Coffee Break: Small Gold Hoop Earrings
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This must be a first: I prefer the small hoop version of these Monica Vinader earrings to the huggies.
It of course doesn't hurt that the hoops are on sale while the huggies are still full price at $285. But the hoops look a bit more comfortable than the huggies, which look like they'd be a pain to get on and off.
Both earrings are 14K solid gold, and I like the slight organic vibe to both of them.
The hoop earrings are on sale as part of Nordstrom's “Spring Savings Event,” so they're currently marked from $450 down to $360. The hoops are also available in 14k white gold, but it looks like they might be down to the last lucky few.
Sales of note for 5/15:
- Nordstrom – 3800+ items in “new markdowns” — I kind of wonder if they've started marking down stuff for their Half-Yearly sale that usually starts the week before Memorial Day. Good deals on Veronica Beard, Vince, Reiss (esp. coats), as well as Wit & Wisdom and NYDJ
- Alexis Bittar – Vault sale! 100s of re-issued archival styles up to 70% off, plus 25% off all full-price styles too
- Ann Taylor – Extra 40% off sale
- Boden – Up to 50% off with new styles added
- J.Crew – 40% off your purchase and 50% off dresses
- J.Crew Factory – Extra 50% off clearance + extra 20% off orders over $125
- Lands' End – Up to 60% off sitewide + extra 60% off sale and clearance
- Loft – 50% off your purchase, and 5/15 only: take 60% off the LOFT Versa collection
- Mango – Weekend exclusive, 30% off everything, and free shipping with $260+
- M.M.LaFleur – Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off
- Supergoop – 20% off sitewide + free Glow Stick (also, free shipping with $50+)
- Talbots – Extra 40% +15% off all markdowns, plus Summer Fridays One Day Sale (5/15), $19.50 pocket tees and $29.50 relaxed chino shorts.
- Theory – 25% off sitewide
- TOCCIN – 30% off select items with code! (You can't stack codes, but on full price items try 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!
Thanks for the recent convos on things with motors that fall between solely human-powered bicycles and a motorcycle that you need a license and insurance for. The things menacing our neighborhood, particularly on a route that goes by a very large high school and a large middle school seem to be a notch below motorcycles: they easily keep up on roads with a 35 mph speed limit (common speed is easily 45), no one is visibly pedaling. They are also not stopping at many stop signs, weaving and darting around trash cans in trash day, and going between the road and sidewalks even though there are a lot of pedestrians and until the time change, the morning school run was before first light.
I missed that convo, but yeah — I think in order for an e-bike to qualify as a bicycle at all, as opposed to a moped, that it must be pedal-assist. Meaning the user has to be pedaling for the battery to give them a slight boost to each rotation. That also has the ability to hamper the maximum speed!
I’m not 100% sure, but I think in most jurisdictions an ebike needs to *have* real pedals but can be capable of being powered without them (my class 3 regulated ebike has a “throttle” you can press and just start going, without pedalling at all, up to 20 mph. If you are pedalling, the battery assists in the way you mention – topping out at 28mph, which is the cut off for class 3 (technically, on a steep downhill, I can get over 28 mph, but it has to be without help from the battery – it’s not auto-braking at that point).
I’d call the things with no functional pedals at all that aren’t street legal bicycles mostly dirt bikes?
Oh sorry. I’m aware that as things stand, two-wheel vehicles with pedals are all called e-bikes, regardless of whether (or how fast) they can go if the user is doing no pedaling at all. My view is that to be classified as a “bike,” the user must be pedaling or the speed without pedaling capped very low, like 5 mph.
We have similar issues here. They can easily keep up with traffic at 35/45, but are considered bikes and not licensed or insured. The riders move between the street, sidewalks, and walking trail. They don’t wear helmets. They have no lights or reflectors and are hard to see at night. There have been several pedestrian cycle accidents with the pedestrian ending up with the worse damages and injuries. I’m waiting for a rider to get hit by a car.
At least in CA, it won’t be much longer before these mopeds/motorcycles are accurately classified as such. They are pissing people off SO much, leading to huge increases in injuries (especially among teens), and contributing to fatalities. Their days are numbered. One thing I don’t get is how many parents seem to be either completely unaware or completely disinterested. My parents would never, ever let us ride a regular bike without helmets – it was one of their few extremely strict measures. Now it’s a regular sight to see young teens going 40 mph on the bike path (which isn’t even legal to do here – either the motorized bike part or the speed part) with no helmets and often texting with one hand.
I feel like the parents don’t care because they now don’t have to drive. OTOH, should a middle schooler or teen in a city be zipping around before they’ve even had drivers ed and behind the wheel training and a basic test of road rules?
I have friends with kids this age (12-15) and there are several things I see. (1) An astonishingly large number of people do not understand the difference between the various classes of e-bikes (e.g. the discussion regarding whether you need to pedal, which is the distinction between Class 1 and Class 2); (2) is really hard to be the only parent who says no when so many other kids are riding them so that yours are left out; and (3) it makes life so much easier when your kids can get around on their own but you live in a place with no public transportation and it is either too far or too hilly for a regular bike.
They terrify me, especially anything more powerful than a Class 1 because kids in my neighborhood, like kids everywhere, do not understand that they could be badly hurt. I really wish they would require registration, proof of insurance and a driver’s license for anything other than Class 1 (and maybe lessen the max speed on Class 1 to 15 MPH).
The e-bikes powered by middle schoolers scare the daylights out of me. What are these parents thinking? It has been a HOT topic on my neighborhood FB page.
Dumb problem – I have $200 to spend on myself and can’t think of anything I want to splurge on. I like my current makeup routine, it’s not enough for a wardrobe overhaul, I don’t need any kitchen gadgets. What would you buy for yourself?
What about some super nice spices, or luxury oils and vinegars? A decent bourbon? Super nice chocolate?
Half of a professional house cleaning?
A pedicure for you and a friend?
A visit to a museum along with lunch and a thing from the gift shop?
An art print and/or framing for a favorite thing?
Membership to the zoo?
A better version of a kitchen thing you use all the time?
A nice dinner?
Nothing. Save it for when you have a use for it.
do you need to spend it right this second? I’d stash that away for the time that you feel like “oooh I really want that but can’t justify the $” like an extra spa treatment, fancy drinks, choosing a slightly nicer accommodation for a getaway, etc.
+1 – I tend to get the ‘shoppies’ when seasons are about to change, so maybe think about a new swimsuit/cover-up for summer, or a new outfit at the end of summer to kick off fall.
Lake pajamas and the new Carley Fortune book
A nice meal out or ingredients for cooking- interesting spices, different kinds of flour, fun condiments, good bread or other baked goods, produce at the farmers market or plants and garden supplies (all things I’ve actually bought recently). Or the equivalent for you that makes it easier or more fun to engage in something you enjoy, like better gear for a hobby (other recent purchases include new hiking shoes and some new field guides).
Bath salts, etc 🥰
I always have trouble thinking of these things when put on the spot. This doesn’t help you now, but I keep a list of “it would be nice to have…” and reference it when I want to get myself a treat or I share it with my husband or anyone else who asks in advance of my birthday or Christmas. I recommend it.
(My list now includes nice metal measuring cups, a print from an artist I like, some nice huaraches, WAG bags, and a lightweight monocular.)
A massage at a nice place. Or dinner with a wine pairing.
Massage at a nice spa!
Nostalgia band concert tickets. Lots of the grunge and emo bands of our youth are on tour this summer with tickets under $100/person.
I wouldn’t spend my own money this way, I’d wait.
But if it’s a gift or use it or loose it situation…?
Experience or upgrade: Ballet or opera tickets, membership to a museum, new outdoor gear, garden plants or equipment (either kind of gardening), upgrade everyday items (I recently upgraded my kitchen scales and meat thermometer), new sheets.
I’d put it on my coffee card and then buy spendier coffees for a few months. But coffee is my little indulgence that makes me feel taken care of and yet I struggle to spend money on it because I can make it so inexpensively at home.
New books.
Some utterly ridiculous meal from Goldbelly. I consider this entertainment rather than food.
for a while whenever i got small amounts of cash i just kept a running tally and when it got big enough i bought myself a nice purse. but you could do the same and start investing in a roth or whatever. actually $200 should be enough to get you started anyway.
Jewelry.
I would either do something like a nice mini spa day like a facial or a massage. Or I would spread it out over a weekend and buy a new book, order takeout, maybe buy myself nice flowers — just a lot of small splurges that I don’t do normally.
A new iron and fancy sewing pins.
Massage?
Books?
Tickets to a play/concert
Session with a trainer
Go out for drinks with a friend
But some fancy champagne/wine
Fancy food to share with a friend (or by myself!) like caviar or truffle for a truffle omelette
Buy new bed linens
Fun PJ’s from Print Fresh
Books. Music. Plants for my empty containers outside.
Hide it in some variety of money market et al. and forget about it for now. Then use it (and the increase) for something in the future that you really want.
To the poster on the morning thread asking about pinball machines because I just saw it—one thing you don’t think of with pinball machines is maintenance. They actually require a fair bit of regular cleaning/maintenance, and it’s hard to find people who can do it these days. (My dad had several in a restaurant in the 90s/early 2000s, and even then it was a niche skill). Agree with recommendations to consider console game systems instead, though I recognize it’s not the same experience.
Agreed. We have a pinball machine and maintenance/ repairs have not been cheap. My husband has been able to handle a few things, but we’ve also had to find a pinball guy who can help with more complicated things.