Weekend Open Thread: Miami
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A few years ago, I unintentionally found a great pair of sandals while shopping for water-friendly shoes to go to splashparks with my kids: the Crocs Isabella. I got them in two colors; they were among my favorites to bring for amusement parks. Lightweight, comfortable, very washable. Who knew a plastic shoe could be so comfortable?
Then, the brand stopped making that shoe, and a lot of their offerings looked like, well, Crocs. Or, like, the shower shoe version of Crocs.
So I'm excited to see that this year they have the Miami line out, and it actually looks like decent sandals that you wouldn't immediately think “Crocs” when you see them.
They offer a thong, a thong with a strap, a toe loop, and these ankle strap sandals — personally I like the pictured ones or the thong-with-strap variety. You can generally find the shoes for under $50 at stores like Nordstrom, Amazon, Crocs, and more.
Sales of note for 6/19:
- Nordstrom – 25% off clearance! Nice selection of Vince, Veronica Beard, Boss, Theory, Beyond Yoga, and Zella
- Another Tomorrow – Seasonal sale, 50% off select styles
- Ann Taylor – 50% off everything + free shipping! Readers love this blouse and I always love the variety of colors/textures for this jacket (it's a great separate)
- Athleta – 30-60%off reader favorites like Brookyn and Endless pants, and the Pranayama wrap is marked down to $55. ,
- AYR – Ooh, good sale section — but lots on final sale. Readers love (LOVE) these comfy work pants and these jeans.
- Bare Necessities – Semi-annual sale, up to 70% off, plus get an additional 40% off clearance swim. Readers have sung the praises of these cooling pajamas and their bra-sized swimwear
- Boden – 15% off new women's wear styles with code
- Evereve – 20% off dresses!
- Glossier – Last day 6/19: 20-25% off almost everything (including subscriptions!)
- J.Crew – Extra 15% off your purchase (on top of up to 50% off select styles)
- J.Crew Factory – Extra 50% off clearance + extra 15% off orders over $100, and extra 20% off orders over $125 – readers love their schoolboy blazers and sweaters (down as low as $84), and they have a great selection of summer suiting in the sale
- Jenni Kayne – Semi-annual warehouse sale
- M.M.LaFleur – Archive sale! (Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off on other items)
- Nordstrom Rack – Clearance, new arrivals up to 75% off! Nice selection of Vince, Veronica Beard, Reiss and Rag & Bone, a ton of affordable work dresses from Calvin Klein, Maggy London, Eliza J, and Donna Morgan
- Ruti – Semi-annual sale, up to 70% off!
- Splendid – Up to 60% off women's sale!
- Talbots – 6/19 only: free shipping, no minimum! Readers love their cashmere cardigans
How would you style a black MM Lafleur Etsuko dress to look current in 2026? It’s still my favorite dress fit-wise.
pointed-toe flats, bold pendant necklace.
Throw away the belt. Add a wide animal print belt and some snip toe or mesh flats.
If you had to stay near DC on July 4 for a camp dropoff the next day (and thus wanted a good night sleep), is it a bad idea to stay near DCA? Trying to decide if farther out would be better, but parking at the hotel would be nice assuming I can retrieve car after kid is dropped off.
Where is the drop-off? There are plenty of hotels near DCA in Crystal City, with a lot of restaurants nearby and close Metro access; I stay for meetings twice year at the Hilton Garden and it’s perfectly fine and has an attached garage.
ah I can see that being relevant. Since I guess I don’t know if I would want to drive him there or not, don’t have a good sense of how much he’s bringing. Going to camp at georgetown.
Georgetown, or Georgetown Prep? The latter runs summer camps too but is in suburban MD
It would be a pretty short drive, maybe 15 minutes, from Crystal City to Georgetown. There’s no metro station in or near Georgetown, so you’ll want to drive there or stay very close to campus.
Yep, the question is where are you going. 10 miles can be 45 minutes in the DC area.
Hey, looking for some of that fabulous Corpore++e travel advice! I am going to Mallorca in August to catch the total solar eclipse, and it turns out we will have a free day in La Palma. We are already booked for a city tour and the Caves of Drach on other days, so any other suggestions for a free day in Mallorca? Thanks in advance!
I LOVE Mallorca. I think it’s so underrated, especially with Americans – I’ve barely met anyone who’s been. Palma is a super cute city but it’s pretty small and compact so I don’t know that you need more than 1 full day there. I assume your city tour includes the Cathedral and Llotja? Those are the main ‘attractions’ in Palma, so I’d be inclined to get out of the city with this extra day. The island has some really beautiful beaches. If you enjoy being on the water, you can charter a boat and sail around the island and swim at different spots. If you want to do a land-based excursion, Mirador des Colomer is a bit of a drive but has gorgeous views of the coastline. The Port de Soller area is also cute. Enjoy! We don’t repeat vacations much but really hope to get back there some day.
Ooh, thanks! Chartering a boat sounds great!
I am meeting family (siblings, college age niece) for a rare short trip to Newport and surrounds. We used to visit relatives there when I was a child. We are hoping to relieve memories of clam cakes and casual but delicious seaside eateries, and New England peacefulness/beauty.
Any recs? Will be there early Sept.
We will walk the Cliff walk (and I may break off to see a mansion – my relatives wont be interested in that). Not sure how long that takes. What else would you recommend? Should we drive somewhere else near Newport for a day – like Little Compton or Narragansett to get away from the crowds and eat on the seaside?
My siblings are very casual and we want simple but delicious seaside clam shack type places and beautiful scenery.
We stopped at the Matunuck Oyster Bar for dinner (about a half hour outside of Newport IIRC) and it was gorgeous casual vibes, though a step up from a shack type place. Found Newport itself to almost be a caricature of itself.
I adore Newport. I toured most of the mansions. The Breakers is very crowded. I much preferred Marble House and The Elms. Rough Point is on my agenda for next time. I loved drinks/lunch at Castle Hill Inn and drinks at the Vanderbilt Auberge. I also loved walking around the Trinity church area. They also have the Audrain Auto Museum that is very close to the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
There is nowhere of note to eat in LC (although that is my preferred beach destination) and depending on how early “early Sept” is, Narragansett will either be young kids or URI kids. Fun for sure, but not necessarily any less hectic than Newport. I would day trip to Warren (closer; more cute-town-walk rather than beach) or Westerly if you feel like leaving. Avoid moving the car; traffic is horrible.
if you’re the parent of a teenager, how do you deal with the stress of knowing they can screw their entire lives up in these few short years and you can’t do anything about it despite being right here
I’m not saying that parents have control, but there is a lot that parents of teens can do for good and for ill. Maybe get a good therapist and make sure you’re not one of the risk factors? And if school isn’t going well, get them into a better situation.
I hear you.
For academics — I guess I comfort myself with the knowledge that few mistakes are SO bad that they can’t recover from them. I have a very self-motivated kid, but I will admit that I’m having trouble accepting what he wants to major in. I am not telling him this, of course, but I worry a lot about what happens after graduation and how easy it’ll be to find a job.
Drinking / drugs / partying / etc. — I try to remind myself that we are having conversations, often, about our values and expectations. I hope that if he screws up, it’s not in a life-threatening way. We try to be people he wants to talk to …
I almost have to tell myself to take things one day at a time and to not borrow trouble. Because I can be an anxious person, and I know it’s not healthy or good for him, so it’s up to me to keep my worries in check or talk to a trusted person about them.
After the maximum merit scholarship, I will still end up spending six figures for my child to earn a degree that will only qualify her for a career that will never allow her to support herself fully. At first we demanded that she take a second backup major, but after three semesters it became clear that it was making her miserable so we gave up. Oh well. After a couple of years she’ll realize her mistake and then incur massive debt to earn a gradute degree for a career she hates just like I did.
This seems very pessimistic. Lots of people pivot and end up doing something that’s unrelated to their undergrad major. If she wants a grad degree there’s a good chance she can get merit funding there too, especially if she was bright enough to earn a “maximum merit scholarship” for undergrad. AI is going to upend a lot of traditionally lucrative careers anyway, I think.
Short of being found guilty of a felony or k*lling themselves or someone else there’s not much they can do that’s truly life-ruining. I do worry about teen mental health a fair amount (three kids in my orbit have died by su*cide in the last few years). But I feel good about where my kids are at, and if you don’t there are steps you can take. Not to minimize the damage of other mistakes, because there are definitely less significant things that still have major consequences, but reminding myself that most bad decisions are not irreversible helps.
In my line of work I do see these things happen. It’s sobering. Lecturing kids on all the ways acting stupid could legitimately ruin their lives is ineffective, though.
no he’s a bright kid just a B+ kind of guy, but if he’s motivated he’s all in. we hate our state so state school isn’t that attractive. no drugs etc problems, just having trouble sitting on my hands while he’s learning to drive the proverbial bus.
You don’t give up on your job of parenting. You can’t stop every bad outcome but you have more influence than you think. In my affluent town, these teens aren’t buying their own motorcycles or smartphones – their parents are providing them. You don’t have to provide your kid with the stuff that can harm or kill them.