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Weekend Open Thread

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woman wears cranberry colored jeans with a waxy coating and a brownish sweater

Something on your mind? Chat about it here.

I was excited to see the seasonal variations on this bestselling jean from Veronica Beard — including this lovely raisin coated version.

I've always preferred “coated” jeans to actual leather pants — they're washable, they're comfortable, and they feel more wearable, and I like everything about these, from the cut to the color and more. They also have an interesting “embroidered” pair, as well as a rhinestone pair. The jeans also come in five denim washes, as well as an off-white pair with distressed details at the waist.

The jeans are $398, available at Veronica Beard, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale's and Shopbop. (Shopbop and a few of the others also have a dark olive corduroy pair!)

Sales of note for 4/17:

  • Nordstrom – Beauty savings event, up to 25% off – nice price on Black Honey
  • Ann Taylor – Cyber Spring! 50% off everything + free shipping
  • Boden – 25% off everything (thru Sun, then 15% off)
  • Brooklinen – 25% off sitewide — we have and love these sateen sheets
  • Evereve – 1000+ items on sale, including lots from Alex Mill, Michael Stars, Sanctuary, Rails, Xirena, and Z-Supply
  • Express – $29 dresses
  • J.Crew – 30% off all dresses
  • J.Crew Factory – Up to 60% off everything, and extra 50% off clearance
  • Lands' End – 50% off full price styles and 60% off all clearance and sale – lots of ponte dresses come down under $25, and this packable raincoat in gingham is too cute
  • Loft – Friends & Family event, 50% off entire purchase + free shipping
  • Macy's – 25% off already reduced prices + 15% off beauty & fragrance
  • M.M.LaFleur – Spring Sale Event – Buy More, save more! 10% off $250+, 15% off $500+, 20% off $750+, 25% off $1000+ (Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off if you find any exclusions.)
  • Sephora – Spring sale! 20%, 15%, or 10% off depending on your membership tier; ends 4/20. Here's everything I recommend in the sale!
  • Talbots – Spring sale! 40% off + extra 15% off all markdowns
  • TOCCIN – Use code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off!
  • Vivrelle – Looking to own less stuff but still try trends? Use code CORPORETTE for a free month, and borrow high-end designer clothes and bags!

123 Comments

    1. Well, obviously the fox in Robin Hood. And for a much deeper dive, Vincent Kartheiser as Ozzie in Masterminds (1997). So it was extra kismet-y when he and Alexis Bledel got married since I am also a bookish weirdo. And now I have to find out they got divorced three years ago??

    2. Alec from the Black Stallion was my first ever crush
      Followed by Gilbert Blythe, obviously

      Fun question!

        1. Clearly confirming this board has my people, since let’s face it, Alec is a bit random! And he has like 10 lines in the whole movie, but there was just something about him!

          1. Oh, mine was from the books. I vaguely recall there was a movie and he was not at all portrayed the way my imagination rendered him.

        1. 100%. His death has made it really hard to rewatch Anne of Green Gables ever since.

    6. Foxy Robin Hood, natch. LeVar Burton from Reading Rainbow. Super handsome and knew all about books.
      Later it was LeVar Burton and Patrick Stewart on StarTrek Next Gen.

    9. Davy Jones, of the Monkees. I was two years old and he was about 20 years older, so while he was a real person, he was out of reach for me. ;)

      1. Davy Jones might be the first for me, too. I was born in 1980, so he was more like 35 years older than me, but I would watch the old TV show on Nick at Night and listen to my parents’ record album. (I figure he counts as fictional, given the show.)

        Most of the rest of mine are completely cliche for my time – Zach Morris (of course), Uncle Jesse, Kevin from the Wonder Years, etc. I was madly in love with the friend from Boy Meets World for a while. Don’t recall his character’s name, but the actor was Rider Strong, who has done little since despite having an amazing name.

    10. Harrison Ford in just about everything I ever saw him in.
      Atreyu from The Neverending Story.
      Wesley Crusher from TNG, and yes, Riker.

      I still have a soft spot for Harrison Ford.

      1. Same on Harrison Ford. Though Indiana Jones Last Crusade was peak Harrison Ford, if I had to pick.

      1. I’m more Han Solo than Remington Steele, but the 80s were amazing in convincing me that being a private detective was a reasonable career aspiration. See also: Thomas Magnum.

      2. Pierce Brosnan is the one true Bond. I also quite like Daniel Craig, but he doesn’t play the character with the true Bond whimsy. He’s closer to a serious action hero.

    13. Han Solo in Star Wars, Michael Praed in Robin Hood (the British cable series), Judi Trott in Robin Hood, Christian Bale in Empire of the Sun. Oh, and Joan Chen in The Last Emperor.

      1. I loved Empire of the Sun but IIRC the character was a young boy, no?

        Have live Suo Gan ever since. Had no idea it was Welsh.

        1. So crush on boy my own age? I was @ 11 in 1987. I believe he was 12 when the movie was filmed.

    15. Devon Sawa as Casper! (And weirdly, Casper himself as a ghost?)

      “Can I keep you?” SWOON.

  2. Ok, I hate mopping/cleaning floors. What is the absolute easiest method/system/product you have found for mopping? Laminate floors.

    2. Don’t wear outside shoes in the house. I know a lot of people don’t like this idea, but not wearing outside shoes inside does make your floors a lot less dirty, which means less cleaning. An ounce of prevention pays off. Otherwise, we use the Dyson cordless vac every week or so (no kids, no pets), and the floors seem fine.

      1. +1. I’d have to clean every single day if I wore outside shoes inside (way too lazy for that) and I don’t want the baby crawling in dog waste particles and lawn chemicals.

    3. We are a shoes-off house, no pets, no kids. We spot sweep every few days where it is needed but otherwise only mop a couple of times a year.

      When we did have kids and a very hairy dog, we had to sweep far more often but still didn’t really mop unless there was something visible that didn’t come up with a broom. We do have rugs at each door and those cut down tremendously on the amount of ick that tracked around.

      1. What about in your kitchen and bathrooms? Our kitchen especially gets obviously dirty each week; we do cook a lot. And I have seen too much not to mop our bathroom regularly (have male child + husband).

        OP – we recently got a cheap robot vac that I have set to run every night in our kitchen/dining/living room area, which has made a huge difference. It helps that we only have hard floors in this space currently due to an unfortunate moth situation. I wet mop the kitchen, bathrooms and sometimes under the dining room table weekly, but it only takes about 30 min. During that same half hour, I either vacuum our stairs and upstairs or move the robot upstairs to do it for me. Caveat that we have a 1100 sq foot apartment so not that much space.

        1. Also, we have 2 cats and do shoes off inside for the most part. We live next to a busy street and get a lot of soot through the windows when they are open.

          1. 100% this!

            My exMIL made her son sit down to pee. Best thing ever. My son sits down to pee too. My daughter makes more of a mess than my son.

        3. I use Swiffer wet on my tile bathroom floors, and my kitchen floor. That is done more frequently, even in my shoe-free house. The rest of the house is beautiful 100+ year old hard wood floors.

        4. The bathroom is tiiinyyy, so it’s really easy to just wipe that floor down with the tub cleaning sponge when we clean the rest of the bathroom.

          If we spill on the kitchen floor we wipe it up, but otherwise it just gets swept with a broom every few days and wet mopped along with the rest of the floors a few times per year. The floors are light maple-look LVP so it’s pretty easy to see if there is a spot that needs attention and just wipe it clean with a wet rag in the moment.

    4. I have a spray mop with Rubbermaid pads. I wash my floor twice a day because I have a mice infestation I’m dealing with. I use peppermint with a squirt of Trader Joe’s Castile soap. It cleans the floors so well.

      I’m about to borrow a cat to get rid of the final mice now the hole they were coming in from is closed. I’ll be cleaning non stop with a pet in the house too!

      The pads are great as machine washable. The floors are cleaned properly with them.

    5. O-cedar mop bucket, mop, and pods. I hate, hate, hate mopping, it’s my most hated chore. An off-brand Roomba and the set up above make it tolerable.

      The swiffer stuff is junk.

      1. Different person commenting… Bonus with o-cedar is that my kids enjoy using the spinner and mopping. Definite winner.

    7. One of those spray mops and the Method floor cleaner you can just squirt directly onto the floor. I got tired of swiffer mops breaking so got a more sustainable version with reusable pads you can wash. It’s been going strong a few years now. I have no idea why the Metjod spray and mop thing is fun to use but it is. So I vacuum and then do that. It works well enough.

    10. Honestly? A simple spray-mop with removable and machine washable covers and any liquid floor cleaning solution (I think I bought mine at Costco). You can easily get everything under $50. I keep it in a broom cabinet in my kitchen and it only takes a few minutes to knock out large floor surfaces. It’s lightweight and I just spray as I go. No buckets and minimal handling. The Spruce has an article on top spray mops, and I LOVE my Swiffer PowerMop, but I find that most spray mops are similar in quality. I tried a steam system and found it was too complicated for everyday cleaning. If I have to plug it in or do maintenance on a robotic mop, I’m just going to procrastinate cleaning. Something you can just grab and use quickly is the way to go.

  3. Just for fun, what’s something you’re looking forward to and not looking forward to about Thanksgiving?

    I’m looking forward to introducing my baby to family I haven’t seen in years and to catching up on their news.

    I’m not looking forward to doing this while I’m at my heaviest weight ever, even though I know it doesn’t matter in any real way.

    1. I look forward to putting up a Christmas tree and enjoying the sparkling white lights all day every day in the weeks to come.

      I do not look forward to a day with my husband’s very large extended family. They’re very nice and also very boring.

    3. It’s the first time I’m seeing a part of my extended family for Thanksgiving since my grandma died a few years ago. We used to go to them for Thanksgiving every year and stayed with them several other times a year, but grew distant because of silly family drama over the estate. On the not-looking-forward-to-it side, I’m going to feel my grandma’s absence very deeply as we navigate the awkwardness. At the same time, I’m looking forward to reconnecting and hopefully renewing our relationship.

    4. I am looking forward to catching up with my mother and sister, who are thankfully coming to my city for a week but staying in a hotel., so minimal disruption and burden to me.
      I am not looking forward to gift buying during a busy work period. It’s the choosing, not the generosity. I am also not looking forward to the office holiday party. I don’t have a guest to bring and never feel like I can get the attire right.

    5. Looking forward to: My relative who’s a great cook is hosting his year, instead of the usual host who’s a not-great cook (they admit this) with questionable food safety (they don’t admit this).

      Not looking forward to: Lots of driving.

    6. I am looking forward to a two-part Thanksgiving weekend. Part 1 is a relaxing Thanksgiving day with dinner out at a fancy restaurant with just my husband. Part 2 is happy pandemonium: relatives descend on Friday, while I (part-time musician) perform four times over the weekend including two symphony holiday pops concerts. Somewhere in there we have to put up the Christmas decorations, because right after Thanksgiving I fly out for a business trip for my day job, then directly to my daughter’s college town for her big Christmas concert. I am going to need the rest on Thursday!

    7. Sleeping in, long weekend, putting up the Christmas tree.

      Not looking forward to careening into the holidays, and that it’s basically the end of the year.

    8. Looking forward to having a big crowd (16 people total), including my older brother (the good brother) for the first time in a long time.

      Looking forward with a bit of trepidation to seeing my daughter in person for the first time since last Christmas, which was kind of an emotional disaster.

        1. Ugh let’s just say things didn’t go as I’d hoped. I think we will take a break this Christmas.

  4. Man, in middle school I went through the worst Brown Phase. Why did I do that? I have rosacea and earth tones look terrible on me. WHY?!

    The theoretical physics discussion this morning got me thinking. For you people in science fields, that seems to far removed from what I even knew about in middle and high school (which colored how I approached picking a college and studying there). How did you get into your fields?

    I am having a quarter-life fling with . . . chemistry of all things and can’t stop thinking about how maybe I would have been good at this (in, very specifically, an ER pharmacist sort of way). I used to like biology but now I am seeing that the human body is really ruled in a lot of ways by chemistry in ways I never appreciated before (and I was very good at math and science, so of course I went to law school). All I do is read a book and another book and take a local state U class, one at a time.

    1. I went to law school and have spent my life regretting not getting a Ph.D. in either astrophysics or econometrics.

      1. One of the mechanics at my job is getting his Masters is Astrophysics. He’s timed it so that once he retires, he’ll start teaching at a community college. Just saying—it’s still possible :)

    2. Ha! I’m a PhD biologist turned lawyer and I started out in patent litigation where I got to apply my science knowledge some. At this point in my career (15 yrs post law school), I use my love of life sciences for being a good advocate for my medtech in-house employer!

    3. I’ve decided to be that sort of curious Victorian-type gentle(wo)man scientist. To seriously pursue it as a hobby. Because I can. And it’s interesting. And the science memes on social media are 1000% the best thing ever and I never want that algorithm to end.

    4. Currently: In house employment lawyer, working closely with HR and often consulted on sensitive or high drama separations/discipline/etc. I like the varied issues I deal with, but I also empathize with the employees going through tough times and it can be really draining to have to execute the company leadership wishes that I disagree with.
      Kid dream: Vet to cuddle with cute animals all the time.
      Current pipe dream: Some kind of nurse/EMT etc. so I’m helping people directly.

      1. Wow, we are the same in all the ways! I think the reason I would like being in the medical field is because you are still working with people in the same way you do as an employment lawyer, but it is more dynamic and you are moving around and being physical. I like doing that – being up and down the halls of my office talking to people, etc.

        1. Too funny! I do think being physical would help, and I imagine there’s a feeling of “greater good/helping people” working in the medical field that I’m not getting right now.
          I recently had a minor medical procedure at an outpatient surgical center, and I was fascinated by the nurses/techs whose job it was to handle pre-op/post-op prep and the mechanics of moving a large volume of people in and out of the procedure rooms to ensure the dozens of procedures got done.

    5. This is maybe not exactly what you’re asking since I actually have a PhD in biology, but I now work in a very math-oriented field. I realized a few years ago that my long-held belief that I was bad at math is just wrong. Everyone I knew hated math so I always just viewed it as as a means to an end and something I had to get through to get my desired science degree. I do wonder what would have been different if I paid more attention to how much I enjoyed my calc and stats classes. But, now I lead a team of people doing much fancier math/stats than I know how to do and that is a pretty perfect place for me, so I think it all worked out.

    6. I got a PhD in chemistry and went several years down the scientist career path, just to discover that the metrics that really count in that career are not what I want to spend my time on. I always enjoyed science classes in school, so it was a no brainer to pick it for college. I always wondered the opposite: if you picked a career that you are not at all exposed to in school, how did you get into it? Knowing family in that job? Generic career advice?

      I’m now very happy at my job doing project management for researchers, where I still use my general understanding of how the industry works plus general logic and reasoning skills that would benefit many careers, but I personally don’t do research anymore.

      1. OP in this: I lived learning about the Bill of Rights and I saw lawyers all the time on TV. I am not that sort of lawyer (debt finance).

  5. Recs for a good bra to wear that doesn’t show bra seams on your shirt? (Size 32 D if that helps.) And, why do they do that in the first place?

    2. The seams allow you to create a more 3D shape in a fabric that doesn’t have much stretch, which in turn creates more support. The alternative is often a moulded foam cup, which is less breathable. In terms of t-shirt bras that provide good support, I have had good luck with Prima Donna Satin Seamless (016-1330) and Fantasie’s Smoothing T-Shirt Bra (fl4510)

    3. Big crowd is fun. I usually bring a salad but that’s the only dish I can eat.

    4. I’m a 32d/32DD(E) and I only wear Chantelle. They’ve got great options and they fit well. Styles vary.

  6. I am bad at men’s clothes. I was thinking of getting my husband blundstones for Christmas. He wears Levi’s, a button down and a sweater to work most days. I think he would wear these. Does anyone recommend a specific model? Does brown sound right? Would love any advice!

    1. This is my husband and I gave him the most basic model in brown. Half the time he forgets that they exist, but when he remembers he always likes wearing them.

  7. If all of a company’s products have been recalled and consumers have been told to stop using them immediately, is it legal for the company to say it will only give refunds in limited circumstances? If it helps, I’m speaking about the Byheart formula recall. You can only get a refund for up to 2 units and only for orders purchased after 10/1, but the recall includes all cans/packets in circulation.

    1. Yes. They didn’t give you a forever warantee. They’ll go bankrupt and shut down either way. It sucks but it isn’t illegal.

      1. They sold infant formula that is not safe to give to infants. I would be surprised if under my state’s laws they didn’t owe customers a full refund for formula affected by the recall. That said, I also don’t see an easy way for customers to get that money back given the likely bankruptcy. It’s probably a suitable occasion for a credit card chargeback.

    2. Probably, and I suspect they are doing this because they are contemplating bankruptcy. If they refund for resellers / retailers, that could be $ that is clawed back when they file for Chapter 7 (or 11).

      1. It’s been a while since I bought a can of formula, but I’m guessing refunds of <$100 won't run afoul of a receiver or a bk trustee.

        1. A lot of people bought in bulk from the website since babies go through it so fast – it can be a few thousand.

  8. I bought a large area rug for my living room. It is a synthetic rug that has a sheen. I like the color when I’m looking straight down at it but not from an angle. Will that improve over time? I’ve got other synthetic rugs, including one that I’m pretty sure started with a sheen, but they are not like this now after some wear.

    3. If it ever stops being shiny, it is dirty, and you need to haul it out to your driveway and pressure wash it.

  9. Another rug question. I need some relatively large ones for multiple rooms in a house we don’t plan to be in forever. What is the happy nexus of quality and price point? I am not spending $1000+ per room, but I also don’t want junk. I was thinking about looking at estate sales but I worry about smells (hard to catch when you’re in the home the rug’s always been in) and bedbugs. But maybe those worries are silly? Where are you all sourcing rugs these days?

    1. I default to large jute rugs and sometimes layer inexpensive hide rugs over them. Obviously it’s not for everyone but if I have a few hundred bucks to spend on a rug I’m going with the natural fiber over polyester. I can’t stand the smell of sisal so it has to be jute. Fwiw my mom and I both have Turkish antique rugs we bought on Etsy without any smell or bedbug issues. Hers is actually so pretty I’m kind of taken aback when I see it. If my style was more traditional I’d invest in more. You really can get beautiful stuff for a song.

      1. As long as you don’t have a cat! I think ours would destroy a jute rug in a heartbeat. With cats, also avoid looped or hooked rugs – you need cut pile.

    2. Bedbugs are unlikely to be hanging out in a rug unless a person is currently lying on it every night; they prefer to stay really close to a food source. And a steam cleaning would kill them and their eggs. They are really not that hard to kill.

      For a good balance between durability and nice looking, I prefer 100% wool rugs. Nylon is indestructible, and polyester can hold up well depending on how the yarn is constructed. I would stay far away from rayon. We were happy with the wool rug we got from Target’s website, but not made by Target; I just ordered there because I knew in-person returns would be an option if we didn’t like it. But then it got moth infested and we realized too late and decided to throw it out. (We live in an old apartment building; I think this is less likely in other contexts). So that is a downside of wool. But again, I think this is pretty unusual, and if we didn’t have an issue with the rug clashing with our new sofa I might have worked harder to solve the moth problem.

    3. I get vintage rugs on Etsy but they are closer to 1-2k/room. I used to get cheaper wool versions but they don’t last like these do. If I ever moved, the rugs are pretty standard sizes and would work in a new home so I think it’s a good investment in terms of longevity. Moreso than a couch, which won’t fit everywhere.

    5. I’d go to Homegoods and see what they have that’s 100% wool in your price range. You’re likely to get some decent options.

    6. Facebook Marketplace! We have recently remodeled and needed all new rugs, so I just started stalking FBMP. My new rugs are all wool. Two were 9×11 and brand new, and I paid about $800 each. The third is huge (12×15, I think), was $8K new, I paid $1K, and you can’t tell it was ever walked on. FBMP is much easier than trekking all over to look at estate sales.

    7. You can also look at antique stores. They are likelier to have been cleaned if you have that worry. But there will also probably be good Black Friday sales on rugs. I have a couple that were significantly discounted in home sales.

  10. I may ask this again on M, but – has anyone researched long term care insurance? Any good resources to start? I always thought it was a scam but an article in the WSJ has me wondering.

    1. Scam. You’re best off self-insuring. Any place you’d want to live probably won’t take it, if it’s a cash out version the odds of the company being in business when you need it are low. Put money aside to handle this yourself or just use your home equity when the time comes.

    2. My husband and I have LTC insurance, but I haven’t read the article you mentioned. However, I bought my policy when the Federal government began offering them back in the early 2000s. Forturnately, I got it then because I was dx’d with a chronic dibilitating disease 3 weeks after I signed up and I wouldn’t be able to buy a policy. We bought my husband’s policy when he turned 55, which at the time was the recommended age if you didn’t get it through your employer. The value of my policy is significantly higher than if I had invested the premiums in an S&P indexed fund each year. I’d have to do the math of dh’s. That said, we’ve also socked money away so our kids will have resources to tap if we need LTC.

  11. It was interesting to read the NPR piece about single moms over 30 ‘rewriting’ the narrative.

    I’m a single mom and the double standards are very real. I am pretty much single-handedly raising my children because their father, my ex husband just doesn’t involve himself. There is no coparenting but lots of lectures about me recognizing his rights as the other parent. It’s pointing figures when something, anything happens. He is exhausting and the way I handle it now is to completely ignore him, shut him down and I have a very isolating life as I don’t let anyone in real life in because of the fear of the havoc he will wreck.

    30 years ago I would not have custody of my children because women couldn’t earn what I earn now. The building blocks of education and workplaces were not openly available to women from that generation. I am so thankful I am able to earn enough to survive his constant abuse while providing my children with a good education and therapy. Hopefully they will grow up to not be in abusive relationships.

    The narrative is also shifting because the kids of these previously shamed single moms are now adults. A surprisingly large number of men under the age of 50 have shared their mom was in the same situation.

    1. As someone who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, I remember thinking it was such balderdash that people thought Murphy Brown was terrible for being a single mom. She was well-off, had a nice house, a cool job, and a great nanny (maybe the first manny). It certainly seemed better than watching most of the married working moms I knew, who had to look after kids and a husband who had trouble making hot dogs for dinner. Also the people I knew with divorced parents often had to deal with very contentious custody and money situations.

      When I had my own kids with my husband and met more parents, I started meeting single moms along with alllll the other family combinations. I’m sure there are judgy people still around, but it generally seems like NBD here in the big city. (Also I think Californians aren’t particularly nosy about this kind of thing.) Frankly, my kids’ public school district (especially in the older grades!) seems like the judgiest place about working moms – lots of conflict about why I can’t drop everything and come in person in the middle of a workday.

    2. I’m sorry you’re going through this. It will get better. You seem like a great mom.
      Remember that 30 years ago was 1995. Plenty of single moms had educational opportunities, jobs, and custody of their children in the ‘90s. Try 50-60 years ago for a time when women were less likely to have well-paying professional jobs.

      1. Of course experiences vary, but when I was a teenager in the 1990s, lots of moms worked in my middle-class neighborhood, but very few of them had the kind of well-paying professional jobs that were held by the dads. Even if the mom was a teacher or a registered nurse or a pharmacist, they rarely had the kind of seniority in their workplaces that the men had in those years.

        1. I was a working, professional, single mom (intentionally so, not through divorce) in the early 90s and the sole source of income in my household. It was not the usual path, but it wasn’t turning any heads, either.

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