stay home with the kids), even has moved to be closer to her parents.
She was a (expletive) to me when my ex husband emotionally and physically abused me. Told me to take medication to deal with the resulting depression and that it was not abusive “enough” for her to condone my divorce. (I didn’t ask for her approval; I told her that our marriage was on the rocks.)
People like that exist, even when they should long have grown out of such ignorant and naive thinking.
That’s so weird, and I’m sorry your friend reacted that way. I was pretty aghast at a friend who cheated with a married coworker after her husband was left paralyzed by a car accident (caused by friend falling asleep at the wheel!). They divorced after the other man’s wife found out and forced friend to disclose the affair to her husband. It was messy, but I had sympathy for her despite some obvious bad choices. I lost touch with her after she remarried and seemed to be kind of an evil stepmother to her new husband’s girls. *That* was my line in the sand, not divorce.
I’m a big believer that you can never truly know what’s going on in someone else’s marriage… who am I to judge any one else’s deal-breakers? or to expect them to tell me enough detail to even have an informed opinion?
Right?! When someone is vague about divorce or just says they were incompatible, I don’t jump to “oh how frivolous to divorce for no reason.” I assume there are reasons they don’t want to discuss with me. I think there’s a lot of leaping to conclusions when you decide a marriage you weren’t in shouldn’t have ended.
She was pretty awful to me.
My best guess is that part of her problem is that she’s lived such a sheltered life that she thinks everything is solved with a pep talk.
The other part is that on the surface, it looks like we married very similar men. Very, very similar.
I wonder if she wants to pretend that my marriage was fine and healthy because she doesn’t want to believe that our roles could have *easily* been reversed. (I dated and was engaged for longer than she was; I thought I vetted the guy.)
Real, the only moral abortion is my abortion, vibes. People who have never had to consider divorce think their charmed life is everyone else’s experience too. How dare someone leave a perfectly fine marriage just because he’s annoying sometimes???
I posted a while ago about my brother who spent decades being judgy about my divorce from my ex who tried to kill me. He got divorced a few years ago because his wife isn’t fun anymore. Apparently fearing for your life isn’t a reason to divorce but not gardening is. Who knew??
Hug.
That thread got seriously weird. Some people completely lack a sense of nuance. I’m now in the stage of life when couples I’ve known since early adulthood are splitting up. It is sad and heartbreaking, and of course it will likely affect the kids in expected and unexpected ways. However, I’ll stand by the belief that being around an unhealthy marriage isn’t great for the kids, either. Not to mention that if the marriage is detrimental to the parents’ mental health it will affect their ability to be a nurturing, present parent. Have some imagination, people. How the parents handle the split and co-parenting makes a big difference.
Honestly I think we have a faction of “so you are saying I should stay with the man who beats me for the sake of my children” versus a contingent of “divorce is hard on kids so maybe do not leave your husband just because you are not happy when he is not abusing you or your kids.” And both sides are are coming from their own experience and trauma. (It is the same as people who refuse to accept that raising your voice to your children is not the same as threatening physical harm.)
Frankly I am in my 50s and my friends’ divorces run the gamut from “he locked my four-year-old autistic son in a closet for an hour” to “I just was not happy and needed a change”. So I hesitate to engage n broad generalization.
There truly are a lot of Martyr Moms who seem to really believe that when you have a child you have signed up for 18+ years of never having any needs or never being able to put yourself first, ever.
And then people wonder why the birth rate is down.
And then wonder why this generation is wildly anxious and self centered and needy. Hmmm.
I don’t have kids because they deserve to be put first and I can’t do that with a big job and taking care of myself. Having kids just to provide suboptimal parenting would be selfish.
I wonder how universal this sentiment is. It wasn’t the case for me growing up. My parents had an obligation to raise me and launch me into the world, but it was never “children first” but more “family first” which might include moving for dad’s job, taking care of grandma and grandpa, or getting second or third jobs.
Children come first can’t be a healthy attitude.
I think that the phrase “children deserve to be put first” is extremely broad and reasonable people have differing, reasonable interpretations of that phrase. And I think this is the source of most disagreements – a concept like this is tossed out without any exposition on what the author means and then everyone interprets it through their own lens and argues with one another accordingly. What does this mean? “Children come first” to me does not mean prioritizing all of their needs and wants over all other things that are important to the family. “Children come first” has space for the recognition that financial stability is also important and may deserve priority, even if that might mean mom or dad has to miss a few track meets. Maybe this phrase even acknowledges that facing a mild amount of adversity from time to time, or not being placed at the absolute center of the universe all the time, is good for a child’s development.
I don’t know about kids needing to be put first, but it does feel like reliable community support is hard to come by. The worst of the pandemic was pretty rough between schools closing down and hospitals being overwhelmed. Maybe people would be less anxious about suboptimal parenting if society were stepping up more effectively.
If you work in a field where you think the average worker is pretty happy, what is your field?
Up to the current administration, science. So much for that.
Yeah until February I would have said academia. Maybe not grad students but professor level and up for sure… I’ve never met so many people who voluntarily work insane hours. The current decimation (literally!) of funding and attempts to destroy higher education have taken a huge toll though. Most people I know are tenured profs at top 25 universities, so they’re not seriously worried about losing their jobs, but a lot of people are worried they won’t have grant funding for summer salary and travel and morale has taken a huge hit overall. And lots of questions about students losing funding and/or visas.
Exactly what I was going to say. Pharma/biotech on the science side (not business) is full of people who want to make the world a better place and going to work is fun most days.
Up until recently, I would’ve said higher ed.
Faculty were mostly happy before the current admin chaos. I don’t think higher ed staff have ever really been happy, at least not at my institution. At least at research institutions, there’s a huge cultural divide between staff and faculty and staff are very much treated like second class citizens and it makes for poor morale. And the pay is abysmal and unlikely faculty most of us staff don’t have a lot of extrinsic motivation and passion for the work.
I am a researcher with a doctorate, but I’m staff instead of faculty. My computer gets replaced less often than faculty computers and I don’t have access to all the software I need. My boss, who is faculty but doesn’t do research and doesn’t need a powerful computer or specialized software, gets both.
Higher ed administration.
The professors I know all have escape plans and have been making them for 10+ years. They see the writing on the wall: enrollment is down, costs are up, faculty salaries are stagnant or declining (inflation).
Up until a few months ago I’d have said government. IME, most people are there because they WANT to be there. A lot of the jobs are passion driven, mission driven, or both. And, we all know were not there for the pay :)
I worked at USAID so it was very mission driven and passion driven. Super smart and capable people who have specialized (sometimes in something super niche or random) and dedicated their lives to that subfield and serving others. I loved talking with my bureau’s technical specialists – they had PhDs in things I didn’t even realize were fields and they were so into it and it was really cool to see! I worked with a volcanologist, for example. Also the experiences we got to have were truly so unique and I thought that was very cool. And, knowing the work we were doing was saving lives and alleviating suffering was so, so rewarding.
Actuarial science
How do you move on from unfair criticism from a superior? Particularly when they should know better?
I received an unhinged email from the head of my practice group late Friday night. I assume she was drunk. It was very vague so I wasn’t sure what she was mad about. It was concerning enough that I sent it to my general counsel; I didn’t know if this attorney was having a mental breakdown or what. GC asked me to speak to her today and report back.
I spoke to practice group leader today and she doubled down that her email was appropriate because I wrote an email I shouldn’t have. She was mad I’d sent a CYA email about something (that doesn’t implicate or involve her), which I was absolutely right to do, and was specifically instructed by GC to do. She did not apologize for her unhinged email to me, she thinks we should never put CYA stuff in writing and we should have a phone call instead. She’s absolutely wrong about that, and in any event, it’s not her call, it’s a GC matter and she has no authority there.
Nothing will come from this but I’m just… mad. I don’t appreciate being treated like I’m unprofessional. And the irony is not lost on me that she’s criticizing me for sending an inappropriate email by sending me an inappropriate email. This person was just appointed to this position and will have some say in my compensation/draw/units for years. I feel defeated. Happy Monday.
Sorry this is happening to you. But I am kind of curious why you’re looking at this like you’re a victim of your circumstances. You have one person, who is clearly going through something that surely others, including your GC, can see, treating you in a crazy way. To answer your original question, you give her a big F-U in your mind, and go on being a good attorney. Your post makes it sound like you’re a shareholder in this firm, which, IMO, gives you room to respectfully disagree with her on this. It’s one thing to be mad (although honestly, I feel bad for her, sounds like she has bigger problems than you do) but don’t let her make you feel defeated, especially on a point you’re confident you’re correct about!!
I wish I knew. My company is getting criticized from a totally unhinged client (we seriously got a cloak-and-dagger call from her contracts guy warning us that she’s mentally unstable) and I’m finding it hard to move on, especially when the slander against us is so easily disproved.
No advice, just consideration. I used to work for an alcoholic and was subject to way too many inebriated late night emails.
You just have to shake it off and move on.
Yeah. If you know it’s unhinged, just refuse to acknowledge it.
I used to have a coworker – not my boss, but someone in the org who was slightly senior to me – who would get madder and madder at me the more drinks she had, then she would call me, slurring, telling me that I alone was going to make the F50 company we both worked for “go right down the tube.” Right. How was I doing this, single-handedly? By not signing off on her half-baked business ideas, i.e. I was doing my job.
Finally I interrupted her and said “do not call me after work ever again. I will speak to you in the office, but that’s it.”
To her credit, she did not ever call me after drinking again. But she continued to hate me and try to get me fired. Fun times!
Among the many reasons I was very, very happy to leave that job for a better one a year or so later.
To the extent I have advice for OP, it’s to not put up with it. Use your words, be professional, but don’t just take it.
“she thinks we should never put CYA stuff in writing and we should have a phone call instead.”
She’s setting you up to fail. I guarantee you that if you fail to put a CYA in writing and things went south, she would hang it around your neck.
Your GC backs you, so that’s good. I would tell him about the CYA not being in writing.
To the poster looking for dress recommendations for endo this morning, I left a comment with lots of ideas. I got excited because endo and dresses are two of my areas of personal expertise haha!
Speaking with a friend about this blog (we’re both readers). We both harbour suspicions that there has been a shift whereby there are now multiple posts and responses by what seems to be politically motivated people/bots.
Thoughts?
Example?
No OP but write Israel and the festival will begin
The divorce thread. I find it hard to believe so many women harbor such misogynistic thoughts. It was eye opening.
Surely women can’t be that naive to think emotional abuse isn’t an issue? Do they realize emotional abuse is domestic violence?