ByKat Hours Updated
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Coffee Break: Mara Loafer

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lime green loafer from AGL

Lime green really isn't one of my colors, but I got a pair of lime green loafers from Rothy's a few years ago that I've surprised myself by how much I've liked and worn them.

These loafers from AGL look great for this year's option — I love all the small details about the loafer, like the perforations, the unusual band across the top of the shoe, as well as the raised stitching.

Nordstrom notes that it is made with Sacchetto construction — for what it's worth, the best source I can find for that is either Australian shoe company Aquila, which notes

The Sacchetto Construction is a type of shoe stitching that draws on our Italian heritage – it focuses on creating a shoe design that both looks AND feels incredible. To explain it in short – Sacchetto translates to ‘little bag’ – so basically it feels like a slipper but it looks like a shoe you can wear outside of the house.

Sounds lovely! The shoe comes in four colors for $415 at Nordstrom; Bloomingdale's has a non-perforated version in black and brown for $399.

(Rothy's no longer has my driver loafers in stock in the color — but their new espadrilles come in a very similar color.)

Sales of note for 3/15/25:

  • Nordstrom – Spring sale, up to 50% off
  • Ann Taylor – 40% off everything + free shipping
  • Banana Republic Factory – 40% off everything + extra 20% off
  • Eloquii – 50% off select styles + extra 50% off sale
  • J.Crew – Extra 30% off women's styles + spring break styles on sale
  • J.Crew Factory – 40% off everything + extra 20% off 3 styles + 50% off clearance
  • M.M.LaFleur – Friends and family sale, 20% off with code; use code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off
  • Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
  • Talbots – 40% off 1 item + 30% off everything else (includes markdowns, already 25% off)

106 Comments

  1. Chapter 13 here with a big goal! Background – I let my attorney’s office know that I took a job with the federal government making slightly less per year. My attorney filed a modified chapter 13 plan where my payments will go WAY down until January. Then, in January, we will reassess with my government paystubs (you need at least 6 months of paystubs) and my payments will go back up, but hopefully not as high as they are right now. I hope all this makes sense. The point is, I have between now and January to buckle down and save every penny. In the past, I never had a savings mindset (obviously), so this will take a lot of willpower (and therapy), but I know I can do it. My goal is to save $20,000 by the end of the year, a sum I’ve never saved before in my life (I’ve only saved like $2,000 before and didn’t hang on to it for long). I’ve done the calculations, and as long as I’m extremely careful, I’ll meet this goal. This is a real opportunity here and a big break in my situation. I’ll keep you all posted while on this ride and can’t wait to tell you when I meet my goal!

    1. Well done! Let this site be your retail therapy with zero click through to purchase!! (Sorry Kat!)

    2. WOW!!!

      Way to go you!!! Stay the course, you will be SO proud of yourself!

    3. You’re so inspiring! Maybe I need to think about therapy – I’m never able to save much either before it’s spent.

      1. Ch 13 here…therapy has been very eye opening. Turns out, all of my negative self talk just keeps me in a spending cycle. I beat myself up, feel down about it/life, and then do something to feel good again (spend). My ADHD also doesn’t help when it comes to financial organization. Both issues are being addressed in therapy.

    5. Awesome! This would be a great opportunity to open a high yield savings account or CD, assuming you’re allowed to open new bank accounts. If you can get 4.5% interest on $10k, that’s an extra $450 after a year!

      Also, I’m sure you know the saying “pay yourself first” which means you should set up automatic transfers to savings from every paycheck. Having the money in a separate account has always helped me see that I need to live on what’s actually in my checking account and treat the savings account as true savings.

      1. +1,000 this. Set up your bank to automatically remove the amount of money you’re going to save after each pay check is deposited. This money is not available for you to spend, and so it should not be in your regular checking account. If you don’t see it, your brain will help you remember that it doesn’t exist for spending.

      2. Agree with getting a high yield savings account. I am just about to cash in a CD that I opened in December, and that 4.4% interest rate (in my case) really added up!

        Also agree with never seeing the dollars in your checking account.

  2. Tipping question: we’re doing a $10k long distance move. There will be local moving crews on both ends and a driver that drives a few thousand miles with all our stuff. Who do we tip and how much? We did all the packing and there’s nothing especially onerous about our stuff or the moving conditions (1200 sq ft two story house, with most big things on the first floor, no really heavy furniture or appliances).

    1. I had a 2 bedroom apartment long distance move recently that cost $6k. I also had no appliances or particularly big furniture. I tipped each mover $200 and they seemed happy about it.

        1. It was the same crew on both ends. The driver was one of the movers, so tipped him too.

        2. This is what I find confusing. The two long distance moves I’ve done have both had husband and wife teams that just drive the truck and handle inventory but don’t do any actual moving. The moving is all done by local guys. So I clearly tip the actual movers, but it the driver and his wife seem less clear. Are they more like business owners, who don’t get tipped?

      2. You are very generous. Every mover/delivery person I’ve ever used has been thrilled with two or three 20s per person. Cash for sure, to address a different comment.

    2. We tip everyone (driver, local movers). I generally do $40 or $50 per person, plus making sure to buy lunch for everyone (not fancy – subway or pizza) and having tons of water and gatorade on hand in a cooler for the teams to freely take. Another little thing, make clear to the crew that they can use your guest bathroom (shockingly, something pretty rare movers have told me).

      1. Is this a local move thing? I don’t have a cooler left. I have nothing in my refrigerator. I literally don’t even have lights in my house and had to use a headlamp last night and this morning and am drinking out of a water bottle because we have no dishes. But definitely agree about the bathroom, good point!

        1. Buy the drinks and put them in the fridge. Or buy a styrofoam cooler that can get trashed when you leave

    3. Same company? If so I’d just add it to the total bill in the end and let them figure it out. There are flaws to this approach, yes, but it’s what I’d do.

      1. Tip in cash. Tip each local crew when they are done. Tip the driver the most and at the final destination. I would not want the company involved.

        1. +1. $50 per mover for each local crew, maybe $100 for the driver. Also buy breakfast/coffee and lunch/gatorade/chips for each crew depending on how long they are there

    4. It may depend on how the moving company handles it, but when I had furniture shipped to me from a relative in another state, my aunt dealt with a local moving crew, then the crate was put on a truck driven by a driver neither of us ever met, and then I dealt with a local moving crew on my end when the crate was transferred to the local truck. I tipped the movers on my end, I assume my aunt tipped the movers on her end, and neither of us tipped the long haul driver because we never met him or her. When the movers arrive to pick up your stuff, you can ask the driver whether he or she will be the one driving your stuff the whole way and tip appropriately if so.

  3. Oooh boy, I love theses. They’re about $300 more than I can spend on a pair of shoes. If anybody knows of a cheaper pair in this color, please share!

    1. Take a look at the Cole Haan Evelyn bow loafer – on Nordstrom Rack they have it in a “sunset gold” color. Also sometimes Hush Puppies have funky colors too.

  4. Can I get ideas on good chocolates people buy other than say Hersheys or Reeses? Both milk and dark chocolate and bonus points if it’s brands that are easily available in grocery stores, not things I have to order or go to specialized stores for.

    FWIW I’m trying to watch my junk saturated fat intake and get fat from good sources – cheese, yogurt, nuts. I know that ends up being controversial these days as people go keto, but for me it affects my LDL positively to do this and my dr agrees that cleaner eating is better here. She also says however that chocolate is fine since I don’t have any particular cholesterol issues and dark chocolate is even good for LDL. Turns out though that candy like Reeses seem to have a lot of ingredients that are fillers like oils etc. That’s the type of stuff I’m trying to avoid but am lost on what brands are better here in the US. I like both milk and dark chocolate though don’t particularly enjoy the very bitter dark chocolates.

    1. Lindt. I don’t normally like dark chocolate, but their dark chocolate with orange and dark chocolate with sea salt caramel are great.

    3. Lindt and Ghirardelli are the two best chocolates for the money that are widely available, IMO.

    4. I like Lindt, Perugina, Scharffwnberger (particularly the little squares), and Valhrona. The Guittard dark chocolate chips for baking are particularly good.

      I will also settle for Dove dark chocolate with almonds, though it’s not particularly dark.

      1. Dove is my favorite of the drugstore options in the US. Which isn’t saying much, but it fills the chocolate need.

    5. I think Lindt bar chocolate is good, and it’s available in most grocery stores. Lindt is a premium brand owned by Hershey. Google says it’s the most popular brand in Switzerland.

    6. Another vote for Lindt or Ghirardelli.

      I also like Ritter Sport if you can find it.

      1. Ah Ritter Sport dark chocolate with hazelnuts is my kryptonite. I cannot resist it, and everyone in my family knows. It’s the one thing everyone will leave alone just for me.

    8. Trader Joe’s chocolate is great. At Aldi, I really like the Moser Roth chocolates. (I’ve some other kind from Aldi that was not as good quality.) Moser Roth comes in packs of 5 small bars and in a variety of flavors, most are dark chocolate. Sea salt and mint are particularly good.

    9. For drugstore chocolate, Dove. Trader Joes also has a good assortment of chocolate in multiple %.

    10. Chocolove. I can find the bars both at my local chain grocery store and nicer grocery stores. Usually under $5 per bar. DH and I like different flavors from one another, but we both like the bars.

    11. Cadbury, Ritter Sport, Ghirardelli, Guittard chocolate chips. World Market, Whole Foods or a gourmet food store would be a good place to browse for more European chocolates or ones with fewer fillers.

      1. I like that the serving size of those squares is three squares, which feels like “yay, I get to eat three and not one” – don’t judge me.

    14. lol Hershey and Reese’s are so bad. I like many of the ones mentioned and the chocolate covered nuts/pretzels at Whole Foods and ferrero roche

    15. It’s a little counterintuitive given your situation, but you might actually have luck with brands that are marketed for keto or paleo style diets, chocolate where the cocoa fat hasn’t been reduced. Some of the fillers and weird fats and sugars in the candy bars you want to avoid, are cheap stand-ins for real cacao bean content, including the fat.

      I’m not in the US so haven’t got a particular local brand for you, but in terms of taste Swedish Marabou, Finnish Fazer and Norwegian Freia all have lovely milk chocolate if you see them available. (You might get Marabou at IKEA, if you have one where you live.) They are still sweet, but a lot more chocolatey than regular US candy.

      1. Hershey is so terrible because they realize they can get more money for the cocoa fat selling it elsewhere, so they put cheaper forms of fat in their chocolates.

        1. Also I saw a TV show about the history of Hershey ‘s chocolate and they have that kind of “sour milk” flavor in there on purpose.

    16. Lindt is good and easy to find in nearly any supermarket. If you have a Trader Joe’s nearby, they almost always have Ritter Sport bars, which I like even better and have been finding more and more often in the US (I fell in love with them in the 1990s). Milka bars are good too and seem more available than they used to be 10-15 years ago. Sometimes (and this is probably a gray-market or specialized market thing) you can find Cadbury’s Dairy Milk at random grocery or drug stores.

    17. At the grocery store, Lindt and Ghirardelli.

      From specialty candy shops, See’s, Fannie May and Kohler.

    18. Hu Chocolate!! It’s organic and clean ingredients & tastes amazing! The almond butter quinoa, salty & mint flavors are so good IMO.

    20. I heard somewhere (the Internet? so you know it’s true!) that when eating chocolate for health purposes, you should avoid soy lecithin. Lindt EXCELLENCE 70%, 85%, 90%, and 99% bars reportedly are all lecithin-free.

      1. I think of soy lecithin as really healthy! Don’t people use it as a source for phosphatidylcholine?

        Maybe it makes it harder for people who have to avoid soy though.

  5. Is this normal? I’m late 40s and had to go to an ob/gyn to follow up on an ovarian cyst that was seen while getting unrelated imaging. No pain or anything–I wouldn’t have even known it was there were it not for the imaging. And subsequent imaging showed it had gone away. I normally just see my primary for pap smears and have never been pregnant, so this was my first time going to a specialist. The intake form asked all sorts of questions that felt extremely intrusive–how many partners I’ve had, whether this activity was with men, women or both, at what age I first became active, what sorts of birth control I use with my husband, etc. It was a paper document so no electronic safeguards on tracking who can access, etc. I understand things like tracking irregular periods or what not. But why is the rest of this any of their business, especially for a matter that was completely unrelated? I don’t even know how long that paper is going to be around. I normally don’t pay much attention to privacy issues. But this just felt totally off, especially in these times when how you’re treated may rely on whether the other person deems your lifestyle acceptable to their religious beliefs.

    1. Yes, that is an entirely normal ob/gyn intake form. The answers to those questions do inform recommendations for care, testing intervals and other things.

    3. This is absolutely normal for every gyn I’ve ever been to, but there’s nothing that says you have to fill it out it or tell the truth if you don’t want to. Just accept that you may receive subpar medical care in some cases due to them not having accurate information, though the risk of that may be low in this particular case (birth control is probably relevant, but the rest less so).

      1. Yep, in your case you can just lie. Assuming you’ve gotten STI testing each year since you’ve become active, are honest about whether you’ve had a new partner since your last visit, don’t engage in other risk behaviors like drug use, and have gotten an HIV test at some point. But continue getting STI testing at your annual. No one thinks their husband will be unfaithful but statistically it happens to a good number of people.

        1. Do you get STI testing regularly? I had to ask for it, it caused a stir, confirmed I really did want it, and paid something like $400 out of pocket.

        2. My doctor always did it annually when I was younger, but stopped around the time I got married, which is also when the guidelines changed to less frequent paps and exams. But when I went in complaining of abdominal pain, they ran sti checks just to be sure, even though I had no new partners and it was a year into Covid and WfH so I really did know my husband hadn’t cheated recently because he’d barely left my sight for a year at that point!

          1. When COVID started, my then-BF pointed out how stressed cheating men were going to be by the situation.

        3. Please don’t lie. Leave the questions blank and write “prefer not to answer.” Lying in your medical record is never a good idea, both because of the false information and because it gives the medical team reason to doubt you in the future.

          Signed, a doctor who agrees that these questions are needlessly intrusive for many patients

          1. My experience has been that medical teams doubt patients who exclusively tell the truth pretty routinely, and that they’re also the origin of most of the inaccurate information in my chart. But I agree it doesn’t help to also start lying.

    4. My gym office asks all those questions but then seem to ignore the information altogether. My derm asked me more related questions when I was having to answer some during Accutane treatment. (But then I also had a gyn RN tell me my acne was because my body was begging me to get pregnant).

      1. This is my experience. They ask for tons of invasive information but don’t use it. OP, I’d definitely leave plenty of fields blank.

    5. It’s normal, relevant to care (for example, men who have sex with men need more frequent HIV testing) and paper actually seems safer to me than an electronic form, although it will likely be turned into an electronic record at some point anyway.

      1. What age I lost my virginity when I’m nearing 50 and 20+ years married seems to me like it’s absolutely NOT relevant, especially for the gynecological concern I was being treated for (a normal ultrasound after a CT that showed an earlier cyst). I always thought minimally necessary PHI was supposed to be a standard. Guess not.

        2. It’s definitely irrelevant. Don’t listen to the “they need it!” chorus unless people can actually provide evidence as to why age of lost virginity is relevant now.

          1. Except that’s not the only thing OP mentioned, and those other things are absolutely relevant to all sorts of issues one would see an ob/gyn for.

          2. Of course – but a discerning reader can figure out that “have you ever done LSD” isn’t relevant to ovarian cyst follow-up.

        3. Yes but the intake form isn’t tailored to every patients individual needs. For some situations that information is relevant so they have it on the form.

          These are all normal questions IME. If you don’t want to answer something leave it blank and if it’s a relevant question for your situation your provider will ask you.

          I’m not shouting my sexual history from the rooftop or anything but I have no issue sharing any of this with my provider.

      2. Right??? Crazy to me that you would think otherwise. And obviously doctors’ offices are not tailoring their intake forms to the specific issue a patient thinks they have.

        1. No, the intake forms are out of control invasive these days. Every healthcare provider I see does not need to know everything they ask about employment, housing, sexual history, transportation, recreational pursuits, educational attainment, religion, and financial status, when they already have my medical records and my insurance information.

    7. I had to go to the ER a few months ago. They asked if I used weed or any other recreational drugs. I mentioned that I had tried CBD gummies for sleep at one point but that I didn’t think they worked so I had stopped. Now my EPIC health record says “recreational mar1juana use” and every time I go to the doctor they ask me how much I use.

      Don’t answer anything you don’t want memorialized in your record forever, especially if it has nothing to do with why you’re there – which is advice I should have followed myself.

    8. I am a med mal defense attorney. You would be amazed at how often these seemingly innocuous and irrelevant questions end up at the center of a lawsuit.

      1. That’s very interesting, but also I’m not sure what you mean by that — because the patient fails to disclose something or because the provider overlooks responses when providing care? Something like that? Or is it used to disparage the patient’s character?

    9. If my history is important, ask me to my face and we can decide whether it is written down. I took my son to the pediatrician and he was given a child’s tablet that had all sorts of invasive questions on it about puberty, sexual activity, drugs, etc. I took it away from him and told them if the doctor wants to talk to my son privately about concerns, I would leave the room but it is not appropriate for him to answer personal questions in a database.

  6. Any recommendations for over-the-eyeglasses type of sunglasses? Or better yet, is there such a thing where you get Rx sunglasses with only one lens with prescription and then go back and swap it out for a normal lens later?
    Also seeking tips about cataract surgery in general.

    Asking because my mom has a month in between the cataract surgery for her two eyes. And because they’re correcting her nearsightedness/astigmatism at the same time, this will be a month where she only needs to wear glasses on one eye. We were going to “pop out” the lens of her eyeglasses. So seeking some recommendations for UV protection in this situation. She does not wear contacts.

    1. You can absolutely order RX sunglasses with different prescriptions in each eye. Any optometrist would be able to do so.

    2. Walmart carries clip-on sunglasses if you can pop into one & try them over her glasses. I’m not sure how easy it would be to remove and reinsert a lens into glasses – will your optometrist office do it for you?

      1. I was on vacation once and lost my prescription sunglasses in the ocean. I found a pair of clip-ons at CVS or Rite Aid that fit my regular glasses just fine, and that really saved the vacation.

      2. OP here—thanks, these may be what she needs.

        Good call about ease of removal. I’ve tinkered before and popped the lens out of a pair with metal frames & screws on the side. Will confirm what type she has.

    3. You can pop lenses in and out of frames, but when I got new lenses in old frames, they couldn’t guarantee that they wouldn’t break the frames and said it weakens them to do it repeatedly (and the plastic frames did indeed show some signs of stress, metal frames might hold up better). My FIL said his prescription drifted a bit over time and needed to go back to wearing glasses a few months after surgery.

    4. Do a search for magnetic frames or clip-on frames. I have a pair of Tom Ford eyeglasses (regular looking frames) that have several magnetized sunglasses shields that can be swapped in over them. They were expensive, but I like being able to pop on sun protection or remove with an easy click and it came with three shields, so I have three styles of sunglasses for the same frame.

      https://www.ezcontacts.com/product/eyeglasses/656102-656105/tom-ford-ft5641-b-37895?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=glasses_shop_main&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwrcKxBhBMEiwAIVF8rFhHZZ4_3dlumDjVbYkHPiKIRvT_jTZOtQ1s2zoyvBKuS4NRdbfAHxoCMVoQAvD_BwE

    6. Another vote for Zenni or 39dollar glasses – also note that Walmart will put prescription lenses in any frame for $99-$129 iirc – not sure if they’d give you a break on only one lens or not

  7. I had blood drawn as part of an annual physical. The doctor’s office asked me to come back in to re-draw my blood because they botched one of the tests. It was something simple and routine like iron level. Now they are billing me and saying my insurance refused to cover it. Who should I call to insist they pay this, the doctor’s office or the insurance company? TIA!

    1. I would tell the doctor’s office that it’s not your job to persuade the insurance company to cover their mistake.

    2. I’d say both–file what’s called an appeal to the insurance company meaning that you don’t believe you should have to pay this, and ask the doctor’s office to file an appeal on your behalf. If they don’t, advance it to a “grievance” which means you’re unhappy with the standard of care or treatment medically (or service).

      1. This. It was the doctor’s office’s mistake. Neither the patient nor the insurance company should pay for this. The doc’s office should withdraw the claim and write it off.

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