ByKat Hours Updated
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Coffee Break – Sunny Flamenco Round Bag

Stuart Weitzman - Sunny Flamenco Round (Blue) - Bags and LuggageZappos has a ton of cute Stuart Weitzman bags and shoes on sale, including this lovely blue bag. Now I'll admit, I have a mild obsession with blue bags — I once had to put a moratorium on buying them because I had 3 different blue bags — but that's only because they're surprisingly versatile. I'd wear this with everything from an interview suit to jeans and a black t-shirt. Love the large tassel detail on the pocket, as well as the fact that it fits nicely under your arms but is still roomy enough for a small book or even an iPad. It was $595, currently marked to $327.25. Stuart Weitzman – Sunny Flamenco Round (Blue) – Bags and Luggage (L-3)

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:

38 Comments

    2. It’s been a while since I’ve really liked much at Banana, but I’m all for the tie-neck blouse, lace shell, and the lace-tipped dress (from which I would remove the lace).

      I have been a bit too much on a shopping kick lately, though, so I’m waiting for the sale.

      1. Agreed. And to my eye, the lace on that dress looks like a slip showing. Maybe it makes more sense in real life?

    4. I think it’s unintentionally sad-funny.

      A season (or two? or three?) ago, Peggy adeptly deconstructed the ridiculous “Every Woman is a Jackie or a Marilyn” campaign. Last week, I got a photo mailer this week that, apparently without irony, asks whether you’re a Betty or a Joan or a Don etc. It seems like nobody at BR’s ad agency ever watches Mad Men.

      (The clothes could be worse, though.)

  2. Ladies – any recommendations for good corporate/M&A lawyers in Iowa?

    Thanks in advance.

    1. My firm keeps a list of US firms that we like to work with/refer our clients to for US work. I’m out of the office all week for CPLED, but I can check on Monday to see if there are any in Iowa if you’re still looking by then.

    3. Thanks, ladies. ED – thanks so much for the offer but I need to get on this today! Other side of the deal is closer to Sioux City than Des Moines but we will look at Zumbach….

  3. I could use some advice. I was recently assigned a task by a senior coworker for which I did not have the correct training or experience. Basically, it was a task where if nothing went wrong, it’d be fine, but if something did I’d quickly be out of my depth with no backup. Luckily, it went mostly smoothly, but I realised how easily it could have gone badly and that it may have negatively affected my standing with my professional organization and the reputation of the company.

    I’m annoyed at myself for letting my protests be overruled but I’m also annoyed that I was put in this position and worried that the next time a similar task comes up they’ll assume they can assign it to me. I’d like to head that off by letting my section head and the senior coworker who assigned me the task know that I am going to insist on being provided with the required training before I do anything similar. Unfortunately, every time I try and work out how to word that, I just sound a bit whiny. How do I tell senior people that the situation should not have happened and shouldn’t happen again without sounding petulant?

    1. I have the same issue. I recently lateralled and my firm has me handling things I haven’t done before and am not really competent in. They know this. They are sending me for CLE’s but in the meantime it is sink or swim. I am very cautious so I over research everything and ask other attorneys who practice that kind of law but it just scares me that they are like “eh, just handle it, it will be fine.” I feel like it is unfair to my clients at best and malpractice at worst. At that same time though, you only learn by doing and sometimes you just have to jump into the deep end.

      1. The malpractice is what I’m most worried about. My professional organization has fairly clear-cut rules about the training required for this, and I don’t have it and I’m worried that puts me in a bad position.

        1. It sounds like you need to separate the outcome you want and your feelings about being put in this position. I think the best way to get the outcome you want by telling them what you WILL do, not what you WON’T do.

          If you’re fairly sure you’re going to have to do something similar again, can you spin it so that it would be positive? ie “After working on project X I’d be excited to expand my scope to work in Y area more, and in order to get the proper certification I need to sign up for Z training, conveniently occurring in the very near future. (bonus: Can we get the ball rolling on my getting these courses reimbursed?)” As for the ‘don’t assign me these tasks until I’ve been trained’ aspect, if you have a specific training date in mind, you might be able to deflect to “I’d be happy to take that on after I have completed Z training.”

    2. When I came to my lawfirm, I knew nothing. But the manageing partner said do not worry and that he would take me under his wing. And ever since then, I have learned alot from him. After 3 years, I am now preparing my own witneses, and doing my own legal research on West Law.

      So you see it can be done. Good luck for you!

  4. I agree with your assessment of blue bags, Kat. I have a B Makowsky one in a very similar shade to the one you featured, and it truly does go with everything. I wonder if that’s because I think of denim as a neutral?

  5. Threadjack on kindles…

    Just got one a month ago. Wondering how folks carry them to/fro. Right now, got a fold over with tuck-in strap (to make an easel) from amazon…forget the brand name. They were out of the related fold in book light.

    The cover barely fits in my seatbeltbag horizontal purse. Just. So far, gone to appts. with it for reading in waiting rooms.

    Other thoughts?

    I got a matte skin for it as i worry about scratching, and dropping it. Seems likely if I just throw it in my purse “naked with skin.” Even worse if it gets tossed into the briefcase or traveling leather backpack (ages and continents ago from wilson leather … adore it).

    What say you kindle long-time readerettes?

    1. I keep mine in the Amazon cover (apple green) with the built-in light. I usually carry rather large bags, so it always fits in whatever purse that I’m carrying. I’m terrible on gadgets, but I’ve had my Kindle for a year now (!!! How did I ever live without it?) and haven’t had any problems.

    2. I keep mine in my beautiful purple patent cover, unless I am taking a bath, in which case I put it in a gallon ziploc bag so I can read in the tub while drinking a glass of Moscato. *heavenly* I’m afraid to take mine places without the cover because I would be lost without it. Between the Kindle app on my iPhone and the actual Kindle, I have it with me at all times.

          1. This! Great idea.
            I have the “leather” fold over cover – have had it for almost two years. Take it everywhere, and it fits in my purse. Always use the cover. No problems.
            Just FYI – I spilled an entire Americano on it one morning. It was COVERED in coffee and, needless to say, was not working correctly and I thought I had completely ruined it. I dried it off best I could and then gave it to my husband the engineer. He took out all the screws, took it completely apart, and dried it all out/cleaned it carefully then reassembled it. It has been fine ever since. They are resiliant (at least mine is)!

    3. I had the same one you describe but found it to be too bulky as well. I sewed my own case – it’s basically a flat pouch with a fold over flap. It has padding but is still thin. If you don’t sew (I’m guessing you don’t, since if you did the kindle would really just be an excuse to sew something :)) — look on etsy – there are tons of them, and you can probably find one in a pattern/color you like.

      I guess some people prefer to have a cover on at all times, while I hold mine “naked” while reading. I prefer it this way, but I’m the opposite of hard on my electronics – I’ve had an iphone for almost 3 years now without a case and it looks great (though a little smudgy right now).

      1. Oh Janie…I love the “naked” grip as well, but have been worried about transporting it. Off I go to Etsy. Pretty soon I’ll have spent as much on covers/cases/skins as the kindle itself! Thanks.

    4. I got the DvF print cover for my Kindle…it is so pretty that I don’t mind the extra bulkiness. Otherwise yes, I think you could get a sleeve, as others suggested, or just don’t worry about it getting scratches, as I’ve found that they don’t last forever anyway…

  6. I just spilled water all over myself. Of course I am wearing a white shirt today. Fabulous.

    2. Well? Did you win??

      :)

      I figure if I can’t do anything to help, at least I can try and make you laugh. I’m sure it isn’t nearly as bad as you think it is and will dry quickly.

  7. All, especially those in the Chicago / 7th Circuit area, can we please have a moment of virtual silence for Judge Terence T. Evans? What a great, sweet man, and such a spectacular jurist. I knew him only in passing, having worked at the court during his tenure, but I am really feeling a loss. I can’t imagine what his colleagues and family must be experiencing…RIP Judge Evans, you are a titan.

    1. I read his obituary and was really saddened. His recent toilet paper opinion was pure genius. I wish more judges wrote like that.

      1. That was a great opinion. Wikipedia lists some of his other gems. It’s sad to see such a witty writer go.

  8. I need help.

    I am an older former executive in my 1L summer as a clerk. I am an accomplished manager of hundreds of people and millions of dollars. I’m clerking for a tiny firm in a small town and it’s NOT going well. This clerkship is open until graduation and I need to extricate myself from it as soon as is polite.

    My primary professional trait is that I am a hard-charger; I am driven; I am aggressive. That’s how I attained the success I did. I couldn’t be more different from the people I’m working with. I’d say 7 out of 10 times I walk into the attorneys’ offices, they’re on Facebook or playing Solitaire or outside for a smoke break. I’ve never met a more laid back group of people in my life. I know from past experience that a casual, laid back office is a recipe for professional armageddon for me.

    We’ve got a huge case and all the clerks and secretaries are doing data entry. I have never seen such back asswards procedures and methods in my life. The data is on post-its and While You Were Outs and in 37 different Excel databases and in boxes in storage…it’s not even remotely organized in any fashion and the case is now 5 years old! I’ve watched us remake spreadsheets 4 and 5 times because the attorneys can’t decide what they want; I’ve suggested proven, logical methods for organizing data that have fallen on deaf ears; I’ve watched us royally screw up clients’ LIVES and have been so frustrated I wanted to walk out the door.

    I was called into the lead attorney’s office today and told, “you’re not here to think; you’re here to type.”

    I know some of you will say that as a 1L clerk it’s NOT my job to think, that it IS my job just to sit silently and enter data. But ya know, if they wanted that, they shouldn’t have hired a former executive. Hell, they shoulda hired a temp. I can’t sit by and watch people who’ve never done anything like this make a total mess of things (all while gouging the client for quadruple work).

    So I want out. It’s not a good fit for either of us – I’m too assertive (they mistakenly believe my frustration with their mess is “stress”) and they’re too laid-back (if four phone lines ring at once, the receptionist starts shrieking, literally, and looks like a trader on the NYSE floor about to have a heart attack). How do I end it gracefully? Do I say when school starts in a couple weeks that the schedule’s just too demanding? Do I stick around, biting my tongue til the semester ends in December?

    I have a stack of glowing evaluations from my past career, but I’m worried that this personality mismatch will be a dark spot on my resume. I’m especially worried because it turns out the founding partner of this firm is considered an ass in many circles AND he’s personally suing the judge I want to work for.

    1. May I ask how, given your background, you ended up clerking at a tiny firm in a small town? That will affect what advice I’d give you.

      I went from a job with an enormous amount of responsibility (meeting alone with the former president of a country) to a position in which I wasn’t allowed to send an external email without my supervisor reviewing it (really), and the adjustment was…rough. But how one should handle that depends on what, exactly, brought you there in the first place.

      1. This is where school is. For financial reasons (our rental properties do not rent for their mortgages and we’re only on one income), I needed to stay here this summer.

        I’m very interested in hearing your experience. I’ve only had this happen once before and I stayed around MUCH too long then.

        1. Alas, it didn’t go well – my supervisor found me incredibly threatening (ridiculous; she was an executive-level professional with years of experience, while I was still very young and eager to learn from her) and eventually moved on to straight-up bullying. The behavior escalated to the point that I made a formal complaint to HR, she was put into some kind of…employee-improvement program (for lack of a better term), and I hated every minute of it until the job was over. Fortunately, it was a temporary position.

          Your background is nontraditional, so I think it may be tough for you to find the right fit when you’re starting your legal career. I do think that you probably want to transition out of this position ASAP; it’s only going to frustrate you more and more as time goes on and it doesn’t sound like you’re building helpful relationships. And then I’d do whatever you can to make it financial possible for you not to remain in the same town next summer. I’d suggest looking for jobs that will welcome an entrepreneurial-type person; your life experience is going to make you more of a self-starter than most entry-level attorneys.

    2. Yikes, that situation sound like a recipe for disaster with little hope for improvement. I probably would not stay on under the circumstances; you’re wasting valuable time there that could be spent making contacts and gaining experience that will actually help you in the future.

      It reminds me a little of a position I had for about 8 months during law school, clerking in a (very) small office. They generally hired law students rather than secretaries, usually two at a time, part time. Some of the work was remotely interesting (research, drafting motions, etc.), a lot more was not, and the methods and the complete IT failures were maddening. I mostly took it because it paid, and worked there from my 1L summer until spring of my 2L, when I was desperate to extricate myself. I was lucky to have a graceful out: they couldn’t guarantee me full time hours (and therefore pay) for 2L summer, so it seemed reasonable, even excusable, when I interviewed and accepted a job elsewhere. My short stint there was never a resume problem, partly because I left on decent terms and helped them find a replacement, and partly because it was in trusts & estates — my career ambitions were in IP. Different circles.

      As far as advice on how to extricate yourself from this position? It sounds like they were planning on you working part time during the school year in addition to summers. Assuming so, it shouldn’t be that tough. 2L year is an easy time to suddenly develop totally reasonable conflicts and schedule stresses because your schedule and responsibilities tend to explode. I added a law journal and a for-credit externship as a fall 2L that was actually legitimately difficult to balance with also working at a law firm. There’s also moot court and plenty of other worthwhile activities that would give you an “out” (“I didn’t expect to have this opportunity fall into my lap, but I can’t turn it down”) as well as an opportunity to make new contacts in the legal industry who can be references later on.

      If they were expecting you to leave in September and come back next summer, that’s a little tougher, but they also have plenty of heads up to hire someone else. No harm, no foul.

      As far as concerns about a less than glowing reference… how close is what they do to what you want to do after you graduate? If your prior career is closer, you’ll probably be fine. If work in a firm is closer, then hopefully you can rock OCI and land a better fitting firm job for 2L summer. My school’s field placement/externship program was also huge for me — it gave me something else to talk about in fall interviews (besides the poor fit of a firm) that was positive/a good fit.

      Also, if the founding partner has a reputation as an ass in your area, it might actually inure to your benefit not to have been a great fit with them. Obviously you shouldn’t say anything negative about the firm in interviews, but raving about your experience there would probably not be viewed as a positive. Also, if people think he’s an ass and don’t respect his judgment, they won’t call him for a reference anyway — they won’t care what he thinks.

      Bottom line, I think the sooner you can move on and find something else that’s a better fit, the better off you’ll be.

  9. guess they thought better of it; the blue bag is actually up to $435 on Zappos now!

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