ByKat Hours Updated
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Coffee Break: Power Pumps

Weitzman PowerThese 3.5″ heels from Stuart Weitzman look great — simple, classic shape, with a pointed toe (trendy) but not SO pointed that they'll be out when almond toes come back into vogue. These beige “adobe” heels (pictured) are $355 at Zappos; they also come in black patent; Stuart Weitzman has a few more colors in stock at their website as well. Stuart Weitzman Power These shoes are similar and only $88. (L-4)

Sales of note for 12.5

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

Some of our latest threadjacks include:

125 Comments

  1. What are some of your favorite things to see and do in Vegas? DH and I are going for our second time in June. Last time we enjoyed drinks at stratosphere lounge with the amazing view, Hoover Dam tour, dinner at Mon Ami Gabi outdoor seating where you can see the Bellagio fountains. Planning Red Rock Canyon visit and Neon museum visit this time, maybe visit downtown. Looking for fun but laid back ideas.

    1. Yay! I was there with Mom and Dad a few year’s ago and went to Grand Canyon and Zion National Park. It is not that far and there are great tour’s you can go on and will NOT have to drive to the Grand Canyon. Myrna want’s to go with me on vacation this year and she mentioned VEGAS. I am onley afreaid that the sleazey men will start hitting on Myrna and then invite BOTH of us back to their room. I do NOT want to do that with any man just b/c he has money for women b/c you never know where those guy’s winkies’ have been!

    3. Valley of Fire State Park is not too far and is seriously gorgeous (up there with some national parks I’ve been to). Absolutely beautiful red rocks and arches. Death Valley isn’t a bad drive either if you haven’t been.
      I’ve never been much of a fan of Vegas downtown, though I’ve heard it’s gotten a lot better in recent years. Last time I visited was in 2008 or so with a group of female friends and we were all a little sketched out (mainly by the bus we took to get there, but still).
      Food-wise, Picasso is $$$$ but absolutely amazing. Also in the $$$$ category, I’ve heard great things about Joel Robuchon & Mix and we have them both on the list for our next visit.
      Much cheaper, we loved Parma (off-strip) & Earl of Sandwich is good too. And we really like Mon Ami Gabi, but you’ve done that already. Jean Phillippe has great desserts.
      A hotel buffet is always a fun experience, though the quality of the food is not superb. Of the higher end buffets, I like Wicked Spoon (Cosmo) and the Wynn buffet. A lot of people also rank the Bellagio buffet highly, but I wasn’t very impressed.
      And my favorite thing to do in Vegas is definitely just lounge by the pool :)

      1. This was years ago (2004?), but I’d just like to plug Picasso again. I can still remember the venison bite that came this close to bringing me to tears. It was wonderful!

        For more laid back activities, we had a lot of fun just hanging out at the casinos playing nickle slots. You can’t really lose a substantial amount of money, you get real coins when you win ($2.00 feels like a lot when it’s in nickles), and they bring you drinks. We also saw the Blue Man Group, which was something like our 3rd choice, but wound up being a lot of fun.

    4. Lotus of Siam is a pretty awesome Thai restaurant located in a random shopping center off of The Strip. We took a cab there and back. It was some of the best Thai food I’ve ever had.

      1. +1 on Lotus of Siam. And Raku for off-strip Japanese. Some of the best Japanese I have ever had, and I’ve been to Japan (Japan was better, but not by much). You must order the housemade Raku’s Tofu appetizer. You may think I’m crazy. Even if you don’t love tofu, get it anyway – it’s $5.50 for a whole order and you are going to fight over it once you taste it.

    5. I go to Vegas every couple of months. The two places mentioned by SFBA are amazing, esp. Raku. Make a reservation for sure. The first time I went without a booking, we lucked into two seats at the bar but could only have them for an hour fifteen. On the strip for sushi I like Sushi Roku (not to be confusing!) at the Caesars Forum Shops. Ask for a table by the window with a view of the strip. For fine dining, the two best restaurants in the city are probably Joel Robuchan at MGM and Guy Savoy at Caesars. In fact, they are considered to be two of the best restaurants in the country with the price tags to match (hold on to your hat). I also like Craft at MGM and Buchon at the Venetian and the Mexican restaurant at Aria (drawing blank on the name). The Chandelier Bar at the Cosmopolitan is great. The Peppermill (between the strip and downtown) is an old school lounge. Think Frank Sinatra. Not hip but an institution.

      As for things to do, I could talk to you about poker rooms, but activities, well, not so much. The shark experience aquarium at Mandalay Bay is fun, and they have a great pool. Any one of the Cirque shows is guaranteed to be amazing. I’ve seen three and like them all. Also, and don’t fall down, the Donny & Marie show at the Flamingo is supposed to be really good, but I have no personal experience with it. I have a friend who really like the concerts by the pool at the Cosmopolitan.

      Have a great trip!

  2. Yay! Coffee Break! I love coffee break and these 3 1/2″ closed toe pump’s! Great pick, Kat! I wish I had a 95% clotheing allowance b/c $355 is NOT in-expensive for a pair of pump’s, even Stuart Weisman’s pump’s. I wonder why some pump’s are $355 and others are $95? I guess peeople will pay the goeing rate for pump’s, but they had better stay away from POOPIE with these pump’s!

    Anyway, I did text Noah and he said that he was “seeing” someone now so I cannot date him. FOOEY! I wish the EBOLA thing had NOT happened b/c there are NOT alot of doctor’s (real doctor’s that is) that find me both attractive AND charming. FOOEY! Noah would have made a great husband for me. Whoever he is seeing has a great guy. I guess I will have to find another guy to date and mate with. DOUBEL FOOEY! b/c most guy’s are not interested in getting to know me for all of my positive atribute’s. Noah did NOT think with his winkie and never even hinted that we should have sex. There was a guy today at lunch who was workeing at the counter and he made disguesting clicking sound’s with his tongue as he took my order. What is that all about? Do men think we get excited watching them rolling there tongue’s in and out of their mouth’s makeing noises? I think their winkie’s must not be any bigger then their tongue’s. TRIPEL FOOEY on mini-winkie’s like that guy MUST have had. I will never find out (or want to find out). YAY!!!!

  3. FYI, 6pm has these in black and blush patent with a stacked heel for $100 and $167, respectively. Also in bronze, pistachio, and black & navy print. Not to mention a bunch of other SWs on major markdown. Personally, I like the “Pinot” pumps better because I find the 3 inch heel much more comfortable for all day wear.

  4. Another design question (thanks for your responses about hardwood floors!) We have a red brick gas fireplace in the living room, and I definitely want to get rid of the red brick. Currently trying to decide if I want to do a more natural colored stone (maybe floor to ceiling?) or if I want to do tile. Both seem pretty trendy currently. Any idea about which is more likely to stick around or which would be more classic?

    1. If you want it gone while you decide, consider painting it – I painted my ugly brick fireplace white (like the rest of the trim) & it just blends in. Decided not to do anything with it after that because I like the way it looks painted. And bonus – it was really cheap compared to other options.

      1. Thanks, my contractor suggested that too. But we’re actually not moving in for another 4 months, so I wanted to just figure out exactly what I want and get it done that way now (and removing the brick altogether, while much more expensive than just painting, isn’t a big expense in the grand scheme of our remodel).

      2. I also painted my brick fireplace white and I love it. I had a friend who painted his grey, and it looked good too. I like the look of painted brick, especially when it’s painted white, but would be hesitant to paint a full wall of exposed brick, so painting the fireplace was the perfect way to get painted brick in my house (I don’t have an exposed brick wall in my current house, but have in the past).

        I think either stone or tile would look great, and depending on the exact style you choose could look either classic or dated down the road. In this situation, I would just pick whatever you like best. If you like both, let cost be the deciding factor.

    2. I’d go with stone. Stone is pretty timeless while I could see tile becoming dated fast. I actually was thinking of replacing our tile with stone. Ours is just around the edge of the gas fireplace though.

      1. eh…If brick can be dated, so can stone. I’m specifically thinking 90s era thin, rough cut stone…

    3. I say go with what you like. There is no such thing as “timeless.” I’m sure the people who put in the red brick thought it was going to be “timeless” just like all the people who are doing tile or stone these days. If you want it to have staying power, try to make sure whatever you pick is reasonably consistent with the style and age of the house. I painted my red brick fireplace surround black and painted the wood mantel white for just that reason.

      1. I’d argue red brick is timeless too. It is traditional fireplace and doesn’t look dated or out of place to me. Maybe I’m just dated and out of place. :)

        1. I think red brick can be really pretty but ours is…not. Also, we have a very open floor plan so the kitchen and living room are basically one large room, and the red does not go with our kitchen color scheme at all.

          1. I think home decor is like fashion: Certain categories of items may be timeless but particular examples within those categories may or may not be desirable at any given time. E.g. navy blazers are classic, but any given navy blazer may or may not look current due to things like lapel width, length, shoulder pads or not, etc. Similarly, at a given time decorators and homeowners might favor distressed red brick, or brand new dark red brick, or big bricks, or whatever.

            And again, if the style of the bricks is in keeping with the style of the rest of the house it’s going to look a lot better than, say, 1990s red brick added to a 1930s home.

  5. Probably a silly wedding vent but… DH and I are attending the wedding of a not super close friend of mine. We have to travel 10 hours roundtrip to attend, which we were generally OK with.

    I just received the invitation. The invitation is what I would consider to be informal – one envelope, colorful, no separate reception card. The venue is a not-fancy hotel banquet hall. The invitation states that the dress code is black tie optional. I asked the bride if she expects that men will wear tuxes and she said she doesn’t know. I told DH he would probably be fine without a tux, but he’s nervous; he doesn’t want to be the only man without a tux, but he also doesn’t want to be the only person in a tux because he would feel “like a tool” in his words. He doesn’t own a tux so we would have to rent one on top of paying for lengthy travel, hotel, and taking time off work. I don’t really know what to do for DH and I’m annoyed that a bride would set a confusing dress code without knowing what she actually wants!

    1. wow. That’s even more annoying than made up dress codes like “resort formal” or whatever. And I didn’t think it was possible to be more annoying than that!

    2. To solve the practical question for your DH, why not just plan on him wearing a black suit with a black regular tie? It’s close enough to a tux (especially for the wedding of a not-super-close friend) to not draw attention, but doesn’t run the risk of looking “tool-like” if, in fact, no one else is in a tux.

      1. That’s what I told him, but apparently he mentioned it to his mother and his mother is insisting that he must wear a tux unless specifically authorized otherwise by the bride. Sigh.

        1. This really is the best solution. He definitely won’t look out of place. Tell him to ignore his mother on this one.

          I really hope I’m not annoying my guests with our lack of “dress code.” We are having a casual backyard wedding so it really is wear whatever you want. I said I’d prefer people don’t wear things like cutoff jeans and that the groom will be wearing a suit with no tie, his dad is probably wearing slacks and a sport coat, my dad is planning to wear a suit with no tie, and the women in my family are wearing sundresses. I’m guessing all the guys will take their jackets off at some point. But ultimately, I really don’t care how casual or dressy people are. I want everyone to wear whatever they feel comfortable in.

          The only thing I specified was that it will be on grass so flats or wedges are advised.

          1. I was recently invited to a “come as you are” wedding and we seriously considered PJs.

            I feel like most people, if they’re unclear on what to wear, will call and ask. And you can tell them slacks, sundresses, etc.

          2. It didn’t even occur to me to specify a dress code. The wedding is not formal and we have a small guest list. I’m wearing a knee-length dress and my fiancé is wearing a suit, and most of our guests already knew that. Somebody did contact me to ask about dress code after the invitations went out. So that was an oversight on my part.

          3. I didn’t include it on the invitations. We put it up on our website and the only people that have asked what to wear are our parents. Probably an oversight.

            I’m wearing flip flops under my dress!

        2. Bride said black-tie optional, which means the tux is optional. His mother doesn’t have to go to the wedding. He’ll be fine in a suit.

        3. To get around this:
          Was your conversation with the bride via email or text? Send her a message that says “ok, thanks. SO will be wearing a suit then, unless you specifically want all men in tuxes”. Chances are she’ll either text back “OK” or not respond at all, and now you have “specific authorization from the bride”
          If she goes all bridezilla and says “NO! All men should wear tuxes!” well then, you have your answer that way too.

    3. Black tie optional is a pretty standard dress code. Men can wear a tux if they have one. Otherwise a dark suit. IME, he won’t be out of place in either.

      1. I agree. It specifically says “optional,” you should take that to heart. I’d be really surprised if anyone wears a tux that isn’t in the wedding party, unless they happen to own one already (which I don’t get the impression many men do).

    4. Wear a suit. From your description, I’d guess nobody will be in a tux, except maybe the groom and groomsmen and dads, but I wouldn’t even count on that. There is close to 0% chance that your DH will be the only man not in a tux.

      1. +1

        Totally agree.

        We actually avoid tux with a dress code like this, or you may be mistaken for the wedding party.

    5. Black tie optional = mostly only the groom/groomsmen wear tuxes, in my experience. Maybe the bride doesn’t know what the guests will wear, in that she doesn’t know which option they’ll choose because the wedding hasn’t happened yet. I think it’s a pretty standard dress code. Your husband can wear either a suit or a tux, it doesn’t matter.

    6. Just do a suit- there is really no such thing as black tie optional. You can always “option” to wear a tux to a night time event, you just might be overdressed. Black tie optional means you still might be overdressed. Trust me- do a suit. Black tie optional is for people who want the look of a formal black tie affair without shelling out for one.

      1. the confusing part is the bride not knowing what she wants people to wear.

    8. Black tie optional means it is really ok for him to choose whether to wear a tux or not. Nowadays people are so casual this basically means almost no man will choose to wear a tux. The groomsmen may wear them, as other commenters have mentioned, but he should just plan to wear a nice suit he already has and be done with it. His mom is just wrong.

    9. I vote suit. We went to a wedding last year that was black-tie optional, but it was obvious from the venue, the time, and the invitation that this was a fancy affair. DH wore a tux and was not the only one, although I would say the majority of men were in suits. If I had a relatively informal invite and the bride wasn’t sure about the tux, I would tell DH not to wear a tux (and he is a man who owns his own and loves any excuse to bust it out).

    10. I don’t think this is a confusing dress code. Suits are fine.

      P.S. it sounds like you’re annoyed about going to the wedding altogether. if that’s the case and it’s for a not close friend, just skip it!

    11. Suit. I’m pretty sure the only guys that wear tuxes to black tie optional events are those who already own a tux.

    12. I went to a black tie wedding once (NJ). The only people in tuxes were the wedding party.

    13. FWIW, we had a black tie optional wedding and really did not care what people wore. That’s why its “optional.” You’ve been waiting for an opportunity to wear the tux that normally just hangs out in your closet? Great, go for it. You don’t have a tux? All good too. You do have a tux but would rather skip it, fine by me!

      I’d take the bride at her word that it does not matter, and just wear what you want. No need to rent a tux.

  6. I don’t think he’d be out of place in a dark suit. Because odds are if it’s unclear to y’all it will be unclear to other guests, and it’s unlikely all of the men will interpret it as “tux required”.

    1. Yes – I’m pretty sure most men would interpret “optional” as “no need for a tux” and he won’t be the only one in a dark suit.
      Do you have any other friends that are going? Can you confirm with at least one of them that they (or their SO) will also be going the dark suit route, so at least then they can be “the 2 tools not wearing tuxes” together if for some reason other people interpret this as tux required?

  7. Kat, an ad for a previous post pops up in the middle of the comments on the mobile theme. I know you’re working out kinks and I wanted to highlight it.

    Also, it looks like there still isn’t a way to turn off the mobile theme, which honestly is what I’d really like to do.

      1. I know, sorry about that guys. I’m turning it off as soon as I’m back at a computer. I’ve been playing around with another theme for CorporetteMoms – the comments look a lot better to me on that, as does the mobile homepage.

  8. My assistant is primary caregiver for a close family member with a terminal illness. It’s been a long journey for her, and is getting increasingly difficult as her family member’s health declines.

    She’s very independent and tends to shut others out from sharing in her struggles/responsibilities. When her friends (FWIW, we are close in age, spend time together outside of work, and I consider her a good friend) ask how we can help, she says there’s nothing we can do.

    We don’t want to interfere or get in the way, especially unasked. But we would like her to know that we’re here if she needs us, and we want her to realize that we can/want to be her support network (her family isn’t a great source of support). Ideas for how we do this? Maybe a small gift (card, flower) on a regular basis? Or something we can do (small, meaningful acts of kindness)?

    1. Is she still coming to work? Pick up enough lunch for both of you, with enough leftovers so she can take it home for supper or have enough for the next day’s lunch.
      Offer to run errands for her – for instance, if you work in a formal environment, you could offer to drop off/pick up her dry cleaning when you do yours.
      Is she having extra family at her place, or is she staying at a family member’s house? One of my friends told me the most thoughtful thing one of her neighbors did was drop off regular deliveries of paper towels, paper plates, toilet paper and plastic cups.

      Does she have other responsibilities you could offer to help out with, like walking her dog or taking kids to play at the park?

      1. +1. Our family is going through something similar now, and while I really appreciate everyone’s offers of help, I have a hard time asking for help and honestly feel so overwhelmed sometimes that I don’t even know where to start. If someone just dropped dinner off, brought a movie for my kids, etc. it would be a great help. I also really appreciate receiving thoughtful cards from people and have appreciated the gift cards some people have included (some for restaurants, some VISA cards intended to help with travel expenses.)

      2. Thank you both! She lives alone (with a cat), no kids – and fortunately no extra family members staying at her place as everyone is local. We do work in a formal environment so I’ll check on the dry cleaning suggestion – thanks! I’d love to help her with meals but don’t want to be pushy, so a gift card may be the way to go here…thanks again.

        1. Honestly, just giving her space to take care of things would go the longest. I think I’m the resident spousal caregiver on this site, and having my boss’ OK to have a little flexibility with my schedule is what I need most.

    2. Try making specific offers where she can choose one of the options: “I’d love to bring you and your family dinner or run some errands for you” or “I’m going shopping and then to Starbucks, would you like me to bring you a beverage or pick something up at the store?” Etc etc. if you know her well enough that she might want in person support try giving her a social option that’s easy: a good one is “if you want company text me and I’ll bring over dessert and we can have a short visit, or if you’d like me to spell you for a bit I can do that while you rest”. She can also choose none of the above, but in my experience you usually know your friends well enough to predict a few things that might help. It’s lovely of you to think of helping, I know from experience it makes a difference.

    3. Offer food. Either a gift card to a prepared food source or a gift certificate to her favorite take out place, or bring her a lasagna.

      Offers to help in a general way often don’t work in these scenarios. Often the needs are too complicated, and the support/venting is less helpful if you haven’t been through it. And also, she may want to keep work/private life boundaries, so leave her that. She should be venting to friends/family, not co-workers…

      But food can be wonderful. Another option is a gift certificate for a service to come clean her apartment a couple times. An Amazon gift card to buy a year of Amazon prime….

      Thank you so much for trying to support her.

  9. Following up on the conversation earlier in the week about how to get rid of old clothes and things, I just received an email that on Saturday Uber will be picking up Goodwill donations. It’s free and it’s available in lots of cities.

    1. I saw that too. A problem in my neighborhood is that Goodwill gets to full to accept donations. I am not sure how they will manage this, so I am going to send things in early, just in case.

  10. Hi all, I’ve been reading a lot of fluff lately, and I’m looking for some more substantial additions to my reading list. What are some books that you’ve read that really inspired you, changed your perspective on life, caused you to re-evaluate your priorities, etc.? I’m open to fiction, non-fiction, memoirs, pretty much anything (as long as it’s not too scientific or technical!). TIA :)

      1. +1. I just finished Being Mortal by Atul Gawande and I cannot stop thinking about it. It’s substantial, but he did a great job at making it not depressing or emotional.

        1. Okay, so I didn’t actually like that book that much. It got better later on, but the first half about nursing homes kind of dragged on. Anyone else think that?

          1. I liked it too — found the development of nursing homes, care, etc pretty interesting. Although I think his other books (about medical school and the checklist manifesto) were better.

          2. I loved Complications. I thought the next book, “Better,” was good, but not better than Complications, despite the name. Checklist Manifesto was good, but read more like a business book than one about science. Haven’t read Being Mortal yet, but I will. His New Yorker articles are amazing, especially, “On Dying.”

    2. The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle, Mastery by Robert Greene, and Mindset by Carol Dweck all made an impact on my life.

      Fiction-wise, The Circle by Dave Eggers will mess with your head about everything you do online and then the nonfiction book Future Crimes takes it to another level. I’m only halfway through Future Crimes though so I’m not sure how impactful it will ultimately be.

      1. I will co-sign The Circle–I could hardly put it down!
        Also loved The Places In Between by Rory Stewart, Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, and A Walk Across America by Peter Jenkins.

    3. Books that are thought-provoking and made a strong impression on me:

      Non-fiction:
      Collapse by Jared Diamond
      Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond

      Novels:
      I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
      The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
      The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
      The Women’s Room by Marilyn French
      Pudd’nhead Wilson by Mark Twain

      Plays:
      Angels in America by Tony Kushner
      The Crucible by Arthur Miller

    5. Fiction:
      Department of Speculation by Jenny Offill (it’s a quick read but gorgeously written)
      The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
      Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

      Nonfiction:
      All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenthood by Jennifer Senior
      Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen

    6. No Man’s Land, Eula Biss
      Flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
      The Unspeakable, Meghan Daum
      The Elena Ferrante novels
      Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant, Roz Chast
      This Is The Story of a Happy Marriage, Ann Patchett
      Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi
      Bad Feminist, Roxane Gay
      Random Family, Adriane Nicole LeBlanc

    7. Fiction: everything by Louise Erdrich. Native American author who writes beautiful novels that have changed my life.
      The God of Small Things: Arundhati Roy
      Their Eyes Were Watching God; Zora Neale Hurston

      Memoir/bio: The Good Women of China; Short bios of many different women in China, incredible to see what a diversity of lives there are in what we think of as one country.
      Forbidden Lessons in a Kabul Guesthouse. Just amazing.
      Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston by Valerie Boyd. Beautifully written biography, and Hurston’s life was absolutely amazing, I had no idea.

      1. Just finished Billy Bathgate by EL Doctorow, which I had downloaded but avoided reading for a long time, but I really enjoyed it — a young boy’s point of view on NYC gangster.
        I’m now reading the Mostly True Diary of a Part Time Indian (or something like that) and liking that as well.

        Loved Flow, Mindset and anything by Po Bronson.

    9. I just finished Meadowland by John Lewis-Stempel, which is one year in the life of an English hay meadow. It was wonderful in helping me remember how much I love “ordinary” nature – the natural world that’s all around us, which is easy to ignore (as opposed to “big” nature, like the national parks, which are splashier but also further from our daily lives).

  11. Name one thing that drives you crazy about your city.

    I’ll go first: atrocious public transit and the accompanying car focused organization of my city

      1. This. We’re leaving our city, because even with a combined income over $250K, we can basically never own property, or we would spend our lives commuting. (SF Bay)

        1. I suspect we’ll end up at that point a few years from now, particularly when we’re facing bad public elementary schools versus $27k/year tuition for kindergarten just to stay in our $1m shoebox-sized townhouse.

      2. Ditto. We’ve just given up on buying until we leave NYC at least 10 years (probably closer to 20) from now.

      3. Ugh, ditto. And having the highest-ridership rails in the country, but one thunderstorm or day that isn’t 70 and sunny will send the entire system into chaos.

    2. Ah, a fellow Angeleno!

      +1 to the OP

      ETA and +1 to AIMS, now that you mention it…

      1. Or she could be a Houstonian. The one thing that helps Houston is that there are a lot of options to live close in and not face any traffic (because of Allen Pkwy and Memorial – good non-freeway, but still no traffic light, roads) but, of course, those aren’t always the cheapest options. The thing that bugs me about Houston most (since I’m one of the lucky ones who doesn’t face traffic) is the humidity and the accompanying mosquitos.

        1. Or Atlanta… at least we still have affordable in-town housing. More or less. Mitigates it somewhat.

    4. So much road construction that you have to strategize about how to get anywhere and side streets are in such horrible condition, you could lose your car in a pothole.

    5. The freakin’ college football team. Or rather, it’s obsessive fans. Those people are nuts.

      1. Aw, and see, the college football team is one of my favorite things about the city I grew up in. But I guess I’m one of those obsessive fans.

        1. Haha me too! Although my BFF’s family did have to sell their house that was right near the stadium because drunk fans were getting rowdy and defacing their yard. When we bought a house in a (different) college town, I definitely wanted to know proximity to the stadium for each house we looked at.

    6. The cultural expectation that women should want to have lots of kids and then do whatever they can to stay home with them.

      2. I’m torn between this and weather that eliminates outdoor activity as an option from May to early October (and yet none of the other women seem to sweat or have issues with their hair and makeup looking perfect–they must want the SAHM life more than I do and it comes out their pores).

    7. The Seattle Process. In which issues and decisions are talked and talked and talked to death in an attempt to reach consensus before voting, and voting, and voting again and then never doing the thing voters elected officials to do.

      1. LOL, that’s how it works in my hometown, too! So annoying! There was literally a mult-year debate over the removal of a tree.

        But then I moved and got frustrated with the opposite. Why is no one talking about this major thing that’s happening??? haha, no happy medium.

        1. Honestly, I miss that about living in Oregon. I’m shocked whenever tree removal isn’t a big deal.

    8. Transplants intentionally trying to be a Portlandia character and lecturing natives on how to Keep Portland Weird.

      And the public school disparities.

      1. Oh goodness, is that true about the transplants? That would really bug me.

    9. The tourists. Not the visitors, the tourists. The “I’m wearing cowboy boots, cutoff jeans and a cowboy hat for three days straight, don’t know how to park in a parking garage and consider Sbarro fine dining” tourists.

      1. But it’s Michael Scott’s favorite New York pizza restaurant!

        (Does Sbarro even still exist? Or did they just go bankrupt and are still hanging around? I haven’t been to a mall food court in a while)

        1. (There’s still a Sbarro in the student union food court at a college near me.)

    10. unpredictable and disorganized public transit, and insane traffic/drivers, and it takes So.Long. to get anywhere. But that is the only thing. I LOVE everything else, love love love it.

    11. Lack of corporate headquarters, which means lack of diverse job opportunities, lack of investment into the city, and lack of fun things to do sponsored by corps.

    12. Having to work so much to afford a comfortable life here. Close second/third: too much concrete; frustrating dating scene. But there are a billion positives, so, here I stay (for now).

    13. I completely agree with the original poster, wonder if we are in the same city. I hate that thee is no public transit in Tampa, and the it is so spread out there is pretty much no way to not have a car. Add the heat 6 mos out of the year, and biking doesnt work even for short distances.

    14. No seasons, just hot weather throughout. Or rainy weather. Apart from that, perfect!

    15. I think public transportation is an issue a lot of places – Pittsburgh is workable, but only if you really work for it. On the other hand, there’s usually something fun (and cheap) happening here every weekend, so there’s really no reason to be bored on the weekends :-)

  12. Pro: The font is nice and overall looks modern.
    Con: Too many ads between the comments and I miss the collapse feature. Plus all the posts are jammed one right behind the other so it’s very difficult to see where the post&comments end.

    1. – Second re: weird spacing of comments

      – must ads be interspersed with comments?

      – it would be nice to see a comment count while the post is still collapsed

  13. Off-topic: what apps are there to help me keep track of items, so I can see when they’re on sale?

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