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Updated: Apr 19, 2022 87 Comments · by

Coffee Break: Picture Frame

Coffee Break

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I really like the new Mark D. Sikes collection of furniture at Anthropologie — it's such an unusual look compared to everything out right now. (And the Print A on Print A on Print A styling is… really something!)

Most of the collection is filled with blue windowpanes (love!) — but for today's more affordable pick I'm a fan of this floral print picture frame. It's 5×7, and $38 at Anthropologie (also available in a botanical print in the size 4×6).

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Sales of note for 9.16.24

Sales of note for 9.16.24

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Comments

  1. Anon

    Has anyone been to a financial or conservative-dressing conference since the pandemic? I used to go to a lot of big industry conferences (SFIG, ICI, ABA) where men still wore suits. I’m wondering in 2022, what people are wearing to them. Fashion otherwise seems to be very . . . anything goes lately and these were just very conservative. I have work travel starting up in a couple of weeks and my guess is that I’d be OK in MMLF dresses and pointy-toe flats, but it’s always cold in there and IDK if layering over something like the JCrew Juliette sweater jacket would be too casual or maybe that would be OK but with suiting pants and a blouse.

    I will bring good masks for the plane but I’m guessing I don’t really need (in a legal sense, not asking for an epidemiologist to answer) them otherwise (in which case, will stuff some cloth ones in my bag just in case).

    After dress code, I need to remaster packing so that I don’t have to check a bag. Wish me luck!

    • Anonymous

      I went to an ABA conference. A handful of men were in suits. More were in blazers and khakis, no tie. I wore a suit dress with a longer sweater/swacket at the conference itself. I could have gone more casual and been fine. There were few women in suits except the presenters.

    • Anon

      I just went to one that has historically been suits and it was more casual this year. I think your outfit choices both sound fine to even somewhat dressy. I love sweater jackets – they’re perfect for overly airconditioned conferences.

  2. Anon

    For those of you who have installed solar panels, where did you look for objective information about it? Everything feels like an ad.

    • anon

      I just contacted a [seemingly] reputable local company and their salesman called and we talked about it. I was pretty much sold beforehand, though. I see no downsides.

    • Anon

      If you’re looking for information about the costs and potential financial benefits, that will totally depend on where you are. We asked on our neighborhood listserve and got quotes from a number of companies, just like any other home project we would do. If there have been solar buying coops in your area you can also see who they used, as there will be a large mass of people who bought in and have feedback on the process and whether it has panned out as expected.

    • Anon

      Buy the system if you can afford it, don’t lease it. Energy storage doesn’t make sense unless you are in CA and qualify for the grants available from the state. Financially, it should make sense if you use AC in summer and have an EV.

      • anon

        Energy storage makes a lot of sense if you want to maintain access to electricity and live somewhere where storms sometimes knock out electricity, the grid sometimes gets stressed by extreme weather, where there are power shut offs to prevent wildfires, or where these things may happen more often due to climate change.

        Batteries are expensive, but if you can afford them, well worth it to stay at a comfortable temperature, with clean air (if you live in an area that gets wildfire smoke), powered medical equipment, and to not have to chuck the contents of your fridge/freezer.

        • Anon

          If someone lives in an area impacted by wildfires, medical equipment that needs power or a water pump that needs electricity in CA, they qualify for a grant that covers almost all the cost. The qualifications are actually a good way to see if you do need to consider batteries.

          Value of resiliency otherwise is very much dependent on the individual. Most people I know are unable to afford it. Batteries are still very expensive, nice to have not yet economic for most people.

        • anon

          Dunno if anyone will see this. (I was the first respondent up above, the one who sees no downside.)

          Speaking of A/C — I’ve had electric bills of $2 or less since I installed solar, in the hot months of course.

    • Tina

      500 calories
      40 minutes exercise
      6 hrs standing

      I find that walking to the subway etc counts as exercise by the Apple Watch’s standards so even if I don’t go to the gym its easy to meet. I lowered the stand goal because sometimes its not accurate / I don’t wear it all day / etc

    • Walnut

      700. It’s high enough that I need to be intentional about moving my body to meet it, but achievable with a an active day at home (mowing the lawn, walk to the park with kids, running around the house on an epic laundry day).

      • Anonymous

        Oh, wow. My goal is 500 active calories and it takes 45-minute HIIT workout + long walk with dog + active day at home to achieve.

    • Anonymous

      400. I usually either barely make it, or double or triple it– it’s rarely a 400-500 day!

    • Sybil

      530 calories (generally achievable unless I’m a real sloth that day)
      20 minutes exercise (I usually get at least 10 without intentional exercise so I probably need to up that)
      12 hours stand (I don’t think I’ve ever not gotten all 12 so I wish they’d update the max)

    • MagicUnicorn

      600 calories
      40 minutes exercise
      12 stand hours

      I try to bump the calories up by 10 every quarter or so. I adjust the exercise minutes up or down based on my current exercise habits (i.e., my physical therapy routine had me easily hitting 90 minutes a day last year when I used the Functional Strength Training tracker on the watch app, but now it is much lower since I am doing about 30 minutes of running or weight training each day). I have kept the stand hours constant since it is a good reminder to at least get up and stretch for a minute.

      I am not obsessive about hitting my goal or even checking it, but when I do look at the history it is nice to see that I am not a complete couch potato.

        • MagicUnicorn

          With apologies for the late reply, no judgement at all. I consistently wear my watch from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to bed. When I first got it I spent a week figuring out what my baseline calorie number was (something like 350 a day per the watch without any intentional exercise). I am not naturally a particularly active person, so pushing the number higher slowly has been a good way for me to build more intentionality into my habits. And since taking up running, I learned it burns calories much more efficiently than other activities do which makes it easier for me to reach a higher number each day.

  4. Anon

    If you think your workplace fish microwaver is bad: I’m permanently working from home, and my husband is prone to inventing weird foods. He is currently frying up some pierogies that he spent the past month pickling in leftover Vlasic brine. I want to commit nose hari kari.

    • Anon

      Writing to you from a pollen vortex: OTOH, your sinuses probably are not clogged

    • Anonymous

      My husband’s WFH office is off the kitchen while mine is upstairs. Every now and then he yells at me for making popcorn or tuna. It’s just like the good ol’ days.

    • Anom

      My husband decided to “rehydrate raisins” in the microwave last year. Our house smelled like molten sugar and burnt a** for a week.

    • Shananana

      When I was in my twenties my younger brother (who is a chef) lived with me for about a year. People used to say wow it must be so great living with a chef. The reality is a lot of experiments like your husbands lol!

  5. Anonymous

    Anyone have any songs or YouTube clips or anything that are tear jerkers? For a variety of reasons just need to cry it out but can’t.

    • Anon

      Death Cab – I Will Follow You Into the Dark
      Linkin Park – One More Light

      • Vicky Austin

        Things that have worked for me in this vein:
        -Soon You’ll Get Better, Taylor Swift
        -Phoebe Bridgers’ cover of Georgia Lee from the Women Sing Waits album
        -Leader of the Band, Dan Fogelberg
        -Any cover of The Parting Glass
        -California by Robert Ellis
        -I’m on Fire (Springsteen or the Staves cover, both good)

      • Coach Laura

        Death Cab – I Will Follow You Into the Dark

        Rolling Stones – Angie

        Brandy Carlisle – The Story

        Jolene – Dolly Parton

    • Anonymous

      Beth’s death scene from the 90’s version of Little Women with Winona Ryder.

    • Anne-on

      Are you a 90’s kid? The ‘he needs his glasses’ scene from My Girl does it every time. Or just watch the Sarah McLauglin ‘arms of an angel’ ASPCA commercials.

      • Anonymous

        Oh, gosh. Any scene/story where someone loses their glasses is a tearjerker for me.

        • Anne-on

          Oh, no, it’s much much worse. The young friend of the main character (they’re both about 11ish?) dies after being stung by many bees retrieving a treasured item for her (I think a mood ring?). Her dad is the undertaker and she won’t let him be buried without his glasses because he won’t be able to see in Heaven without them (tearing up just writing this out, can’t bear to rewatch it so forgive any minor plot details I forgot).

    • Anon

      I would definitely look for movie clips (agree on the Beth in Little Women, that gets me every time!). Books and movies make me cry frequently, but I don’t think I’ve ever cried from music alone. YMMV, of course. I think I’m jealous of people who feel better after crying, though- I just end up with a raging headache and feel a million times worse.

      • FP

        The “Dos Orguguitas” scene from Encanto. The (cartoon!!) image of the mother holding her babies while crying out for her husband is honestly making me tear up right now.

    • Anonymous

      Pink Champagne by Kathleen Edwards did it for me when I was going through my divorce and needed to cry.

    • MagicUnicorn

      Vince Gill – Go Rest High On That Mountain (especially the George Jones funeral clip)

    • buffybot

      Not sure there is any one clip but “About Time” is a for-sure tearjerker for me.

    • Carrots

      The Dear Baby monologue and She Used to be Mine from “Waitress” can get me.
      Requiem or So Big/So Small from Dear Evan Hansen
      The Final Hey Reprise from Next to Normal

      Also endorse the Beth scene from Little Women or The Little Princess ending

    • Anonymous

      The final sequence in the season finale of Six Feet Under, where they flash forward each of the characters lives until they die. It is set to “Breathe Me” by Sia. If you never watched the show, it might not do it for you.

      • anonshmanon

        The season 8 finale of Scrubs, or just Peter Gabriel’s Book of Love on it’s own always makes me cry.

      • Anon

        I love SFU but I don’t think the ending would mean much to someone who hasn’t watched the show.

    • Anon

      When Somebody Loved Me, from Toy Story 2

      Married Life, from Up

      Clearly a Pixar fan here!

      Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most for a non-Pixar pick

    • Anonymous

      OMG. Every single “when tomorrow starts without me” featuring a dog on Instagram. Or the happy tears for the ones where the babies can hear for the first time. Whatever algorithm I’m on, they’ve got me sobbing one way or another in like 5 minutes.

      Another on the happy tears vein–TLC has a show where a woman makes shockingly life-like prosthetics for people who have lost an ear or a nose or a hand, etc. Sounds strange, I know. But the joy when they see themselves for the first time looking whole again, it is just so hard to describe. Just absolutely guts me . I can’t even imagine being able to do that for someone else.

    • Anonymous

      Depending on what makes you tear up, you might enjoy the Heineken “Worlds apart” commercial, about different world views and tolerance. Ads in general can be a good place to search for “heartbreaking”, since they generally tell a story in a very short time. Animal rescue stories could maybe also work?

    • Anonymous

      The 2006 credit card commercial set to the song “100 years to live.” I was pregnant when that commerical aired and it made me cry every time. Just thinking about it now still makes me tear up.

    • Anon

      If you are sentimental about families, the YouTube clip of Alanis Morisette singing Ablaze with her kids live on the Tonight Show makes me sob

      • Anon

        Steel magnolias. I watched it when I was younger and it didn’t really both me but rewatching during the pandemic had me sobbing.

      • Anon

        Oh my G-d yes. Any recording of that song makes me cry instantly. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a better description of parenthood than “my mission is to keep the light in your eyes ablaze.” I’m getting teary just typing it out, omg. (If you only know Jagged Little Pill Alanis, this is totalllllly different!)

    • Anon

      I know the movie gets a lot of hate, some of it deserved, but the airport reunion scene in Love Actually with real people hugging and crying and Hugh Grant’s narration about “love actually is all around” get me every time.

    • Belle Boyd

      If you’re still reading this —
      The scene from Bridges of Madison County when she goes to town with her husband and sees Robert and she’s battling with leaving and staying.
      Marley and Me, A Dog’s Purpose, or any movie where a dog dies. That’ll absolutely destroy me. Hell, the ASPCA commercials usually wreck me and have me sobbing through a half a box of tissues.
      To Joey with Love, the movie about country singer Joey Feek who was diagnosed with cancer after delivering her baby girl.

      Trisha Yearwood’s version of “Over the Rainbow”
      Kenny Chesney’s “Knowing You”
      Miranda Lambert’s “The House that Built Me” and “Over You”

    • Anonymous

      If it’s parent related look for Glen Campbell – I’m not gonna miss you.

  6. Anon

    Is there any way to find out about being a realtor? Like I know about the licensing, but about how the business model works? I know that realtors usually work under a brokerage company and that the company takes a 50% cut (and the buyer/sell split the commission). In DC, I remember that some premium agents charged >6%, but 6% is standard. And some realtors have gone out on their own, I presumable to keep more $, but what do they do with noncompetes? Or is that a thing? And also that it’s better in a seller’s market to represent sellers (and often any time), but how do you get good at negotiating and making sure paperwork goes smoothly? And does being good at having connections = good at negotiating or good at paperwork (or do you have people for that last thing)? Finally, do the lawyers really get involved or just make sure that the documentation is in shape W-9s are in hand, etc.? I just feel like this is opaque and hard to get answers for (and easy to get BS answers). I know that there is a high washout rate (but low cost to enter) for this line of work.

    • Anonymous

      I think jumping in to being a real estate agent at this point in time is lunacy. I suspect the high commissions are on their way out as people learn they can do so much more of this on their own. As it is, it’s come down from 6% already in a lot of places.

      • Anon

        I sort of agree, and yet feel that people often DIY exactly when the stakes are highest (retirement planning; real estate is people’s single largest investment) and never DIY on other tasks (oil changes). I probably could sell my house (but would want to pay maybe 3 good local realtors to help me price it and give any staging / fixing advice) but I’d probably deal with someone with squirrelly financing or where the contingencies went sideways. I think a savvy negotiator has value and a lot of people skate by on little talent (and in real estate, IDK how to tell which is which). It’s like how the pandemic showed us that we could cut our own hair but also that many of us would do well to save time and $ and regret by using a pro initially.

        OTOH, companies use lawyers to negotiate leases and that always seemed crazy to me, at least for non-Class A office space. What person would ever do that?

      • Anon

        Maybe there is one here? But I doubt that someone you don’t know is really going to level with you. It’s like the business side of law firms. It’s arcane, but it really matters. Pricing, collections, where the $ really comes from and goes.

    • anon

      To some extent, this is geographically dependent. I worked as an RE agent in one state and have bought and sold houses personally (with an agent) in another. Neither state used lawyers at all in any part of the process. However, I know in some states it is either common or required. Each state will have its own rules about how brokerages are set up and the percentage is going to be driven by the market in some sense. Anyone can get into real estate, it’s easy to become “legal,” but it’s another issue to be successful and not endlessly grinding.

      • Anon

        How do you do that though? I feel like every job has grinding potential. And yet some people either get lucky or figure it out. I know a guy who is a go-fer for a RE agent and without him, she would be a hot mess. But she brings in the business and keeps a roof over both of their heads. He fixes things and schedules contractors and helps stage (and carries out dead mice and roaches . . .).

        • anon

          IMO/E, you need to find a great broker with solid high-performing teams and find someone on one of those teams to mentor you and take you on as a buyer’s agent. Now that sucks in this market, because inventory is really low, but you are unlikely to land good listings as a seller’s agent unless you have proven experience and that usually comes through being part of a really visible and high-performing team or, alternatively, as being THE expert for a particular neighborhood (if you want to go it as a solo agent just under a broker). You have to cold call and work all the leads and network like crazy through your own connections. It’s really no different than building a book of business in any other industry that is heavy BD.

        • anon

          To add, lots of agents are hot messes but just because they manage to make money doesn’t mean they are good ones. You can get away with being crap at your job in a lot of different ways for many different reasons. In RE, you can work with first time buyers and sellers who don’t know what a good agent does or should do, you can rely on family and friends of family who are stuck with your for cultural reasons, you can manage to land mostly people who don’t understand they can fire you at any time or who feel they are too deep in the process to do so or are afraid to do so bc this market is wild in a lot of places and they don’t want to lose out in a house, you can not actually need the money to really live so skate by doing the bare minimum. Again, like in any industry, even people who are bad at their jobs find ways to make a living.

    • anon for this

      Almost every question you posed will vary depending upon the state in which you live. In my state, you must work under a brokerage for at least 3 years before you could be on your own. Figure out which brokers are the most popular in your city/state and they likely will have “open house” type presentations for becoming a realtor. Think about getting licensed and being part of an established team – having good mentoring in the ins and outs of real estate is critical – there’s too much to know and do to make it a DIY endeavor; even your best friends and relatives are not likely to use you when you don’t have much experience. The learning curve is steep, competition is fierce, and be prepared to work really, really hard for not a lot of money (to start).

      • Senior Attorney

        Also be prepared to work nights, weekends, and holidays, which is when your clients are going to be available to look at houses. I know somebody who is a successful realtor and she works STUPIDLY hard pretty much 24/7 not only with actual deals, but with never-ending networking and marketing.

        • anon

          Anon from above and this is one of the reasons I quit and went back to lawyering. I was good at it but frankly, I didn’t want to work that hard, I wanted control over my own schedule (normal business hours), and I wanted a steady and predictable income.

          • Anon

            I know someone who is quitting teaching and getting a real-estate license and I think that this is not the way to job happiness (just different drama and goodbye to schedule control).

  7. Anonymous

    Just a musing from a private practice attorney…My April billings are so low, it’s wild. I was out for a full week at a conference and didn’t do anything but emergencies and frankly, it shows. I am a little relieved because Q1 was madness, but still!

  8. Anonymous

    my lipliner doesn’t seem to keep my lipstick in place anymore – is this a sign i need new lipliner or maybe should use concealer around my lip or something? i’m 48 if that matters.

  9. Anon

    Buy the system if you can afford it, don’t lease it. Energy storage doesn’t make sense unless you are in CA and qualify for the grants available from the state. Financially, it should make sense if you use AC in summer and have an EV.

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