Coffee Break: Gilded Peony Blazer
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Festive Blazer Season is almost upon us, ladies — I just took a peek and Neiman Marcus has a bunch of beautiful ones from brands like Cinq à Sept, Alice & Olivia, and Etro (honestly, I am drooling).
This black one from Cinq à Sept with “gilded peonies” feels fun but versatile… you could wear it with a dress, jumpsuit, pants, or even jeans, and go anywhere from the mumsy bow blouse as pictured to a sheer blouse for a night out. There are matching pants, but something about them feels a bit too Elvis to me.
The blazer is $695 at Neiman Marcus.
Sales of note for 10/12
- Ann Taylor – Flash Sale: 40% off full-price purchase + 60% off sale styles
- J.Crew – Friends & Family Event, 30% off for loyalty members (ends 10/12)
- J.Crew Factory – 50% off at stores and sitewide, 20% off $150+
- Lo & Sons – Fall Sale: Up to 40% off
- M.M.LaFleur – Fall Refresh Event, up to 25% off (Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off on other items)
- Nordstrom – 6,200+ new markdowns for women (Also, weirdly, they have the Fall 2026 Chanel collection, which I feel like is a first for them, but it’s like a catalog for you to call for an appointment… very strange.)
- Nordstrom Rack – Extra 25% off select denim (ends 10/12) + up to 50% off DV by Dolce Vita and more
- Old Navy – 40% off everything (ends 10/12). Also, the Old Navy x Altuzarra collab is here! All sizes (up to 4X!) of the blazer in the collab is still available.
- Talbots – Friends & Family Event: 30% off your entire purchase
- Theory – End of season sale is on with extra savings (new prices are marked)
are there any moms to level2-ish ASD kids here? we’re considering high school options for mine and i’m so down about it. i can’t see him in high school. don’t want to home school. i can’t see him in vocational school. i’m grateful he won’t need to work but wondering if trying to steer him into a profession or trade is better for his morale… but he’s still so young. (he’s currently in a very small school for ND kids that ends at 8th grade… 14 kids max with 2 teachers.)
This is probably a question for the school you’ve got your kid at. They may have a sense of where his classmates are going and what could fit him well.
Definitely talk to your current school about their recommendations. I would also meet with the administrators at your local public school district to talk about their SPED programming. There may be good options for him that you are not aware of.
My county has a standalone high school for kids with special needs, and the other public high schools have special education services.
I really wish these were less expensive, ha ha.
It is very expensive. I also never have an opportunity to wear blazers, let alone any blazers with extensive fancy embroidery!? Office culture is pretty casual right now for us non-lawyers.
Is anyone’s company NOT having some degree of layoffs this year? Or is this just the state of the world right now?
My company is not having layoffs.
Neither is mine.
Curious what industries you are in, if you aren’t experiencing layoffs. Ty!
Why does this feel so big in my head??
Former hair stylist who I loooove and was with for 10 years ended up being too far away after I moved and had kids, so we broke up. She was excellent and highly skilled. Current stylist (since 2019) is good enough, but her salon kind of really sucks. But we’ve bonded over the years, know one another pretty dang well at this point as I see her 1x/month. Sometimes my highlights feel chunky or have a blunt line, but it’s not frequent or blatant enough that my husband would notice, for example. But it’s not the same quality as my old stylist.
Well, old stylist just joined a salon 10 mins from my house and I’m considering going to see her now. I feel so … guilty/wrong/??.. about possibly leaving my current stylist, who I really like as a person! and have gotten to know quite well, but I know my old stylist is just really, really good. Is this a slow fade from new stylist? A conversation? Post-it note break up?? (kidding). I’m not conflict avoidant, I promise! But this one feels really hard!
I had something similar. It’s ok. It’s business. Just change and get your haircut where you like. If you new stylist asks just say that you’re seeing someone new. It happens all the time and will feel awkward for a moment but then you will have good hair and not think about it again.
+1. I get anxious over stuff like this, too – I try to remind myself I’m not the first person to switch stylists. Here’s to good hair days in your near future!
It’s okay! Of course you want to go back to your long term stylist. It’s all up to you and what you want. If there’s some service you still want to use the other stylist for, that’s okay too.
This is huge to you but honestly it happens to stylists on the regular. It helps to remind yourself that it will take one maybe uncomfortable interaction, but then your hair and your life will improve going forward. I think I’d call or text and say “Hey this is awkward, but my beloved long-ago stylist just moved to a salon ten minutes from my house and I’m going back to her. Thanks for everything!”
I don’t recommend ghosting her, though. I did that once and I felt awful when she contacted me to make sure I was okay,
Honestly, I would go back to your old stylist but NOT break up with the new one yet. If it’s been 7 years, make sure you really do like your old stylist’s work before you cut ties where you are now.
If your old stylist’s results do live up to your memories, then you can just kindly let your new stylist know you connected with your OG person and don’t need your next appointment after all.
This is good advice.
Q for the Texans – do you think Talarico can actually win? I’m nowhere near Texas but following this race with interest.
Texan here whose hopes have been dashed so many times. I’m not letting myself get excited. Unscientific feel is that it is possible but not probable. If early voting numbers in the cities (Houston, Austin, DFW, San Antonio) come in at 2020 turnout levels next week, I’ll feel better about it.
I’m a Texan too and feel your pain. I’m still holding on to hope though.
Another Texan here. I think Talarico can win. A Democrat came close to winning the senate election in 2018 with the Beto v Cruz race; 2018 also was not a presidential year. While many Texans hate Cruz, most Republicans would still vote for him. Other than his base, Paxton is strongly disliked. He seems to be struggling to stay popular with MAGA right now. I also think Talarico appeals more to Republicans than Beto did. And a lot of people who voted for Trump in 2024 are no longer supporting him and his cronies.
Agreed – this year is different for many reasons, so there is a chance. The governor’s race seems less likely, but fingers crossed!
I also think Abbott will win again. It may be by a smaller margin than he has in the past. Abbott is better liked by Republicans than is Paxton.
vote for the guy who won’t steal your pen!!
So I’m not an AI or design expert but does anyone have suggestions for whether I should do this on my own or hire someone and any estimate on cost. I’m starting a small consulting firm. Right now I don’t want to go all out on a website or anything but I find I do need a logo for a Linkedin page, on letterhead etc. The logo I have in mind is super simple much like many law firms use. While I can build it in say Word, IDK how to build it to get the appropriate electronic files so I can use it as an icon on Linkedin, on paper etc. I did try things like Canva but IDK they seem not to have the fonts I’d want to use nor was I able to get an outline I wanted. Thoughts? Is there any AI where I can feed it what I have in a word doc and it makes it into the appropriate electronic format? Or is there any place to hire some for such a small job?
Girl. You don’t know what you’re doing, or you wouldn’t be suggesting building a freaking logo in Word. You need to hire an actual professional.
Truth! This is what graphic designers are for.
I’m not currently a designer, but I work with them daily and have some background in design. I found this question incredibly insulting, TBH.
Seriously.
Hire someone. I hired a friend to do mine 8 years ago. It was money well spent. It was a few hundred dollars, but every time I need to send a file with my logo, it’s right there waiting on me. My person was a local SAHM who had a background in graphic design. I’ve tried using Etsy for a logo for my hobby, and it was a disaster all three times. I ended up doing that myself on Canva, but Etsy was a complete waste of money. Maybe Fiverr has graphic designers? If you use one of the aggregator sites, I would screen for someone located in the US. One of the Etsy issues was that the sellers I chose were all located somewhere else, and their English was inadequate to understand my comments, which were not complicated.
You can definitely use AI for this but I’d prefer to work with a designer myself. I don’t agree (conceptually) with outsourcing creative work and writing work to AI. I prefer to support creative people and artists – their skills are valuable!
Please, please hire an actual professional.
Anyone following the expedition to investigate the Taraia object, possibly Amelia Earhart’s plane? An identification may come within 48 hours. Purdue is releasing updates.
Does anyone here have experience with getting a MPA (Master’s in Public Admin) and have opinions about it? I work at a higher ed nonprofit and could get my master’s for cheap.
I got a masters in public policy. So it’s similar. It’s worth doing if you have the time and the cost is right. I did night school, mostly to check a box, but it was a good education.
I started down that path but ultimately didn’t fully commit to the program. It wasn’t a reflection of the subject matter, which was interesting, but where I was in life at the time. I think it’s a good one for people in the public sector (obviously), nonprofits, and higher ed.
If you can do it for cheap, go for it. I got my MPH in-state at a top school and felt much better about paying $25K out of pocket (I got partial tuition remission as well for being a TA) for a two-year, in-person program compared to $80-100K at a private school.
What do you want to do with the degree? If you want to do policy work or research or anything quantitative, an MPP will prepare you better. I have been really unimpressed with the skills of people coming out of MPA programs.
Higher ed is obsessed with degrees so it’s probably worth it if you can do it cheaply.
maybe a fun question – what is an advice book that you read and still think has merit, even though it’s out of favor at the moment?
I’ll go first: The Rules.
It’s not a book, but in general, I think advice encouraging people to participate in social norms (things like eye contact, dressing appropriately, maintaining appropriate volume in public, handshakes, etc.) is better than advice telling you to let your freak flag fly at all times.
A lot of advice books are largely BS or are based on the author’s worldview, which may not apply once you get to that phase of life (I’m thinking of Lean In or I Know How She Does It).
Looking for creative ideas of how to handle spouse gifts for Christmas. DH and I are in our mid-40s and have been married over 20 years. Guys, we’re BOTH out of ideas for each other at this point in our lives. If we need something for the household, we get it. I can usually think of jewelry or other things like that for myself, but DH truly cannot come up with gift ideas for himself, and I can’t anymore, either. He is not into the “upgrade daily essentials” approach, which I’ve tried and failed at. The man has simple tastes and does not want any upgrades. We’re both over food and booze. I have bought him many pieces of sports memorabilia over the years; I don’t think he needs or wants anything else. In terms of love languages, gifts are probably at the bottom for both of us, but it also seems kind of sad to not do anything (and that’s not an example I want to set for our kids). An experience seems to be a good way to go, but when I told DH that I’d really love tickets for Christmas, he’s like … I’ll just buy them now; we don’t need to wait for Christmas. (Missing the point, my dude!)
We love each other a lot, but gifting is not our strength.
Can you just agree to not do it? DH & I haven’t exchanged gifts in years and don’t feel like our relationship is any worse for it. He’s like your husband and doesn’t want anything, and I pretty much only want experiences, so it just doesn’t make any sense.
I’ve thought about it, but we usually have to help the kids with their gift selections, so it’s not just about the gift exchange between us (which I think we’d both be fine with skipping).
Massage gift certificate. I too like to have a present for DH under the tree and for him to have one for me so the kids see us as part of the gift-giving, even though we buy household stuff and splurges as needed.