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Updated: Jun 30, 2022 140 Comments · by

Coffee Break: Marcella Flats

Coffee Break |

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These simple ballerina flats look great — and they're weatherproof! Aquatalia is kind of known for that, though — great office-ready shoes that can survive getting caught in the rain. (I'm still starting to pick my way through the NHYS preview, but it looks like there are some great pieces from Aquatalia in there too.)

The pictured shoes come in navy and black, and are $395.

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Sales of note for 9.10.24

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Kat Griffin is the founder, publisher, and editor-in-chief of Corporette. You can read more about her here.

Comments

    • Anon

      Ooof, I know Aquatalia is high quality but I don’t think I could ever stomach paying $400 for flats. I think you could find something good enough for much, much less.

      • Anon

        OP here. Ashamed to say the old sales trick got me. I was thinking, “What is she talking about? They’re only $300-some.” Nope, self, that’s $400 all the way, ha!

      • Anonymous

        Yea, I need new work flats and was all prepared to buy these until I saw the price. I suspect I can find something similar for less.

  2. Anonymous

    I’m lucky to get 6 months out of flats :( definitely wouldn’t spend this much on a pair.

    • Anonymous

      I am the same way. I have never had a pair of shoes last more than three seasons.

    • Anon 2.0

      Same. One year from a pair of flats is a success for me no matter how careful I am. I had a decent-ish pair of $120 or so leather flats and my pinky literally wore thru the side. I think my “duck” feet play into the rapid destruction of flats for me.

  3. Anon

    Do you frequently change up where you shop and what brands you buy or are you fairly consistent?

    I got to thinking about this because I just placed an order with a new (for me) clothes retailer for the first time in 3 years (Garnet Hill – clearly not a new company). They’ve been sending me catalogs for years, but it felt like I needed to consistently see good items in their catalogs before I’d bite the bullet and order something. Strange. For the last three years if I wanted something, it came from one of my usual retailers – J.Crew Factory, Talbots, J.Jill or Orvis. (And Costco. Yeah, I’m that lady.) That’s it. I guess it’s the idea of the mental work of sifting through a new website, guessing what size I might be, trying on a big box of clothes, and then invariably returning a large percentage of what doesn’t work? What about you?

    • No Face

      I rarely buy clothes online because I’m not willing to do the work that you describe. I can never tell what size I’ll be in each item, and now my size is changing rapidly anyway. I am team thrift store and mall. (And Costco. $40 for a warm coat with a $5 chicken for dinner? Sold!)

    • Anon

      I only shop online, and because of that I tend to shop the same brands over and over, unless sizing changes. Once I know a brand’s sizing, it’s just so much easier to stick with it! Boden is my go to and has been for years.

      • anonshmanon

        This makes sense to me in theory, but in reality, I found sizing inconsistent (Old Navy). Or I tried to take it too far, I e., find a style at Levi’s and resolved to only ever buy these jeans, and was disappointed when the style was discontinued. Clearly I dress for function over fashion, and I will see you at Costco!

      • Curious

        I loved Boden for a while, but lately I don’t love their patterns and fit on me (maybe they go better with hair/ long hair, lol). My new go-to is Universal Standard, and OP, it took me about 1.5 years of Wardrobe Oxygen raving about them before I gave them a try.

    • anon

      I’m fairly consistent, for the exact reasons you describe. And funny enough, Garnet Hill is one of those companies that I always say, well, I should try them! And I never do.

      • Anonymous

        I have returned everything I’ve ever ordered from Garnet Hill. Their sizing is off and everything looks frumpy in person. They must use a lot of clips and clothespins when they style their models.

    • all about eevee

      Yes, I buy from the same brands over and over again because I have my personal style and aesthetic nailed down. My aesthetic is 70s Granola Girl. My brands are Mokuyobi, Camp Collection, Cotopaxi, Girlfriend Collective, Natural Life, Toad & Co, Teva, Doc Marten, Parks Project, Baggu, Frye, Free People, Birkenstock, Patagonia, and Madewell.

      • MagicUnicorn

        Your brands are right up my alley. Are you willing to share your size and measurements? I have non-clothing items from a few of these and so many things in my shopping carts but am hesitant to buy without being able to try anything on locally first.

      • Anon

        Same. Different places sometimes, but I do buy a lot of used clothing in the brands I know I like.

        • Anon

          OP here and I do tons of that. But I’m shopping at the moment for casual clothes, and I feel like tees and such are so much more likely to have shrunk, so I’m ordering those new. Otherwise, yeah, so much of what I buy is secondhand!

    • Anonymous

      I always think about trying Garnet Hill and Title Nine and never end up pulling the trigger because of their shipping and returns fees. I can usually get a free shipping code, but not free returns, and since I’ve never ordered from them and don’t have a clue what size I would be and how things would fit (because sizes vary wildly between retailers), I don’t want to risk getting stuck with return shipping fees. So I just don’t.

      • anon

        If you have a long torso, Title Nine is not your friend. I was so disappointed in the swimwear I bought from T9. Quality was good, but the cuts were clearly made for someone much smaller than I am. I’m 5’8″, so tall-ish but not exceptionally so.

        • Anonymous

          If you have a long torso and want to wear one-piece swimsuits, you need special long torso sizing and that still may not be enough. This issue is not confined to T9.

          • Trish

            Lands End has swimsuits for a long torso. They have petites as well for my short waist.

        • Anonymous

          I do, so that’s good to know. I have that problem with a lot of Boden’s dresses.

    • Cat

      I only order online new-to-me brands or wild-card fit items for retailers with free shipping and returns. Otherwise, I wait until I’ve been able to try on a decent variety of items IRL (like I try a bunch of Hobbs at Bloomie’s) before bothering with an online order.

      • Anonymous

        +1. When a favorite goes under, I look around for a replacement but otherwise shop a handful of brands in any given category.

  4. Sloan Sabbith

    Thanks to whoever posted about the Rothy’s sale a couple of weeks ago. I ordered a pair of pink and orange gingham loafers and pink, orange, purple and metallic gold/pink points. The point flats were slightly too big but adding a thin insole under the Rothy’s insole more or less fixed that problem; I might try setting them in the sun for an hour or so to see if I can shrink them just a tiny bit. I ordered the same size I do in the loafers, which was a mistake. Oops. Inexpensive fix. Loafers are perfect though.

    • Meredith

      The loafers I ordered that day also came in and they are the best! Thanks for the tip 😀

    • Curious

      Sloan, so I’m glad to hear something has worked out for you lately. You deserve something fun and pretty! Are you still in Eastern WA?

      • Sloan Sabbith

        Yep. Here until I can move back into my condo. Which will probably be in 2023 sometime, no joke.

  5. Anon

    Most bingeable tv shows? Really good movies?

    Trapped in my room for 5 days because I just tested positive for COVID. Please no deep thinking.

    • Senior Attorney

      We just binged “The Bear” on FX and it’s fantastic. Highly recommend.

      If you haven’t seen Big Little Lies, it’s great.

      If you like that kind of thing, the new Star Trek, Strange New Worlds, is fabulous.

      Others:

      Trapped (Icelandic noir, with subtitles)
      Lupin (French mystery series on Netflix, also subtitles)
      Oh, oh — The Bureau! French spy series on AMC or Sundance. SO GOOD and lots of seasons.

    • Vicky Austin

      When Harry Met Sally and You’ve Got Mail have both appeared on Netflix recently.

    • Jules

      Glow – 3 seasons
      The Stranger – Netflix, I think; limited series, a cliffhanger in every episode
      Good Girls – we just started it, really like it
      Ted Lasso, if you haven’t seen it yet – Apple TV
      About Time – sweet rom-com with fantasy element
      Schmigadoon – Apple TV. Parody of movie musicals, but heartfelt and with great songs. Only watched a couple of episodes because it’s not SO’s cup of tea but it’s great if you’re a musical fan

    • anon a mouse

      Schitt’s Creek was made for this moment.

      Also consider some classics like My So-Called Life, Freaks and Geeks, Party Down. Only a few seasons of each so not a big commitment.

      Depending on what your tolerance for thinking is, Succession is really just a big soap opera but great pacing to keep you watching. It’s also a good time to explore some of the silly cooking competitions, like Master Chef and Baking Impossible and Is it Cake.

      Hope your case stays mild and boredom is your biggest challenge!

    • Anon

      HBO: Minx, Hacks, S3x Lives of College Girls, The Flight Attendant, And Just Like That… (in addition to all the classic shows that aired on HBO like SATC, Veep, etc)
      Hulu: Brooklyn 99, Superstore, Freaks and Geeks, Four Weddings and a Funeral (the Mindy Kaling mini-series), PEN15, Life and Beth, Shrill, The Big Leap, Abbott Elementary
      Paramount Plus: Why Women Kill (underrated dark comedy from the creators of Desperate Housewives), The Lost City
      Peacock: Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip S1 and S2 (much funnier and more self-aware than the original Real Houeswives shows IMO), Below Deck, Marry Me

    • Anonymous

      Parks and Rec (feel free to start with season 2)
      Brooklyn 99
      The good place (can you tell I’m a HUGE Mike Schur fan?)
      30 rock
      Only Murders in the building
      The west wing

    • helloanon

      Schitt’s Creek, Superstore, Chuck, Only Murders in the Building, White Collar, Great British Baking Show, Rutherford Falls, Abbott Elementary, The Office, Parks & Recreation

      I watch too much TV.

    • Anon

      I hope you feel better. I tested positive last Thursday and I have been sick sick, and I am still pretty miserable. Double vaxxed, double boosted, and very Covid-cautious but I had a mandatory work meeting the preceding week with a 100+ people for about 7 hours. I wore a KN-95, but apparently that was not eough.

      • Anon

        I was very cautious in 2020 and 2021, then completely gave up. Surprised it took this long.

    • Anon

      I’m a broken record on this but the two perfect seasons of Patriot on Amazon Prime are the best TV show I’ve watched in years and years. When I finished I went back and watched it all again.

      Short of that, Succession.

    • Anonymous

      My COVID shows were Virgin River (round 1) and Heartbreaker (Round 2). Also recommend Bridgerton & Call the Midwife.

    • JTM

      Downton Abbey! I binged it this year, plus the 2 movies, and it was way more delightful than I expected. It’s also really good “background noise” TV when you want to watch plus do something else, like knit.

      • Curious

        Also Britishy… I am enjoying Bridgerton. I came late to the party and am glad I finally arrived.

        Also, Grace and Frankie!

    • Sasha

      If you like trash reality TV, season 5 of UK Love Island is long and extremely entertaining.

    • Anonymous

      I just watched Starstruck on HBO Max per a rec here and loved it and want to thank whoever recommended it. So cute and I am not always a romcom person.

    • Anon 2.0

      The Offer from Paramount +. It is based on the true story of making The Godfather. I found it much better than I anticpated!

    • Anonymous

      Schitt’s Creek for sure, Emily in Paris, Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul. I also liked The Last Ship when it came out, thought it might not have aged well given the state of things now lol, House of Cards, and early seasons of Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy.

    • MagicUnicorn

      Everything Everywhere All At Once – if you’re under the weather you won’t know if it’s the movie or the cold medicine that is loopy.

  6. all about eevee

    Is anyone else here estranged from an immediate family member? If so (and if you are comfortable sharing), why? How do you manage visits with the people you do want to see in your family?

    • Anon

      My sister. Commented on Facebook that I must be ok with letting my daughter be a lesbian since I was encouraging her to do high school sports. Trump supporter. Vocal anti vaxer and COVID denier (later secretly got the vax herself, still advised others not to.)

      Our last living parent died a couple of years ago so those were the last threads holding us together. I’m still on a group text that includes her, which I mostly ignore and don’t contribute to, one other sibling is always trying to arrange a trip for all of us to get together since we live all over the US. I finally called that sibling and said I would love to get together one on one with them but I was never going to voluntarily spend a week in a rental house with our sister and that it sounded like my idea of hell on earth. They finally let up.

      It’s too bad because I used to be really close with my difficult sister’s kids but they’re turning out just like her now that they’re young adults.

    • Deedee

      I’m estranged from one half of my bio family (a parent, half-sibling, and grandparent). History of abuse and cover-ups from all parties. Because I’m not willing to have any information about me get back to those three individuals, I also don’t communicate with any extended family on that parent’s side. I don’t trust any of them to build an individual relationship with me. It’s definitely a loss to be missing a whole branch like that. Last contact was when I was 18, 12 years ago, so I guess I don’t feel the loss day-to-day.

      I’m a bit self conscious sharing this, but happy to answer questions.

    • Explorette

      My brother. When my mom died about 10 years ago, he expressed his grief in the form of extreme anger towards me and his then wife. Blamed us for everything wrong in his life, started drinking heavily, engaging in self-destructive behavior. I was supportive at first and even paid for his therapy sessions for about a year and for his divorce lawyer once his wife had enough. I mostly raised him so I felt like I needed to help him as much as I could even though he was being terrible to me. Then he did something unspeakable towards me and I called it quits. It was really hard to cut him off because he would regularly text me multiple times a day, call once a day, etc. I didn’t want to cut off his number because I have a close relationship with my nephews. So I had to just delete the messages and not engage once I realized it had nothing to do with nephew stuff. Now, I have a really good relationship with his ex-wife so I do all my nephew planning through her. It makes me sad sometimes because we used to be so close, but my life is better without all of his drama and negativity in it. I do see him occasionally now but keep it small talk and don’t let him in.

    • Hortencia

      Yes, estranged from the majority of my dad’s very large family, due to his own estrangement from them, and estranged to most of my mom’s much smaller family.

      On dad’s side, I’m in touch with a few cousins and one aunt/uncle. I have no personal beef with any of them, just never really had the opportunity to establish a relationship.

      My mom’s side is filled with narcissists and I say good riddance to them. When my last grandparent died I could finally, officially, wash my hands of them and I feel all the better for it. Still in touch with one of my moms siblings because my mom is also in touch with her and there is apparently no escape. My mom is the only decent human to come out of that family.

    • Tea/Coffee

      My brother, bc of his violent, drug addicted tendencies. And to be clear, the uncontrollable violence was the straw that broke the camel’s back. His violent episodes are totally predictable if you see him every day, and so the fact that my parents (whom he lived with for the past 3-4 cycles of these shenanigans) KNEW that he was about to go off the rails and didn’t say anything until afterwards (“oh we could tell…”) nearly had me cut them off, too. I had every expectation that he would become violent in front of them and i could not let that happen. Like, kill someone for drug money violent. Also, Dh pointed out that every time we were going to see himhad just seen him, i stopped sleeping due to horrible nightmares. I literally did not make the connection until he pointed this out.
      I finally told my parents that i could no longer be around him bc i was going out of my mind worrying about what he would do to, or in front of, my kids. Sad to say, they didn’t get it until other family members said the same thing. Half my family wonders why i still speak to my parents, at this point.
      This meant that my parents missed out on basically 3-4 years of my kids lives bc they don’t live nearby and on holidays they would be worth my brother “bc he doesn’t have anyone else.”
      He has since remedied (?) the situation by receiving a life sentence for a very violent crime. But luckily nobody actually died.
      The hardest part has been explaining it to my kids as they get older. My oldest knows some of the story but no details, my youngest only knows that “Mommy used to have a brother.”
      There’s a chance he could get out in like 40 years and i occasionally have nightmares where he shows up at my house, or my kids’ houses, demanding money at the point of a gun. I feel not one single bit of remorse at cutting him or off my life and i only wish i had the courage to do it sooner

    • Anon

      Yes, my mother and stepfather, a sister & her family. The other half of my family keeps in touch with me, and my estranged relatives are really off the deep end to the point that no one else wants to keep in touch with them either, so we basically just pretend they don’t exist. I still see who I want to but without the drama and tension those people used to cause. It’s quite lovely, TBH.

    • Me

      My sibling. Sibling is the one who cut off contact with my parents and me. As far as I know, Sibling is not in contact with any family; we were never close to our extended family and my parents only had two kids. My family was very close and then Sibling and Spouse gradually cut contact until contact was eliminated. That process took about two years and we could tell it was happening but did not know why. There was not an exciting event and there was no explanation provided although I asked and so did my parents. Sibling refused to explain and we can only speculate. I have no idea if Sibling knows that one of my parents died a few years ago.
      I don’t know what it is like to be the person who seeks to remove contact. From my perspective, I believe it would have been helpful if Sibling had said these are the reasons we are terminating the relationship and my termination of the relationship is not negotiable. But I don’t know if that actually would have made the loss of a Sibling who I thought I was close to less hard. It has now been more than a decade since either my parents or I last had contact and it does not bother me anymore. But it took three to five tough years to reach this point and I imagine an explanation would have been helpful. One of my parents never really moved past it.

    • Anon

      A parent who will. not. stop. saying hurtful things to me. Communication now happens only by snail mail

    • Anon

      My father and my siblings. Older sibling was violent and abusive for many years and I was the prime target. It was terrifying – sibling literally tried to break my neck. Father knew about it and did nothing because “you need to work it out between yourselves.” Sibling is always nasty and cruel to me.

      I told younger half siblings and was roundly castigated for being “unforgiving.” I was told that if I didn’t like the way I was treated, abuse included, I could leave the family. I did.

  7. Anonymous

    What items would you keep on hand in case of power outages? Just moved to Va, which is much hotter than my New England self is used to, and in just the last few weeks there has been a planned power outage by the electric co. which was NBD and then a random one in my area yesterday, which luckily didn’t affect me for too long. Got me thinking though that I should have things on hand but not sure what.

    Not asking about food as I always have things like peanut butter and granola bars. I’m thinking water as I’m on the 9th floor of a high rise though not sure how much I need as just one person. Anything else that leaps to mind?

    • Anon

      We live in hurricane territory and always have two cases of water on hand for two people which I believe will be enough should we ride out a hurricane and lose power for a week or more. We also have hurricane lanterns and/or candles and matches handy and in places that I know right where they are and can locate them easily even in the dark. Flashlight with fresh batteries and a fully charged portable battery pack as well.

    • Davis

      While I never go full FEMA, their website is a good overview and checklist of what one is “supposed” to have and then I edit from there depending on my living situation and tolerance.

    • Anonymous

      When we first moved to VA I was shocked at how often the power would go out and for how long. (Also that we have tornadoes here, but that is a whole different story.) You need water on hand anyway for hurricanes, but whether you need it for power outages depends on the source of your water. Some water treatment facilities go down when the power goes out and contaminate the water supply. Sometimes the boil water alert can last several days, long after the power comes back on, so I’d keep enough water on hand for at least a week. If you have a grinder pump for sewage you also won’t be able to flush the toilet when the power goes out, but you probably won’t have that problem in an apartment.

      I’ve been considering buying a small solar charging system for camping as well as power outages and other emergencies. I keep a flashlight in my nightstand and a couple hundred dollars cash on hand in case payment processing systems go down. I have a hand-crank radio so I can get the news even if my phone dies or cell towers are down. When my freezer isn’t fully stocked with food I fill it up with ice so it will stay cold longer in a power outage (an empty freezer gains heat faster). If you have a genuine old-fashioned landline, keep a corded phone for power outages. If you have an IP “landline” phone through your cable company/ISP, you can get a backup battery for your cable modem that will allow you to make emergency calls with a corded phone when the power goes out. It’s also nice to have paper reading materials on hand for entertainment.

    • Anon

      Earthquake and fire country here. I keep an earthquake kit but honestly it needs to be gone through and updated and I’m bad about that. I try not to let the car sit in the driveway low on gas because it seems like every time there’s an emergency it’s all about the lines at gas stations and everyone needs gas to get out of town.

      But you asked about power outages. I am a candle fan so there are candles all over my house. I have a solar cell phone charger. But our most likely blackouts are rolling blackouts for hopefully just a few hours at most. I haven’t experienced anything longer than that. I just keep the fridge shut during that period and wait it out.

    • Anonymous

      Camp lanterns or battery-operated candles/tea lights for a cheaper solution (easier than flashlights because you can set them down and leave them in rooms), lots of batteries, external power pack to charge phones/electronics, weather radio (I think our’s hand cranks instead of battery power), water, and sources of entertainment that don’t depend on electricity (books, puzzles, etc). I also usually fill up my gas tank before major storms not ebcause I think we’d need to leave (we’re pretty far inland, we mostly just get wind damage), but in case I need to use my car charger for my cell phone (Or to just sit in something air conditioned and cool off).

    • Prepared

      I live in earthquake country now, so I try to keep pretty close to the recommended 2 week supply of 1 gallon/person/day on hand. It’s a ton of water, so I tend to keep almost that much + baby wipes, disposable plates/cups, and hand sanitizer to lessen the need for water for sanitation.

      I’ve never needed the emergency water while living in the West. However, it would have been helpful growing up in Arlington, VA–we got a boil water advisory once for a few days and the stores all ran out of bottled water.

      My part of Arlington had pretty frequent power outages in the 90s. Most were hours, but some stretched days. It’s important to have not just granola bars, etc, but shelf-stable food that you’ll really want to eat meal after meal.

      Packed freezers stay frozen longer in the even of a power outage than empty ones. You don’t have to have a ton of frozen food–ice packs work too.

      • Walnut

        Empty milk jugs refilled with water are also useful to fill empty freezer space. This is particularly useful when there is predictability around a likely outage (storm, etc.)

    • MagicUnicorn

      Water, portable phone chargers (and keep them charged), flashlights, extra batteries, books, puzzles, stuff to do without electricity, enough towels and dishes to see you through a few days of messy living, and blankets if it is cold weather. Maybe matches and candles, but use those with caution.

  8. anon

    The morning discussion on fourth of July got me thinking – what is the best way to reclaim the traditional patriotic symbolism from the MAGAts and others of kindred persuasion? My initial thought is fly your American flag and put up a Pride flag along with it. Basically add a flag or sign signifying some issue you care about that shows inclusivity. I personally wouldn’t fly the American and Christian flags together here, but there have to be other combinations. Anyone have better/other ideas?
    I’m not feeling enthusiastic about July 4, but perhaps it’s wise to acknowledge the day and do something that helps reclaim it. I’m also open to a wake for Democracy.

    • Anon

      I live in the DC suburbs, where whatever huge percentage of the local population is here because of the federal government, so we’re naturally a patriotic bunch. It’s completely normal here to see an American flag flying on a house with one of those, “Hate has no home here” or “wherever you’re from, we’re glad you’re here” or BLM or pride flag or you name it yard signs. (DC area people are also big on causes, so yard signs abound.)

      (Also, I’m unaware of such a thing as a Christian flag? I know the Episcopalians have their flag, but I’ve never seen it anywhere other than the front of the church. Don’t Presbyterians have one, too? But if the religious right has a flag, I’m unaware and curious.)

      • AnonMom

        The Christian flag is non-denominational. It is white with a blue cannon that has a red cross on top of the blue. It’s been around for decades and had its own pledge of allegiance articulated with it. I get very McCarthyism vibes remembering how the church I attended as a kid treated it.

    • Anon

      I like the idea of flying the pride flag together with the US flag and may copy you. We are not gay but are allies.

    • Anon

      I will hang out with my MAGA neighbors for what’s become an annual gathering where we drink beer in the street and they set off illegal fireworks. It’s really fun! We don’t discuss politics. I’m sure they noticed the Biden sign on my lawn, but no-one threw rocks at the house so I refuse to treat them like they aren’t allowed their own opinions because they don’t agree with me. By including myself in the festivities, instead of passive aggressively signaling my disapproval of their views with flags, I will demonstrate inclusivity.

    • Seventh Sister

      We have an American flag up most of the time (occasionally we’ll switch it out for the state flag) and right now we have a Pride poster taped up in the picture window (which will probably stay up for the next week or so). I live in super-blue area in a blue state, but I don’t think anyone around here would assume that an American flag = MAGA.

      • Curious

        Interesting! In Seattle it can feel MAGA unless paired. Aren’t local mores fascinating? We also still mask a lot and you regularly see people wearing masks outdoors (e.g. for daycare drop off, in the grocery parking lot). Relatives who have visited find it fascinating.

        • Seventh Sister

          MAGA people are pretty low-profile in the LA area (especially the further west you go in town), so I only start to get suspicious if it’s an American flag, flag bumper stickers on the cars, and a bunch of seasonal patriotic decorations. There’s still masking in a lot of indoor public places, outside it’s pretty uncommon.

          • AIMS

            The MAGA people tend to hang actual Trump flags in NY and/or the blue line American flag (for “blue lives matter”). We spend a fair amount of time upstate NY and both are equally represented.

  9. Anonymous

    How long to apples last in the fridge?

    DH and I ended up going out of the area and working from elsewhere for 6 weeks; we had only planned on two weeks so we didn’t entirely clean out our fridge though obviously we threw out things like milk. Stopped by MIL’s on the drive home yesterday and she said something about oh you need to go to the store and get some milk, bread, fruit, as DH was like oh we at least have some apples in the fridge. MIL was SHOCKED and disgusted going on about how we have to throw those out ASAP. Meanwhile I’m sitting there thinking, if they’ve been refrigerated and seem fresh, not mushy or moldy, what’s the big deal? Aren’t there certain times of the year where apples come from cold storage anyway? And FWIW they are still completely firm and look fresh.

    In case it isn’t obvious MIL and DH come from a wealthy family, so throwing food away all the time is totally normal. What does the hive say? Should I toss them?

    • Anon

      I would expect apples to be mushy after 6 weeks, even refrigerated, but if they’re not mushy I wouldn’t throw them out.

      • Anonymous

        +1. Most of the apples in stores right now were harvested almost a year ago unless they are from the Southern Hemisphere. They start tasting sour when they go bad, but even then they aren’t going to hurt you.

        • Anon

          All of this, and even if there are mushy spots, they’re still fine to make apple sauce, crisp or pie with. You can use them pretty much until they’d be more accurately classified as compost (slight exaggeration, but not by much).

      • Anon 2.0

        This! My grandparents would go to the orchard every year, pick apples, put them in the giant plastic bag things (not Ziplocs, idk what they were) and the basement fridge literally would become the apple fridge. Want a snack? Grab an apple from the apple fridge.

        Also, this question reminds me, there are two kind of people. Those who think food expires at 12:01 am on the date of the package or those who think expiration dates are make believe. I definitely fall in the latter!

    • Anon

      You can tell if apples are spoiled; MIL is being clueless and silly.

      I actually really like to keep Gala applies long enough that they start to dry out… sort of between a dry apple and a fresh one.

      Now if they’re Red Delicious, they might be mealy, but they’re still safe to eat (just not worth it, unless they’re used for baking or something).

    • Anon

      Apples are ripe once a year and stored in cold storage for up to a full year and meted out to grocery stores as necessary during the year. They’re good in your home fridge until they look shrively or brown.

    • Anon

      Apples sold in the stores right now are from last fall. They’re months old.

      Also, we grow some of our own apples, and the antique ones can last months and months in a cool cellar. They also have amazing, vibrant flavors that the commercial varieties sold in stores can’t touch. Highly recommend if any of you have room for a tree!

      (As an aside, Red Delicious apples are a disgrace to the name apple. If those have been in your fridge for 6 weeks, well, they may well have turned even mealier than normal. Blech.)

      • Anonymous

        I want to know why anyone ever thought it was a good idea to develop the Red Delicious apple. So gross.

        • Anon

          The red delicious are my favorite. Seriously. They are delicious! It’s right there in the name!

    • Anonymous

      Apples last ridiculously long, both in room temperature or in the fridge or another cool storage. As long as they have not been bruised, they could last for months. BUT they emit gases that will make every other produce stored together with them ripen and go off much quicker.

      You know the saying “bad apple”. If you get a bad apple, YOU’LL KNOW! Bad apples get brown and mushy and mouldy and stink and there is no way you’ll ever eat one by mistake.

  10. Anon

    Anyone still sofa shopping? Here’s a discount code from my Sabai Design sofa purchase if anyone wants it: https://www.talkable.com/x/AyT2rI

    As a review: the new sofa has been a hit in my household. My cats have failed to leave a mark in the “performance velvet” (not for want of trying). It feels solid and stable (probably partly from not having springs or coils, but still). It pretty much looks and behaves exactly as pictured and described (no surprises).

    • Anon

      I’m also curious what others picked out.

      And I’m still shopping for light blocking/thermal curtains (is this an IKEA thing?); I’m considering a rugsource.com rug (thanks for that recommendation); and a refrigerator (is there such a thing as a basic, sturdy, and reliable refrigerator made with nice quality parts? or is everything without fussy features kind of the “bottom barrel” these days? I am on a mission to find out).

  11. Judy

    Any recommendations for dressy flats that work with bunions? I tried Rothy’s both pointed and round toe and they did not work for me. Thanks!

  12. Recs for Charities Who Send Lots of Emails and Mail

    Feeling all the rage at the recent SCOTUS decisions– women, guns, and now the environment. I plan to donate to worthy causes for women and the environment “on behalf” of a Trumpian relative (who’s been focal this week on social media). Bonus points if those nonprofits will send a lot of emails and snail mail to my relative. What are your recommendations?

    • Jules

      I get tons of email and regular mail (despite asking not to be sent hard-copy mail) from the ACLU, Planned Parenthood and NARAL. MoveOn sends a lot of emails, don’t know about snail mail.

    • Anon

      Make a donation Act Blue. They never leave me alone and I agree with them!

      (Ps if you can find one that has a survey, give them $5 but say your household income is over $500k per year)

    • anon

      Why would you do this? I mean, go ahead and donate, but what are you accomplishing by sticking it to your relative?

      • Anonymous

        OP here–Relative is retired, bored, and easily influenced. I found out they donate to many of the mailers that come their way–including all the random “save the children” letters with sob stories. Unfortunately, many of the charities they’ve donated to seem to have questionable ratings on Charity Navigator.

        Understood that nonprofits who send mailers are not efficiently using donations. But I would like to get them on mailing lists for more legitimate nonprofits–especially those with social and environmental focuses.

        In all honesty, this relative used to be socially liberal (in favor of environment causes, reproductive freedom, gay-rights). But sadly, English is their second language and the massive amounts of social media they consume everyday in their native language are basically direct translations of Right Wing talking points/scare tactics** straight from News Max and OAAN (i.e. the Left are socialists and the US is on its way to be a Communist country and only the Republicans can save us and our freedoms).
        Hence why this relative is on the mailing list for almost every Trump-backed republican candidate across the country; and I fear they’ve made donations to these candidates AND charities affiliated with Right Wing causes so the mail volume just increases.

        **sample of what this relative says in our native language during family functions: Democrats want to abolish the police and want more grandmas assaulted; they’re taking away our freedom of speech with their Cancel Culture; omg trans in women’s bathrooms; and of course, the election was stolen

    • anon

      This will end up wasting a lot of your favored charity’s money as they send a lot of mail to someone who will never give to them. Just give a big gift in your own name to the charity you care about.

      In 2020, I would donate to campaigns (in my own name, as is legally required) as a way of channeling my feelings when relatives espoused really objectionable views. The relatives never knew and it was costly for me, but it’s a nice way to channel those feelings. The more they said awful stuff around me, the better it was for Democrats.

  13. NYC hotel recs -- Chelsea?

    I’m visiting NYC with my daughter and her best friend (18 y.o.). We’ve previously stayed at the Sheraton Four Points in Chelsea because we can walk from Penn Station (we come in on Amtrak), the neighborhood is safe, and we’ve leaned on the Whole Foods for our breakfasts and snacks. We want a different hotel and are looking for recs. Key is that my DD and her friend would be safe walking in the neighborhood by themselves, so they can be a bit independent.

    Recommendations? Thank you!

    • AIMS

      Why not go up to the (lower) upper west side? There is a Whole Foods at Columbus Circle. Slightly longer but entirely doable walk from Penn. lots of hotels in west 50s too and I walked around there plenty as a teen in a much sketchier NYC (even compared to now).

      • AIMS

        UWS is very safe I should say. I feel much more comfortable there than in Chelsea for comparison (not that I am uncomfortable in Chelsea either but for reference).

        • NYCer

          I agree that the UWS is a very safe and easy neighborhood.

          I might also consider Soho with girls that age.

    • Anonymous

      I think UWS is a great idea but just take the subway from Penn Station – why walk 40 blocks with luggage? Or take a cab if you really can’t handle the subway. (It’s fine). In general right now your really want a residential neighborhood – Midtown is not what it was before the pandemic. You need a place that has not been vacated the way office areas have.

  14. OP

    Weird and probably silly question: I ran today in a new sports bra that’s quite tight, and now my ribs hurt. Is it possible that the sports bra bruised my ribs or something???

    • Curious

      You can also tweak the muscles/ fascia between the ribs. No idea what actually happened, I just know that’s possible!

    • Anon

      Are you wearing a heart-rate monitor strap between the sports bra band and your skin?

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