Coffee Break: Flower Bag
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This Farm Rio bag isn't for everyone, but I think it makes a great statement, and would be a great way to “elevate” a versatile work outfit for desk to dinner (or charity event, or whatever).
(I'm thinking of a simple black dress, but a sleek top + flowy trousers in a matching color would also be great!)
Farm Rio has this bag in a thousand configurations — different colors! some are leather (like the pictured one), and others are made of clear plastic like jelly sandals. Some of the leathers have studs and actual flowers poking out.
Farm Rio is offering 25% off sitewide at the moment, so the pictured bag would come from $368 to $276. Nice! (You can also find the bags at retailers like Anthropologie and Nordstrom!)
I am planning a company employee appreciation event in Nashville for about 200 people. Have you gone to a corporate event in a unique space you particularly liked? A lot of the things I’ve looked at seemed very ‘bachelorette party.’ I need this to be fun (not looking for a sit down dinner) but work appropriate. Thanks!
No event has ever made me feel appreciated as an employee. Most make me feel less appreciated than I did before the event because people who do no work and just suck up to management get awards, while the people who are doing the work and bringing in the revenue are ignored. I feel even less appreciated if I have to attend the event outside of business hours.
Just give everyone bonuses.
Wow, sorry you feel this way. I appreciate a few events here and there myself!
having it during the business day would be my suggestion #1. Requiring people to use their personal time to feel appreciated in the way the company thinks they should? Not actually appreciative!
one idea could be a minor league baseball game on the day they have a ‘businessperson’s special’ weekday afternoon?
+1 Free, nice lunch or fun afternoon event during work hours would be best.
100% do it during work hours if possible. as an employee, events don’t generally make me feel appreciated
Are you located in Nashville or are you planning this from outside the city? I am here in town and used to plan events for my summer associate program. Some fun places that aren’t too bachelorett-y:
– the upstairs of the Garth Brooks bar Friends in Low Places
– Pinewood Social
– Third Man Records
– Fifth & Broadway roofdeck
– Bridge Building
My company did a rooftop bar as part of a client appreciation party during an evening of a conference. It was the absolute best. There was a band onstage in a covered section that was like a big room but you could also walk through to an open part that was the roof and play that game where you toss things into a hole in a board. Loved that I could be inside or outside as I chose. Lots of food. As an introvert, I liked that I could move around and choose to be as engaged as I wanted or not with the music or games or with conversation. They interruped at one point for the CEO to give a speech and to give away some things. It might have been the Garth Brooks bar but I can’t recall. There are a few of them along that strip.
That sounds like the Garth Brooks bar! He’s one of the least problematic country singers to have a bar downtown so it’s a better option than say, Morgan Wallen’s bar. I remember touring it and they had so many options depending on the size needs.
Thank you! These are exactly what I need (and for the others, I also prefer daytime events and/or bonuses but those aren’t on the table for this specific thing). Thanks again!!
Apparently you are in the dark about the theory that Garth Brooks is a serial killer
I’m weighing in just to voice the opinion that some people do like these! Including me.
Good ones that I’ve actually attended:
– NHL games in corporate suites. Other major league sports probably work too
– A scavenger hunt in a downtown area led by professional tour guides
– Top Golf or a darts, pool, or snooker establishment
– A tasting event: wine, chocolate, vinegars, olive oils
And while I hate karaoke or other musical events (piano playing?!), I recognize they are a crowd pleaser and respect them as a choice.
Advice needed! My boss is receiving an award at a gala and I am bringing flowers for her on behalf of our team. Do I give them to her when I see her at our table? Keep them at my seat until the award presentation? She knows about the award, not a surprise. Thanks!
I would wait until she has actually received the award.
I would have them delivered to her office the following morning. Then she doesn’t have to deal with carrying a heavy arrangement around or keeping track of it at the event.
This is the way. Even day-of could be nice. “Excited to celebrate you tonight. Congrats!”-kind of messaging works, too.
Same. Exactly.
I usually give them the same day as the award – deliver to work. She can leave them for a few days or take them home anytime. Sometimes I have sent them directly to her home.
Two ways to do it— present the flowers to her on stage, or send to her the next morning. I vote for the next morning because it’s more practical, but don’t know what expectations in your industry are.
I think day-of office delivery with “can’t wait to see you get your well-deserved award” message is best.
Play this out for me?
DD’s 8th bday party is at my house on a Friday in a couple weeks. One of her requests is for her and her friends to decorate their own cupcakes, like piping on the frosting. She wants them to have a couple colors to choose from. Without thinking through the logistics of this request I enthusiastically said yes (I think in my brain I was like … amazing. this will take up a good 30+ minutes of the party). But now I have no idea how to execute.
There are ~16 girls coming. Howwwww do I do this? I’m ordering plain vanilla cupcakes from the local grocery store. I am buying little white round palates from the craft store and the cupcake will sit in the middle of the palate and each of the little divots meant for paint will be filed with an assortment of toppings – sprinkles, candy and the like. I feel like I’m solid up until that part.
How in the living efff do I satisfy the request for multiple colors of frosting to pipe on? That seems to be the main event in her mind (homegirl watches a lot of kids bake-off content and seems to be fixated on this experience!).
Do I…. (1) buy real, though smaller, piping bags on amazon and make a boat load of frosting the afternoon of the party? Then use food coloring to provide each girl like 3 different colors/piping bags or something? (2) Break the birthday girl’s heart and only provide one piping bag to each girl, so one color each? (3) Do something else altogether? (4) take a long walk off a short pier because this is going to be a hot mess?
Also, I have in my brain that I can just make a boat load of frosting Thurs Night/Friday while .. ahem.. working from home. Is that a terrible plan? I’m a cook, and I bake a bit, but this is not a well thought out plan on my part.
I just had 8 year olds at home for a make your own sundae bar party. I put the toppings in bowls and they were civilized in sharing and waiting turns for what they wanted, passing each other things. Don’t overthink it. Same for decorating the bowls- I bought one pack of metallic sharpies and they shared/took turns for colors.
I agree with this. The girls will take turns, even if they are super excited. You do not need to make separate piping bags for each girl!
Can you just to go the grocery store or Michael’s and buy whatever they have from Wilton (cake aisle of each store)?
This is what I would do. They have tubes of colored Betty Crocker icing at my grocery store and you can buy inexpensive piping tops to screw on the tubes.
Idk if this works or not, but I’ve never bought piping bags. I just cut the tips off ziplock bags. You can fit piping tips into the holes if you cut them to the right size. Then you just make like 5 sets of four colors, preload the bags with the tips in, and let them figure out who is going to use the green bag first.
You honestly don’t even need the tips if you make the hole small enough. Are you making a buttercream? A slightly warmer buttercream will flow more easily through the holes.
I don’t even have a recipe for the frosting yet. Will take recs for anything pretty easy! Can it be made the night before or is it better day-of?
Was thinking piping bags but no tips would be idea. I had considered ziplock, but the piping bags are pretty inexpensive.
Just buy like 10 cans of vanilla frosting, and color each one with a few drops of food coloring. Then you can either transfer to piping bags or even easier, get a bunch of mini offset spatulas and let the kids spread the frosting themselves.
Most grocery stores bakeries sell tubs of buttercream that you could just color.
I used to buy big tubs of Wilton icing at Joann Fabrics when I was decorating my kid’s birthday cakes. I’m sure you could find them elsewhere to buy or order. Then you just have to divide it up and color it.
It is VERY easy if you have a stand mixer and lower case very easy if you have an electric hand mixer.
Walmart sells icing ! Probably most grocery stores do too, but Walmart’s is actually pretty decent and you get a lot. I would 1000% not bother to make the icing myself-buy it, divide it up, add color, then use the piping bags or sandwich bags as mentioned above.
Do not make and/or color your own frosting! Buy colored frosting (e.g., the Pilsbury Funfetti frosting in cans) and put it into icing bags with a variety of tips. Let them share–they don’t each need their own bag in every color.
I think you could do one piping bag per color, and then they’ll take turns with the various bags. You could also just buy a bunch of those little tubes of gel colors and handle the same way.
Yeah, but since there’s going to be 16 girls, I’d probably do 4 bags per color, so there’s not a bunch of waiting for the popular colors.
You can buy disposable bags (where you drop a tip into the bag then fill it). so you’d have a couple per color with a different tip each.
buttercream isn’t difficult to make and can be made in advance and stored in the freezer (thaw overnight and then let come to room temperature). I am fan of Stella Parks of serious eats; you can also look at Erin Jean McDowell on youtube.
Real piping bags will need real piping tips; you can get a few kits at a craft store – Wilton makes a set.
I think it would be fine to make 4 colors, including white, and give each guest 3-4 ziploc bags to use for piping and their own small bowl for mixing any custom colors. They can also swap/share piping bags.
I’d get plastic disposable piping bags. Make maybe 3-4 colors of icing, portion them into the piping bags so that each kid gets all the choices, rubber band the ends closed (because someone will squeeze it so that the icing comes out the wrong end), and then cut a small hole in the tops just before they start decorating. This way you can make the frosting ahead of time (let it come to room temp to be easy to pipe). Avoid the hassle of using tips. Provide lots of sprinkles. Use a disposable table cloth for easy cleanup.
I think the girls can share colors – so don’t think you need to make 42 piping bags! I’d make one piping bag per attendee and do 4 colors (so each group of 4 girls has 4 piping bags).
go heavy on easy things — sprinkles. the cheap cookie icing packets you get at walmart. maybe marzipan cutesy things to place on top. maybe googly eyes for pictures at the end. i think walmart also makes like injector pens to put fillings in cupcakes? edible flowers if you want to be extra fancy – pansies, nasturturiums, marigolds should all be in bloom.
piping is above and beyond but i think the girls could share the different piping bags. many 8 year olds might not even feel comfortable frosting their own cupcakes so i wouldn’t worry about it too much, you could also just have bowls of different colored frosting out and then let the girls pick. if they’re sharing the piping bags and you worry about it getting gross (which let’s face it anything an 8 year old makes is going to be disgusting) but you could get plastic gloves or something for the girls to wear like tiktok chefs have.
cookie icing like this – https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Blue-Cookie-Icing-7-oz/607252904?classType=VARIANT&from=/search
also – you know most bakeries at like walmart or your local grocery store do sell plain icing, right? if not i’m sure the bakery can sell it to you easily.
i’d also say that if you want this to take up more time you could have them “plan” their cupcakes with art supplies.
“I am buying little white round palates from the craft store and the cupcake will sit in the middle of the palate and each of the little divots meant for paint will be filed with an assortment of toppings – sprinkles, candy and the like. ”
I think this is cute but might make your life harder. Why not just put toppings in bowls and let kids get whatever they want? They could store their selected toppings in the divots (maybe that’s what you intended), but seems like pre-loading the pallets with toppings creates more work and potential mess. I’m just seeing sprinkles cascading everywhere, or your eyes widening with fear as you stare down hundreds of divots (16 x 6? 7? 8? per pallet?) that need filling with toppings.
Re: frosting. Are you wedded to the idea of making your own frosting, or are you willing to just purchase it? You could also simply buy big tubs of white (as a base), and buy tubes of colored frosting. They can share – not everyone needs her own tube. It’s really easy to screw on different tips and it reduces the opportunity for mess.
Wilton makes ready-made tubes of cake frosting in different colors: https://www.target.com/p/betty-crocker-purple-decorating-icing-tube-4-25oz/-/A-92528859?sid=&TCID=PDS-22806998596&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22803279746&gclid=Cj0KCQjwkYLPBhC3ARIsAIyHi3TRjKrdRsYzoKRSTPVd-s8s1tr0Fvg_VCYawzSYP_EW0IocAKFMzNkaArf0EALw_wcB
Just buy a bunch of them in different colors and the girls can share.
hate to break it to you, but this is unlikely to take up 30 minutes of the party as i dont think most kids are going to pipe their cupcakes to the detailed level your daugther might be aiming for, unless they have someone instructing them. i have twin girls who will soon be 8 and if they each only get one cupcake to decorate, some kids might be focused on the details, but others might just load them up so they can eat more of it…lol. the most economical way is to make a boatload of frosting maybe have 4 colors of frosting with 4 tubes of each one. or you can buy the frosting and use food coloring to dye it yourself, or you could probably at the grocery store baking section ask to purchase colored buttercream frosting or you could just put out some frosting with knives so the kids can frost the whole cupcake and then purchase a bunch of frosting tubes with the frosting already inside they can use to decorate their frosted cupcakes. I might actually consider getting vanilla cupcakes with vanilla icing and then let the kids go to town. if this lasts 30 minutes then you’ve got some very detail oriented 8 year olds on your hands.
I figured from the minute I tell them to sit down for this to the minute that we’re done cleaning up, and cupcakes have been consumed, plus a round of Happy Birthday (on a pre-purchased, not kid-created cupcake!), it’ll be about 30 minutes. But I hear you – the actual decorating won’t take nearly that long.
If this kid wants to do nothing else, she wants to squeeze frosting out of a plastic bag. Just a tired, over worked mom making dreams come true over here!! Truthfully, DH said he’d execute most of this/prep for it the day of, but I’m in charge of mapping it out.
I appreciate all of the tips so far. I knew this was the right place to ask. I like the idea of asking the bakery if I can buy a tub of frosting… that would be the easiest. Plus having groups of 4… 4 colors per 4 kids cuts way down on the piping bags.
Another option would be to have plain round sugar cookies on hand that kids could decorate to take home when they are done with a cupcake. Our local grocery store sells “decorate-your-own” and they are always a hit at playdates.
Hot tip – your local grocery store bakery will likely sell you frosting in whatever color you want. I’d make things as easy as possible for myself and go that route. With 16 8 year olds, things might get bananas if you expect them all to wait patiently for the color they want. I’d do at least 2-3 piping bags of each color to keep things moving, maybe a few more of white. Lots of extra blank cupcakes to curtail the inevitable mistake meltdowns.
If you really want to make the frosting yourself, Sally’s Baking Addiction has a few great basic buttercream recipes.
Yea, my local publix just sells a plastic container of frosting (it’s usually just plain white, but you could easily divide it up and add color). It’s in the bakery cake section
Box cake and box frosting is your answer. Make plain cupcakes no frosting (or buy them if that’s an option). Get vanilla frosting and food coloring to make different colors. Add sprinkles. Use plastic bags with the point cut out.
I think this sounds fun.
Make the frosting – I don’t think buying it is THAT much easier. I prefer an ermine frosting but American buttercream is easy and will work well.
Buy a box of piping bags. IME, the generic ones are thinner/stickier – I use them to save money but for this I would buy Wilton.
Buy a set of 4 Wilton or AmeriColor gel colors.
Buy a set of piping tips.
Put a piping tip in each bag. Do four bags of each color.
Divide the girls into groups of 4. Each group gets a set of piping bags.
links for the supplies I recommend:
https://a.co/d/02dEPpQi – 12 inch decorating bags
https://a.co/d/05aKrVRb – 26 piping tips
https://a.co/d/01o6Ocqb – extra couplers
https://a.co/d/023O7JyD – 4 gel colors
bless.
do you feel safe when you’re staying at a hotel by yourself? which hotel chains are better than others?
i had one really bad experience where i did not feel safe at all (admittedly in a cheap motel off the interstate) and now I’m gunshy.
Yes, but I do not stay in anything below a 3 star hotel if I’m alone (and I’m conscientious of neighborhood even then). I also sometimes do not get off the elevator on my floor if a man gets on after me — I go to the amenities floor instead so I’m not followed to my room.
I don’t stay in a motel (where the door opens to the street) when I’m by myself. Otherwise, I don’t do anything special.
I will stay at a motel in the country where that is the sort of hotel that you get. I park my car in front of my window though. I wouldn’t stay at a not-in-the-country motel b/c they are crime and human trafficing generators in my city.
I travel to a lot of rural areas on business. I will not stay in a motel, period, and have stayed as much as an hour’s drive away from the meeting location in order to stay in a halfway decent hotel. I like Marriott’s SpringHill Suites, Fairfield Inn, and Courtyard chains best. Holiday Inn Express is usually acceptable but not great. Hampton Inn and Embassy Suites are mostly getting pretty tired and in need of renovation.
Have you never stayed in a motel, or did you write them off at some point?
I ain’t got time in my life for an hour of extra driving one-way to anything. If the door locks and deadbolts, what else is there that might be a problem with a motel setup vs a hotel one?
It is so easy to just kick down a door from the outside. The last motel I stayed in the door / doorframes were so sad that it really made no difference that I had two deadbolts on the door. I could break down the door myself due to the light particle board doors, and I am not a weight lifter buff type.
I feel like most doors, even at motels, are heavy solid metal things. But a flimsy door is flimsy in an interior corridor. Are we really thinking anything bad stays outside?
Don’t most places’ building codes mandate not using hollow-core doors on the outside? And fire-rated doors generally?
Not particularly. I’ve had bad experiences at expensive hotels too, so I just watch my back like I’m in a semi-public place.
Oh, yeah, I mean, I don’t feel 100% safe anywhere as a woman. But I feel as safe in a locked hotel room as I do in my apartment building.
I’m committed to Marriott. I avoid extended stay or anything motel-like where my door opens outside. Front desk staff are trained not to say your room number out loud during check-in. Request a different room if they announce it in front of other guests.
Like another commenter I get off the elevator at an amenity floor if I’m sketched out by a fellow passenger, and I’ll stay in the elevator if the door opens and I notice someone iffy in the hallway. When I’m in my room I always have that latch engaged and when sleeping I put my suitcase in front of the door (so the noise would wake me up). I don’t chat with Uber drivers about my travel plans.
This sounds like a lot but I don’t feel anxious! I’m on autopilot and rarely feel nervous.
These precautions relieve anxiety!
Yeah I dislike the narrow enclosed indoor hallways, but it’s been enough to avoid sharing them with iffy people.
I have stopped staying in B and Bs, which are often the only accommodation available in more rural areas, because they tend to make me feel unsafe. I prefer a basic, clean chain hotel with proper door locks, indoor hallways (so not a motel), and trained staff.
I’ve travelled for business by myself a lot for the last twenty years. With that said, I generally, do not stay in sketchier motels/hotels and will trade waking up early to drive for a nice hotel in the city. My mentors also taught me that if the travel policy does not allow for safety, you get an exception to it rather than de-prioritizing yourself. In the rare instances I’ve felt unsafe, the issue has mainly been something outside the hotel’s control (e.g., creepy guy at the bar) and was addressed by the staff. (Full disclosure, I realize my experiences are not everyone’s and, as my friends would say, are fully influenced by rich pretty white girl privilege.)
I feel safe at hotels but agree with others that I don’t stay in motels where the door goes directly to the outside, and I try to choose hotels that cater to business travel vs extended stays.
Recently, I’ve stayed at a Springhill Suites (Marriott), Hyatt Place, and Holiday Inn Express, and they’ve all been fine. Most hotels are independently owned and operated, even if they’re affiliated with a brand, so I don’t think one large brand (Hilton, Marriott, IHG) is better than the others.
I want this purse so badly, but definitely not at this price point.
+1
It brings me Project Runway vibes, but that isn’t a bad thing.
so what are the chances this arch or arc or whatever you want to call it will actually be built in DC?
I hope not. I am in the DC area and I do not want the arch. Now I hear they want three arches.
The small, the medium, AND the large?
Oh, I heard he just wanted it 3 times the size of the original design. No suprise.
I suspect he has said both of these things and will say something else later this week or next.
Oh! I love this!
I finally watched a bit of Euphoria. I am a bit confused — there is so much nudity and s*x, but to me (40s woman), it is really not s*xy at all. If I were a teen/tween girl, I’d be dreading that this is really what it’s like (at best: lie back and think of England). This is really very popular with the youth (or is it popular b/c of the nudity with a subset of youth). Youth things back often portrayed anything R rated as generally mutually fun (and in Euphoria so far, it’s maybe enjoyable for one party at best).
I think you have the wrong take on the genre of the show; it’s supposed to be really depressing. Maybe try the new Gossip Girl if you’re looking for something that’s supposed to be edgy but still fun .
This makes sense. I think a certain crowd watches anything on HBO with nudity.
For the in-house transactional lawyers reading, are you okay with using AI summaries of meetings? I don’t find the summaries at all helpful but have clients who use it habitually. I don’t object if it’s not my meeting as most of the content is business discussion with very little attorney/client privileged advice in there. I also don’t want to be perceived as being behind the times. What do you do?