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Updated: Aug 20, 2019 88 Comments · by

Coffee Break: Denice Pump

Coffee Break

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This pump from Corso Como is getting great reviews at Nordstrom, which is nice to see. Corso Como for years had one of the highest rated pumps in the “just around $100” range (this one) — it used to come in a zillion colors and sizes, and now it's down to just a few neutrals. My interpretation of this is that if this was your HG pump: stock up, ladies. In any event, this newer, strappier pump (pictured) looks like a nice elevated basic, and while there are many neutral colors of it, when I saw that this interesting orange was called “hot sauce nubuck” — and was on sale — I had to post it. I like oranges like this with navy, red, gray, beige, and occasionally with black (but probably not an all-black outfit unless it's Halloween). The shoe is $128 full price, but this orangey color is on sale for $90 at Nordstrom and Zappos; Amazon has select colors and sizes as low as $46. Corso Como Denice Pump 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 9.30.24

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Comments

  1. Colombia Suggestions?

    I just booked a trip to Colombia in September! Have a bit of time between jobs, but nobody to go with me somewhat last minute–I booked a tour the first week but have two additional weeks. Am contemplating doing a half-day Spanish lessons thing, but figured I’d see what any of the ladies here had to suggest? Anyone been? While I have traveled alone before, I really don’t enjoy it as much (especially in other countries–in the US I’ve done so much business travel it’s NBD, plus I usually have a car, and a sense of what’s a good/bad neighborhood, and don’t so obviously stand out as a tourist!)

    • Anonymous

      No ideas but super jealous! I’m dreaming of 5 lazy days in Cartagena.

    • texan in exile

      I have not been to Colombia, but I have been through most of the rest of Latin America (traveled by land from Chile back to the US when I finished my Peace Corps stint) and a lot of Europe by myself. I don’t mind traveling alone, but I did have fun taking cooking classes when I could find them. I have also been on some excellent tours – just short afternoon walking tours, for instance, but really worthwhile.

      My sister and I went to a week-long cooking school in Italy that included language lessons in the morning. I liked the language classes, but she had just finished her master’s degree and after one class, said she was done with school and did not want to get up and go to class on vacation. I was just happy to use my brain in a way it had not been used for years – my corporate job was kind of dull.

      • Colombia Suggestions?

        Yes, I’m definitely planning to do some food tours, but cooking classes is a good idea! I’ve never done a group tour before, so that part will be new too–fingers crossed it’s not awful.

    • Never too many shoes...

      I loved Cartagena – the old city was gorgeous and the food was so good. It was a long time ago though so I do not have any specific recommendations.

    • Anon

      I have been to Cartagena, Bogota and Medellin in the past two years. A few general tips:

      Uber is widely available but technically illegal in Colombia. This means that people who use it sit in the passenger seat to appear like they are friends with the driver so they won’t get stopped by the police. Proceed at your own risk. I would assume the driver, not you, would get in trouble if stopped, but I didn’t really want to get into that situation. We hired a car service instead through our hotel.

      Cartagena is more touristy and safe (or at least feels safe). The historic center feels a bit like San Juan, Puerto Rico crossed with New Orleans: colorful buildings, Caribbean vibe, and balconies galore.

      Bogota is as big or bigger than NYC but has no metro, only busses. It’s tough to get around. I found it sprawling and charmless, although there are some nice pockets.

      Medellin: loved the Boteros and corresponding museum. We actually preferred this one to the actual Botero museum in Bogota! Go to a cafetera (coffee plantation) if you can. Stop by Toucan Cafe for their Tuesday language exchanges; you’ll meet lots of friendly people.

      I speak Spanish, which helped a lot. My friends who do not speak Spanish struggled. It does not seem to have as much of a tourist infrastructure as other places I’ve visited in Latin America. While we had no problems with crime, we were warned so much about it that I felt on edge every time we were walking around.

      If you want to know something more specific, let me know!

      • Colombia Suggestions?

        Thanks!! I had seen that Uber is illegal but still used, that makes sense about the passenger seat. I do understand a fair bit of Spanish but would love to be much better/comfortable at speaking it. And I know the feeling about being warned of crime–I had a similar experience in Chile, where I never actually felt unsafe but so many people warned me that I was on edge! I’m contemplating after the tour a week in Medellin and a week in Cartagena, but want to maybe stay flexible in case I hate/love one or the other (or Bogota, I suppose, though nobody seems super into it)

    • hi hi hi

      We went to Cartagena and Bogota last year. Here are my recs:

      Cartagena
      – Rooftop pool – was told that it is best to stay at a place with a rooftop pool given the heat (you get a breeze). Took the advice and very glad I did. We stayed at Bastion Luxury Hotel and thought it was lovely.
      – Restaurants – my favorite was El Boliche Cebecheria. We also ate at Don Juan but I thought it was only fine.
      – Tour – we opted for a Bazuto Market tour, which included lunch at one of the famous restaurants there. http://www.insider.com.co/bazurtomarket.html

      Bogota
      – We did two different stays in Bogota — first time we stayed in the Candeleria (The Orchids) and the second stop we stayed near the commercial district at the Hilton. We liked both for different reasons and I was glad we opted to stay in two different parts of the city to get different feels.
      – Tours
      – cooking class – http://5bogota.com/menu-item/farm-market-cooking-lesson/ – this was not the best cooking class I have ever done. I’d try another one.
      – hike – https://www.andesecotours.com/calendar – we did the Cloud Forest hike. It was great.
      – restaurants – our favorite was Matiz, which is out of the way from where American tourists typically stay, but we’d go back (we also got the impression they don’t really get many Americans… the person sitting at the table next to us translated :) ). We also really liked LEO, which is definitely a frequent stop for Americans (menu in English, staff spoke English). We were least impressed by Rafael, even though it came highly recommended.

      We were told in advance that we may have trouble since we don’t really speak Spanish. We did just fine, using common sense and translation apps.

        • booboo

          I did a trip to the mud volcano- El Totumo. It was excellent. My skin was feeling really nice weeks after my trip.,

    • Anonymous

      I spent two weeks in Colombia earlier this year. I absolutely loved it. I split my time between Bogota, Medellin, and Cartagena. Medellin was my favorite, though both other cities were great.

      I think a week in Cartagena is way way too long — it is pretty and the food is good, but it is not a town with a ton of stuff for tourists. If you are committed to a week in the area, I would plan some day or overnight trips to the beach areas nearby for a change of pace. My big issues with Cartagena were (1) Americans were everywhere taking photos for Insta (the location is gorgeous so it is very amenable to that, and (2) the connection to the slave trade was difficult, particularly as there are folks of African descent in a number of places putting on shows for white tourists. That said, I have not heard non-black folks raise any issue with (2), so that may not be an issue for you.

      In Medellin, I did a number of free walking tours that were really great. The locals are very proud of how safe the city has become and that it is now a tourist destination after so many years of crime and international notoriety. The almost deification of Escobar (and the folks making money off of that) is really disrespectful and hurtful to folks, and is driven by tourists, so be sure to steer away from that. In the alternative, I strongly suggest a walking tour of Comuna 13 — locals from the area give an unvarnished view of what life was like in that era and how far it has come. And I agree with the Botero rec — that was a lot of fun.

      Bogota is closer to a generic world capital, but I really enjoyed it, the international cuisine and music in particular. Because of the relative low cost of living, both Bogota and Medellin have attracted creative expats from a wide variety of places, so there are tons of creative spaces (whether that is for art, food, music) popping up all over both cities. You’ll have a great time.

  2. BeachPleasw

    Suggestions for all inclusive Caribbean adults only resorts for a honeymoon?

  3. all about eevee

    Has anyone here ever purchased jewelry from Local Eclectic? What’s the quality like?

  4. Traveling Lawyer

    With all of this talk about a recession possibly coming, it got me thinking. Assuming a recession is coming, what would you do to protect you from it as much as possible?

    I was in law school during the Great Recession, and therefore relatively shielded from the fallout (other than trying to find a job after graduation), and I didn’t really have any assets at the time to worry about. Thankfully, my financial position is much better, but I’m curious what, if anything, I should be doing to best position myself in the event of a recession.

    • Anon

      I know that at least one recession is a certainty between now and when I retire, so I personally hope it happens sooner rather than later (and of course isn’t as bad as the last one). Figure out what investment risk level you’re comfortable with, get your funds allocated and leave it there. Don’t touch it. Even if the market drops precipitously. Remind yourself as often as you need to that these are long-term investments. Beyond that, do everything you can to remain employed even if the job market tanks. Of course, that’s not often in your control. If possible, keep enough liquid assets that you could move for a different job if you lose yours.

    • Anonymous

      Un-leverage. Keep plenty of cash on hand. See if you can save up a big war chest.

      I was in BigLaw, but in a position where my salary was cut several times. Not b/c I wasn’t producing (I am in something counter-cyclical, like bankruptcy), but b/c the firm was having a bad year. Luckily, I wasn’t living hand-to-mouth, so I didn’t have to do things like sell stock or a house in a down market.

    • Anon

      First, depending on the size of your emergency fund and the stability of your job, I would work on increasing your emergency fund. The standard advice is 6-9 months. But when I was in biglaw, I had an emergency fund of 12 months because I knew it could take a long time to get another job if I was terminated. Now, in government, I’m less worried about getting fired and have a emergency fund of about 10 months.

      Second, figure out what you need to do to not freak out and make bad financial decisions based on that concern. Absent a long period of unemployment, you should not be touching your investments. The worst thing you can do is move them out of the market at a down point in the market because of your fears.

      Third, to the extent possible, put off big purchases that can wait. For example, absent an emergency, a recession is not the time to clear out your savings in order to purchase a new car.

      Fourth, hope that things work out for you. The biggest concern is that you will lose your job, which in many ways is out of your control.

    • Anon2

      All of this advice is pretty standard advice on how to think about your financial health as a working adult. Big picture is that recessions happen every decade or so. Need to assume that you might have to deal with layoffs and might have trouble getting another job at some point in your life. Nothing is guaranteed to be stable (except death and taxes…).

    • Flats Only

      This is what I did last time. (I predicted the situation a couple of years ahead, so I had lead time on some of these things). I left my 401K, investments etc. alone, knowing that if the market tanked they would recover in time. (They did). To prepare for a possible job loss and longer than normal time to find a new job, I built up a pile of cash beyond my normal emergency and f-this-job funds. I held onto a safe, steady corporate job for a few years longer than I would have otherwise. I reduced my “payments” as far as possible: no car payment, no can’t-break cell phone or cable contracts. That way if I lost my job I wasn’t going to miss payments and mess up my credit score, which would have made it harder to get a new job.

      Currently, I’ve put aside plans to buy a new car with cash. The current car is perfectly serviceable, and that cash may come in handy.

    • Anonymous

      On top of an emergency fund for a long stretch of unemployment (hopefully not – but if you and many many others are looking at the same time, it can take forever), I’d have a war chest ready to be able to buy when the market is low. That can be whatever you want it to be, but if possible try to put in a few hundred or a few thousand per month consistently (meaning not for retirement – this would be outside of a 401k/roth).

    • anon

      Stay in your existing job. Work hard. Don’t become a new team member or an underperforming team member at any company. When the market does tank, find every way possible to buy stocks when they are available at fire sale prices.

    • Anonymous

      Last time I worked with a career coach when things started to look iffy (so it was coming out of my paycheck and not coming out of severance) so if/when I got laid off, I had a resume, cover letter, etc. ready, knew what I wanted to do next, and had been caring for my network intentionally. I knew a lot of people who freaked out when they were laid off because they hadn’t updated their resume in years, etc. and were then trying to do it in a panic in the fog of having the rug pulled out from under them.

  5. NOLA

    Teaching the first day of my new first year seminar in an hour and a half. Send good vibes! There are 25 of them and one of me and it’s a newly developed course, so definitely on my toes. I’m looking forward to meeting them and getting started!

      • NOLA

        I love to teach and I’m usually so confident about what I do, but for some reason, this new course has me rattled. I’m sure I’ll be fine once I meet the little darlings and we start talking about the material. It’s going to be fun!

      • NOLA

        One of my friends apparently enrolled all of her advisees in my course, there will be an unintentional learning community!

  6. Need resume writer

    Has anyone worked with a resume writer/reviser they loved? I have a resume I need to adjust to focus on my prior jobs, as I took a three-year excursion into an adjacent field. I’m looking for someone who can help me come up with a sharp graphical format that can draw attention to the solid skills I have, rather than the chronology. Needs to be either in Seattle or willing to work virtually (I get the impression most do). Many thanks in advance!

  7. Anonymous

    Loved the dress posted this morning, and they make a version in magenta that I think would be amazing for a talk I’m giving soon, but it is sold out. :( The alternative posted didn’t seem much like the featured dress. Anyone have any idea for something like the Arlington Dress Magenta Wool from The Fold London? Preferably available in a brick and mortar store?
    Suggestions? Please help me shop!
    Thanks so much!

    • Cat

      Not sure about magenta, and The Fold does do an AWESOME job with their tailoring, but Trina Turk often has great structured sheaths.

  8. Pants recommendations?

    Seeking pants that are not jeans for my casual workplace. Looking for high-waisted, stretchy, narrow leg, and curvy cut or at least curve-friendly. Thanks!

  9. GOT help

    I am the last person who has started watching the show. Is there some place that explains things (like the ages of Targaryans: how much older was Dany’s Oldest brother if Jon is Dany’s nephew)? Why did Dany’s brother burn if dragons dont burn?

    I don’t want to annoy people if I can look it up somewhere.

    • Vicky Austin

      Try the Wikipedia :) there should be a page for each episode and you can get to individual character bios from there. (also I believe Dany’s oldest brother was 25 and other brother was 8 when she was born).

      • Anonymous

        wiki of ice & fire! you can also check out the AV Club writeups on each episode, they had a “newbies” one as well as an ‘experts” one.

      • Anon

        Like everyone else says, check out the wikis. But also, the ages of the younger characters were changed some for the TV show. I assume this was partially due to the difficulty of casting child actors and partially to reduce the ickiness of marrying off very young girls. Dany was much younger in the books, but Jon and the others were too.

    • Anonymous

      There is an EXTENSIVE Game of Thrones wiki, with explanations of everything. Set an alarm- it is easy to get sucked in.

    • Anonymous

      How is Jon’s hair dark brown???

      Targaryens have white hair. Lyanna appears to be blonde. There is no Miss Clairol. So many plot pints involve the heritability of hair color (Lannister bastards, Baratheon bastards) that I am a bit suspicious.

      • T

        Lyanna had dark hair, as do most northerners. Jon Arryn said “the seed is strong,” meaning that the Stark blood would cause Jon to look more like a Stark.

  10. texan in exile

    I have not been to Colombia, but I have been through most of the rest of Latin America (traveled by land from Chile back to the US when I finished my Peace Corps stint) and a lot of Europe by myself. I don’t mind traveling alone, but I did have fun taking cooking classes when I could find them. I have also been on some excellent tours – just short afternoon walking tours, for instance, but really worthwhile.

    My sister and I went to a week-long cooking school in Italy that included language lessons in the morning. I liked the language classes, but she had just finished her master’s degree and after one class, said she was done with school and did not want to get up and go to class on vacation. I was just happy to use my brain in a way it had not been used for years – my corporate job was kind of dull.

    • Senior Attorney

      Further to tours, I haven’t been to Colombia but I have had great luck with Tours By Locals dot com on three continents so you might want to give that a try.

  11. Tippins

    I read the name of this shoe as “Dee-Nice”Pump in Mr. Garvey’s voice from the Key and Peele skit :)

  12. Anonymous

    how much do you pay for rent/mortgage every month, and what proportion of your takehome income is it? nyc, $4500, $250k.. so around 30% of my take-home each month maybe?

    • Small Firm IP Litigator

      My mortgage payment is about 3300. That’s about 20% of our household take home, assuming 45% go to taxes and 401k. But we typically pay 6000 a month, which is more like 38% of our take home. In SoCal.

    • Anon

      LCOL Midwestern city. Mortgage payment is $1300, or about 20% of our take home pay after taxes and retirement contributions. However, daycare for two kids is almost double the mortgage payment…

    • Anon

      My all in (mortgage, taxes, insurance, and HOA) is about $2400/month. HHI is about $190K. It’s about 25-30% of our take-home pay based on my rough math.

    • Anon

      Florida, $811/month, $32,500 annual take home after taxes, savings, insurance, etc, so 30%.

    • Never too many shoes...

      Our mortgage is $2200 per month so only about 17% of take home. We live in Toronto but were lucky to buy in before the city got completely out of hand.

    • Horse Crazy

      Rent – $2100. Household take home pay – $85k. So about 25%. Bay Area.

    • Anon

      Mortgage is around 2800 per month, a little less than 20% of take home pay. MCOL southern city in the U.S.

    • Anon

      My all in (mortgage, taxes, insurance, and HOA) is just under $3k, and my take-home pay is about $7k. So, I’m at about 42%. It was significantly less when I was in biglaw and less when I was renting, but I wanted to purchase a place, which increased my costs, and wanted to leave biglaw, which decreased my income. At the end of the day, I’m ok with that ratio for three large reasons: (1) I purchased, which means I have an asset that is increasing in value every month and has increased in value about 50% in the 5 years I’ve owned (I wouldn’t be ok with this ratio if I was renting), (2) I still have enough money to do everything I want to do and haven’t had to cut back on my other discretionary spending, and (3) I’m still maxing out my 401k and added to my other investment accounts.

    • Anonymous

      $1900 (not including property taxes and h/o insurance; HHI $375 so 6% of our gross income. Feels like much more though. Net take home each month, not including bonuses is about $17,000, so about 11%

    • anonymous

      Chicago suburbs, $4500 (though we are likely refinancing) and it’s about 12% of our take-home.

    • Anon

      Take home around $20k this time of year, mortgage $3k, property tax $1.5k, insurance probably totals about $1k (we have homeowners, earthquake, and umbrella)

      VHCOL inner Bay Area but we bought the house a long time ago

    • Senior Attorney

      19% of take-home for just mortgage. PITI altogether is about 25% of take-home. We’re in So Cal.

    • anon

      My mortgage, including property tax and insurance, is about $2200 per month. HHI is about $125K, take-home is about $8800 per month. So, mortgage is about 25% of take-home.

    • Anonymous

      My mortgage, including property tax and insurance, is about $2200 per month. HHI is about $125K, take-home is about $8800 per month. So, mortgage is about 25% of take-home.

    • anon

      Mortgage (inclusive of property taxes and home insurance) is about 6500, HHI is ~600K. Takehome is maybe $18k a month, so a little over 30%. I’m in SoCal.

    • Pacific North

      I gross about $400k/year but expect earnings to drop big due to waning bonus structure. My net is around $8k/month not including quarterly bonuses. Mortgage is $2200, property taxes $5500, insurance about $3k/year (lots of insurance, earthquake, umbrella.

      PNW.

      • Anonymous

        Before I did the math, I felt like my mortgage/HOA/taxes/insurance was a small percentage of my take-home, but it actually is 24%. Medium cost of living city. If I include bonuses and share payments in my income totals, the number changes. But those are variables and I usually don’t count them with my income.

    • No expat package

      Monthly rent $1,000 for studio apartment, monthly take home $10,000, so 10% of take-home. I’m in the same apartment since starting biglaw 8 years ago though. HCOL (not VHCOL) city in East Asia.

    • Anon

      LCOL, rapidly growing Midwest city. Mortgage is $785 per month (includes insurance & taxes). HHI is $74,000. We bought before the growth kicked into high gear and there is no way we could afford to buy our house in today’s local real estate market (which is apparently hotter than SF, houses are selling for ridiculous prices in less time than it takes to list them).

      • Anon

        Forgot to include: actual required mortgage payment is 24% of take home pay. We round up and pay an even $1,000 each month, which puts it at 31% of take home.

    • Anon

      We are in a small low cost of living city in SEUS. A little over 2 years into a 15 year mortgage, we pay $1850 each month (includes escrow for tax and insurance and extra $160 toward principal). That’s a little below 20% of our take home pay.

    • Anon

      Mortgage/insurance/HOA/property taxes are $3300, HHI is $425k, so maybe 15% of take-home. Downtown Washington DC.

  13. Anon

    Renting… $850 a month, which is less than 10% of take home pay. LCOL area.

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