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Coffee Break: Completely Organized Bag

sonia kashuk organized bagThe designs on this bag may or may not be to your liking, but several readers called out this $16 cosmetic bag as being crucial to their organizational system within larger tote bags for work. Nice! There are several bag organizers on the market — do you guys have any favorites? I tend to use pouches to move from bag to bag as well. The pictured one is $15.99 at Target, but note that you can find several others (for closer to $30) at Amazon. Sonia Kashuk® Knock Out Beauty Completely Organized Bag (L-all)

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:

134 Comments

  1. Does anyone know of a meal delivery service in DC that does pre-cooked meals? I want to start eating healthier and am willing to throw money at it, but don’t have the time or desire to spend 30 min or more cooking everyday.

    1. I recently tried Munchery and like it. Various options, very easy, tasty, reasonably inexpensive. I believe it delivers in DC.

      1. +1 Munchery is really good. Used them for years in the Bay Area. I believe its about the same price as Blue Apron, but there’s no cooking involved, so Blue Apron and that ilk seem like a total rip-off to me. About the only downside of Munchery is that the menu is fairly limited so it did get repetitive.

        1. In fairness to Blue Apron (I’m also not a fan), I think it’s intended to teach you how to cook/for those who want to do their own cooking. But agree – munchery is much better if your goal is to save time but eat reasonably healthfully without spending a ton of money.

      2. Thank you for posting!! I’m looking at it now and it looks perfect. I like Blue Apron but now that I have an 11 month old I’m finding it hard to find time to do even that.

      1. Ugh but do you do Power Supply? I think they have a great concept but the food is kind of bland. Within a week or two I’m ready to scream.

  2. Sorry for the threadjack, but my google skills are failing me. There is a post somewhere on corporette about announcing your pregnancy (I think in particular as a lawyer, but I might be wrong about that).

    I’ve hit 18 weeks in BigLaw, and fear the time is coming… I checked the moms sub-site as well, but I think this post came out before it existed. Does anyone else remember this?

    1. Also curious about this, so can we just re-discuss?

      I told the partner I work directly for but have not officially come out to anyone else. It mostly came out because he couldn’t believe I wasn’t drinking as we celebrated a big win (unusual for me). I’m only 10 weeks, so it was definitely early. No idea when I’ll tell the rest of my firm, but think I’ve got lots of time.

      1. preg – the post was in 2012, for the record, but it wasn’t as thorough as I remember.

        Are you in litigation or transactional work?

        I had a relatively easy first trimester (I think). I wasn’t throwing up at all, but I was passing out at my desk sitting upright and sleeping on the floor basically every day. I’m still tired, but I”m mostly just starting to show a little bit. I’m only five lbs up, but they’re pretty concentrated.

        It seems like 14-16 weeks is a common time in biglaw. A colleague warned me against waiting too long and letting other folks take over the narrative via gossip.

        1. ” waiting too long and letting other folks take over the narrative via gossip.”

          I did that. Was applying for an internal position, thought the pregnancy would count against me. Instead, my childish attitude probably counted against me. After the dust cleared after that hire was made, my would-be boss gave me her old breast pump. I think when you should tell depends on what your body is doing and how big the bump is.

      2. My boss is great and I wanted us to have plenty of time because I am the most senior associate in our group and manage a large number of our cases, plus I was worried about not feeling well, so I told him very early – something like 6-7 weeks – and told everyone else after our genetic tests came back, around 12 weeks. That said, having been with the firm for so many years and my general close relationship with the group affected my decision. More junior colleagues have waited until about 14 weeks or so.

    2. I told my two closest colleagues at 6 months pregnant (yay for being tall and showing late). I just let other people figure it out when I showed more visibly.

    4. I’m in-house, not in a law firm, but I announced at 12 weeks (we chose not to have genetic testing done). I told my immediate supervisor first, then my head boss, and then told support staff in the next couple days as it came up. I had a general transition plan and an idea of how long I planned to take for leave ready to discuss with them, which seemed to be appreciated.

  3. Yay! This is cute for traveling, but in the Summer, I totally have to LIMIT the amount of cosmetics I carry around. Dad says that I should MINIMIZE the amount of makeup I use b/c he says that MEN want to see us as we really ARE, let alone what we might look like once we put on the makeup. I told him I am NOT a natural beauty like Rosa, but he is NOT receptive to my arguements, but I am NOT married and I think that I DO need some minimum makeup (mascara, lipstick). He does NOT know that I do not pay attention to him 100% of the time! YAY!!!

  4. Help me find a cute-ish case for a Galaxy S7?

    I have a Kate Spade one that held up better than a “rough and tumble” type case.

    Corporate attorney, so has to be somewhat professional. (although I veer towards “not inappropriate” over “super professional”).

    1. No help, but I love the description of veering “towards “not inappropriate” over “super professional”.” that’s so much me in many circumstances!

    2. Society6.c0m has a lot of cute cases. I drop my phone a lot and did not have a problem with the one I had.

      1. Rats, just iphone cases, it looks like. Looks like they have cute stuff though!

        *goes to therapy*

        1. No, Society6 does have cases for Galaxies but with only one style option – just the basic slim case, not the tougher ones. I had a slim case for my prior I-phone; it has a thin layer of silicone at the back and I thought it was reasonably protective. I dropped my phone – off the desk, out of my purse onto the parking lot, etc., but not from great heights — all the time and it was fine. I got the tougher, two-piece “tough case” for my newer and more expensive phone (and the super-protective adventure case for DS).

          Beware, Society 6 has so many amazing designs, it’s a time suck the way that Etsy is.

          1. I stand corrected! I was quickly in and out because of a desire to avoid the timesuck! :)

      1. How do you make sure of case quality? I have a Nexus 5X and pickings are incredibly slim for cases most places. I’m concerned about buying on Etsy though because I’ve had issues in the past with non-name brand or cheap cases not adequately protecting my phone.

    4. I have the gold phone and the pink/clear Otterbox symmetry case. It looks like etsy has loads of customized Otterboxes.

  5. I have a small mesh bag from the Container Store that I use to corral all my little stuff in. I carry a very small purse, but it still would be a pain to have to fish around in everything in order to find a bobby pin or flashdrive. Because this is mesh, I can pull it out and spy the thing I want very quickly. The only other things in the main part of my purse are a card organizer (that has a flap where I keep any coupons & cash) and a small bottle of hand sanitizer.

    1. I really, really need to get one of these. The bottom of my purse is a disaster.

    2. I use a simple clear plastic zipper bag from the drugstore for this reason. I like to quickly gran what I want by being able to see it.

      I do put this inside of a larger bag organizer that I move from bag to bag. In this organizer I also have comb, hand sanitizer, cell phone, mini-iPad, sunglasses case, pocket calendar, keys, pen/pencils, headphones, gum, thumb drive, tissues, and a couple feminine supplies.

      My wallet is separate as well.

    4. I use the pouch method and use different shapes and colors to differentiate. The black rectangular pouch has medication and first aid. The pink pencil case has tech stuff (phone charger, thumb drive, etc). I got the idea from someone here and it’s worked out great for me.

      1. +1

        I also use this one.

        The “handles” are a bit flimsy, but I repaired them easily when they gave way.

        Very usable for $4.

    6. I wear the Luanda flight bag from Tumi so it is already small but even inside that I have a snack size Ziploc bag where I put bobbi pins, plasters/bandaids, invisibobbles, spare contact lenses, a micro mini beauty blender, concealer and a migraine stick.
      All these things are miniatures so would be lost in my bag otherwise.

    1. So true that every second mom at preschool drop off has this bag…

      I say get it if you like it, but be prepared that the mom hive will soon pick another fav and you may look like the mom who didn’t get the message to move on.

      1. Haha, that wasn’t even my concern. I just didn’t want to be generic. Now I have to worry that I might be generic AND out of date?!

        1. Ok, I came on a leeeetle strong considering it’s a purse. And not absurdly expensive. Get it if you like it!

      1. Ha – all opinions welcome – any particular reason for the active dislike??

        1. It kind of looks like a trash bag to me. So many beautiful nylon bags and they want to do trash bag!!!

          And the drop is not long enough on that model.

          2. Fait enough. I like it, but maybe in a Derilicte/zoolander kind of way ;-)

    3. Personally, I think that if you’re going to spend MZ Wallace money, you’re better off buying one of their more bag-like bags instead of the Metro tote, but the brand itself is absolutely worth the price.

      I’ve been carrying an MZ Wallace almost daily for about 3 years now, and it looks as good as the day I bought it, in spite of the fact that I am the worst at taking care of bags and also routinely travel for extended periods on public transportation for court appearances/work meetings/etc. I can shove a giant file + laptop + personal stuff + shoes into it (I have the “Kate”) without it looking like I’m a crazy bag-lady, and it also holds its shape well when it’s less full, so it doesn’t have that “collapsed balloon” look that some totes get when half-empty.

      1. I specifically like the tote. There’s a similar LeSportsac quilted tote version I also like, but it’s not cheap either and to my mind better to go with the original than the imitation. I’m not a huge fan of the traditional MZ styles.

    4. I have something very similar that I got at Last Call (before the Metro was around FWIW). It’s NM house brand. I love it because it’s so lightweight. It’s perfect to stuff a bunch of clothes for an overnight or to sit on your lap to stay comfy warm on a chilly flight. It stinks to carry anything heavy (like a laptop–although mine did it on a 30 min downtown commute once without ripping any seams). I paid around $50. I use my black one so much I debated getting another one when I saw they still had them earlier this summer. Might still have some there. Mine has a crossbody strap that I like but the drop length is OK. I believe the other colors were silver, green, burgundy.

    5. If you wear a down jacket in the winter, it might blend in a little too well with your coat.

  7. Recently spent a weekend trip with a close friend and her boyfriend, along with a few other couples and assorted other friends. It was a great time, but my BF and I were pretty shocked at how badly Friend was treating her boyfriend. She repeatedly belittled him and made fun of him to the group (in a mean way, setting up the joke to try to make everyone laugh at him, rather than loving teasing/laughing with him), and occasionally overreacted to comments or questions from him during conversations by accusing him of “missing the point” and “not listening to what everyone else is saying” while looking meaningfully at the rest of the group like “can you believe this guy?”

    Normally, I would just raise my eyebrows and butt out. But, I know that this friend really cares about her bf, and is really hoping to get engaged to him this year. I am wondering if it’s worth it to say something to her gently later. Perhaps if she brings up wanting to get engaged, that might be a good time to ask about it? I could say something like, “It seemed like you were getting really upset with Josh when he asked about ___, his comment didn’t seem out of the ordinary to me, was there something else going on there?” or maybe the more direct, “You were being a jerk” is called for?

    Or is it just none of my business. This is one of my good friends, but we live in different cities and I only see her every few months or so. I obviously don’t know what their normal dynamic was like. but I was pretty surprised and disappointed. If it had been him treating her that way for the whole weekend, I would have called her this morning to tell her I thought he was a jerk and should be dumped.

    1. If she is someone you care about, then I think you should say something. Waiting for the other person to bring up the subject can backfire, if they never do, or if they bring it up because they have something else to say about it. I think you should be caring and direct. Maybe you could start by asking if they were fighting that weekend.

      2. +1 Something like ” Friend – I had a lot of fun this weekend. I really like BF and think xyz positive things about him. You always have such nice things to say about him when we talk, so I was kind of surprised by how you were treating him. I don’t think this was your intent, but you seemed really dismissive of him. I would have been very disappointed if he had treated you that way, so I wanted to check in to see if everything was okay with the two of you.”

        1. Yes, try this!

          It’s possible she’s unconsciously mimicking bad patterns from a past relationship, or from her parents’ relationship, without even realizing what she’s actually doing. (Ask me how I know.) If that’s the case, this is exactly the kind of gentle wake-up call that would be helpful.

          1. THIS. I did this for a long time because my parents modeled very poor behavior. I think about how I treated a past serious boyfriend and am appalled/heartbroken. He was a participant, too, but still.

          2. This. Please say something gently. She probably does not know how her behavior is received, either by him or by spectators. I absolutely engaged in similar conduct before maturing and I was modeling something I had seen before. Terribly embarrassed when I realized it, which happened only when I said something really dumb about keeping my BF in check being my job and BF said “Really?” No, not really once I thought about it, but I’d been blindly carrying that around for a long time. It may in part be that she is self-conscious about how others feel about him, so maybe both point it out and reassure her that you like him but also check in as to whether she is confident in her own feelings. Not sure I’d ask if she was angry at him, though. I think that could lead the conversation astray.

    2. Next time you talk to her, could you frame it as asking if she was upset with him for some reason? Like “hey, you guys seemed off during the weekend – whats going on?” then when she probes be ready with your examples, or if she brushes it off as nothing you can say “oh cool, it just seemed like you were annoyed at him all weekend because of the way you kept talking to him”. Seems like perhaps a more “natural” way to spark the conversation.

    3. I *hate* being around relationships like that. I guess I just hate meanness, and don’t find it funny. Would it work to try something like, “Oh man this weekend was so fun! But hey, were you mad at Josh or something? It seemed like you were being really harsh with him when ___ and ___, and I was wondering if something was going on?”

    4. I have a friend like this and sadly it seems to be the status quo for them. They love each other but she’s snarky and he’s passive aggressive. Never sure how to respond so just try and avoid taking sides.

      1. That almost sounds like my parents. My son picked up on it when he was 11 or 12. He’s nearly 14 now, and it is so hard to get him to visit his grandparents, because he has such a hard time dealing with their dynamic. Dad has memory problems now, so Mom berates him more than ever, but he is still a super-positive guy. If your friends’ relationship is new enough, maybe they can still change it.

    5. She’s resentful about something. Maybe because she’s waiting for the ring? That’s a really hard time in a relationship. I’d probably approach her like, “I had a great time this weekend and it was so good to see you. You seemed unusually frustrated and resentful with BF, though. Are you OK?” Let her talk (and cry). Then remind her that if her frustration is coming through to you, it definitely is to him.

      1. Resentful she doesn’t have a ring? That kind of treatment would not inspire me to spend the rest of my life with someone. I know our emotions and behaviors are not always logical, but just sayin’.

    6. I wonder if she’s feeling invested enough in this guy that she’s also insecure about how he reflects on her and whether her existing friends will like him? I think I did this in college to a bf who was very confident and free of prejudice, and who therefore felt free to say or do things that tapped into my personal insecurities–as if he were revealing the ways in which I didn’t really fit in with my new set. Obviously, my saying anything just made it worse, but transferring my anxiety onto him put me in a very panicky place. In addition to not being a jerk, I needed to get over all the social imposter syndrome I was feeling at the time.

  8. Anyone have any travel makeup bag recommendations? I’m pretty particular: I don’t want it to be too big and I want it to have compartments but not be hard case so it will fit in my backpack (which I use rather than a laptop bag or tote because otherwise my body hurts. Dont judge).

  9. I recently lateraled into a new firm, still biglaw but lower on the AmLaw 100 than my previous firm. I really like the work and the people. My new assistant is friendly and kind, but she doesn’t have much/any experience with my practice area. The assistants in my practice area are all taken and very busy. How do I approach both my assistant and my office about getting my assistant some more training and what kind of training is reasonable to request? I’d ideally like to have her shadow an experienced assistant or maybe have an assigned mentor, but I’m not sure if that’s something that’s done. Fwiw, I’d let my assistant know I’m going to request training on her behalf before going to anyone in the firm; I don’t want her to think I’m mad at her or going behind her back.

    1. What kind of training are you talking about that’s specific to your practice group? Particular court filing procedures? Software?

      Who are the other attorneys she works for — can you discuss with them as to the benefits of the training / politics of making recommendations?

    2. At my firm we have an office manager who would be the appropriate person to talk to about this. I wouldn’t frame it as “I’d like assistant to have a mentor.” I’d tell the office manager that you really need assistant to have X, Y, Z skills for your practice area and ask the office manager if s/he has suggestions for how to help the assistant get those skills.

      1. +1. Just having a mentor isn’t going to help her learn how to set up pleadings when she’s spent the past few years in the corporate group. You need to identify specific skills that need building and be patient as your assistant learns these skills.

    3. I don’t know that asking for more training for would be helpful. It’s very condescending and patronizing. It would demoralize me to have a supervisor do this.

      My secretary had tons of experience at another firm but needed a little extra help at this firm. It got to the point where the partners were really concerned about her.

      I did a few things:
      1. Instructed her to actively seek help from the other secretaries, even mentioning certain secretaries by name. I told her that she could say “Epi Pens wanted me to ask you about…”. This way, I took the blame for the interruption.

      2. Instructed her to call the government agency we work most with whenever we are unclear about a procedure. This agency is notorious for sending cryptic notices for things that are easily correctable. The agency has a help line and is very good about telling us exactly how to respond to a notice.

      3. Whenever another secretary helped mine, I would be sure to thank that person the next time I ran into her in the kitchen or as I was walking around the office. At the Christmas party, I introduced the secretaries to my SO as being super helpful for my secretary and I.

      4. I wrote a very carefully worded review of her. I had to address the partners’ bad opinion of her while making the case that she was invaluable to me. I skated a thin edge but one of the partners praised my review of her as being very balanced.

      5. I started to rely on her. She made a lot of errors (they didn’t harm the client–see #2) but she has really learned quickly. I praised her for “catching that” when she tells me about the errors.

      1. I don’t think it’s patronizing to ask for your assistant to receive training on routine things that you would need her to do, especially if she’s never done them before. When I was in biglaw I had an assistant transfer from corporate to litigation and she needed a lot of training on systems that she’d never used before (and she’d been there for 10+ years).

        I think the OP should contact whoever is in charge of the assistants. In my old office, it was the HR person. And obviously talk to your assistant about the training.

        1. Agree with this – I don’t think asking for her to receive training is at all less patronizing that “praising her” as described in #5 sounds. She’s an assistant, not a dog.

      3. Maybe those ideas would work for changing firms but staying in the same practice area, but for learning a new practice area, it makes sense that training would be helpful. I don’t think it has to be patronizing or sound like she’s being put down. It’s a new thing, she’s great in xyz ways, so you’d like her to learn new thing so you can keep working together.

      4. Wow! I didn’t expect that response. FWIW, her personality is very timid and, due to a disability and difference in age, she didn’t feel like she belonged or could talk to the other secretaries.

        What I did worked for us. Maybe I described it incorrectly or not using the exact right words but, with our personalities, our relationship, in this (dysfunctional) practice group, it worked.

  10. Anyone have any tropical vacation ideas? Looking to go around Thanksgiving-early December to somewhere warm. We’d probably like an all inclusive with a few activities off resort (hopefully they’d help set them up). We are late twenties, no kids, and we have no experience traveling to a tropical place – usually we are mountains/hiking travelers. We’re looking at 4-5 days with a budget around $3,000 including airfare from the Midwest. Is this even possible?

    2. We just went to Cancun, and that fits your description pretty well. The beaches and pools at our all-inclusive were great and we were happy staying there, but there’s lots to do off-resort (snorkeling, excursions to Tulum and Akumal, cenotes). Some of the resorts do sea turtle releases at that time of year too. I think that budget is doable, although it depends a bit on where you’re flying out of (Chicago is way cheaper than Des Moines, for example) and you wouldn’t be able to stay in the highest-end resorts. But there are lots of nice mid-range resorts. You can do adults only if that appeals to you.

    3. Not a great time of year for most of the Carribean as it’s cool and considered off season. It’s the tale end of hurricane season too which can make for less predictable weather. Now, the Bahamas in March are fantastic and I go every year. And you can have a pretty decent vacation for that price – it all depends on flights. I go to a pretty remote island so I always end up paying around $700 – if I was going somewhere more central (with fewer small plane connections) I know flights are a lot less.

      1. Disagree. BVIs are wonderful that time of year, and especially because it’s ‘off season’ – actually more of a shoulder season, with the Christmas holiday kicking off the peak months. I don’t know any all inclusives down there, but don’t but an X over the location because of the weather.

    4. I just booked a super cheap trip to Puerto Rico for labor day. There seems to be plenty of all inclusive options and a good mix of things to do from laying on the beach to more adventurous activities like exploring the national forest.

  11. I’m the poster who posted some days back about Offer A, dream company steady job at a lower title and Role B, higher title and more responsibility at a financially constrained smaller company (not quite a startup).
    The bad news is that the offer from A never came through (recruiter had said “we are going to make you an offer”) and it ultimately didn’t pan out for reasons which still make me annoyed and determined to stop calling them my dream company. I need to wean myself from keeping an eye on their job postings.
    But the good news is that at Role B, the financial constraints should ease soon since we are getting some new investment. My hope is to make it here for about 2 years (and I think they’ll last 2 years) and then leverage my higher title for hopefully a more stable place. Thanks everyone for the advice.

  12. This is for the OP whose boyfriend said he might want to pursue a PhD in the social sciences. It is possible to pursue this while maintaing a relationship, including marriage and kids. However, some concerns to iron out if this proves to be a serious relationship. Where will he go to school? It needs to be a place where you can also pursue your career i.e. job opportunities. He should research possible career options in his field of interest BEFORE going into the program. Does he want to be an academic or work in a non academic field? (In some fields it is not uncommon to have people earn less after a PhD than when they went in due to the poor job market). What would advantage would the degree offer over say a Masters? One caveat though, grad school also comes with alot of stress even though there is a flexible schedule. It is important to have a supportive advisor if you are also going to have a family while he pursues this. If finances are very important to you, have an honest talk about this, PhD students can live okay on the stipend but compared to salaried employees, there’s a big difference.

    1. I’ve heard of people who disliked grad school, but for me and most of the people in my social science PhD program when I was, it was wonderful. I completely immersed myself in my field. Teaching took a lot of time, I had a lot to read for my classes, and writing to do. For fun I read more and went to happy hour with others from the program so we could talk about it more. My “extracurricular” was editing a journal. The only thing I did on the side was work out. If you are with someone who is going into a grad program, be ready to be independent. If you have relationship/family goals, make sure you have serious conversations early and often. If he wants to be a prof, find out what kind, and what sort of hours those people keep.
      I get the impression that law school is very different, that it is more like having a job and people work at keeping work-life balance and not letting school spill over into the rest of their lives.

    2. Thank you so much for these points. I appreciate your comment and the other responses. I will certainly keep them in mind and raise when appropriate in our discussions!

    3. Grad school (PhD) is also a really really long time. If you are considering having kids with this guy, you should seriously talk it out now. Is he going to commit to graduating with a thesis in a certain amount of time, or is he going to be an everything-but-thesis perpetual student? Grad school doesn’t pay well, so paying for childcare might be a struggle. Does the school have good subsidized childcare on campus? How do you and he plan on handling childcare responsibilities? I would get very specific and think all of these things out thoroughly. My concern would be having a Mr. who goes to school all the time, never graduates, and expects you to handle childcare. Talk through all the specifics so you can know he’s not just planning on having that happen.

  13. I posted earlier, but I think my comment got caught in moderation. For the purposed of skirting moderation har*ssment is going to = bullying, but she was written up for the former not the latter.

    I worked for a woman who “bullied” me for about a year an a half. When things came to a head I brought everything with documentation to HR. HR and management agreed that it was completely unacceptable, and moved me to be under the bully’s boss instead of the bully. They told me my work with her would be kept to a minimum and I wouldn’t have to deal with her much more. My new boss at this time also told me that she had heard that the bully had had issues with HR similar to mine at other places that she worked, but she hired her anyway.

    Fast forward about 9 months, and my boss asked me to “bury the hatchet” with former boss. She suggested asking her out to lunch. I initially agreed as I have tried to let go of my anger towards former boss, and at this point I just want to be professional. But the more I think about this, the more annoyed I am, and the more my anger is resurfacing.

    This woman made my life a living nightmare for months. She routinely purposefully embarrassed me infront of co-workers, blamed me for things I never did, said things like “I am going to sp*nk you” in front of coworkers, and wouldn’t allow me to complete work for people she didn’t like. I am the third person to make bullying claims against this woman in an office of <20 people. This woman has never apologised, or come close to even admitting what she did.

    Am I crazy for being angry for being asked to be the one to make up? I don't like to put it this way, but for lack of a better term I was the "victim". Like I said, I maintain being professional with her, but I refuse to apologize for something which I did not ask to happen to me. In addition, I am in the last round of interviews for a different job. Should I list this as a reason I am leaving? I applied to the other position mostly because I am 20% under industry average in salary, but this whole situation definitely has played a role.

    1. Did you check the second page of comments? I think you got some answers there too.

      1. Oh I didn’t realise my post got put on a second page. I do not see any replies though.

        1. I have the same problem. For some reason the first post on the second page shows up but I never see any comments. I’ve stopped clicking ‘newer comments’ because it never works for me in Chrome or IE.

          1. Very strange — I just increased the number of comments so it doesn’t break to the next page. I haven’t had a problem in Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Edge — can anyone tell me more about the problems? Thanks!

        3. I tried on both Chrome and IE and couldn’t see any comments, just my original post. Weirdly enough I could see the comments on Chrome on my phone.

    3. It is slightly creepy that I was in a very similar situation just recently. When interviewing, I said that “old company” had gone through several regime changes and it wasn’t a good fit for me anymore. Seemed to work fine.

      I don’t understand why all these horrible people still have jobs. HR allowed mine to go on for 3 years, and there was a well documented disability I was being bullied over. And this was a company of over 5,000 employees with a large HR department.

      1. I think SoCalAtty’s wording is the way to go. I don’t think it ever looks good to bring up drama from a current/old job (however valid) in an interview. People know that bad workplaces exist, and “not a good fit” is the best way to describe them in an interview.

  14. I have some EPI pens that are approaching their expiration date in about 3 months.

    I would like to donate them (because they were so expensive!) to a group that is likely to have need of them. Bonus points if it’s a group that helps kids.

    Does anyone know of a group that accepts EPI pens as donations and is likely to need them?

    Thank you!

    1. Unfortunately, since they are considered a prescription medication, they cannot be donated or given away to anyone else. No group can legally accept them. Even nurse training institutions cannot accept them even to use for demonstration purposes.

      It is recommended that you hold on to them—while you should always use a current one, expired epi pens are still potent for even years after. In an emergency if you cant get to a current one, an old one could save your life.

      1. I thought this too but I googled it and it looks like it’s not quite true: some medications can be donated, but it looks like it’s not very many and it varies by state.

        http://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/2015/09/10/donate-prescription-drugs-south-carolina/72003172/

        I’m not sure if an EPI pen qualifies as being in a closed tamper-proof container, but maybe. Worth a shot if you have multiples of them, though agree with KT that an old one will still be effective in an emergency if you decide to keep it as a backup.

    2. I don’t think it’s legal to transfer Rx meds. My son’s allergist has said to go by the colors in the little indicator window, rather than the dates.

    3. I gave mine to a volunteer group I work with for us to use on fruit as a demo/practice for people who were interested, I’ve also given them to first aid teachers who can use them for demos, but honestly the safest thing to do is to have your friends, family, or other people you see regularly, practice on a piece of fruit with you there to help and then properly dispose in a sharps bin or at a pharmacy. Letting them out of your hands is dangerous and I’m always surprised when people suggest it

      1. I’ve never actually used one. Is it very different from the practice pens that come with the “live” ones?

        1. The practice pens I’ve used don’t have an actual needle in them, so you don’t get the totally real feeling, don’t punch through (fruit) flesh, and dont’ have to dispose of a sharp after.

  15. Y’all. I had a crazy hearing today with against a kick ass older female lawyer who intimidates the hell out of me. I think it went well. I stressed over it all weekend. Her client brought about 20 cheerleaders to come sit in the peanut gallery for her. No pressure or anything. Oh, did I mention this is family law? Can’t get into too many details cause one of the two might read here. It’s not my usual practice area but I really think I held my own. I went home post hearing and am now having a glass of scotch for breakfast and lunch. Don’t worry, drinking apres court is not a common theme for me. It’s warranted this time. Just wanted to share.

    1. Congrats. It can feel exhilarating to test your talents, skills and training and not find them wanting. A worthy opponent is the best test. No apology for the cocktail required in my book.

      1. Thanks. Also, to clarify, I only mentioned the fact that opposing counsel is female because I kind of love when my worthy opponent is a fellow woman.

    2. Congratulations! That scotch is well deserved. It’s always a great feeling to know you did an outstanding job against a tough opponent!

    3. Big congrats! Being able to hold your own is very exciting. The first time I took on mean-old-man opposing counsel and managed to hold my ground I felt totally kicka** for days afterwards. Enjoy that feeling AND that scotch – you’ve earned it!

  16. Any suggestions for a travel cross-body bag? Needs to be large enough to hold a camera, guidebook, and bottle of water. I ordered the Baggallini Horizon Cross-body travel bag and it was too small/looked like it was exploding when I put those three things in it, and others here have said the L&S Pearl won’t work for me. Any other ideas?

    1. By camera, I’m assuming you mean something like a DSLR camera – check out the brands ONA and Epiphanie for camera bags that are big enough to hold the other stuff too (and that look like “regular” bags so they’re not screaming “I contain an expensive camera” while traveling).

      Also, if you’re open to a backpack instead, check out Everlane – their backpacks look nice and grown-up, and the price point is pretty reasonable.

      1. Sorry, I should have specified. I love the Ona bags, but I’m hoping for something smaller to accommodate a Leica D-lux. So it’s smaller and lighter than a DSLR but it is bigger than a camera that you can slide into a pocket.

        1. This is a little random, but Old Navy actually has a slouchy hobo-style bag right now that might fit the bill – strap looks long enough to wear as a cross-body, and it’s pretty big. You could also just bring your camera and water bottle to a TJMaxx and test out bags there – since you’re looking for a pretty specific size, that might work best. Also, in general, look for rounder bags – hobo bags, bucket bags, etc. – because they’re better at accommodating weird-shaped stuff without looking misshapen or overstuffed.

          1. And also, to beat an extremely dead horse – check out MZ Wallace. Their bags tend to have tons of pockets and be pretty spacious, and basically all of them come with a strap so you can wear them cross-body.

        1. I have a Kate Spade cross body that I love that I bought at the outlet last summer. It holds a ton – way more than the L&S Pearl – and I think looks a little better too (leather is softer, it’s a bit more modern).

      1. Oh, I like that for traveling. I had a jansport equivalent in college I wore to the bone.

        1. Try Crumpler too – they have lots of things that would work for this. My travel bag is from Hedgren, but it’s over a decade old, and I’ve no idea about US stockists. Would recommend the brand though.

    3. Not sure if you’re still looking at this, but I really like my Kelly Moore camera bag.

    4. I have an MZ Wallace Hayley that would be a good size for you. It can be worn as a shoulder bag or cross body, and has great pockets. I have fit my camera (Fujifilm XE-2), bottle of water, full size phone clutch/wallet, with room to spare.

  17. Veronica Mars, if you’re reading this thread–thank you for your suggestion on the NAS post!

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