Wednesday’s Workwear Report: Classic Linen Single-Button Blazer
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Our daily workwear reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.
My never-ending quest for a blazer that doesn’t make me feel like I’m cosplaying as a doctor or Miami Vice extra continues. This year I’m going to try a linen fabric, like this one from Talbots.
My office has been skewing pretty casual in recent years, so I’d try this out with some dark denim to see if I can pull it off. If not, expect to hear more from me as I try to figure this out!
The blazer is $189-$209 at Talbots and comes in sizes 2-18, 0P-16P, 14-24, and 14P-22P. Right now, you can get 40% off one item and 30% off everything else!
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)
I want to move away from using my phone as a step counter so I’m not incentivized to carry it everywhere (and therefore look at it all the time) but am not sure the best replacement. I just started a new role that has me more sedentary and I need the metrics to incentivize me to take the stairs or go for a post-work walk despite the heat.
I don’t think I want a smart watch (see e.g. screen time concerns) though I can be convinced :) I am not super interested in other metrics, and am not a super athlete, just trying to fit some movement in. I WILL NOT use sleep tracker. I tried that it was one of the people for whom it disrupted sleep. I am subscription skeptical at this point.
What do you like? Fitbit? Oura ring? Smart watch? Old school pedometer you can point me to?
I have a garmin watch and really like it – I’m really committed to getting 450 active minutes a week (and more intense exercise counts as double). But the Lazy Genius recommended a bright yellow basic pedometer on a recent episode.
I had a Fitbit and it was a disaster. First it wouldn’t reboot and I had to send it back for replacement. Less than a year later it again wouldn’t communicate with my phone and was essentially a rock. Would not recommend.
I love my Garmin watch. It’s much more of a fitness tool than a smart watch. It’s much might have way more athletic data than you want, but it’s easy to not get any phone notifications to it. You also might love the athletic features and use them more than you’d expect
+1 adding to the Garmin Chorus here.
you might not use all the features and that’s totally fine! but the Garmin Connect app is easy to use, free once you buy the watch. you can get a great older model (esp for what you want) on ebay/amazon for cheap and you can get lots of great bands on amazon to swap out for fashion sense.
Another vote for the Garmin watch. I have the Fenix 8 which is the most Apple Watch adjacent. The settings let you customize how dumb you want the watch to be so you can turn off all the smart watch features.
Also chiming in to recommend a garmin watch. I switched from an apple watch and was concerned about the screentime thing too, but I agree it’s very simple to not connect any phone notifications, and I think of the garmin and my phone as two totally separate things. I have the forerunner 265s and with a nylon strap and it’s SO lightweight and I actually prefer how it looks on my wrist to the apple watch.
Also an additional datapoint: my boyfriend uses a fitbit and has issues with it not recording exercise/steps correctly.
+ even more to the garmin smartwatch chorus. I didn’t want to pay for a subscription and I’m happy with the features of my vivoactive
Can you use your phone for a couple of known-distance walks – like, along the trail you use, or a certain number of city blocks – and then make a note of the steps accordingly? Like, if you want to take 4,000 steps, you then know you need to walk out-and-back to X intersection or landmark, or do Y number of loops around the park, or whatever.
+++
Very happy with my Garmin Venu 3s. Does all the fitness stuff, but looks pretty elegant.
I have an Apple Watch with all the notifications disabled and no connections to texting and email. I don’t use it for any “screen time” and don’t really know how you would even text or do other screen time things on it. I use for three purposes–to tell time and the weather (I have a weather “complication” on the watch face), to count steps/activity, and to time and pace my workouts.
Very similar here. My Apple Watch is my fitness tracker, weather watcher, podcast player, etc. However, I can’t really “do” things on it like on a phone. I get text alerts and email previews, but they are so very tiny it’s not like you can really become engrossed in them. You can choose which apps and notifications get pushed to your watch; you don’t have to mirror what you get on your phone.
+1 I moved from using a fitbit for years (with no problems; I really liked it) to getting an Apple watch and I like it even more.
+1
Another vote for an Apple Watch. I have a low end model and don’t put many apps on it. You can also disable which apps give you alerts.
Garmin smart watch. I just fiddled with the settings (no “move alerts” and no notifications from apps I don’t want notifications from). I like that I can target steps or “intensity minutes” and find the body battery pretty accurate. No subscription. Switched out the band for something non-silicone so that it’s actually comfortable.
I’ve had various versions of Fitbits for 14 years and they’re fine for what I want, which is pretty similar to you. I don’t love that they got bought by Google, but I don’t think it outweighs the cost of switching all my data and the fact that they have the devices that work best for what I want. I have very small wrists, so I want a small band, not a big watch, and I hate wearing rings. Unlike the person above, I’ve had basically no issues with them, though they do eventually die so I think I’ve had three- the early ones weren’t as waterproof as they are now and I think that killed one, and maybe I broke the wristband of another in a way that wasn’t fixable? But they’ve held up pretty well overall- my current one is 6 years old and still going strong.
I’m another person who has had good luck with Fitbits over the past decade and a half. I’m in a medical clinical trial that uses Fitbits to measure movement so currently have one that is provided by that program. It’s a super basic model.
Same. My Fitbit does what I need it to do. I didn’t want an Apple watch.
Same. They eventually die but they’re cheap, so…
There is no way I’d add ugly jewelry to my look for this, just take your phone.
Agreed.
I keep my apple watch pretty dumb, I only get ring alerts and text messages/calls. No other notifications. I generally keep my phone notifications off too. I love my apple watch, and have had one since they came out. The alerts are pretty customizable.
I got my mil an Omron pedometer. It just counts steps and resets at midnight. The battery needs to be replaced a few times a year and I bought a bulk pack at Costco so we always have them. She just sticks it in her pocket when she’s getting dressed every morning and when she takes it out at night she writes down how many steps she has. It’s basically to make sure that she keeps moving, she doesn’t have a particular goal or set amount. Very low tech.
I have an apple watch for movement, but I have all of the apps turned off and notifications turned off so it just functions as a watch/movement counter. I do use it to measure sleep. I wish the battery life were better and I can’t imagine how bad it would be if the notifications were turned on.
I used an old-school pedometer last time my work did a step challenge – just a $10 one from Amazon.
maybe i’m alone here, but any time I try to focus on counting my steps it annoys me that you have to be swinging your arms for the steps to register on a lot of things — watch, whoop, fitbit. so if you’re holding a leash or have your hand in your pocket then it won’t register half as many steps. even for the treadmill I got downstairs people say to put your apple watch or fitbit in your sock.
fwiw I do like having an apple watch and the newer ones will even alert you if your heartbeat is being weird. you can find your phone, read brief messages on it, see the weather. there aren’t any games and you can’t even read the kindle on it so it isn’t terribly addictive the way the phone is.
I haven’t had this issue with Garmin. I do tell it if I’m “on a walk” so it uses GPS for those steps though.
My Apple watch does not depend on arms swinging in order to count steps. It doesn’t track distance if I am using a treadmill, but it definitely counts steps regardless of whether my arms are moving or not.
My apple watch has a very hard time counting steps when I’m pushing a stroller. I feel cheated out of my steps.
Have you tried using the Fitness app to record an outdoor walk?
Oura rings count steps and send you alerts through your phone if you’ve been sedentary too long.
Get a garmin.
If you want to look like a real health nut, you can be like some people I’ve recently seen wearing a smartwatch, a Whoop band, and an Oura ring at the same time.
Whyyyy?
Check out the Withings watches. They are limited in function, work with an app, but appear like an old-school analog watch, with fashionable strap options.
+1 I wanted something similar to what OP is asking for, and I love my Withings watch.
I learned once upon a time that a particular block in my city was 1/20th of a mile. The neighborhood was laid out in a grid. I walked my dog and kept track of how many blocks we walked. Therefore, I knew how many miles.
Can you calculate the distance between your place and a landmark? Like the nearest TJs or gas station? Or drive around your block once and say “Ha! It’s 3/4 mile around!” I find it so strange how people are so dependent on these gadgets to think for them.
+1 for Garmin. I have disabled all notification and apps, and just use it as a watch with added health features. This means I see a about a weeks worth of steps and other data before the information is gone, but I don’t mind that.
I have a fitbit inspire which I took off the band and stuff into my bra or a pocket. I’m only counting steps. If it dies, it’s cheap!
As a continuation of my post yesterday on retirement, one of the first things I am doing is spending a week at a Spa just outside San Diego. Will have a day before and after free time, anyone local have suggestions for something good to do for a few hours?
The zoo or the wild animal park!
Absolutely agree – but if you are coming in the summer, make it the zoo because the wild animal park is really hot during the day in the summer (and it is a bit of a trek if you only have a few hours). It has the added advantage of being relatively close to the airport.
I mean this as a genuine question. Do adults often go to zoos without children? I think the only times I have been to a zoo is when I was a kid and now again with my own kids.
And yes, I have been to the San Diego Zoo, so I know it is huge / unique.
I often go to zoo when traveling went by myself or with friends. I enjoy seeing the animals and I like seeing how zoos are different around the world.
Yes. It’s a different experience without children. But there are always plenty of adults and couples when I go.
Yes. Personally, I love to have my long run end at the zoo right when it opens then walk around with an ICEE as a cool down before hubs picks me up.
Maybe not *as* often as with kids, but my husband and I have always enjoyed going to the zoo, both when we were dating and as newlyweds (DC).
Not me. To me it’s a children’s activity and I would only go with a child.
Do you feel the same way about science and nature type attractions generally, or is it something specific to zoos?
I wouldn’t really call a zoo a science or nature attraction, but science museums I’d say I mainly go to with kids? Although most of my travel these days is with kids so it’s kind of hard to say. I’d probably go to a science museum without kids if it was a really notable one. If my nature you mean hiking, kayaking, lake/ocean swimming, outdoorsy stuff like that then yes I do all of that both with and without kids.
I don’t love the concept animals being kept in captivity and prefer to see them in the wild, which I’ve done a lot and planned trips around (orcas in Washington state, manta rays in Hawaii, whale sharks in Cancun, etc). I don’t boycott zoo to the extent I’d refuse to take kids there and with little kids especially zoos are definitely easier than the aforementioned active wildlife adventures. But zoos are not very appealing to me if I’m not with kids.
I know some people on the veterinary side of zookeeping, so maybe that’s why it feels more sciencey to me! I also lived close enough to a reputable zoo to go often enough to get to know some of the animals’ quirks (just going there to take walks since it’s basically a park).
It makes me feel better about the captivity when I’m aware that specific animals have health conditions that would not have allowed them to live in the wild, but have a great quality of life thanks to medical care. Or in some cases I know they’re part of a project to research interventions that could help the wild population.
I also have had indoor house cats (and don’t honestly love the concept of keeping cats in captivity either), so that whole conundrum was already on mind.
“Zoos are for children only” is exactly the kind of take I expect in this place. Never change, Corpor*tt*
I am actually doing the San Diego panda walk and a vip experience at the zoo with my adult child. She loves a zoo and San Diego is a special one—and the pandas are back! The Midway ship is pretty interesting and lunch at Malibu Farm is delicious. But also are you going to Rancho La Puerta? I have friends that absolutely love it and go yearly.
Coming from London, I wouldn’t do the zoo and would do something that’s more uniquely American and/or Californian. I’m also not a huge fan of the SD Zoo. It’s massive (larger than Disneyland) but the animals are often hard to spot. I’ve had better animal viewing at many other zoos, including the London zoo.
I’d do the beach (for tide pools/sea lions, not swimming), a boat trip or the USS Midway. If you have any interest in taking a surf lesson, San Diego is also a great place to do that.
+1. These are great suggestions.
Spending a day at the Hotel del Coronado could be fun. I think they sell day passes. You could hang out at the beach right, rent a bike, walk to the tide pools.
If you are a dog lover, they have an amazing dog beach where you can watch dogs playing in the ocean. There are usually at least one or two surfing as well.
Balboa Park is nice — the zoo is there and they also have several interesting museums. Local history, air and space, art. Plus there are nice places to eat. And if you can grab some tickets for a show at the Old Globe Theatre in the evening, highly recommend that. (I see they’re doing Kim’s Convenience through mid-June — I saw it in Los Angeles recently and really liked it.)
Thank you all, some great suggestions – I’ll be with a friend who is a great dog lover so the dog beach sounds like a good starting point. I’ve spent a lot of time in the US over the years, so happy to find something that is specific to San Diego, and is a good way to pass some time.
Balboa Park – Check out the Art Museum or the Photography Museum or Mingei craft museum. The Panama restaurant is fine. The outdoor cafe by the art museum is nice. If you walk across the bridge, I love Cucina Urbana.
Little Italy or Liberty Station is nice downtown.
There are a number of very nice sailboat tours that leave from Shelter Island, and wouldn’t be bad solo.
La Jolla has the seal, kayak tours, and some of the best restaurants. There’s a modern art museum in La Jolla that just redid their onsite restaurant. La Jolla shores is the most popular beach in SD
North Park/Hillcrest are more urban but have a lot of breweries, restaurants and boutiques if you like city neighborhoods.
For dog beaches, the one by Del Mar is the most fun. I don’t care for Ocean Beach.
My favorite beach is Solana Beach which you can get to from the Coaster train. Go to Fletchers Cove beach (don’t walk too close to the cliffs), walk the one street in the design district, eat at Pizza Port. Or do the same thing basically in Encinitas.
The Glider Port by UCSD has a nice cafe and all the paragliders, and it overlooks the infamous nude beach in town down very tall cliffs. UCSD has lots of sculptures on campus but parking is awful.
If you like shopping, the UTC is a really fancy outdoor mall that has some really great restaurants, like Ding Tai Fung.
Also for American things, Padres baseball games are fun and the stadium is downtown. East Village is just a little sketchy but not bad. The SD Waves are the best womens soccer/football team in the US, and therefore one of the top ones in the world. The stadium is in Mission Valley, which you’d want a car to get to.
As others have said, Coronado is very nice, but keep an eye on warnings for water quality if you plan to swim. The southern beaches have quality warnings often due to Tijuana water issues, and Coronado doesn’t like to advertise it.
If the zoo does not appeal, I think the best dog beach for a tourist would be the one in Coronado. If you have a rental car, you can drive across the bridge, but you can also take the ferry from downtown (the ferry is right next to the USS Midway if you are interested in military history) and then either taxi/uber, rent a bike or take a bus to the Hotel Del Coronado (worth seeing!). Have lunch and drinks on the patio facing the ocean (seriously overpriced but you are paying for the view) and then walk north. The dog beach is just south of the fencing blocking access to the Navy base. This is a great day if the weather is good. Just be aware of the possibility of fog, especially in June.
Eat fish tacos.
Specifically, the Sonoran fish taco at City Tacos.
Go to La Jolla (unless that is where you are staying) and wander the beach and the main street.
Balboa park beyond the zoo- there’s a small art museum, an anthropology museum, the mingei cultural museum, a tea garden, monumental artwork from Nikki Sant’Falle and lovely spanish revival architecture.
Old town San Diego is fun too. Walk around, shop and eat. Neat architecture nearby to look at.
Also, Balboa Park is cool to walk around, more neat old architecture to view. You don’t have to go to the zoo if you don’t want.
I have this blazer in half a dozen colors. It’s a workhorse for me.
Any ladies with widespread (east-west) b r e a s t s have a bra they love to bring the girls in, in line with the body?
I recommend checking out the sub A Bra That Fits on R*ddit. I think they also have a Facebook page. Use the calculator to make sure you’re wearing the correct size bra. There is also a wiki with info about different shapes and suggestions about which brands work best.
Fantasie and Wacoal often describe their bras as having “side support” – I’d look for those, I think it helps push everything forward.
I pretty much only wear Fantasie now.
Seconding the reddit group. Specifically, look for models that include a “power bar” for getting things pointing forwards instead of to the side.
For the east-west issue, it depends on what you mean. Do you mean very full and forward projected bust in larger cupsize like G+ on a smaller frame? Do you mean wide-set bust with broader frame and maybe a bit of gap between? Do you mean a wider and shallower bust? Something else? Different bra styles for different issues.
Balconette bras with a side sling is good if you are full and forward on a narrow frame. Bravissimo Millie and Amelia are good. A plunge bra can be good if you want the girls to be pushed a little towards the centre, but not up. Gossard is good.
Bali bras and Le Mystère bras fit my similarl shape.
Blazer fit question – I recently learned that the reason many of my blazers and dresses have a “collar roll” is probably because I have very square shoulders, i.e., my shoulders don’t slope much. It’s an expensive fix and even my excellent tailor doesn’t always get it right. It even happened with a custom made suit (Tom James, never again). Does anyone else have this problem? What brands are made for squarer shoulders off the rack?
A complicating issue is that I’m also short with short arms and busty. Sometimes I feel like my body just wasn’t made for nice clothes.
Probably not helpful but this is one of the reasons I sew. I want things to fot perfectly with fancy finishes.
Good for you, but that really isn’t a solution for most people. It takes a long time to be skilled enough to make a freaking blazer.
The average person then either has to accept they can’t wear super tailored things (instead going for more forgiving knits) or spend the money to hire a professional who does have the skills to tailor things. Cheap clothes really is a modern thing, they used to be much more expensive.
OP says her professional tailor can’t make the alterations. She seems willing to spend the money.
she needs a better tailor then
I could write a book on this but it’s not just a matter of money or just a matter of finding the right person. It’s getting those resources to work for YOU. I have the best tailor in town. I’ve gotten custom suits. But I don’t use these resources so often that I’m funding their kids’ college, unlike other customers. So no I don’t get priority on their time or quality of their work.
You have to be connected in a way that I am not. I have enough connections to identify the right resources but not though to get the best treatment.
Tailoring your own blazers is not too far-fetched for someone with intermediate sewing skills and solid research skills. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but very worth it for some of us.
Not really sure what kind of magical answer you’re looking for, then.
Thank you for raising this. Since getting into weightlifting more in the last year I’ve noticed this on sweaters and blazers. I used to have sloped shoulders where b*a straps would fall down but no longer. I actually stopped doing shrugs at the gym bc my traps overdeveloped so much. My back/shoulders are definitely getting squarer from back squats and rows however.
Now need to think about how to fix this without adjusting my collar all the time.
What brands are you trying and having issues with?
I have very square shoulders (like a capital T – there is no slope at all) and have always found that blazers work well for my shape because of that. I gravitate towards Talbots, J Crew, and Banana Republic for blazers.
Yeah, the T is where I’m at too.
I’ve had good luck with Talbot’s. Their options for suiting lately have been not that great. I miss their tropical wool suits. Standalone blazers are good. I’ve had mixed results with J Crew and Banana. Their sizing was so inconsistent I got fed up with them. It’s been a few years, though, so maybe I need to try again.
I’ve been trying to make MM La Fleur and the Fold work for me because their suiting feels modern and interesting. LK Bennett was a big miss. Theory is way too slim fitting. I’ve picked up some Ann Taylor suits because they had a sale and I needed something quick. Of those, Ann Taylor probably fit the best, but I still get a bit of collar roll.
I like the JCrew Madelyn blazer for my square shoulders and wide set chest. I am long-waisted, though, and someone petite might be overwhelmed by the length of the blazer.
I’m much taller with the same shoulders, so I can shop in the men’s section. Men’s blazers don’t present the same challenge. I realize that may be tougher because you are petite.
For blazers, the first thing I would try is to buy take a tailored blazer that has good sized shoulder pads, and have the shoulder pads removed (or reduced in size).
Brooks bros used to do that alteration. It’s best if the blazer is structured in layers, not one with cheap poly pads sewn into the shoulder seams.
You can give it a test run yourself with a thrifted blazer or one of your old ones – open one of the seams in the lining and snip the tacking or seas that fasten the shoulder pads.
For your arm length issue: use clear rubber bands to scrunch your sleeves shorter under your elbows, as if you have just pulled them up a bit. The rubber bands with let the stay pulled up.
For your busty issue: don’t buy a bigger size to accomodate bust if the blazer fits well around the arm scythe and upper back – just don’t button your blazer.
I find that Italian and french brands are better at this than the British and german and American brands I’ve tried. So Armani, Dolce, Kenzo?
I have square shoulders. The best fitting blazers for me are vintage Sag Harbor. I buy them on Poshmark or eBay. I also agree with advice to get something with shoulder pads and then take out the shoulder pads.
Does anyone have a bed frame they love that’s less than $500? I’m looking for a bed frame that won’t make any noise but am having a hard time finding something with consistently good reviews. I don’t even need a headboard and don’t care too much about what it looks like, I just need it to be quiet.
Like for gardening purposes? I’ve had a few different Ikea metal frames and as long as you tighten the bolts they’re quiet. If it ever starts to make noise I know it needs to be retightened.
I bought the Ease™ Adjustable Base from the Mattress Firm a year ago. For $700 it includes the ability to tilt your head and legs. If I hadn’t gone for the adjustable option it would probably have been just under $500 (or close to it).
Might be slightly above your price point (with finish and shipping) but I like the platform beds from Gothic Cabinet Craft. No slats and a firm base.
Mine cost more than $500, but I’m very happy with Japanese joinery. Maybe check reviews on the cheaper ones, but in theory the way they’re put together should be quiet.
I bought the Dean Sand bed from Living Spaces based on great reviews and it’s delivered. Easy to set up, really solid, looks great, no noise. $295
https://www.livingspaces.com/pdp-dean-sand-ii-queen-upholstered-panel-bed-368970
Walmart, of all places. We have a solid wood mid century style platform frame that we bought there about 5 years ago. No noise, no issues, easy to assemble, very solid, looks nice. We paid less than two hundred for it.
I don’t see the exact model but there are several that look very similar – check out Walker Edison.
I love my bed, which is a knockoff of some of the nicer wood-frame beds like Thuma. It really looks more expensive than it is, and has been very sturdy (my movers actually commented on how sturdy it was last time I moved, haha). My partner is a big guy– 6’3 and 250lbs– but I have not had any issues with squeaking over the 3 years I’ve owned it.
I purchased from amzon, but looks like it’s over $400 there now. At wayfair I’m seeing $375: https://www.wayfair.com/furniture/pdp/george-oliver-ashlie-solid-wood-platform-bed-w005677828.html?piid=1768995264%2C1768995268
Runners: what (cheapish) sunglasses do you like for running?
Goodr. They stay put and the price is right.
+1 Goodr
+1
Goodr.
Oohh, I just realized I need running sunglasses too. Tagging onto this, any specific recommendations for a petite sized face?
I have goodr round framed ones that fit my petite face well, hardy notice them while on
Thirding Goodr. If you’re even moderately careful with them (drying them after they get wet; cleaning the lenses if something other than water gets on them) they’ll last for a long time, too.
Fourthing Goodr
at the risk of this turning into a weird Goodr ad, I ordered from them last year after my colleague wouldn’t stop raving about them. They are not expensive and have polarized lenses, which I was told to wear by the eye doctor. Stay put during running as well. I’m happy with the purchase.
I can confirm they work well for paddleboarding, kayaking, and water activities, too!
OP here, and I am actually looking for an alternative to Goodr! I have had 3 pair now, the most recent one being a brand-issued replacement for the polarization peeling off the lenses of my last ones. And is now also peeling.
I’ve found Sunski to be more durable than Goode (and their lenses are replaceable, which is nice), but they’re more expensive. My Goodrs haven’t lasted forever, but they’ve delivered in terms of value. How long are yours lasting?
Less than a year, hence still being covered by replacement warranty. I can’t justify buying new plastic sunglasses every year, it is so wasteful. Maybe Im harder on them than the average person?
Mine last longer than that for sure, though I do wear them basically exclusively for running and I try to dry them every time they get wet, and clean them whenever a non-water substance gets on the lenses. Those last two do make a difference for me, but it’s not as though I’m constantly dunking them in pools or running with them in hard rain. Anyway, like I said above, my Sunskis have been more durable, and I like being able to replace just the lenses when necessary. Good warranty, too-they’re replacing a pair that got run over by a car when my daughter threw them out of her stroller and I didn’t notice for half a block.
This is probably the strategy I need to employ– baby these glasses even though they’re so cheap! I wear them for everything, including in the pool. Good tips, thanks.
At something like $30 each, I’m cool with it peeling after a while? And then I can get a new color.
Yeah, it’s not really the cost, more the waste! If they lasted longer, I would feel the same.
Tifosi.
I am petite and did not love how Goodr sunglasses look on my face (though they are cute on others). I went with Tifosi. I also think Knockarounds look good on others but have not tried them on.
I also prefer Tifosi to Goodr. Available at REI.
Do you need Rx lenses? If not, the kiosk at the supermarket.
I don’t, and because I want them for running, Im looking for a more specific rec. I do own supermarket sunglasses but they are not always good for running– too heavy, slip down the nose, creaky screws/joints on the endpieces (insufferable! and hard to predict without running in them), insufficiently curved temple tips such that they are not great for this specific activity, etc.
Thanks for the recs all, I’m going to try Tifosis!
maybe a fun thread for today – what’s the weirdest or coolest story your grandparents or other older relatives ever told you?
2 from me, both from my grandmother – she was born in 1920 in Southern Ohio and told me how when she was around 13 they would row boats into West Virginia to go see movies and then when they rowed back it was pitch black.
the other one was her response to my asking her what her favorite easter memory was: she told me that when she was around 10 her friend’s younger sister was raped and then all the men in the town including her father went and killed the local hobo who lived near the railroad tracks. i was so shocked i did not ask further questions, which i kind of regret now that she’s gone.
Some fun family lore:
– my great grandpa abandoned his first family and after the war and immigrated with his mistress (my great grandma) and my North American family is a result of that. I won’t do one of those dna services because I don’t need to be involved in his bad decisions.
– my second cousin (my dad’s cousin) murdered his mom (my great aunt / my grandma’s sister) in a drug fueled rage, no one told me, just came across the court case one day.
That is wild!
Similar story, my family is descended from the war time girlfriend that my ancestor was dumped over when his first wife found out about her. They said she was “Indian,” which as far as I know in the USA was a loophole for marriages that would not otherwise have been considered legal at the time.
… was the hobo the r@pist or did they just want to murder the hobo?
Yeah, that was wild to drop on us without anything further. Which is perhaps the same feeling OP has about that info.
I would bet money that it was the latter.
My grandfather found his dead sister after a murder/suicide (she was 19 and wanted to break up, he very much did not. My grandfather was like 10 when he found them).
Wow, this thread went dark quickly!
My grandparents also were born in the early 1920s.
My grandfather was from Northern Illinois. He said they would drive across the Mississippi River in the winters into Iowa.
My grandmother was raised on a farm in Iowa. Her father sold pigs to pay her college tuition in an era when most girls didn’t go to college (at least not girls in Iowa). She also remembered when teams of oxen would come to plow the fields.
Both of my grandmothers, who were born in the early 1920s, finished college, and the attitude toward the importance of education continues to carry on for both sides of my family.
Yes, both of my 1920s grandmothers also graduated from college! Unsurprisingly, there are a lot of teachers in my family and education has always been important.
My one grandmother (b. 1920) was the first in her family to go to college. She was the eldest of 11 and also grew up on a farm. My great grandfather sent all of his 5 daughters to college, but expected the sons to enter the workforce immediately. After college, she was a civilian employee of the DOD during WWII (using her degree!) and then met my grandfather at work (after the war) where she was his boss. My grandfather was loving but stubborn as all get out – the family joke is that they made the relationship work was because she had previously been his boss and could pull rank over him :)
My grandmother was one of four sisters. Their parents had saved college tuition for all four kids but lost it because they were out of town during the stock market crash run on the local banks. They got through the Depression from their large garden plot. Two sisters were pilots during WW2 and towed targets for the men to practice artillery at. One sister joined the womens Marines and later got a PhD in her 50s. One sister had a local radio show during the war. Some sisters had stability in their marriages and some struggled. My mom didn’t have money for college but scored so well on a test, that a guidance counselor personally helped her enroll and find money at a small local college.
They all have stories about riding family horses bareback along the beaches in Florida before there was any development.
My great grandfather ran a donut shop in San Francisco in the 30s/40s. My nana would work the register, and there were IRS guys at the front (apparently he had lots of fingers in lots of pies, with very little accurate reporting for taxation) and illegal gambling in the backroom. She would go to nightclubs in SF and apparently these were wild, wild scenes. She eloped at 19 because her father wouldn’t let her enroll at Berkeley, and went on to have 10 kids.
My maternal grandfather, when he was very young, acquired a children’s zither in the WWII/post-WWII times in Germany by paying with two buckets full of blueberries he had foraged in the forest near his home. I always imagine how long that must have taken, and in those scarce times, how valuable two buckets of berries must have been. He played that zither for decades until the family gifted him a brand new one when he turned 60.
Legend has it that my fierce maternal great-grandmother, again in Germany, flushed the Iron Cross she received from the Nazis for birthing 5 children (4 survived) down the toilet. I think the truth is probably that she threw it into the latrine/outhouse. Needless to say, she was a socialist/communist until she died at 97.
My paternal grandparents, when they first met in a tiny village in Germany, found they had lived two villages apart in Poland before fleeing west.
History is wild, and boy, do we have some stories in my family.
Ok WOW!
My grandmother’s story was that she was kidnapped from Wales and brought to Canada, later emigrating to the US. I think it later came out that she wasn’t kidnapped, she was essentially given away (maybe in the hopes she would have a better life?)
My father was born in the early 1920s. He was stationed at Oak Ridge during WW2 as a soldier-engineer. When the atomic bomb was dropped, he and his colleagues suddenly realized what they had been working on. His first job (between college and being drafted in 1943) was in Bound Brook, NJ. He took a subway from Brooklyn to a ferry in Manhattan, to a train to NJ. The commute was about 2.5 hours each way.
My grandfather had lots of fun/horrifying stories from the time period when cars were a thing but drunk driving laws weren’t. He would somewhat routinely have to rescue drunk friends and relatives who drove themselves off the road. Like a St. Bernard, he would bring bourbon with him to fortify everyone for the drive home. So fun!
My grandparents got married on the radio/TV show, Bride & Groom. My grandmother applied for them to be on the show. They took the train from their hometown in NC out to California. They received wedding presents, including a stove and a set of silverware, from the sponsors. A famous Hollywood photographer took their wedding photo. Their reception was lunch at the Brown Derby. And they received 2 “gold” records with the recording on it.
This is awesome! Digitize that recording!
Unfortunately, my greedy, dumb, drug-addicted relatives must have thought the gold records were real gold and stole them (and the silver, and the jewelry) from my grandmother when she was sick and confined to a hospital bed.
My (very sweet, mild mannered) great uncle fought in WWII. For 4th grade I had to ask him questions about it, which he happily obliged including pulling out a photo album full of pictures of dead Japanese soldiers.
My dad swore until the day he died that he met my mom when she came up to him on the beach in San Diego and said “hi, my name is XXX, and I’m lonely!” This was in the mid-1950s.
My grandmother was born in 1903 and when she was a tween or young teen, her family moved to a socialist commune in the middle of the Mojave desert: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llano_del_Rio. She’s long gone now and I wish I’d asked her more about it. I also really wish I’d asked her about the Spanish Flu pandemic, about which she never spoke a word as far as I can remember.
Okay, one more. My mom had five brothers, all of whom fought in WWII. Because of censorship for security reasons, they couldn’t divulge anybody’s location in their letters. So my mom once famously got a letter from her own mother saying “Your brother Bobby is not where you think he is. He is where he was before they sent him where you think he is.”
My father (born 1923) told me no one he knew ever mentioned the 1918 pandemic, even when he was young enough that it would have been a recent memory.
I kind of get it. I talk randomly about COVID every once in a while to my kids but not very much, and really only in passing. My younger one was 8 months old in March 2020 so remembers nothing. I could see her saying, “she never spoke about it”…but that’s just because I have better things to talk about.
I totally get it. If I never hear about COVID again it will be too soon.
I get it too! I asked him in 2020 if his family was impacted; he said he didn’t think so and it was never a topic of conversation.
If it’s between never hearing about it again and never catching it again (and it probably is since we need a lot more public health intervention still)
My maternal great-grandfather was widowed in 1918 and it was almost certainly the flu that killed his wife. No one ever talked about it – it was just that she died suddenly leaving behind her only child.
My great-gradfather got sent to live with various relatives / do farm work for no money as a kid. He only got to finish high school because his older half-sister let him stay at her boarding house “in town” if he’d work there after school. Joining the US Army for WW2 was probably the best thing that ever happened to him.
During Covid, I asked my dad (born in 1935) whether his parents ever talked about the Spanish flu pandemic, and he said no, but he also said that they would get extra worried whenever flu was mentioned
My grandparents were very strict, but also loved to have fun. There are photos of my grandfather and his siblings putting on elaborate plays as teenagers. Instead of a wedding dress, my grandmother wore a pinstriped suit tailored to match my grandfather’s. My grandfather built and raced his own hot rod. My grandmother somehow arranged for the family to be driving by Disneyland on opening day so of course they stopped to check it out.
In the 1950s, as a young teenager, my mom and some friends ran away from home by stowing away on freight trains. They made it two-thirds of the way across the US before they were caught and sent home.
My dad was recently telling me about memories from growing up in a very small town in southern Illinois. A significant chunk of the homes in the area still had outhouses. He also remembers the people who lived outside of town coming into town on Fridays in their horse-drawn wagons to sell/trade agricultural products for their weekly supplies. It was wild to me, since I tend to think my parents grew up in a more modern era than that, but I guess it very much depended on where you were!
idk that this is weird, but my grandmother on my father’s side is a Holocaust survivor. She sometimes talked about her experiences in the ghettos, then the camps and then the death marches as the allies were approaching. i interviewed her once for an oral history project in high school. the fact that anyone was able to survive all of that kind of blows my mind when i really stop to think about it. as does the fact that people actually did that to other people. i don’t really know my grandfather’s story exactly bc he passed before i was born and apparently didn’t like to talk about it. his 5 siblings were killed. he was somehow out of town (doesn’t make total sense to me) when his family was taken to the ghetto and managed to get to the U.S. via south america. My grandmother had to marry someone on paper to get to the U.S. and then had to go to Florida to get divorced. Her first husband was killed in the camps.
on a more fun note, i recall her telling me that as a kid, they used to go ice skating during recess bc i guess winters were so cold, lakes froze over
Only after my grandma died did most of the family find out that she was a concentration camp survivor. In her last years, she sometimes made comments about eating gruel and lying down on the ground when she was tired. But I still don’t know if she was talking about WWII or other hard times.
When my paternal grandmother hit 100 or so, she mentioned to my parents that her first husband (my dad’s dad) spent a lot of time in gay bars in Kansas City during the 1950s and 1960s.
My maternal grandmother and her sisters taught school in one-room schoolhouses during the Great Depression to support their widowed mom. They planned it out so a couple of the sisters would teach school and the other sister would go to college for a semester or a year (this was back when K-5 didn’t require a four-year degree). One of them taught elementary for almost 60 years, the other for almost 50, and my grandmother (the baby) hated it and never taught after she married. Oh, and the one who taught for 60 years had a “special friend” named Mabel who lived next door.
My step grandfather worked on the LSD govt. research in the 1950s, which involved tripping.
Love this!!! My great grandma got arrested on the beach for wearing a swim suit back in the day ;) she was also a flapper. I wish I knew more about her, but she passed away when I was a baby.
My husband’s grandma is still alive. She was in a war camp during her childhood, I would love to ask her more about her experiences, but I feel intrusive asking further questions about it and I understand that they are painful memories to relive.
You are one of the lucky ones – she is still here. Ask her now, and record her voice. You will regret it if you don’t.
My father was 14 at the end of WWII. Because all the men were at war, the Germany army was posting young kids, like him, in remote locations to man anti-aircraft guns. At some point, a senior commander told my father and the Polish kid he was with that they should be prepared to start shooting at tanks. Upon receiving that information, my father and the Polish kid decided to desert their post figuring they had no chance in hell against Soviet tanks. My father travelled at night, stealing food and taking clothes off wash lines because he would be shot for desertion in his Army uniform. Somehow, he managed to get back to his hometown in Germany, all the way from Poland, at the age of 13 or 14.
my midwestern farmer grandparents used to dress up in drag for pre-wedding parties (eg the men would dress up as brides, the women as grooms!). They had a few old polaroid pics of the parties!
My grandmother was a nurse in Finland during the winter war (Rusland attacked Finland in 1939) I never found out if it was part of an official war contribution from Denmark, or part of a private initiative, like red cross or similar.
When I was a kid we visited my grandma out of state. Her house had a basement, a main floor, and an attic with two small bedrooms. Those were my dad’s and aunt’s rooms when they were kids, and I slept in one of them when we visited. Decades later, my dad and I visited my grandma’s house again. It’s now an insurance agent’s office. My dad, now in his 90s, told me that as a kid instead of going downstairs to the bathroom, he used to pee out the window! He pointed to the window. It was so funny and awesome that he finally feels comfortable sharing that kind of thing with me.
I’ve had a really rough few days with some serious health issues, PMS is hitting hard, and I need to get out of this sadness. What are your favorite pick me ups when you are just feeling so sad?
A latte and a Becky Chambers book.
Yes! I love Monk and Robot!
I’m sorry you’re dealing with all of this!
Taskmaster (the UK show) has made me laugh until I can’t breathe several times. There’s tons of full episodes available on YouTube.
Fresh air, 90s music, mild exercise if you can handle it. I also like to go somewhere new and just wander around– a museum, a bookshop, a coffee shop, nature trail. Just something to get me out of my routine.
Abbot Elementary.
Go to Trader Joe’s, pick out a fun snack and a drink, and then go home and have either a movie night with somthing light and fun, or read a low stakes ‘nice’ book.
And pick up some flowers while you are at TJ’s.
A new book, an episode of a show I love, getting a pedicure, buying myself flowers.
Sorry you’re having a hard time.
Going for a walk. It’s the hardest thing for me to start because I don’t feel like it, but it always makes me feel better. I usually incentivize myself by buying coffee while on my walk. As I have deeply grieved the death of a parent of late, I have done this a lot; I’m adding this last sentence so you know I am not in any way minimizing sadness and struggling to get out of it.
I’ll plug dropout tv! they have some stuff available for free on their youtube, but the subscription is only like $7 a month. Truly laugh out loud humor that is a great escape hatch.
Looking for fun staycation-like diversions this Memorial Day weekend. I usually like to start my kayaking season but the water temperatures are still a bit low for my liking. Would love to hear what others are doing!
Weeding invasive and also wine tastings.
anyone had any success with excercises to strenghten a weak jaw/chin? My jaw/chin has faded into my neck in the last 10 years or so, despite my being relatively thin (I’m 5’4″, 125lbs). My profile is startling and I really want to change it. I’m sure this is genetics and/or hormones. Is this treatable without surgery?
While genetics are genetics, I’ve noticed changes w my face yoga. Check YouTube. While yes, blah blah blah face yoga isn’t scientifically proven (because who would pay for that) I’ve appreciated some differences!
Any particular youtube rec?
I’m 44 and using sofwave for softness in that area which has helped some (not a shocking amount but visble firming). For a bigger change I’d probably just look into chin lipo, it can be a pretty simple in/out procedure if you do it as a stand alone.
I am sure there will be nay-sayers about this as well, but I find that the Myo Munchee can help tone the lower face / jaw.
Filler along my jawline has been very successful until a future surgery
Due to a recent injury, I now have a cast on my non- dominant arm and a sling I have to wear for the next 6-8 weeks. The physical pain is there but manageable but I am feeling some loss over the inconvenience, from having to adjust my wardrobe/grooming (I can’t wear anything with narrow sleeves, fitted pants, or even put my hair in a ponytail) while still feeling like I have to look good (I have industry events and a formal event), to the fact that I have to miss out on things I was hoping to do this summer (eg. kayaking, swimming, driving to see friends, moving). The injury was my own fault (I fell doing something stupid) so there’s no one to blame. Idk what I am looking for, just feeling down and disappointed.
Can you treat yourself to a weekly blowout at a salon if you have the budget?
I’m really sorry about this. I agree with getting a blowout and treating yourself in other ways. Can you reschedule some of those things like kayaking for when you’re healed?
I did a similar but much more minor thing this weekend: sliced my palm while trying to open a can of cinnamon rolls. I probably should’ve gone to urgent care, but I couldn’t drive, it stopped bleeding quickly, and the wound wasn’t very deep. Even so, I’m lacking in what I can do with that hand. The bike ride I had planned for the weekend didn’t happen, and I learned at the gym yesterday that even with gloves I can’t really grip anything without tearing open the wound.
If it’s any consolation, you may be able to find some workarounds quickly. It was hard for me to do a ponytail for the first day or two but I’m learning to adjust. As the pain starts to subside, you may be able to get your hair into a clip and put on pants, it’ll just take longer than before.
I’m so sorry! Is there any way your doctor could refer you to an occupational therapist? When my son broke his arm in middle school, the OT was actually really helpful for finding ways to keep him comfortable and independent. I was surprised that it was a useful interaction.
it’s okay to feel disappointed! can you lean into things you might’ve skipped when there’s pressure to be active? Like enjoy the weather by reading a great book with a fun drink on your patio?
Oh man, sorry to hear this. I posted last year about a broken wrist/fingers in my dominant hand. I work in an office (EP attorney for high net worth clients) so I still had to look professional and presentable each day. Here are a few tips: I bought some cheaper amazon clothes for this time period because my cast would snag all of my shirts. Buy elastic waist dress pants (so many options here!). I learned to do all makeup with my left hand and somehow I managed to dry and straighten my hair with one hand. For the formal event get your hair done professionally to save yourself the frustration. People gave me a LOT of grace during this time period and I am forever thankful for that. I wish I had given myself more grace as well. Looking back, I really put a lot of pressure on myself. Can you line up a few shows and books you want to catch up on but never had the time? That helped me escape on the really tough days. This will soon be a blip on your radar, but I understand how much it sucks going through it. Husband and I joke that the part that tested our marriage the most was him putting my hair in a ponytail!! Lol.
When my best friend broke her collarbone and we were in our early 20s, I moved in with her to do her hair and button her buttons. We still laugh about it. I was between jobs, and I had to sleep on her floor, but it was a win-win for us.
So…maybe ask a friend if she would help with your hair on conference days? Friends are happy to help with stuff like this, if you don’t have a partner! It’s temporary!
So I have the Saturday wedding in Houston figured out for next weekend in the Woodlands Country Club. There is a Friday welcome gathering in one of the hotel rooms at 8 p. We are staying nearby. What would you wear?
My outfit for earlier in the day is seersucker capris, blue sleeveless collared shirt and sandals. No language on the invite about dress code.