Coffee Break: Sunscreen Kit
This post may contain affiliate links and Corporette® may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Alas, Sephora's sunscreen kit is sold out — but I actually think this one from Dermstore is better.
First, this one has almost every reader favorite sunscreen that you can legally buy in America — Elta MD, Supergoop, and Roche Posay — as well as a sunscreen spray, mineral sunscreen, and while I don't know much about the Paula's Choice one, I trust the brand and like that they describe it as “brightens, moisturizes, and leaves a radiant, soft glow.”
I also like that there are a variety of sizes here — some super mini “deluxe samples” to throw into your bag, as well as some bigger sizes, and many TSA-approved sizes.
The kit is a $208 value for $75 (at least for now, full price is $100).
(Oops – link added.)
Psst: have you heard that some Korean and Japanese brands are reformulating their sunscreens to be sold in the US? Here's a link to Fifty Shades of Snail discussing it on her FB page.
Sales of note for 6/5:
- Nordstrom – Designer clearance up to 40% off!
- Ann Taylor – Up to 40% off your purchase
- AYR – Ooh, good sale section — but lots on final sale. Readers love (LOVE) these comfy work pants and these jeans.
- Boden – 15% off new women's wear styles with code
- J.Crew – 30% off full price styles
- J.Crew Factory – Extra 50% off clearance + 40-60% off everything else
- Loft – 55% off everything + free shipping (and 6/5 only: $10 tanks)
- M.M.LaFleur– Up to 70% off, plus new styles added! (Try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off)
- Nordstrom Rack – Clear the Rack! Nice selection of Vince, Veronica Beard, Reiss and Rag & Bone, a ton of affordable work basics from Calvin Klein and dresses from Maggy London, Eliza J, and Donna Morgan
- Talbots – 6/5 only: $50 off every $200 (plus, $99 dresses)
Any under-the-radar continental US cities that would be good for a long weekend for a 40-something couple who loves to eat? I remember a thread here once where someone recommended Knoxville, TN and that’s the sort of level of touristy I’m looking for – not the famous places like Charleston, Asheville, NOLA, etc. This is a first world problem, but Dh and I feel like we’ve been to all the major touristy cities in the lower 48, many of them more than once, and we don’t really feel a pull to go back to any of the big names right now. We probably only have 3 nights so ideally it would be close to an airport we can reach with a direct flight from Chicago.
I will say this with a major caveat that I am not a foodie, but I keep hearing from friends in Birmingham, Alabama that the restaurant scene is great. Apparently a lot of chefs came to Birmingham after Hurricane Katrina and stayed. The downtown is walkable and there are some nice coffee shops but there are hardly any stores and several empty buildings. It’s not really a cute walk around and look a shops vibe. There is a civil rights museum, a free (somewhat small) art museum, and some civil rights history locations.
+1. My best friend lives there and I visit often. There’s a cute downtown for walking around and shopping in nearby Mountain Brook
Not in the US, but I loved Quebec City.
Milwaukee, unless you’ve btdt, Kansas City, Minneapolis. All are interesting and have good food. I like St. Louis and Indianapolis, though I don’t know as much about the food scene. Clearly I’m midwest focused.
St. Louis is wonderful for food! And to walk it off, the museums and zoo are free.
I’m from Indy so I’m biased but I think we have a really good food scene.
Kansas City (for bbq). Detroit. Milwaukee. Pittsburgh. Baltimore. El Paso. Providence.
Memphis bbq?
FL keys fish and vibes (you might be able to fly nonstop to Key West)?
Oregon coast?
Buffalo, NY! Time it for the Taste of Buffalo festival. YUM!!
Annapolis MD is a half hour from BWI. If you like seafood – especially crab – this might be a nice visit.
+1.
Agree
Does Louisville count as under-the-radar? We spent a weekend there and had a blast. Also Williamsburg, VA depending on flights.
Williamsburg is a culinary wasteland.
Oysters and Pierce’s Pit BBQ
Biased since I live here, but Memphis. Yes, we have great BBQ, but we have a whole host of other wonderful restaurants. You can also see the National Civil Rights Museum, Sun Studio, Stax, Graceland (It is worth seeing once, IMO).
Only downside is if you come during the summer, the heat and humidity are gross.
I don’t know if I was the one who recommended Knoxville on that thread but I would recommend both it and Chattanooga, TN for a weekend. Both are halfway between my best friend and me and we’ve done several weekend trips to both and had a great time. Some of these have already been recommended by commenters, but Louisville and Lexington, KY; Birmingham, AL; Wilmington, NC; Jacksonville, FL; Columbus, OH; Astoria, OR, Richmond, VA.
Come to Canada! Montreal has great food.
Austin, Philly, Minneapolis, Annapolis, Kent Island (MD) or Saint Michael’s (MD) (though they’re farther from an airport). The research triangle in NC has some great spots; Raleigh is big but smaller Cary is growing but still kind of quaint. The area around Hershey Park in PA also has some nice spots; the Troeg’s brewery and their snack bar are fun if you like beer. Mystic CT isn’t that close to an airport, but Rhode Island has some nice places too.
If you haven’t done it already, Philly has a great food scene and super walkable. Hubs planned is own modified National Treasure tour (didn’t realize his itinerary until halfway through) and also going to see the Rocky statute. We had a great long weekend there.
I personally don’t see the appeal of the Rocky statue, but the Art Museum is fantastic!
It is a Gen X guy thing. Cannot explain why there is reliably a line up of guys making their wives to a full on photo shoot.
Co-sign Philadelphia for great food and walkability.
The chislic at the Sioux Falls airport was divine. Give me all of the delicious meat!
It’s certainly not under the radar, but I’m in Philly and our food scene is fantastic.
Boise.
San Antonio
Durham, NC
Portland, Oregon.
Portland, ME also has amazing food.
Portland, ME
Providence, RI
Traverse City, MI
also seconding Montreal and Quebec City if Canada is OK
+1 this was my list plus maybe Pittsburgh if she’s not been.
I was not impressed with the food in Traverse City at all.
The Twin Cities! Owamni is about to reopen and definitely worth a visit. I’d catch a show at the Guthrie before/after a meal at Owamni. The Walker + a meal at Gai Noi. Lots of other good stuff to do and tasty food to eat in the Twin Cities, too.
Newport, RI; Louisville, KY.
Where do you recommend eating in Newport / Newport area? I am thinking about a trip in Sept and want to eat all the steamers, clam cakes, fried clams and more by the water.
I’d probably go to other cities above this one but it hasn’t been mentioned yet and in case it’s an easy drive or direct flight or whatever: Cleveland has a surprisingly good food scene.
Just snagged this! For those that use Rakuten, you can get 10% back on Dermstore right now. I also used my FSA.
Anyone ship a car cross-country and have a good experience? Any broker recs?
I’ve done it twice and had fine experiences both times. The most recent was 10.5 years ago so no recs but I just found a bigger outfit online and it all worked out.
Same experience as the previous poster. I did it 11 years ago so I don’t have a current rec but it was very smooth, no issues.
Someone here had a recommendation two years ago and it was great.
what food festivals do you make time for in your city (and elsewhere)? the suggestion for the Taste of Buffalo suggestion inspired me to look up the pickle festival in my city and then I got curious
Chowderfest on LBI in NJ.
There’s a dumpling festival in my city later this month, that sadly I can’t get to. It focuses on any food in a dough jacket, so pierogi and empanadas qualify.
The one I ever really cared for was the Les Dames d’Escoffier festival because it was very high caliber.
Southern Smoke Festival in Houston. It leans more James Beard than Michelin.
If you sense that you may have a PR situation about to blow up, have you used a crisis communications team? How do you find a good one and what do their engagement letters look like? Specifically, do colleges and universities do this, especially when budgets are tight? If not, is going to”no comment” your only other way to get through a mess of publicity? I’m hoping that wiser heads will abandon an activity that is likely to blow up and have a big PR hit (so that will be the first google result people see), but that won’t happen.
Assuming you have an established relationship with a law firm, ask the law firm for recommendations. In my experience, any situation that needs an outside crisis PR team also needs lawyers involved.
I work in higher ed comms (regular, not crisis). We have folks in house who specialize in crisis comms but as the previous poster said for anything really big lawyers are involved also.
TBH, I feel like the university I work at just sort of ignores all bad publicity. People make a stink about various things, some legitimate, some more insignificant, and nothing changes. As the most selective of the affordable public options in our state, we have an essentially infinite supply of students, and with the job market the way it is it’s not like faculty and staff looking to get out have a lot of options either. So I don’t think the admin really cares about bad PR because it doesn’t affect their bottom line. Maybe it’s different at other places.
Do we work at the same institution?
I feel like a lot of universities just ignore bad PR.
I feel like if you are Duke or UVA or an Ivy, you ignore because the average kid who wants to go there will still go there and it won’t keep anyone but an affected sibling from applying. Lower-ranked SLACs should care and no one really has the budget outside of flagships, who really don’t need to care.
Flying chicago to Madrid with my tween and I can’t spring for the business class but thinking about getting the premium economy upgrade. Talk to me about bulkhead seats. Do you like them? Hate them? We will likely sleep or read most of flight.
I like them in regular economy for the extra legroom. Premium economy is much roomier so they’re not as necessary there, and the last time I flew premium economy I went with non-bulkhead seats so I could keep my stuff at my feet for the whole flight.
I think they’re a PITA because I like complete access to my personal item. I don’t want to fuss around with the overhead compartment any more than I have to.
+1
Sometimes with the bulkhead, the tray is in the armrest, so the seats are narrower.
The terminology can be confusing so is it extra-legroom standard economy or true “premium” economy? Either way, I would prefer a different row, but I’d care less in premium economy.
If extra-legroom but regular seats, I dont like it because of what the other poster said below about tray table and screen in arm rests so you have a narrower seat. You will also have to store all your belongings in overhead bin, especially during taxi, takeoff, and landing.
If true premium economy, the seats are much larger and more like domestic business class so the fixed sides issue is not as much of a problem, and it will likely be the same in all rows of premium economy. The only concern here is putting your bags overhead.
yes in premium economy the seats and armrests are much wider than economy seats (more like domestic first class seats) so I don’t think the TV being in the armrest affects the width of the seat. At least not on United. YMMV on other airlines.
Would check your flight’s particular configuation, some bulkhead seats are either next to the toilets or bassinets, both of which can mean a less than peaceful flight.
If either of you have really long legs, it might be worth it anyway, but otherwise I’d look at the other premium seats first.
This is such a low-stakes update post but it came to mind because the same situation presented itself again! I posted last year(?) about wanting to do a hike with a 6 am shuttle start on a family vacation and my sister gave me grief for not doing the 10 am start, which I refuse to do because the area gets exceptionally crowded and hot at midday. I did the 6 am, she didn’t go, we met up later, it was fine. However, we’re now doing a family long weekend in southern Utah this summer (which is way hotter than where we were before but convenient to older family who will be coming) and wants to do an “afternoon hike” that’s straight uphill when the heat index is likely to be over 100. Girl, no.
No. That’s a good way to die. Any good safety planning for that is likely going to have you carrying a very heavy amount of water and an expensive in-reach. Check how much you will be billed for the rescue. No bueno!
Co-sign! Heat is a serious danger and should not be taken lightly!
Your sister clearly has a blind spot when hiking is involved!
Yes, indeed. She enjoys heat but come on – even heat lovers don’t want to hike at the absolute peak temp in Utah/Arizona. There’s partially a competitive sister dynamic here in her suggestions but luckily I’m old enough not to take the bait (and I’m not perfect myself in our relationship, far from it).
One of my biggest pet peeves is people who say unbelievably hot weather is ok because it’s “dry heat.” I was at my friend’s house in California when her AC broke in 100 degree weather and she wouldn’t stop going on and on about how it was ok because “it’s a dry heat” and “it gets cool at night.” Girl, 100 degrees is 100 degrees whether it’s dry or wet. Nobody wants to be in these temperatures!
Haha, I love that you posted that because we share this pet peeve and I come across it all the time (I’m in the Bay Area). No people, dry 100 is hot af! And sadly re: climate change, there are MANY nights where it barely cools off anymore.
We went to Vegas in June, and I was so miserable. Dry heat, whatever. I’m from an area of the country that gets plenty of hot weather in the summer, but Vegas was a special kind of awful. There’s no cloud cover at all. Extreme heat triggers IBS for me, so … yeah. Really fun!
My husband always says that “it’s a dry heat”! It’s ridiculous.
You guys are my people, thanks for validating me :)
Also: where it is a dry heat, there is usually zero shade in the day. What is worse than dead? Sunburned and dead.
I remember your prior post. That is nutty! Tell her you’re not ready to die just yet.
I really enjoy the heat (I don’t mind the DC summers!) but hiking in super hot weather is just a bad idea.
I remember your post. Just an internet stranger telling you that you are right!
Are rocket books worth it? I feel like the last time I looked they were a lot more expensive than $38.