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Wednesday’s TPS Report: Silk Blend Jersey Top

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Our daily TPS reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices. Classiques Entier® Silk Blend Jersey TopMy first reaction is that this top is pricey for what it is — $118! — but I think this will end up being worth the price when you factor in cost per wear, because this is the kind of piece that you can wear year round in a strong enough fabric to last a few years. The “aqua lake” color (pictured) is pretty; it's also available in black and white for $118 at Nordstrom. Classiques Entier® Silk Blend Jersey Top Seen a great piece you'd like to recommend? Please e-mail tps@corporette.com. (L-2)

Sales of note for 12.10

And some of our latest threadjacks here at Corporette (reader questions and commentary) — see more here!

Some of our latest threadjacks include:

126 Comments

  1. Really liking it, except for the under-bust seam. There is a print version where the seam is much less obvious, which got a 5-star review.

    KUDOS, though, to Nordies for showing a lot of pictures with this styled with various outfits (in the “you may also like” pictures). Good for me, who needs a garanimals approach to dressing still.

      1. yep. just got my CE silk-blend top on sale and am trying to refrain from wearing it every day.

    3. I have a few of these (bought on sale) in the prints. I love them but the fabric is NOT sturdy. Catch it slightly on anything – big rip. They are double layered so you can’t see it much on the print ones when this happens, but I eventually had to throw one out for this reason.

      I’m not hard on clothes at all – this is the second clothing item that I’ve ever discarded due to getting holes in it. The first was a pair of jeans that I had worn frequently for about 10 years.

  2. Apologies for the immediate threadjack… I’m starting a one-year clerkship soon in a place where I’ll need to own a car. I’m hoping to move to DC afterwards, and I’m not sure that I want to own a car there. A few questions —

    1) Given the decrease in value, I don’t think it makes sense to buy a new car if I may end up selling it in about a year. How difficult is it to find an apartment with parking (or other arrangements for parking) in NW DC? If you’re an early-30s person living in NW DC, how often do you tend to use your car and for what purposes?
    2) Any advice on buying used cars?
    3) If I don’t plan to rack up mileage, since my impression is that there’s usually a 12,000mi/yr limit on leases, how would I evaluate leasing a car?

    I realize these are fairly basic questions, but I haven’t actually owned a car before. Thanks in advance!

    1. If you live in DC, not the suburbs, owning a car is a pain. Most buildings do not have parking, or charge extra for parking and street parking in NW is difficult. We live in a residential neighborhood with plenty of parking and have a car but rarely use it.

    2. I think having a car in DC is a definite plus; I’ve always had one. Most of the bigger apartment buildings have garages (you do have to pay extra for parking though). But I always parked on the street. Your registration sticker will have a zone number on it. You can park in your residential zone for unlimited amounts of time (limited to 2hrs for non-residents). I lived on Capitol Hill and in upper northwest near the Van Ness Metro and never had trouble finding parking. (I’m now married and boring and living in the suburbs.) If you want to live in Dupont Circle or a few other very central places, parking can be more of a challenge, although not impossible.

      I only used my car on the weekends, but since almost all of the big box stores are outside Metro range (I say almost all because there’s now a Target at Columbia Heights, but that only opened a few years ago) I definitely needed it. I used it to go to Ikea, any furniture store when I was setting up my apartment (they’re almost all outside DC proper and not Metro-accessible), get my groceries, and generally run errands around town. Metro on the weekends is a nightmare. The trains run only about evern 20 minutes. Half the time there’s some sort of track work, meaning longer delays, and sometimes stations are closed entirely, requiring you to ride a shuttle bus instead. I’ve always Metroed to work but on the weekends, I’ve always used my car.

      I have a few friends who moved here from NYC recently who don’t have cars and instead rely on ZipCar. It frankly seems like a pain and almost all of them are now thinking about buying a car.

      1. Oh, and as for buying tips, make sure you check out Edmunds or Blue Book (not that Blue Book, another Blue Book about cars). You can find them online and they show what used cars are selling for. They also have reviews and side-by-side comparisons. That will help make sure you have the information you need when you go to negotiate the price.

        2. Idk, I kinda disagree with TBK. I’ve lived in NW DC for 5 years car free and it’s been great. I do utilize zip car and car2go. It’s definitely not necessary to have one.

          Metro on the weekends can be very obnoxious, no argument from me there.

          As for parking, you’ll probably have to do street parking. Which, seems like a pain. My only friend with a car pays $100 a month (or s0) for an off street parking spot and she uses her car maybe once a month.

      2. I think it depends where you live and your lifestyle. I live very near a grocery store and have very little need for big box stores. I agree metro is a pain on the weekends but we just walk or bike places and don’t use metro.

      3. Truth, metro on the weekends is a nightmare.

        Rather than go to big box stores, I mostly use Amazon Prime. If I need a lot of staples, I’ll save it all up for one trip, which happens like every other month. Without my car I would use Zipcar or something for that trip. It’s annoying, but do-able.

      4. I think it realy ALL depend’s on how FAR up in NW DC you want to live, and also if you are on the METRO Line.

        When I was in DC goeing to school, I wanted to have a car, but DAD said NO b/c he thought it would take me away from my studie’s, b/c all the peeople in my DORM would want to have me take them shoppeing or to bars or anything but STUDY.

        As usueal, he was RIGHT, b/c my girlfreind, Linda, who had a car, got alot of dates, but wound up flunkeing out of law school b/c she did NOT study enough to pass, and I do NOT think any of the professor’s were interested in dateing her to give her extra credit.

        If you are workeing, I think you SHOULD have a car b/c NOT everything is on the subway line, and you do NOT have to want to schlepp thing’s on the subway b/c you do NOT have a car. Beside’s the METRO goe’s through some skeevey neiborhood’s and men will wind up followieng you or at the very least, stareing at you on the train, which is spookey!

    3. DC has zip car, so you may have a car available if you were to need one if metro / bus isn’t enough.

      For one year, I’d look at the valuemax part of carmax and ask them specifically about selling it back after a year. You can get an older car that has been checked out that shouldn’t be very expensive (I’m thinking like a 5-year old Honda Civic — something safe and reliable and basic).

    4. Parking in DC depends very much by which neighborhood you’re in (even within NW). In Logan Circle/Dupont/other trendy neighborhoods where lots of people own cars, you can literally circle for an hour trying to find a street parking spot within a few blocks of your apartment. If you’re going farther away from downtown, street parking is more accessible. Be aware that if you plan on letting your car just sit and not drive it every day, you’ll have to move it for street cleaning weekly which can be a PITA if you’re in one of the areas where it’s tough to find street parking. Street parking is also ridiculously cheap– I think $25 a year a few years ago.

      If you’ll be in an apartment complex, parking usually runs $100-$150 a month for a garage spot. Most of the newer complexes have them.

      I’m in my late 20s and only use the car on weekends. I go out of town (to see my parents, etc.) and use it for grocery shopping because I’m a solid 20 minute walk from a mediocre grocery store. I prefer to drive and go to TJs. If you’re within walking distance of a grocery store (at home or at work) and close to the metro, you really shouldn’t need a car. If I didn’t already have one before I moved here, I would probably just get a zip car membership.

      HTH!

      1. I generally agree with this. We moved into DC in the Logan Circle area about 2 months ago (from a DC suburb where parking was plentiful). My husband and I brought our one car with us. He uses it to drive to work when the weather is bad (otherwise he has a long walk on a dangerous highway in the rain/snow). We also use our car for a variety of things, since we have it – trips to the vet, dentist/doctor/church (we’ve continued using the places that were in our suburb, so we use the car to get out there). We take it to the grocery store sometimes, especially if we know we’re getting heavy things that we can’t carry home or that will break our little push-cart. It comes in really handy, since we have it. We visit my grandma a lot, and she’s in a nearby state, so we couldn’t get there without the car.

        That said, if we didn’t have it already I probably wouldn’t buy one. Zipcar is readily available, plus taxis and stuff. While those costs can add up, its probably cheaper than buying a car, insuring a car in DC, and paying for parking. We have a limited garage in our apartment, but its almost $200 a month for a spot. When we were apartment hunting, that seemed average/on the low end for parking garage prices in our area. Street parking in our neighborhood is nearly impossible.

        In short, it depends on what you would need a car for. There are lots and lots of options for non-drivers.

    5. i live in DC in between Dupont and Logan circles, same place for about 3.5 years – we had a car for the first couple months we lived here, but since neither of us was driving to work and there is street cleaning a couple times a week (on opposite sides of the street), even with a zoned parking permit we had to move the car a lot and it was a huge pain. (maybe if we had a spot in a garage it would be a different story.) now we do metro/bus/zipcar/taxi and are much happier and it is cheaper for us – and there are always zipcars available where we are. we are walking distance to whole foods/safeway so have not needed a car for groceries/errands. overall, whether you need/want a car will probably depend on where in NW DC you will be living and where/how you will be commuting.

    6. Echoing the other commenters that different neighborhoods will have different challenges for having a car. If you are willing to live a good ways up Connecticut/Wisconsin/Mass Aves, there are more apartment choices, and generally available street parking. When I lived on Connecticut I sometimes had to park on Connecticut Ave if I got home late at night, which meant getting up at 6:50 to move the car before the 7 a.m. restrictions. But that’s a minor inconvenience.

      I used the car generally for groceries, and for weekend outings (in town and out of town). I did a couple years with no car (not too challenging, but required extra planning) and preferred with a car, vastly.

      Be aware that your car insurance rates will skyrocket when you move to DC.

    7. I have spent the last 8 years living in DC without a car just fine. Even where my apartment wasn’t so metro accessible, I took the bus, and I have used Zipcar and Uber occasionally.

      Last weekend I bought a car in preparation for moving to the suburbs in 2 weeks. I have had to move the car every day to avoid getting towed for street sweeping, rush hour parking restrictions, etc. It is a huge pain, and I’m very glad I’m only doing it for 2 weeks.

      1. Agreed. I’ve been without a car in DC for 9 years now and don’t want one at all. Parking is a pain. There’s zipcar for when you need it (we very rarely use that as the suburbs give me panic attacks so maybe only 3-4 times per year), car2go, capital bikeshare, über and taxis. Or just metro, buses, or walking.

    8. I bought a car for my clerkship and lasted 6 months in D.C. before selling it. It was a pain in the ass where I lived. I’d lease; if you want a car when you move to D.C. you can buy one then.

    9. Personally, I live in another hard to park city but can’t imagine not having a car for groceries and leaving the city when I want. I’d buy a small used car – mini cooper or fiat for easy parking. That size will make a hard to park city a lot easier.

      1. I have three or four easily walkable grocery stores and Peapod delivers heavy things. Renting a Zipcar when I want to leave the city is way cheaper than owning a car for that purpose.

          1. I think it all comes down to what your own tolerance for convenience is. I find renting a car too much added time in the day & it detracts from being able to be spontaneous. I also cannot imagine walking home with my groceries – I usually get 4-5 bags a trip & couldn’t manage that walking even a couple of blocks. And that’s just a couple of examples of when I like to have/regularly use a car. Plenty of people get along without them, but it’s not the answer for everyone either. You have to know yourself. No one else can anwer that question for you. I think outside of NYC it’s an option. It may cost you a little more, but ultimately up to you.

          2. Buy a cart to put your groceries in if they’re too many to carry. You can get one for $50 and you don’t have to park it. (They fold!)

    10. I lived in DC for eight years without a car (first in dupont, then U Street, then Columbia Heights and VanNess). I actually sold my car right before I moved to town. I had a zip car membership for most of that time and it was fine. I never lived more than a few blocks from a grocery store (or two). The first four years I was in grad/law school, the last four I was in BigLaw. Parking was pretty easy in VanNess but a massive pain in the *** in the other areas. My peers who had cars in the city generally had old used cars or bought newer cars once they started families. Another thing I considered is the cost of car membership vs. the cost of zipcar+taxis and now Uber.

    11. You’ve already gotten good feedback, but I figured I’d add this. Be sure you’re going to be living in DC and not ‘the surrounding suburbs.’ A lot of people move here thinking they will live in DC proper, but live just outside the city for cost/vibe/etc. I live in VA and life without a car would be a pain in the a**, even though I only break out it once a week for errands.

    12. You can also do a long-term rental rather than a lease, actually–I know people who did that for their clerkship years.

    13. I lived in DC on the Hill for 1 year going to school. After the first 2 months, I flew home to my parents’ house and drove my car back to DC. It may be different for you since you have never had a car, but I found it very restricting. Also, I had class at night, so I liked to have it to drive there. Since I was just there as a student, I got a pretty cheap rate for getting a permit to park on the street. Be sure to look into that cost b/c it can get up there quickly.

      I liked having it – grocery store runs, Target, just going anywhere outside the city. A good friend lived in Arlington. It was much faster to drive over there than take the metro (at the right times of course).

    14. You may be better off buying used and selling after a year than leasing. Standard leases are 3 years; when you go shorter than that, they get REALLY pricey and are basically a moneypit. I’m not in DC, but I had a car in Boston…and another perk of a used car is the little dents and dings you pick up along the way don’t have you FREAKING OUT about the damage restrictions/mileage limits (not saying you’re a bad driver…but I got a bunch of tiny nicks and dings from other parallel parkers…and that one time a drunk college kid threw a vodka bottle out the window and it landed on my hood.)

    15. I bought my current car used from a fellow graduating student 3 years ago and it has been great. Buying it from a private seller will be cheaper, but there’s usually no warranty. Regardless of where you buy it, you’ll want to check the kelly blue book and edmonds dot com for the market price for the year/make/model. Edmonds also offers reviews, so you can research the pros and cons of the specific car that you’re considering. I’d recommend purchasing a carfax report on any car that you’re seriously considering. Finally, arrange to take the car to a mechanic for a pre-purchase inspection. This is usually less than $100 and can save you a whole lot of time and money in the long run. Depending on what they find, you may have confidence in your purchase, leverage to decrease the price to cover repairs, or confirmation to walk away. Good luck!

  3. Hey ladies, DH is turning 40 this year and I would like to create a personalized book for him with messages and photos from his friends and family. I was wondering if anyone has done this before and if so, if you could help lend some ideas on the following:

    1) Any ideas on what to ask people to write? I was thinking along the lines of 1) any special memories or stories they have of DH, and/or 2) what they wish DH for the future. I want the messages to be substantive and not just simply “Happy birthday, wish you a great year!” and so would like to give some ideas to the group to get their creative juices flowing.

    2) Once I collect the messages and photos, I would like to use some sort of software to turn this into a nice coffee table book. Any recs on a particular online source that would be a good place to create such a book?

    If anyone has other recommendations on how to make this book the best it can be, I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

    – Legally Brunette

    1. Have you checked out Shutterfly, etc? If you get people to e-mail you pictures, you can upload them and Shutterfly will put them into a pretty book for you (you can be involved in the process or just push a button and they will do it for you).

      FWIW, it’s hard to write a quotation for the ages — maybe just captions of who people are and the date / place (will help for when husband is in his 80s and you can’t remember who people are, especially if you don’t know his college people or grade school people all that well).

      1. Coincidentally, I just got an e-mail from Shutterfly with a coupon code for photo books, which looked really nice. I’d send you the code but it expires in a couple of days. However, if you sign up with Shutterfly — which I did when I used it for a party invitation — they will send you coupon codes and discounts ALL the time. Sign up now and with luck you’ll have a discount code when you have the content ready for the book.

      2. I did something similar for my parent’s 40th anniversary a few years ago. I also asked people what their “funniest memory or story” was – we got some really fantastic responses. Also how they met my parents. I also asked them – to be a bit silly- what song reminded them most of my parents….. Overall I got a huge response, and tons of photos and memories – it is such a fantastic, thoughtful gift!!!

    2. You could try a mad libs-style template, but leave plenty of room for people to write.

    3. I’ve used My Publisher [mypublisher . com ] twice and am really happy with the results. I think it looks a bit more polished than the larger site and the customer service was fantastic.

      1. FYI MyPublisher was recently bought by Shutterfly (though I don’t think they’ve combined operations yet).

        My shutterfly book came out really well. I think if I were going to do a photo only book (like a wedding album or something) I’d use Adorama Pix, but the book I made for Mother’s Day, with combinations of pictures, dates, and notes from family members to my mom, came out great on Shutterfly and because of coupon codes, ended up costing something like $12.

    4. I just did this for my sister’s 30th! I used Blurb and loved it. I highly recommend using it. I would not recommend Shutterfly; I’ve used them, too, and the books are not as nice. Also, Shutterfly’s user interface is a pain to use. Blurb is a breeze, and the book I made was gorgeous — coffee-table quality.

      Here’s what I did:

      I contacted 30 people (friends and family members) about 2.5 months before her birthday and told them about the project. I was very detailed with my instructions, which I think helped. I asked people to submit a favorite memory and a photo, and I told them the memory could be anything from a funny quote or a longer letter. People were all over the map. Some sent tons of photos but almost no writing; others sent long sappy letters but no photos (or poor-quality photos).

      I recommend creating a spreadsheet with a line for each person so you can easily keep track of when you first contacted them, what they sent, if you needed to follow up, etc. It can get hard to stay on top of so many emails!

      Also, create a folder structure on your computer with a folder for each person’s name so you can keep everything they send you in one place.

      I gave people two weeks to get back to me (knowing that some would probably need more time or forget). I sent one reminder the week of the deadline and another the morning of to the people that hadn’t responded yet. Most people were pretty good about getting back to me, but a couple needed more time (which I had secretly built into the schedule anyway, so it was fun). In the end, almost everyone responded.

      Challenges you may not anticipate:

      Older relatives needed more guidance with this. They were also harder to keep track of because they didn’t use email, so I had to ask some of them to either dictate thoughts to me over the phone or send me a letter via snail mail with their memories.

      Some people really found this anxiety-inducing, which surprised me. People that were very close to my sister, who I assumed would be bursting with stories to share, kind of clammed up. Other people that I never would have expected to come through really delivered amazing photos and memories. Some were in between.

      I tried to set up the book with a natural flow to it (college friends to high school friends to boyfriend to family members) as much as possible. This helped when certain people sent pictures with multiple people in them.

      Ask people to send large images (hi-res if possible). Tiny images are so much harder to work with, and you have little freedom when it comes to cropping and resizing.

      Remind people that if they have pre-digital photos, they can use scanners (or send you the photos to scan) to turn the images into digital files. I got some really great old shots into the book this way.

      Last thing to note — this is a major project. I estimate that I spent easily 30-40 hours on it over the course of several months. When I was creating the book, I spent 4 hours both weekend days and a couple hours during the week just putting it together. I also spent a lot of time gathering and organizing files, keeping up with emails to all the people involved, and designing the book once everything was uploaded. It was worth it (my sister cried when I gave it to her; she loved it!), but just know that it will take awhile!

      Good luck! Let me know if you have any other questions.

      1. Wow– your sister is lucky to have such a great sister like you! That is really impressive!

    6. Great idea! I just did this for my husbands 40th last week and he loved it!

      Not that many people sent messages (maybe 6?), even though I asked for:
      1) special memory or funny story
      2) wish for the next 40 years
      3) advice for the next 40 years
      but the memories/ wishes/ advice they did send were really touching and wonderful. A couple people sent full page letters!

      I used Snapfish. Good quality. Easy enough to use once you get to know the interface. *Super quick* turn around – I paid for 2 day shipping to make sure it arrived before his birthday, and it arrived literally 2 days after I completed the book (even though they say allow 3-5 days for turnaround). Snapfish always has tons of coupons and codes. Check Retailmenot, etc., and you’ll probably get 30-40% off the price.

      Turn around time is something to keep in mind – with turn around time & shipping, most websites were estimating 7-10 days before the book would be delivered. I didn’t use Blurb – which is excellent for such books – because of the long turnaround time. Lots of people waited until the last moment – I sent out a reminder email – or responded even after that, when the book had already be sent for printing.

      It was a fun project – I got baby pix from parents and relatives, grad school pix, recent outdoor pix, and beautiful written tributes. Like espresso bean says above, it is a major project!

  4. Would you give a friend advice if you felt like they were constantly self-sabotaging their own career? I’m struggling to figure out if this is an MYOB situation for me, or if some kindhearted advice would actually be smart here.

    Background – friend is a longtime friend (from high school, went to same college, etc) who you think is a great person – funny, smart, sweet, kind. She is also a bit of a firecracker – she definitely has a tendency to feel like things HAVE to be done a certain way, and if they’re not, she tends to get extremely annoyed. In other words, I love her, but she’s always been a bit of a princess friend.

    Since college, we are in similar fields (though not the same field) and while I have stayed at the same job (we are 4 years out) she’s bounced around between 4-5 different companies. I know that’s pretty normal in an early career, but it’s the way she’s been doing it that concerns me and makes me think there’s a pattern.

    Job 1 was a post-grad internship – it ended and she was done, so nothing unusual there
    Job 2 was also an internship – however, all of the other 15 or so interns at the company were hired at the conclusion of their internships, she was not (she told me).
    Job 3 was a full time job, and she was laid off from. However, after her layoff, they have hired someone else into her role, just changed the focus of the job a bit – nothing someone doing what she was doing would have had major trouble with.
    Job 4 was a full time job found after a couple of months of unemployment, a lower-level role at a huge company. She told me often how much she hated her boss and how unhappy she was. She received negative feedback fairly constantly, and was given a letter basically being like “in 6 months, you’ll be fired unless your performance changes drastically.”
    Job 5 – where she is now, is a job she was really excited about taking and she left Job 4 3 months after she got that letter. She has told me it is her dream job – but now that she’s there, she is acting like everyone is out to get her. We chitchat often, and she’ll say things like “So-and-so said this to me. I think she is just trying to unnerve me and make me doubt myself” where “this” is something innocuous like, “Gosh, it’s too bad they didn’t give you an office with a window” or “can you BELIEVE my boss’s email to me? He could have just TOLD me that, I can’t believe how rude and overbearing he is” along with a forwarded email that’s like “The way you handled this spreadsheet is okay, but not the way we typically do it here. I’ve attached a new sheet so you can see what I am talking about.”

    I honestly think this attitude, maybe stemming from some of her jobs maybe being toxic, or not being as successful as she had hoped, is probably coming out to other people, not just me. I am guessing it’s part of the reason she was having trouble at some of her prior jobs, since blowing up about little things does not a good employee make. I love her and I know she really wants to stay at this job – since she’s said its her dream, it’s exactly what she wanted to do, etc. I don’t want some silly shooting-herself-in-the-foot thing to be the reason this job doesn’t work out. She’s my friend – I want things to go her way!

    At the same time – it’s her career. Who am I to tell her how to do it? And for all I know, I AM just a venting board and at work she’s incredibly positive. Obviously, I don’t see her at work. Maybe she’s awesome and has had a string of bad luck. Or maybe all her complaints to me are completely legitimate, and I would be complaining too in her situation. I don’t know. It’s not like I’m some Queen Of Getting Ahead or anything, that has some high pedestal from which to dispense advice.

    I guess my question is – would you say something to your friend in this situation? What would you say?

    1. I would definitely say something specific to the comments you’ve written here; for instance, when she takes an innocuous comment the wrong way, say something like “Oh, I don’t think he meant it that way – I get emails like that all the time” or “I always give new hires sample spreadsheets.” However, I do think she will likely become defensive and you risk damaging your friendship if you try to point out a larger attitude problem with her job.

    2. Are you talking about my friend? I have a friend (and co-worker) who has a similar personality. She gets annoyed with more senior people for not adequately supporting her (I’m not sure what her expectations are), claims to be a feminist and a big proponent of supporting women in the workplace but seems to hate other women, and gets annoyed with people for getting “more” than what she has in the workplace (I’m assuming this is out of jealousy). She regularly interprets normal conversations to have sinister undertones, similar to your friend. I, of course, hear all of this negativity and it is so frustrating and occasionally affects my mood. So, you have my commiseration.

      In terms of solutions, I do tend to think a lot of this is MYOB, but I’d love to hear other people’s opinions. I think I have it a little bit easier with my situation since we both know the people she’s talking about. I’m thinking of one woman in particular that my friend seems to hate (without good reason) but who I think is perfectly fine. I’ve just flat out told my friend that I don’t hate this other woman when my friend seemingly wants to engage in a b!tch fest about her. In other situations I just let her vent and nod along but don’t contribute. I think the only thing that you can do is to occasionally point out a logical answer when you think she’s being ridiculous. So in the instance you describe above (“So-and-so said this to me. I think she is just trying to unnerve me and make me doubt myself” where “this” is something innocuous like, “Gosh, it’s too bad they didn’t give you an office with a window”) my response would be something along the lines of “really? I don’t see that. I think they were just saying it’s too bad you don’t have a window.” Of course, YMMV with your friend, and since you don’t really know the players I think it’s one of those situations where you say it once and then drop it.

      1. Ahh yes, you brought up one of my favorite types of people: the “feminist” who seems to somehow think it’s a feminist thing to do to say things like “I prefer working with men because I just get along with them so much better” or constantly mocking other women in the workplace. (My favorite response to women who claim that they just can’t get along with other women because of “the drama” or because “I’m just a guy at heart”: “Wow, really? You don’t get along with half the people in the world? Gosh – that sounds miserable.”)

    3. I agree with roses’ comment. I would also suggest recommending books or lectures (if applicable) that might show her how to be more professional. This seems like fairly normal growing-up that needs to happen. As far as books, I’d recommend The Defining Decade, which has a section on work.

    4. When my friends point out my bad behavior in a loving way, my feelings get hurt, but ultimately, I am grateful that they love me enough to tell me when I am getting out of hand.

    5. I say this is exactly what very good friends (and close relatives) are for. I will be forever grateful to the friends who have pointed me to attitudes / personality traits / habits that, at times, make me difficult to deal with. These weren’t easy conversations, and I am sure I have often gone into defense mode (one of those bad habits!). But I have always reflected on these discussions afterwards, and more often than not concluded that my friend had a point.

      1. Agree with you and Anonymous at 11:28. When friends who love me care enough about me to point out my habits or words that have made me difficult, it stings, but it ultimately makes us stronger friends. I know it is said from a place of love and I know my friend has struggled to bring it to me.

    6. Well you just described my mother! I think everyone gave great suggestions for you to speak with her and I recommend that you do! But I wanted to add that sometimes you just can’t help people get out of their own way. My mom has quit every job she’s ever had. Several of them she even went back to school in order to qualify for the position. Of course, someone was always out to get her. Every. Time. My Uncle and I have recommended therapy, pointed out that she’s making herself a victim, given encouraging support, nothing has helped. She has now given up on trying to work and is living off her limited savings. It’s a nightmare. Maybe tell your friend about my mother as a cautionary tale! :) Good luck to you and her.

      1. Holy cow, are you my sister?? Sounds exactly like my mom, to a T. She even just got a part-time job that she was really excited about and already 2 months into it they’re out to get her.

    7. Ugh, tough situation. My vote would be to MYOB unless you’re willing to possibly lose your friendship over it. It sounds like either she’s just venting and might be hurt/annoyed at you trying to tell her how to act, or she lacks self-awareness (my guess, given the job history). If it’s the latter, then she’s likely not going to see it just because you point it out to her. And just imagine how you would feel if your friend accused you of having a significant flaw that you didn’t believe was founded.

      It’s hard to watch people you love sabotage themselves, so I sympathize.

    8. It’s hard to know whether to say something or not. I guess I would just want to be prepared if the right moment came along. I have a coworker who complains to me about the job and others here sometimes. I just listen for a bit, noncommittally. Then say something like, “yea, everyone has his idiosyncrasies. Once you figure those out, things get easier. And focusing on all the good things about his office makes me care less about those types of interactions.” That is a pretty generic thing to say – I think you could say it to her. Then list the reasons why it was her dream job and see where the conversation goes. Of course, there are people who are just victims, and there is no talking them out of it. I have another coworker who puts a negative tint on all of her stories (outside of work things). I try to spin them back into a positive or at least neutral light, but she won’t have it. Talking to her is exhausting.

  5. Cute top but a little out of my price range.
    I still got carried away at the nordstorm website and AnnTaylor has 50% off all tops (TOPS50 code). Got some great deals on work tops/shirts around 30$ a piece, hopefully my summer wardrobe is now spruced up !

  6. Today’s post on The Careerist is something I’ve been struggling with a lot lately. It’s called “The machismo of Extreme Work.” My firm is not extreme in that no one is going to be logging 3000 billable hours this year, but there are some who are billing quite a bit more than me. I’m a highly competitive person (as most of us are, I imagine), and wanting to “win” or at least be close to the “top” in the hours race has been getting me down. Logically I know that I’m doing good work and I have no chance of being fired. I’ll finish the year a couple hundred hours over my target, and some of the big-name partners think I’m great. Buuuut still, a little piece of my competitive brain gets sad when I see how many hours some others are ahead of me.

    I’m sure some others have been through this. Any thoughts on the post? Thoughts on ways to get my logical brain to win out in the struggle?

    1. ummm… they’re beating you at hours, but aren’t you beating them at life? you’re doing great, aren’t going to get fired, and are spending less time in the office than they are…. seems like a win for you. unless you’re concerned about not making partner (if that’s something you actually want), i don’t see why you should feel upset.

    2. Quality v. quantity?

      We used to have an associate who was always here and always billing when most people in the group were not always here and not always billing. I got the feeling that he was goofing up a lot and padding his hours or didn’t really understand what he was doing and just burning up a lot of time (or all of the above). I didn’t supervise those bills, but got the feeling that a lot of that time wound up being written off.

      So, perhaps think of realization ratio on what you do? Firms track it and as the person who sends out bills, I have to justify any writeoff (and get management permission for) any writeoff of 4 figures or more. You don’t want to be making partners do that on your account.

      1. We have a guy like this on my team. I’m relatively efficient and get things done pretty quickly, whereas he will spend HOURS poring over where the comma should be in an e-mail, wandering around asking partners what they think, reading grammar books and debating the benefits, usually with a diagram. Ok, so that is massively exaggerated, but the point is he will take a tiny task that would take most people 10 minutes and spend two hours on it.

        Hence, his hours are great. Our bonuses are based on both hours and realisation, but he has been lucky in a way that he has been on a lot of big deals for clients who always pay their bills and even when they object, he fights very hard against write-offs. Also, he works exclusively for one of the two partners in our team and that guy is a pushover and just bills stuff instead of questioning why he has gone twelve times over the estimate.

        The only thing he likes more than working long hours is talking about how long his hours are and how long it has been since he last saw his wife/child.

        The point is, generally partners see through this and depending on the culture (here is not crazy-high-billing) most people will think this dude is a gunner and, for example, the other partner doesn’t want him on his deals because he keeps too long to do things and always hikes up the cost. So though the billable hour may be a tempting milestone, I would try to avoid being worried about it, if you work product is good and clients/partners like to work with you.

        1. If I were making a movie, I’d do a split screen and show his wife and child talking happily, bragging even, about how infrequently they have to see and deal with Mr. Dumb@ss ExtraHours.

          1. I love this.

            And henceforth, may he be known as Mr Dumb@ss ExtraHours – DEH for short!

        2. I had some issues when I was in biglaw and in your position. My work was good but I was doing it too fast. While the partners couldn’t come out and say it (because it would be unethical) I later realized the reason they seemed ticked off was that they had counted on, say, 100 billable associate hours out of a certain task and I was getting it done in 40 or 50. That’s a ton of money they’re not getting. But this was back in 2006/2007 and my firm was definitely the kind of place where anyone who wanted to make partner should have at least a few 3,000 hr years (3,500 even better!) and be consistently above 2,400.

      2. That’s a good point. It’s interesting to hear a partner’s perspective. I’ve twice from two different partners been brought in and asked whether I was billing all of the hours I was working, as I had billed ~50% of what they expected. I guess that is a better position to be in than the opposite, if the partners are honest, and it should keep their billed and realization ratio high, but it makes me wonder if there’s something wrong with the way I keep time….

        1. FWIW, if partners at your firm don’t track efficiency, clients have started to. For several of our big clients, you can’t bill twice for the same thing (so no 2 entries for “research” unless they are somehow indicating different research). We send in our bills electronically and they get datamined and returned to us full of questions and with us needing to justify entries. Not sure if this is true for you, but just a reason why your approach is a long-term asset to you and your firm (even if you don’t win the short-term hours trophy).

          1. So true – I recently had to comb through the matter file to update the narratives after the bill got rejected because the partner had put in stuff like ‘other’ and ‘e-mails’ and the client rejects anything that isn’t specific and justified.

          2. We do this. In the current environment, sensitivity of in-house legal groups on spend is enormous. Specif, justified, not duplicative and is adding value to the work product, not just the associate…

    3. This is why I’m so glad my firm doesn’t publish our hours. I’m naturally competitive, but what I don’t know doesn’t hurt me.

    4. It took me a few years and the advice of a great mentor to get over this (mostly…it still bubbles up sometimes). We have a few people like that at my office – they pride themselves on how many hours they bill and always being one of the top billers in the office/firm as a whole.

      I eventually realized that for those people, that pride was what got them to sleep at night. They were willing to make the sacrifices (working every weekend even when they didn’t “have” to, staying late just because they want to be seen working late, etc) that I wasn’t. I’m much more focused on having a life and a family outside of work, and so I chalk it up to different priorities.

      I’m still doing good work, getting excellent feedback, and am on partner-track, so it boils down to what makes you happy when you go to bed at night: billing 10+ hours or doing something else?

    5. I have felt that as well. I try to focus on the fact that I meet my hours, my boss really likes me, and also that although I work hard, I have a good balance with other things in life like my relationship with my husband, travel, yoga, etc.

    6. This was so, so prevalent in my old firm. There was this sense that if you were billing crazy hours, it was because you were in high demand among the partners. There was a lot of sending emails at 2:00am (to give the impression you were working that late, even if you’d actually left at 7:00pm, gotten dinner, watched TV, and then logged back on for 15 min just to send those emails), or talking about how you’d had to bail on important social occasions, or dialing into conference calls while on vacation, etc. etc. just to make it look like you were working ALL THE TIME. But then, although our billables target was 2,000, that was really like having only 15 pieces of flair — it was the bare minimum and did you really want to be doing the bare minimum?

    7. I have a similar albeit slightly different issue. My firm is pretty small but my billables tend to be quite a bit higher when there are other associates at the same level as me because I want to be the one getting the good work etc.

      Any advice about keeping things in check but still getting good work when another associate is being hired at the same level as me and to work with the same two partners as I am?

    8. Envy is the thief of joy. Appreciate what you have–a fantastic job that you’re good at and people who like you and think you are good at your work. That’s something many people would kill for. There will always be someone who is “better” than you at whatever it is you are doing–learn to be content.

      This is something that I have to remind myself often.

    9. Great insights (as always)! It’s so silly because there is literally no reason for me to get caught up in it other than my competitive nature. I am positive I’m well-positioned to make partner eventually, people like working with me, and (I think) I do good work.

      I especially love that I’m winning at life. So. True.

      And “envy is the thief of joy” is my new mantra.

    1. That’s really cute, but I see why you’re having a hard time; skirts like that can be challenging. Whatever shirt you wear needs to be really fitted because the skirt has so much volume. And you either need to tuck it or it needs to end right at the top of the skirt; any longer and you lose your waist. And I think you’ll need to wear the tallest heels you can handle.

      I actually think, if you’re comfortable with it, those new shirts that show just an inch of midriff could be cute for the weekends (see, e.g., http://atlantic-pacific.blogspot.com/2013/06/black.html). Go ahead, call me crazy.

    2. I’d go for a fitted tee, tucked in, with a cardigan (optional) and flats or sandals. Adding a light-colored, wide belt that hit between the shirt and skirt could be really cute.

    3. I actually like how they style it in the photo. A simple white tee tucked in is very classic. Like others said, I would stick to fitted tops since the skirt is quite full. Depending on how bold you are, it could look cute with a cherry red or coral clutch. I think navy would pair well with it if you want something more subdued.

    4. Thank you! I’ve worn it with a white blouse but these color ideas are great. The SA recommended a coral cardi; I like the navy idea. Any others? I have this but fitted, do you think it’s too much?
      https://www.google.com/search?q=polkadot+sleeveless+shirt+black&client=firefox-a&hs=RnM&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=fflb&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=Ut3BUbLwAfGv4APmlICQDA&ved=0CFsQsAQ&biw=1252&bih=548#facrc=_&imgrc=ZQGDwg_6o-ZL3M%3A%3BBE5YLwBGDQ1QKM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.polyvore.com%252Fcgi%252Fimg-thing%253F.out%253Djpg%2526size%253Dl%2526tid%253D61328667%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.polyvore.com%252Friver_island_blue_polka_dot%252Fthing%253Fid%253D61328667%3B300%3B300

      1. It’s really hard to tell. I think it ultimately depends on how noticeable the polka dots on the skirt are. If they’re very tiny and blend together, it should be fine. If they’re more obvious, I wouldn’t do it, but I prefer a more classic style.

        Honestly, you have a lot of options for other color; it really just depends on your aesthetic/boldness. A camel sweater would look nice and classic. Bright orange might work if the hue is right.

  8. Styling help? I just bought this dress from the Gap.

    http://www.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=95339&pid=599358

    For those interested in a review – I am hourglass shaped and it does dip at the waist better than most maxi dresses, but it probably still needs a belt or something. It runs way big – I am 5’5″, 125lb, 34B/C and got the XS. The bust is snug (ish) but the waist and empire seam are loose. It’s also completely adorable.

    I can’t wear a regular bra with it without the edges of the bra showing through on the sides. I can wear it with no bra (there’s a shelf bra inside), but it sort of flattens everything, so it doesn’t look as good.

    Styling help? Particularly with what kind of cardigan/jacket or belt?

    1. It looks like you could probably wear a strapless or halter bra with it and use the shelf bra to hold it in place. If the sides are exposing your bra, you might need to get it taken in a bit. It doesn’t look like it should do that on the model.

    2. I bet that would be cute with a chambray shirt tied at the waist. A cropped denim jacket with sleeves rolled up would also probably work. As for cardigans, coral or a golden yellow with a cognac/tan belt would by my first choice?

      Have you tried a strappless bra with it? You may just need to pull the halter straps a little tighter.

  9. Ann Taylor colors – What is Desert Sky? Is it Black? Dark blue? Dark gray? I can’t tell. Do any of you have a good guess?

  11. TJ – Has anyone successfully transitioned from a practicing attorney position to HR or a non-attorney compliance position? I no longer want to practice and am exploring new career paths. I have two years corporate experience in a medium sized (500 attorneys) law firm and two years of vendor contract experience with a state agency. I also have recruiting experience. I don’t really know where to start in exploring these new avenues. I am working with some agencies who seem to think they can help me make the jump, but I don’t feel like that is enough on its own. Any tips or suggestions are greatly appreciated!

    1. I know people who have done it, but most have been far more senior with enough business interaction to be able to convince a business person to hire them. You may be able to make the move, but be prepared to start at the bottom/entry level. Also be prepared for people to be skeptical as well as worried that you think like a layer and not a business person….

  12. PSA: Talbots is having 50% off all jackets, and 30% off your entire order. Just bought a bunch of nice summer jackets and hoping I find that elusive awesome white blazer I’ve been looking for!

  13. Ladies, if you were to choose between an iPad mini and the regular size, what would you pick? I’ve been contemplating getting an iPad for a while, mostly to use while traveling and if I want to browse the internet at home without using my laptop. I was recently very generously gifted an iPad mini and only have a few more days before the exchange window ends, so I need to make a decision quickly. FWIW, I have a short commute so I probably wouldn’t be using it as an ereader on a daily basis. Thanks in advance for any insight!

    1. Mini. The iPad is just too big – at that price, I’d rather just bring a Macbook Air and be able to work on it. The mini is the perfect size for me.

    2. I see a tablet as a mini-laptop or computer. I’d go for the regular size Ipad because of the larger screen size. Ideal for web browsing or watching videos. Also a nice size for editing photos or reading magazines. And if you travel alot for work, you can also use it for your presentations instead of carrying a laptop.

    3. The regular iPad. I have the regular, my youngest son has the mini, and I like mine way better. I use mine the way you describe — while traveling, and at home in lieu of my laptop, like if I just want to look up something quickly on the internet. Screen size is nice for watching videos, and it’s not like it’s too heavy to carry around easily.

    4. I’ve had both, and prefer the mini. Lighter, plus it fits in my purse (the regular does not).

    5. For what its worth, I would maybe say return and get a non-apple tablet. I got the first ipad as a gift and now it is completely worthless (and has been for over a year). They updated the operating system, but the ipad1 isn’t able to update its OS, so as a result basically none of the apps work. From my apple friends, I hear this is somewhat common, but that most apple users just by new products rather frequently (this doesn’t apply to computers, but only app based products). So if this is something you’d like to keep for years, I’d perhaps think about getting something else that won’t become functionally obsolete due to the company’s own doing (though I’m not sure what products that would be, haven’t done research).

      1. While I agree with you about Apple products in general, you may be mistaken about updating the iPad. We got my Dad an iPad just a month after they hit the market in 2010, and he still uses it every day. We have been able to update the OS, add new apps, update old apps, etc. The trick is that the first generation iPads don’t update wirelessly so you have to attach them to whatever computer you first used to set it up and update it by syncing with iTunes. But, after it gets to OS 5 (or something) even the old iPads will start to update wirelessly. Hope this helps.

        1. Ah, thanks for the comment! But alas, the charging plug part no longer recognizes when its attached to anything (even says its not charging when it is) so we can’t sync it with anything – that is probably why we could never update the OS. I assume that is fixable, but at this point, I have just given up on Apple altogether.

  14. I am craving vegetable lasagna for dinner tonight. Anyone have a great, easy recipe? One that is tomato based (no white sauce). Thanks!

    3. The easiest vegetable lasagna recipe in the world – it uses up the whole container of each ingredient, and is a vacation staple for our family as a result:
      Ingredients: no-boil noodles, one or two jars of chunky Ragu sauce (depending on how saucy you want it), one medium container of cottage cheese, one egg, one small package chopped frozen spinach (thawed), one or two bags grated mozzarella, a handful of parmesan (if you’re not on vacation and have it), and whatever veggies you want – my favorite is one small onion and some mushrooms, but yellow squash and zucchini are good too.
      Follow the noodle instructions re: oven temp and baking time.
      Chop the fresh veggies you are adding and saute them with a drizzle of olive oil. Set aside. to cool. Dump the cottage cheese (or ricotta), egg, parmesan, and thawed/drained spinach into a large bowl and mix thoroughly (I often just use my hands). I use a giant lasagna pan, and coat the bottom of the pan with sauce, then a layer of noodles. Layer 1/2 the cottage cheese mixture, then noodles, then sauce/veggies/cheese, noodles, and repeat until ingredients are gone. Top the noodles with sauce and cheese, cover with foil, and bake per instructions on the pasta box. I have made this for many large gatherings, always to rave reviews.

      My mom makes this without the added fresh veggies and the two bags of cheese, and it is pretty delicious that way too!

  15. I remember someone asked for a review of the everlane sandals… not sure if someone beat me to the punch, but I just opened mine up last night and thought I’d share my two cents. They are clearly super well made — nice weight of leather, solid stacked sole, tight stitching– I bet they will last a long time. and made in the US!! I also think they look great on the foot (mine are black). my only concern was sizing; the website says to order a half size down so I went down from my usual 7 to 6.5. the length is good but the straps over the top of the foot are TIGHT. It takes a struggle to get my foot all the way in (so my heel isn’t hanging off), and I think I have pretty small feet. the toe strap isn’t small, just the two over the instep. I’ll keep the shoes since I can get them on and I suspect they’ll stretch, but they might not work for the large/wide of foot.

  16. Any Paris recommendations for restaurants & things to see? BF & I will be spending 4-5 nights there this September. We’ll obviously do the biggies (Eiffel Tower, etc.), but I’m open to “hidden gem” recs as well!

    2. Sorry in advance for the novel! Feel free to email me (orangerie09 at gmail dot com) if you’d like more recs.. I have an extremely long list of favorites and tips from when I lived there. Have fun!

      Attractions

      -By way of museums, I prefer Musee D’Orsay to the Louvre because it has the most amazing impressionist collection. It will take you a few hours to go through but it’s so worth it. The Louvre is open late on Wednesdays and Fridays, so if you just want to duck in there to see a few things that would probably be a good time to do it.

      -My absolute favorite place in Paris is the Orangerie (hence the username), which houses a collection of Monet waterlily paintings that are huge and breathtakingly gorgeous. I would hands down recommend this as a must see! The museum is conveniently located right by la Place de la Concorde, inside le Jardin des Tuileries.

      -Centre Pompidou: this is Paris’ biggest modern art museum, and even if you don’t go inside the architecture is definitely worth checking out. It’s located in the Marais (4th arrondissement). There are lots of cute bars and restaurants scattered around the plaza in front of the Museum.

      -Jardin du Luxembourg: this park is quite expansive and makes for a lovely walk and/or picnic. The French senate building is also here, which is cool to see. The park is accessible from many different places (you can’t miss it on a map), and all of the surrounding areas are worth checking out if you have time. The Sorbonne is located due east of the fountain and the Senate building, the Pantheon is not far from the Sorbonne, and the Odeon neighborhood is directly north of the park and boasts great restaurants and boutiques.

      Food

      -L’As du Falafel: If you like falafels, this is a must do. It’s located in the Marais on Rue des Rosiers… it’s the green building- you’ll recognize it because of the huge line of people that’s always in front. As a side note, there’s great shopping on this street and the surrounding area. Most of Paris shuts down on Sundays, but the Marais is a historically Jewish neighborhood, so it’s pretty quiet on Fridays but open when the rest of the city is a ghost town.

      -Les Deux Magots: the food here is a bit pricey, but you pay for the atmosphere. It’s so much fun to get a croque monsier & a carafe of wine, sit at one of the outside tables and people watch for hours. The surrounding St. Germain des Pres neighborhood has a ton of shopping, as an added bonus.

      -Le Refuge des Fondues: really fun fondue place in Montmartre. They serve wine out of baby bottles, which is pretty entertaining. It’s on rue des Trois Frères, at the base of the hill leading up to the Sacre-Coeur Basilica.

      -La Creperie des Cannettes: very cute hidden gem on Rue des Cannettes in Saint Germain des Pres. They serve cider in big jugs and have a lot of different crepe options.

      Desserts

      -Pierre Herme: the BEST macarons you will ever eat. There are a few boutiques scattered around the city, and they also have a shop within Galeries Lafayette (giant department store)

      -Angelina: this place also serves food, but go for the extremely fancy & decadent hot chocolate and their signature desserts. It’s located on Rue de Rivoli right by the Tuileries metro stop

      -Ladurée: this is the other famous macaron shop. There’s a large store on the Champs Elysées, but I prefer the smaller one in the 7th arrondissement (on Rue Bonaparte) to sit and have fancy tea and cookies.

      -Glace Berthillon: iconic French ice cream. A lot of restaurants will offer it on their dessert menu, but if you want to go into the actual shop there is one located on the Ile St. Louis, which is the second smaller island behind the Notre Dame.

      1. Totally forgot about the fondue and baby bottle place until you just mentioned it. I went there when I was 17, after I graduated high school. 25 years ago. It was awesome.

      2. This is an incredible list, thank you! I was getting very overwhelmed with all of the options in Paris, and just spent the last 20 minutes adding your recommendations and descriptions to my color-coded Paris Google Map (Type A, much)? You’re a lifesaver.

        1. No problem at all! Again, feel free to email if you have any questions or want more recs. Love the idea of a color coded Google Map :)

      3. Orangerie’s recommendations are great!

        One restaurant I really like for dinner is L’Affriole, 17 Rue Malar, +33 1 44 18 31 33 (reservation recommended). They have a prix-fixe that is reasonably priced. It’s also very close to the Eiffel Tower, so if you time it right you can stroll over to the Champ de Mars before or after dinner to admire the sparkling lights running up and down the Eiffel Tower for a few minutes (this happens every full hour, I think starting at 8 pm, and ending at midnight or 1 am).

    3. I second a lot of what Orangie said, but I disagree about Les Deux Magots. I found the food there incredibly medicore and very overpriced (35 euros for chicken entree). Maybe I ordered wrong but it was by far my worst meal in Paris. Also I was alone (traveling for work) and a really creepy guy started hitting on me and wouldn’t leave me alone. But I guess that doesn’t apply to you :P

      Le Marais is my favorite neighborhood in Paris – so charming and centrally located to a lot of stuff you want to do. Next time I go to Paris I want to stay there. For attractions, I would add the Eiffel Tower (duh), Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur in Montmarte. They are super touristy but worth visiting (and going inside/to the top of all of them). Jardin du Luxembourg is one of my favorite spots, so beautiful and relaxing! Versailles is a good day trip from Paris, and definitely worth seeing if you have 5 or more days in Paris. If you have 4 or less, I’d probably just stay in Paris.

    4. I second Jardin Lux. Also Musee Rodin. Gorgeous, gorgeous sculptures in a beautiful setting. I haven’t been there recently enough to give specific recommendations, but dinner at a creperie is a great, cozy, uniquely French experience (get a savory for dinner, a sweet for dessert, and lots of cider). I’m also a huge fan of croques monsieurs (messieurs?) from street carts/hole-in-the-wall shops.

    5. A couple of “hidden gem” type things:

      – I love the Parc Monceau (in the 8th arrondissement). It is a completely different kind of park than Jardin du Luxembourg – an English-style garden interpreted for the French! – and is hidden away in a beautiful old neighbourhood. Lovely to stroll around and I have taken some gorgeous botanical photos there. It is quite fun to go in the morning and watch the joggers (woe betide anyone who is not jogging in the correct direction).

      – quite near Parc Monceau, also in the 8th, is the Musee Jacquemart-Andre, which is my favourite museum in Paris. It was the home of a very wealthy couple who didn’t have children but instead devoted all their time and wealth to amassing an amazing collection of artwork. When they died they bequeathed everything to the State on the condition that their house be shown as is, with everything in the same position that it was originally. As a result, it’s not only a fascinating museum, but also an interesting look at how wealthy Parisians lived in the late 19thC and their views on how art should be displayed. I found it fascinating. Definitely do the audio tour.

      – I don’t think anyone has mentioned the Rodin Museum yet. You should definitely try to make it there. Rodin’s sculptures are very powerful and the museum is on a small enough scale that it doesn’t feel overwhelming. Go on a day when the weather is good – half the museum is outside and there is a nice café in the grounds. It makes a lovely two-hour morning visit followed by lunch in the café.

      Have fun! I love Paris….

    6. Second the Musee D’orsay but we always have lunch there too. The food is good and they serve wine.

    7. Musee National du Moyen Age. Medieval tapestries!

      Basilica St. Denis.

      Love love love Pierre Herme, but watch out for the olive oil and wasabi macarons.

      Pierre Marcolini for chocolates.

      Picnic lunches at the parks at the ends of the iles.

      Have fun!

  17. I’m kicking myself for my clothing choices today. I went comfy with oldish slacks and a tank under a Jackie cardigan, and just received a lunch invite that I’m really wishing I was more dressed up for. Grr!

    1. Do you have a suit jacket in your office or is there someone in the office you can borrow one from?

      1. Sadly, no. I was slightly underdressed, but did what I could to own it anyways!

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