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As I mentioned yesterday, there are a lot of really high heels in the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. If you're on the hunt (especially for a colorful shoe), these Charles by Charles David ones look great, especially for $79. (They'll go back up to $119 after the sale ends.)
They come in six colors, including neutrals, and are available in sizes 5-11; the heel height is 3.5″.
Some similar options in the sale include heels from BCBG ($59), Marc Fisher LTD ($89), Ted Baker ($129), Reiss ($189), and Bruno Magli ($229).
This post contains affiliate links and Corporette® may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. For more details see here. Thank you so much for your support!
Sales of note for 10.10.24
- Nordstrom – Extra 25% off clearance (through 10/14); there's a lot from reader favorites like Boss, FARM Rio, Marc Fisher LTD, AGL, and more. Plus: free 2-day shipping, and cardmembers earn 6x points per dollar (3X the points on beauty).
- Ann Taylor – Extra 50% off sale (ends 10/12)
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything plus extra 25% off your $125+ purchase
- Boden – 10% off new styles with code; free shipping over $75
- Eloquii – Extra 50% off a lot of sale items, with code
- J.Crew – 40% off sitewide
- J.Crew Factory – 50% off entire site, plus extra 25% off orders $150+
- Lo & Sons – Fall Sale, up to 35% off
- M.M.LaFleur – Save 25% sitewide
- Neiman Marcus – Sale on sale, up to 85% off
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
- Talbots – 50% off 2+ markdowns
- Target – Circle week, deals on 1000s of items
- White House Black Market – Buy one, get one – 50% off full price styles
anonshmanon
Ugh, losing my mind over a ridiculous policy change that contains no common-sense exception, and is threatening to add a compliance burden that will double the work and lead to delays, thus jeopardizing compliance. Please delight me with your best stories of malicious compliance with ridiculous policies!
Anon
Once, my company decided we were working too much overtime. They decided that they’d incentivize us to go home early by requiring us to print and fill in a paper application to book a meeting room after 17:00.
You’ll be shocked to learn that exactly nobody stopped booking meetings after 17:00, and overtime went up as we all had to waste time printing and filling in the forms.
Anon
For those of you who’ve had COVID and lost your sense of taste and smell, what did you eat? I’m trying to get some groceries for a sick and isolating family member but he doesn’t know what sounds good to eat, he just knows he’s hungry.
Anon
I’ve lost my sense of smell unrelated to CV-19, and the only things that made food even remotely interesting were hot sauce, black pepper, crushed red pepper, etc. I could get heat and it helped enough. Ish. It sucked
KS IT Chick
I lost the salty component only. The food that was the best was cut up watermelon. Cool, soothing, wet, with decent nutrition. I also added Tajin spice mix to it, since it has salt, sugar and some spice.
anon
Since I couldn’t taste anyways I did a juice cleanse with lots of those nasty “shots” and no sweet fruit juices.
Bonnie Kate
Same. I only lost my sense of taste for two days, but since I couldn’t taste and my garden was producing prolific amounts of kale, I just put kale, ice and water in the blender and drank it. It was cold and felt good on my throat, so it served an immediate sensory purpose even if I couldn’t taste it. I figured out I was getting my taste back on the third day when it vaguely started to not taste good.
Formerly Lilly
I do not have a complete loss of taste and smell, but a year and a half after having had Covid I’d put it at about 50% overall. I have found that I eat mainly for texture not flavor. Unfortunately for me, salty and fatty still come through 100%. I have eaten more potato chips in the past year and a half than in the rest of my life.
Which is a long way of saying get a variety of textures, and also ask your relative what flavors or sensations are still good for him and include those especially.
Anon
Thanks. I don’t think he really knows what textures and tastes work for him yet. It sounds like I ought to get him a variety of sweet/salty/hot and crunchy/smooth to help him figure it out.
Sounds like hot Cheetos and pudding cups to me! /s
Curious
I honestly think you can’t go wrong in life with hot Cheetos and pudding cups.
Anon
You can sit by me.
PolyD
My friend’s kid who had a trach for the first few years of life, and therefore didn’t really smell the food, enjoyed lemons and pickles when learning how to eat. I guess the acidity comes through.
joan wilder
There is an episode of Samin Nosrat’s podcast Home Cooking that answers this question for someone who called in. I don’t remember the specific foods but she emphasized choosing foods for three things: texture, temperature (hot/cold) and heat (in the spicy sense since that is actually a pain reaction, not a taste). The things I can remember that were mentioned were Triscuits and pineapple (the high acid seemed to create a sensation).
Anon
Oh, interesting. I will check it out!
Cat
so, an enzyme in pineapple breaks down protein – hence the burning feeling in your mouth!
Anon
I distinctly remember sitting in an Irish pub-themed restaurant and eating only the pickles that came with everyone’s sandwiches. So–pickles. I could smell peppermint, but I don’t know if I could taste it, as my smell/taste were not gone long enough to try. Tough to make a meal out of pickles and peppermint, though.
Anon
All I know is that if the patient is taking Paxlovid, there is no point to worrying about food. All food and drink, as well as no food/drink, will taste equally horrendous.
Senior Attorney
Except I still want to eat All The Carbs…
Anonymous
Cinnamon gum and lemon hard candies
Anon
Indian food. It’s my native cuisine anyway but the spices really helped. Also my loss of smell and taste helped me lose some weight:)
Nesprin
Popsicles and fruit and cheap chinese food with a ton of ginger. Bread and cheese and broth smelled really really off putting when I was sick with covid- popsicles were cold, and sweet and still tasted normal.
Vicky Austin
Never heard of this brand but these shoes are gorgeous.
Anon
And yet, are people wearing their 2019 heels, much less buying new ones? I’m always amazed that Kate Middleton is in 3″ heels and her feet must be made of iron. Mine are rebelling daily just being in non-sneakers. I am in an outfit that would be great with similar heels but didn’t even carry them with me for fear of my feet ruining my day with asking too much of them.
Anon
Yeah after 2+ years in comfortable shoes, I’m never going back. And I don’t think my feet would let me even if I wanted to. But I don’t want to.
Anon
I’ve gotten a few pairs of heeled sandals that I’m wearing everywhere. I even commute (2 mile walk, one way) in them!
Anon
I am. I love wearing heels. I bought a new pair from Ann Taylor a couple weeks ago!
Senior Attorney
I wore shoes like this every day for, like, 40 years. They’re gorgeous but honestly I’m never going back.
eertmeert
Oh man, I put on a pair of new flats the other day and didn’t get more than three steps in them before they went back to the shelf. Probably won’t get out again until I take some time to break them in with thick socks and lots of bandaids on my heels.
I do have a pair of Paul Green loafers that took minimal break-in time and are supportive enough to wear for a full day.
In the meantime, I just bought a pair of platform crocs in coral, and am super excited to rock them. Once I got my first pair of crocs earlier this spring “just for around the house” I am obsessed. I thought i loved my EVA Birkenstocks, now they are second best.
Anon
Crocs are amazing.
Of Counsel
I keep hearing people here say that they are never going back – but based on my office, a substantial percentage of women are back to the same heels they wore before, particularly the ones under 40.
Anon
I was initially in camp never going back, but after three months of actually going back to the office I’m back in my heels. I loved them and just needed a little retraining to get used to them again. It honestly feels so good to dress up and look sharp again. That said, I also have much more casual days than before and keep a pair of Rothys flats around for coffee runs and the like.
KJ
Yes, I wear pumps around this height every day and so do most women in my office.
Cat
I find them to be pretty but mediocre quality and uncomfortable.
I’m wearing some of my 2019 heels but any new purchases – like the heels I needed for this summer’s slew of weddings – I am going for the 2-3″ range rather than my normal 4″!
Anonymous
Beautiful but never going back to heels.
anon
I’m the exasperated poster with the Roomba that smeared dog p00p all over my house. Just wanted to follow up and say that iRobot is sending me a new one! They are replacing it under warranty (even though this doesn’t really seem like a warranty issue, and it’s not the more expensive Roomba that comes with a dog p00p guarantee). The current one is pretty much destroyed with feces all in the internal machinery and on the sensors. I’m pretty amazed with their good customer service. My dog probably hoped the Roomba was gone for good (she hates it).
Anon
I’m so happy they’re doing this for you. Turning a disaster into a good customer experience is a smart move. They’ve been great for me, talking me through issues on the phone (my more expensive Roomba wasn’t recognizing the battery for a while, but it seems to be fixed now.)
Cat
I posted this on the beauty thread which will probably go dormant – so repeating here, Nordstrom is price matching Prime Day.
Anon
Ooh. Like what items?
Cat
Sunglasses, in my case :)
Also check out beauty. Nordstrom is proactively price-matching so it already shows the sale price as you’re scrolling their products.
Cat
ooh, wish I could edit. They proactively displayed the price match on sunglasses. Beauty I’m not so sure – it would have to be the identical product size, etc. But their customer service is good – if you live chat them I bet they’d do it.
Anon
Off to go buy some Sunday Riley!!
Anon
I would much rather patronize Nordstrom, but there isn’t one in my city for in store pickup and packages get stolen so I’m stuck using Amazon since I can send it to a locker…
Anon
My packages get stolen too, so I have everything sent to the office.
Lily
Any strong recs for and against a trip to Grand Cayman with 2 adults and 2 young kids (a little over 4 years old and 20-22 months old)? Flying out of Philly or Newark. I’ve seen some blogger pics/posts about it in recent years and it looks incredible. Willing to splurge a bit. If you loved it, please recommend hotels or condos! I feel like I need to book this trip now if we want to make it happen for MLK or Presidents Day next year (or am I too late???)
TIA!
startup lawyer
My friend stayed at the ritz there and loved it. So we booked for later this year. But there seems to be a lot of nice AirBnBs and in retrospect I’d done that so the kids can have a separate space.
Anon
It’s been ages since we went and I don’t have a personal hotel rec, but Grand Cayman is nice. I don’t think it’s incredible by Caribbean standards (of all the islands I’ve been to I would say it’s probably in the lower third?), but the whole Caribbean is beautiful and good for kids, with turquoise waters and calm beaches and a short flight/no time change from the East Coast. I’ve heard good things about the Kimpton Seafire. Kristen from Big Little Feelings just went to the Ritz for like a month and I’m sure that’s great if you can afford it.
Lily
As an aside, how does she have so much money?! I can’t imagine BLF makes that much money. A month at the Ritz?!
Anon
I know, it’s crazy. That vacation has to have cost in the neighborhood of $50k. I love a good luxury hotel and we spend a lot on travel, but I can’t even imagine spending that much on one trip. She apparently comes from family money, but I think they’re doing VERY well with the social media stuff. It’s not hard to make big money when your Insta has 2.5 million followers.
startup lawyer
she looked relaxed af tho haha
Anonymous
BLF apparently makes a *ton* of money!
NYCer
+1 re the assessment of Grand Cayman. It is lovely, but there are definitely nicer islands in the Caribbean.
That being said, we stayed at the Kimpton Seafire for a long weekend and had a very nice time. It is a bit smaller than the Ritz, which I prefer. They are both on the same stretch of beach, which has very calm water and would be great for kids.
Anonymous
Is it possible it was a business trip? I stayed at the Philadelphia Ritz for a month once but totally on the company dime… it was “nice” to me maybe the first day, and after that just a place to sleep.
Anon
She’s an influencer so it may have been hosted, if that’s what you mean by “business trip.” But if it was, she didn’t disclose that, which is illegal. It definitely wasn’t a business trip in the traditional sense of like a corporate retreat where a business pays for a bunch of employees’ hotel rooms. And no offense to the Ritz in Philadelphia, which I’m sure is a lovely hotel, but the Ritz Grand Cayman is a luxury resort that’s on a different level from posh city hotels. It’s like $1,500 a night.
Cat
FWIW, there are small time changes in winter – some of the islands are on Atlantic time, which is an hour ahead of Eastern Standard. They don’t do DST, though, so for most of the year it’s the same effective time zone :)
LawDawg
I loved Grand Cayman. Among the islands I’ve gone to, it was my favorite. I didn’t feel like I was stuck in my resort and was free to wander — both along the beach for miles and to go for a walk to the grocery store, etc. I stayed in a condo that was next door to the Marriott. I used their desk for excursions (snorkeling, rays, etc.) and also used their restaurants when we didn’t want to cook in our kitchen. I literally walked out my door, stepped over a small wall and I was on their property.
Annony
Stay away from Armie Hammer!!!
j/k
Anon
Hahaha
Anon
I was so confused reading these replies because I thought OP was asking about the Grand Canyon. *face palm*
Anonymous
ME TOO! I was like with a toddler? No! Wait there’s a Ritz Grand Canyon? Where?
anonypotamus
I did also! I was like, where is the Ritz near the Grand Canyon!?!
Vicky Austin
I would stay there!
Anon
I did the same thing!
Anon
Stayed at the Ritz and it was “fine”. Not outstanding, just fine. As far as the island is concerned as someone said there are much nicer islands. I expected it to be more tropical whereas it was more desert-y than tropical. I am not sorry I went, but would not go back again.
Caroline
A family friend asked me for help getting a job. He just graduated with an English degree from a top 30 school. It took him more than 4 years to graduate, which his family thinks is a big deal but I don’t. He doesn’t have any internships but has worked as an executive assistant and receptionist at a couple different places.
His parents told me he’s interested in communications jobs – I asked him directly and he said he feels his strengths are customer service and problem solving, and is looking for basically any problem solving or writing heavy job.
What would you recommend for someone in his position? I know someone who got a comms job through an internship that turned full time, seems like that would be a good fit here. I’m in a different field and thought folks here might have ideas.
Lily
How about something like a customer success manager/account manager at a technology company? He’d be communicating regularly internally and with customers and problem-solving as well.
Or, a job at a PR agency? He’d be doing a lot of writing.
Anonymous
Travel agency or air line customer service? Not perhaps writing heavy, but at a proper travel agency he’d have to solve puzzles daily, finding routes, connections and solving problems when something goes wrong. Con: verbal abuse.
Or maybe keep at the executive assistant part and find a type of place where he could advance to higher level executive assistant in a few years?
Anon
I’m an intel analyst in the private sector (security focused, not business intelligence). Our customers are our coworkers, but it a lot of research, writing, some problem solving, tailoring products to each customer.
Anon
A claims analyst/handler for an insurance company or a third party administrator – preferably something like professional liability, general commercial liability, pollution liability, or cyber claims. I’d stay away from auto or homeowners, but the others can be really interesting and not soul-sucking. And there is a ton of reporting, so being good with English/writing is helpful.
Anonymous
If he is interested in a nonprofit career, fundraising (aka development) jobs are always available, and many rely heavily on writing and customer service skills. Look for internships or entry level jobs in Development on Idealist.
Anon
First thing: he should get a LinkedIn profile together if he hasn’t already.
Good search terms for jobs: media relations, media strategy, maybe even investor relations.
Anon
A lot of universities hire writers who are basically in-house journalists for the school, writing news stories about what’s going on with research/teaching. This is what I do for a living. We hire people with English or journalism backgrounds.
Anon
What is this job called or where would someone find those openings?
Anon
Probably has communications in the title.
Anon
I’m not sure there’s a great way to find them other than looking up individual universities and browsing through all their available jobs. My job title is “senior [department] writer” and doesn’t have the word communications in the title, but it’s probably worth looking at communications jobs, as many of them involve a lot of writing too.
Anon
Higher Ed Jobs would be a good place to look.
Anonymous
If this is something he thinks sounds interesting, there’s a youtuber called Budget Girl who changed careers some years back from small town journalism to in-house-journalist at a university. She used to do very transparent budget videos including salary, so he could get great information about how that compares to other writing jobs. I
Anon
Yes the salary is the big downside to higher ed jobs. As an entry level communications person at a university you’d be doing well to break $50k. It’s very hard to get above $75k unless you move into a management role, which many people (me included) have no interest in doing because it’s so different than than the role we were hired for. But the benefits are good and many universities are in LCOL areas where your salary goes farther.
Anon at 5:46
At the Budget Girl videos I saw, the salary was actually put as a positive, and a lot higher than local journalism. That’s all relative, of course, but the solid employer, benefits and higher salary was considered a great opportunity.
Anonymous
Oh yes, this is true for nonprofits too. Honestly 50K is HIGH for a lot of entry level jobs in NYC arts organizations. Fundraising does tend to pay better than other nonprofit work.
Anon
That’s true, working at (most) newspapers doesn’t pay well either. I do think maybe there’s more room for advancement without leaving writing completely behind at a newspaper? Being an editor is definitely different than being a writer, but much more writing-adjacent than managing a communications team. My boss hardly does any writing or editing, which is the main reason I have no interest in having his job.
Anon
we were just bemoaning lack of comms and narrative skills. chief of staff roles are all these things and interesting. stsrt 100k but can go to 500k in banking with years of experience.
also project management. go for tech pm roles. more money and trch background but required!
Anon
Somebody who has just graduated from college is not going to get hired for a COS job making $100k.
AnonMom
These sounds like great goals, but not really appropriate for a fresh grad without a really strong with history.
anon
I’d have him apply to biglaw paralegal jobs. They involve a lot of problem solving and writing.
Anon
Commuter shoes help – I am new to walking/metro commuting and will be starting next week. I’ll have a 1 mile walk to the metro on the front end and just a block or two on the arrival end. My plan is to wear comfortable shoes on the commute and change when I get to the office. What are people wearing these days for commuter shoes? I’ve decided I really don’t care how ridiculous I like, I will probably just wear regular comfy sneakers. Any cons to this that I’m not seeing?
Anon
Look*
Anonymous
This is what I have always done when I worked in an office, but only if I could keep shoes at work (office or cube, though I suppose a cubby or locker would also work). I especially appreciated being able to take off wet commuting shoes when it rains/snows! If this wasn’t an option and I was going to have to carry a second pair of shoes I would try to find a work-appropriate shoe I could also wear while commuting. Of course some people solve this with low-profile flats like Tieks you can throw in your purse, but I’m not a big fan of them.
Anon
I walk 1.5 mile to work either in running shoes or Birkenstock sandals and put on nicer shoes at work. Your plan sounds great.
Anon
Pre pandemic I worked in corporate offices for decades. There are so many women who leave their work shoes at work and commute in comfortable shoes. It has been going on forever.
My vote is Dansko clogs for commuting but whatever you feel most comfortable wearing.
Anon
Definitely comfy sneakers! Bonus is your nice work shoes will last so much longer without all the wear and tear.
Cat
People wear Birks, sneakers, flip flops, whatever. You’ll want a real pair of rain boots if you don’t have them already.
Anonymous
No cons! Wear your comfy sneakers, and sing a-long with Let the River Run (the intro song from Working Girl) while you’re walking along!
DC metro commuter
I definitely wear comfortable running shoes for my commute and don’t care how ridiculous I look. Then again, I’m not a trendy person.
WCEC
Since you’re changing, no downside to sneakers. I have a shorter walk but commute in sturdy penny loafers and sometimes wear them all day. Duck boots in winter and occasionally comfy flip flops in summer. Used to work in formal-ish office and now more biz-casual.
Anon
The Grand Cayman thread above got me thinking about Caribbean islands. Would love to hear everyone’s ranks!
Favorite island?
Least favorite island?
Overrated
Underrated
Best for families
Best for couples
Best for solo travelers
Best for culture/history lovers
Best beaches
Anon
Some of my favorites are Turks and Caicos, St. Lucia, USVIs (especially St. John) and Antigua.
Least favorite is Puerto Rico (sorry, I know a lot of people here love it!). The beaches are terrible. I can see being into if you really like the cultural aspects, but I go to the Caribbean for beaches and snorkeling and it’s just so blah for that.
Honestly, I think hotel choice matters far, far more than island choice for determining what’s kid-friendly vs. good for a couples trip. Adults only resort all the way for a couples trip, and I think most islands have an option for that, as well as family-friendly resorts on sheltered beaches.
Cat
I don’t have enough info to populate all of this, but would nominate Antigua as a crowd-pleaser. Beautiful beaches, options for Airbnbs if you don’t want a big resort, history, mountains, etc. Can be affected by cruise crowds depending on the day and beach, though.
French side of St Martin – haven’t been since before the 2017 hurricanes but ooooooh the food. Great for couples.
startup lawyer
I loved Barbados as a single person. Just really chill and good vibes.
Anon
Interestingly, I’ve seen Barbados on some “best islands for families” lists too. I’ve never been but it’s high on my list.
Anonymous
St. John, USVI is my personal fave. Most of the island is national park, and the park beaches are stunning. Very small, and only a couple of really nice restaurants, but plenty of beach bars. Great sailing, snorkeling, diving, and general beaching. Not a lot else to do though (no shopping, museums, etc.).
Anon
St. John is heaven. I think the USVIs are very underrated.
Cat
Oof, we went to St. John during post-vax Covid and did not enjoy – beautiful but not the peaceful escape we expected. Maybe that will abate as other islands become more accessible again and crowds go elsewhere.
Anon
I was staying on a boat, so can’t really comment on crowds. It does make sense that it would be crowded when many people are still reluctant to leave the US. But I thought the beaches were gorgeous and the snorkeling was phenomenal (we saw turtles and/or rays almost every time). And there are some stunning hikes too.
Anon
I loved, loved Barbados! Gorgeous beaches, interesting culture, safe, varied topography (Atlantic side has dramatic waves to look at.)
Was meh about Aruba. Didn’t love the arid climate, felt very Americanized, the constant wind made eating a pain.
Loved Puerto Rico for the culture and Old San Juan. The ocean current in Condado was way too powerful to swim so stuck to hotel pool. Would go to Vieques or Cuelebra if I went again.
Headed to Jamaica next month so will report back. :)
Rox
My favorites, which are also underrated, are Grenada and Guadeloupe!
Minnie Beebe
Best (by far!) was St Barths. The beaches are AMAZING and uncrowded. It’s a French island, so the food is incredible. But good for families and/or couples. Solo might be tougher because there are not many hotels; mostly home/villa rentals through big agencies.
Turks and Caicos is also very, very nice, especially Grace Bay on Providenciales. There is at least one fancy resort on Middle Caicos that looked amazing from the ferry– maybe some day? Lots of resorts and VRBO/AirBNB places, and it’s pretty easy to navigate.
Hated: Jamaica. Beaches were crap, and it just didn’t feel safe to me.
Anon
we were just bemoaning lack of comms and narrative skills. chief of staff roles are all these things and interesting. stsrt 100k but can go to 500k in banking with years of experience.
also project management. go for tech pm roles. more money and trch background but required!
Leather, please
Help! I’m looking for a really specific kind of white sneaker, but have no idea where to start.
I’m looking for a sneaker in the tennis shoe style. I need a generous toe box and a narrow heel. (Chucks are too narrow for me in the toes, for reference.)
But I am only interested in a true leather upper. No plastics, no vegan leather, I want actual leather. And I want a cream or off-white shoe, not a true white.
I really like the look of the Stan Smith Adidas, but I’m not loving the new vegan “upgrade”, so it seems those are out.
Anybody? Any recs? I’ll repost in the morning thread, but wanted to throw it out there.
Anonymous
I think Vejas were mentioned as good for wide toe-narrow heel but I haven’t personally tried them. They’re also quite a bit more expensive than Chucks or Stan Smiths. I’m in the market for a similar shoe, so watching this space…
Anon
I like my saludos white sneaker. It’s more of a cream than a blinding white.