Coffee Break: Wavia Bag
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It's hard to find a convertible backpack / tote that is appropriate for work — so I was intrigued when this bag from Oleada came across my social media feeds.
I think the bag looks sleek and cool. I like that they show the bag being worn by models of different heights, too.
The bag is $795 in the 15″ leather version and comes in five colors: onyx, latte, ash, chestnut, and scarlet. The vegan 15″ version is marked from $635 to $476.
As of 2025, some of our favorite convertible backpacks for work include options from Lo & Sons, Vestirsi, Oleada, Senreve, and M.Gemi.
Sales of note for 8/12/25:
- Ann Taylor – 30% off your full price purchase, and $99 dresses and jackets — extra 60% off sale also
- Banana Republic Factory – Up to 50% off everything + extra 20% off
- Boden – 10% off new womenswear styles with code
- Dermstore – Anniversary sale, up to 25% off everything
- Eloquii – Extra 50% off all sale
- J.Crew – 30% off wear-now styles & up to 60% off all sale styles
- J.Crew Factory – Up to 60% off everything and extra 60% off clearance
- Mejuri – Up to 25% off everything
- M.M.LaFleur – New August drop, and up to 70% off sale – try code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off.
- Neiman Marcus – Last call designer sale! Spend $200, get a $50 gift card (up to $2000+ spend with $500 gift card)
- Nordstrom – 9,800+ new women's markdowns
- Rothy's – Ooh: limited edition T-strap flats / Mary Janes
- Spanx – Free shipping on everything
- Talbots – Semi-annual red door sale! 50% off all markdowns + extra 20% off already marked-down items
I’m getting a lot of encouragement (and maybe some pressure) from my colleagues and supervisors to apply for a professional association in my field. I’ve spoken with others who have participated, and I haven’t really been blown away — there’s some good networking opportunities, but a fair bit of event planning, and potentially some travel, which my employer will not pay for. I understand that these types of associations can be helpful in advancing in your career, but I’m just not thrilled about doing extra unpaid work, even if my employer would like to have someone represented. Any advice?
I’d say no based on what you wrote here. If it’s not a hell yes, it’s a hell no.
If I understand correctly, the only reason you’d do this is because your employer wants you to, yet they wouldn’t even cover your costs for it? Nope.
I wouldn’t do it, either. It sounds like a time sink for very little gain. I would keep kicking this can down the road: “Oh, thank you for thinking of me. ACME seems like a great organization. I am not able to join now, but I’ll keep the opportunity in mind!”
I’m going to be the voice of dissent here. The association I belong to in my field is literally where I’ve built the best of my network and gotten opportunities to increase my visibility professionally in ways I never would have otherwise through important panel gigs. My last several jobs have come through connections. Many of the people I’ve met are far more active, and it’s where they have met spouses and made lifelong friends. Maybe get involved at the regional level first so travel is minimal, but content and networking opportunities are better than the local chapter. Push back with your boss–they should cover at least some or all from an education budget. If not there, many associations will offer first-timer discounts or comps. I feel like no matter where I work, the one really positive thing that has stayed with me from position to position is the education and people I’ve gained through my association. (Also, you don’t necessarily have to volunteer right away–try being just an attendee for a while.)
+1. Tell your bosses that cost is the issue and the org should cover it.
+2 but either way I’d do it
I’ve been active in various different things like this. Some are amazing, some aren’t. OP, maybe there is a different, more promising option? Besides the benefits of networking, it’s also easy to say you are already involved in X, so tragically you can’t do Y.
I have a weird itchy spot on my upper shoulder blade. This has been going on for months. There is literally nothing there when I look at it. It’s just randomly itchy 3-5 times a day. Thoughts? Seems excessive to make a derm appt for this but it’s annoying.
What have you tried so far?
Could it be muscular? You could try icing the area behind your shoulder blade. I think it can occur from computer use
can you reach it easily? i wonder if it’s just a random spot your mind obsesses over.
i would try doing one of those in-shower moisturizers (or itch cream moisturizer like eucerin or cerave) and seeing if that stops the problem.
I have this exact same thing. Be aware that if you scratch it it may discolor – I have a melasma/discoloration patch there now. My derm said that it is often that a nerve is near the skin and instead of pain, it sends a message of “itch”. She recommended Sarna and Dermeleve. I have them on my list to get but so far I just use regular moisturizer on it and it calms the itch.
That is interesting! I will try that. Thanks for all the suggestions!
OK, you have solved a mystery I’ve been wondering about for at least a year now!
Sounds like “itchy back syndrome” or notalgia paresthetica. Two different derms diagnosed mine, I thought it was a made up condition but it is real. Cleveland Clinic’s website has a good article.
I have something similar. It’s been diagnosed as notalgia parasthetica – basically, nerve itch. I suspect mine is lingering damage from an epidural, but it tends to flare up when I sit for long periods and don’t do any spinal stretches regularly. I’d probably get it checked out if it looks strange in any way, but it may not be related to skin at all.
I had an itchy patch and it turned out to be squamous cell carcinoma (I think) which, according to my derm, is the best cancer you can get. It very rarely spreads or becomes concerning.
How old are you?
I had the same a few years ago, in perimenopause. My dermatologist, who is an academic (works at a university hospital) says lots of people develop itchiness in the same area as they get older. She says it is believed to be a mild nerve thing coming from the spine. Harmless but annoying.
There’s research on this, but I didn’t get any of the links or anything from her. Maybe look it up?
And I just checked comments above – the commenter who said notalgia paresthetica is talking about the same thing my derm said. I’m glad there’s a link in her response, because I forgot the name of it!
For what it’s worth, mine rarely bothers me anymore, though I do have a bamboo back scratcher next to my bed.
An ex got engaged recently and I’m ashamed to admit it’s bothering me. I felt toward the end that he was a bad guy – really lacking in empathy, wanting a partner who would center him as their entire world, unable to stop comparing me to other women. I would never want him back, but they just look like such a perfect couple on paper. He’s extremely successful, good lucking, and she seems head over heels smitten with him. I don’t think he has changed, and I think there are reasons for him moving so quickly other than love (he’s competitive and obsessed with checking boxes). But I just feel jealous of everyone thinking he’s so perfect and they’re a perfect couple.
So I fully admit this is psycho but anytime I see an ex with a new person my immediate thought is “oh ex has found another victim, I wonder if they’re being abused yet”
Why do you say that’s psycho?
Because it’s morbid curiosity rather than concern.
Yeah, I feel you. I think it’s a normal reaction to have.
I’m just evil enough that if anybody mentioned it to me, I’d murmer “I wish her well…” in a tone that betrayed everything you posted above.
You need to spend more time off social or at least not take it so deeply as fact. Some of the folks I know who are the most prolific posters about their perfect marriage, perfect vacation, beautiful celebration of birthdays, etc. are also some of the people who are genuinely not OK. Like the one I’m thinking of right now has a model-looking family and constant posts about her date nights and girl squad and everything–and also tried to cheat on her husband with the married son of the president of a company I used to work for (he turned her down at the last minute). She follows the dude’s wife on insta. You really can never judge a book (or post) by its cover.
I’m sure some things are indeed wonderful. But if you’re spending more time trying to perfectly light and photograph a meal rather than simply enjoying the company around you, I think it often says a lot. And you already know what this guy is bringing to the table.
Maybe they are the perfect couple. Unless he’s a total psychopath, most people fit with someone. It wasn’t you but maybe it’s her. You’ll find your person.
You dodged a bullet and I feel very sorry for her.
Within ten years, they will be divorcing. It will be ugly. She will think it’s the biggest mistake she’s made in her life.
Ask me how I know. My heart breaks for the ex-wife of my ex-boyfriend… even though, when I heard about their marriage and kids, I wondered on some level why he was better to her than to me. Nah, leopard just hid his spots long enough to get her out of her job and constantly pregnant.
I (sort of) get that you are trying to be empathetic to OP, but this is such a weird take. Just because the guy was not a good fit for OP doesn’t mean that he isn’t a good fit for his new fiance.
I mean, they might be, he might be a totally different person with her. But he probably was never going to be that partner to you, so be glad you’ve both moved on to the possibility of something better.
I am over a decade divorced and now remarried to someone much more suitable.
My ex was the kind of guy everyone thought was a “great guy” but he actually was not, in private.
We haven’t been in touch at all because I finally divorced him (basically called his bluff after he said “you don’t like it? divorce me!” one too many times) and he hates my guts. Which is fine.
But via social media I recently (accidentally!) saw that he got married again. My first impulse was feeling bad for the new wife.
Some light entertainment for the hive: I called my parents last night to say hello and found out that they bought last minute plane tickets to my city this weekend (and intend to stay with me). I currently have other house guests (which they knew about). My partner and I are able to accommodate everyone with a very firm “We can do this once, but next time it will be a hotel.” I’m lucky to have a partner who talked me down last night from changing the locks / getting them put on the do not fly list. Reframing as “We’re fortunate to be able to care for our parents this way” helps. Mostly.
With that – open invitation to share your greatest “How am I descended from these people?!” stories!
We did not have enough space to accommodate my parents at Thanksgiving. Got them a nice hotel room (corner suite) and parents proceeded to complain it had too many windows so shutting the blinds took too long.
That? Is hilarious! Sometimes you just can’t win for losing.
This sounds exactly like something my dad’s wife would complain about. No one has more fake problems that she thinks are real than she does.
I’d have been helping you call the locksmith!
I’m not sure this is light entertainment?? If it had happened to me, I’d be both stressed and genuinely angry.
(I’d rather hear your parents are staying in a hotel NOW, because they don’t sound like the kind of people who will pay any attention to what you say about “next time.”)
OP here – I appreciate that. Fair point about boundaries / “next time.”
There’s another family event happening in my city that I think my parents had some guilt about missing (think a relative’s milestone birthday, and said relative does not have a guest room). Doesn’t excuse the lack of planning (and lack of communication about said plans). I think if we didn’t have an extra spare room and that context, I would have just said “No, that doesn’t work for us, but here’s a nearby hotel you should look into.”
My husband’s nephew showed up at our doorstep one day and expected to stay with us while he explored our area with some friends. He lives halfway across the country so he obviously made plans to come to us (on the west coast) but never let us know, much less asked us if it was OK.
We did let him stay with his friends, but they were so rude and disrespectful and made a huge mess that we did say firmly that there would be no “next time.” They were all in their twenties so I guess par for the course, but WTF.
My mother, a teacher, had a months’ long argument with her supervisor about rearranging the chairs in her classroom after her day was over. It was a quick task that they asked she do because the next teacher to use the room would be shepherding children in. My mother absolutely refused on the basis she wasn’t being paid to do it. Things came to a head and my mother got in her supervisor’s face and threatened to punch her. When they eliminated her position at the end of the year, she was shocked and is still upset at how unfair it is a decade later. She now tells people she was the subject of age discrimination.
Well threatening to punch someone is unacceptable but also so is expecting someone that do free work.
Not equal levels of unacceptable…
How exactly is it free work
“Other duties as assigned” isn’t in the contract?
Was she not salaried?
why did you offer to accommodate them? I would have said “that’s sweet of you for wanting to visit but our house is full! Nearby hotels we’d recommend are xyz and the Alamo at the airport usually has the shortest line” lol
I just love when people are so eager to kick others when they’re feeling down. Maybe we don’t all pile on her? She literally was feeling OK and now you’re trying to ramp her up again and throw some guilt on top.
You literally no zip about the family dynamics. What works with yours might be the beginning of WWIII with someone else’s.
I agree with you, but also there would approx 4 comments a day if we all did this.
It’s not cup of Jo
I don’t know what that is!
Yeah, I think it’s super rude to your other house guests to cram your parents in too. Maybe you have a mansion or a guest house and it’s nbd, but…
really minor complaint i guess but i can’t take anyone in my family to any restaurant that i like anymore. my husband and i will have a nice time and take the family – these people eat olive garden and applebee’s on a regular basis and all suddenly act like they’re awarding a michelin star when they get to my restaurant and complain and bitch about everything they get so much that it ruins the experience for me. my favorite is my sibling who will basically order off the menu or request so many modifications that it’s unrecognizable… and then complain that it wasn’t very tasty.
Ugh I have chain restaurant family members too. They’re the worst.
OMG, my in-laws are like this and it is so exasperating!
Ha. I noticed during a dinner my mom wasn’t eating her salmon entree. When I asked if it was okay, she mentioned it was raw and she didn’t want to get sick. Readers, it was not raw. My mom had just never had salmon that wasn’t overcooked. That said, I asked the waitress if she could bring another piece, more well done. The waitress apologized and rushed a new order. Which came back my mom proceeded to not eat it either and loudly told the table she had no intention of getting food poisoning from a restaurant that couldn’t serve fish properly. The waitress offered another entree but at that point there was nothing my mom would have liked at said restaurant.
My FIL will do that, too, with a side of being very drunk which contributes to the unpleasantness :(
> my favorite is my sibling who will basically order off the menu or request so many modifications that it’s unrecognizable… and then complain that it wasn’t very tasty.
Does your sibling comment regularly on the NYT cooking section? Those comments are batsh1t. “I didn’t have eggs or oil so I substituted applesauce. The texture was terrible! One star!”
I have to add another recent one-star comment, because I can’t resist.
“This cake recipe is not very healthy.”
When my maternal grandmother was very elderly and frail, my mom and dad moved heaven and earth to get Grandma on a plane cross-country so Grandma could attend her big sister’s 90th birthday. My mom helped Grandma get dressed in something cheerful and plane-appropriate (a pink sweater set, IIRC) and do makeup (including blush as instructed). Grandma complained to anyone in hearing distance that, “they’ve dressed me up like a doll!”
Also my mom will.not.stop pestering me (unsolicited) about getting on a GLP-1.
Funny, I don’t really spend a lot of time regretting or marveling at my parents and how I ended up the way I am. I can see characteristics in myself from each of them.
But I have a sibling who is completely dysfunctional, and I can also see characteristics in my sibling from each of my parents!
Am I looking for a unicorn? I’d like to find some work pants that have some stretch but aren’t ponte. (I really hate that fabric and how it feels and wears.)
What style are you looking for: leg, rise, size range, preferred fabrics?
Mid-rise, size 14-16, straight leg.
MMlaFleur and Sezane
MMLF Colby pants have some stretch.
What is your price-point? If you aren’t opposed to poly-blends, Uniqlo has work trousers that have a little stretch and elastic in the back of the waist band. Spanx might be another option to explore.
I’d prefer to stay around $100 but willing to spend a bit more if they’re great.
Lands end starfish
I wish these weren’t so short
Lots of the styles come in tall versions!
No. I’m sorry but those are sweatpants. They are not work pants. I do not understand the adoration of them but I will just say hat tip to Land’s End on excellent marketing of sweat pants.
Tell me what I need to know, should be doing, should be researching, or otherwise nailing down: I have 4 healthy parents and inlaws in my orbit right now. (5 if you count my aunt but she’ll outlive us all and has her own kids.) They’re all 76-80 and living in their own homes. I think I have POA for my parents and believe my husband has POA and healthcare proxy for his parents.
My husband and I are 45 with 2 teen girls. We live 5 minutes from my parents and 9 hours from his.
Why would you have POA over a healthy 76 year old living in their own home? That’s very weird. My mom didn’t get POA over her mom until my grandmother had advanced dementia and basically didn’t know what day of the week it was. I think you might mean healthcare proxy (right to make decisions IF they become incapacitated) which is very different. POA means you can write checks in their name and stuff like that. No competent adult has someone else have POA.
No! It’s best to have a durable POA, which means it’s effective NOW and BEFORE you get incapacitated. Incapacitated people can’t sign POAs and that’s how you end up in court trying to get a guardianship.
Terminology varies depending on your location. In my state, both healthcare and financial forms are called POAs and you’d need to have them signed and ready to go before the person becomes incapacitated; it doesn’t mean they get used immediately.
You’re confused – you can’t (legally) get POA over a person who is incompetent; it has to be that person’s decision. You might be thinking of a conservatorship, but that’s a big process that involves courts while a durable POA is pretty simple (“durable” means it still applies after the person is incapacitated). You can get a “springing” POA that will only be effective if the person becomes incompetent, but that does require some extra complications in that the POA will have to gather some evidence of incompetence, so most people just choose a person they trust and give them general POA with the trust that they won’t use it unless they need to. (For healthcare, that’s usually fine anyway, as the person always has the ability to object to any treatment if they are competent.)
POA powers can be limited – you can make them just for healthcare decisions or just for finances or whatever you want. It doesn’t have to include check writing power. But it’s a good idea to have a broad one for elderly relatives because, like I said, once they become incompetent, it’s too late.
The verbiage for this varies by state, just FYI. In my state, there’s POA for finance/legal, and there’s a separate POA document for healthcare decisions. The person designated in the POA for healthcare is called the healthcare proxy. The POA for healthcare only activates when someone is unable to make decisions for themselves, whether this is permanent (as for dementia) or temporary (as for delirium, critical illness, and so on).
Highly recommend a site called prepareforyourcare.org. It’s a free online tool developed by a physician at UCSF. It walks you through the process step by step, with easy-to-follow videos that you can watch with your parents to help them clarify their priorities.
Get copies of those POA/HCP documents if you can. Talk to them about their wishes around end of life care (DNR, etc.), funeral, etc. See if they will talk with you about their finances and how they plan to finance long-term care if needed. Encourage them to do estate planning if they haven’t (otherwise you will be left with a mess), and encourage them to do a baseline cognitive screen assuming no dementia yet. But don’t borrow trouble! ;)
Source: am a T&E attorney and people don’t discuss these things before a crisis or when it is too late.
A simpler step (for the money part) is getting your name on their bank accounts, if they trust you not to touch the money except in the case of incapacitation.
This makes my lawyer’s soul hurt.
Look – I understand you are all well-meaning, honest people who would never dream of taking advantage of your elderly family members. But what happens if you get sued and your liability exceeds your insurance? What happens if YOU need long-term care (or even just government assistance) before your elderly relative? What happens if you get divorced? What happens when you (or your sibling or your sibling’s spouse) develops a gambling or drug problem?
I love my (adult) daughter. I like her long-term boyfriend. I would never in a million years put her name on my bank accounts or hand over control of my assets, any more than it would occur to me to suggest she do the same. My own parents (in their late 70s) would laugh me out of their house at best. Put your assets in a trust and execute a springing POA (in my state they do not necessarily require court intervention). But the suggestions this group is bandying around are a recipe for financial disaster.
How does a springing POA work IRL? My moms hospital wanted us to go to court with her to get her declared incompetent when she was delirious and pulled her NG tube out in the middle of the night when she weighed 84 pounds and was bedridden. She’d have been dead by the time we got her before a judge if we could have figured out how to move her.
I am so sorry you went through that.
Powers of attorney (whatever they are called in any specific jurisdiction) are a matter of state law, and there is a lot of variation in the details, so no general rule applies. But also, a durable (i.e. non-springing) POA for health care is much less problematic than a general POA that would cover financial decisions.
And of course, the best paperwork in the world does not help when the hospital will not honor it. Which does sometimes still happen.
+1 as the person who knows firsthand that someone always abuses this trust. Do not put your children on your bank accounts. Family members account for most financial crimes against elders.
Posting twice just in case – adding yourself to their bank accounts makes you a co-owner, and that means you may be responsible to pay taxes on the interest income this year, all of you are subject to each others’ judgments, garnishments, etc. and you’re potentially tangling up their Medicaid eligibility in the future with yours. Trust me, this is a road you don’t want to go down. (a family member did – a lawyer!)
If they’re agreeable: ask them to make a list of their banks, financial advisers, tax preparers, and insurance agents (doesn’t have to be specific accounts or balances, just who you need to call in case of an issue), find out if they want to do pre-paid burial arrangements, if they have a safe deposit box or not. Double check they’re up-to-date on their estate planning, including discussions about probate/non-probate transfers.
For the ones who are 9 hours away, find out who they’d want you to reach out to if they needed local help and get that contact info. I assume you and your husband are only children, but if not you’ll probably also want to try and figure out where/how your siblings will be involved – for better or worse.
Honestly you’re borrowing trouble. My parents are same age range, Dad has stage 4 terminal cancer and they aren’t about to turn things over to me. They’re mentally competent and keep me informed of what’s going on but they make their own decisions and pay their own bills. One of my in-laws is in assisted living and when she hit that point, my husband took over her finances. It’s fine. It happens when it happens and you don’t need to pre worry about this stuff.
Is this really good advice? I thought even younger people were advised to have SOMEONE officially named in case they’re suddenly incapacitated and in need of someone to make serious medical decisions on their behalf.
That’s a weird scheme for parents to control their adult children forever. It’s not necessary.
That is the take of a woman from a dysfunctional family.
IDK I’d just put it in a safe and leave it there. Parents know enough to commit all the fraud they want and yet we don’t. Ditto many adult kids.
Grateful I had a no springing POA when my dad a stroke. Luckily he had the POA in his desk because I didn’t actually have it but I knew it existed.
Whose official medical decision maker is a parent? How did parents come into this? No one is “mentally competent” while unconscious in the hospital.
@4pm – smug married much?
I’m not the one you called “smug married”, but why can’t you name a trusted friend or sibling or cousin if you’re concerned about your parents controlling you forever? Nothing to do with marriage.
If your parents don’t want you to name a sibling or cousin or friend, yes that does imply your relationship is dysfunctional.
Married people need this less because hospitals may default to consulting the spouse ,so the smug married view is that this is all “borrowing trouble.” More of the people I know who went out of their way to declare medical PoA were unmarried than married, because they knew there was no spouse to consult!
thank you to whomever recommended project gutenberg. i’m happily about 100 pages into persuasion which i have never read but wanted to….
awesome! I also recommend the Internet archive, which has a back catalog of old TV shows free to watch. I’m still learning how to navigate the collection, but there is some great stuff there: I love Lucy, Yes Minister, and the old Doctor Who episodes.
i’m confused – wouldn’t you have been able to get that from the library for free? i almost never pay for anything these days.
Project Gutenberg is free & online. Very easily accessible.
No library card needed and it was discussed as being discreet to read at work
Project Gutenberg is free and only has works in the public domain, so free and 100% legal. The Internet Archive is also free and functions as a library. A couple of things are downloadable, most are only available for borrow. It has some pirated content, a good interface, and some really random, hard-to-find items. It also houses the Wayback Machine, which preserves webpages.
Just a tiny vent: After careful consideration taking exactly 36 hours, they have decided to move forward with other candidates. Ugh. Moving on…
It doesn’t take more than 36 hours to pick a candidate if everybody is there. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t carefully considered.
This job market is insane, at least where I am (NYC). I am hiring for a direct report and have never had so many overqualified candidates apply. It is really a buyer’s market right now.
I’m so sorry – hugs if you want them.
Job hunting is as much luck as skill, which can be very frustrating. The sting of rejection won’t last. Keep your head up!
I was auto-rejected by some D league companies and later got an offer from an A league company. The hiring process doesn’t always make sense.
Ugh, so sorry.
Help me find some recipes for lunches that don’t blow the calorie budget. I have been gaining weight and the one thing that has helped in the past is to keep lunches somewhat light. I usually have a latte for breakfast (I am rushing in the AM and not hungry) so I need something filling but still low calorie. Recipes would be ideal since I usually cook with a recipe,. I work from home so can make something.
Not a recipe, but considering adding a serving of fruit as a dessert. I might not feel full after my initial meal, but adding a peach or a bowl of strawberries or some melon slices as the next course? Now I feel full and don’t want to snack.
Eat a yogurt or something at breakfast. You cannot eat nothing for breakfast and keep lunch lite
I mean, you definitely can.
Since you’re not eating breakfast, how about some breakfast foods for lunch? I like oatmeal, fruit, Greek yogurt, and vegan breakfast sausages … any combination of these things works & it takes minimal prep/cooking time.
Protein shake
Canned tuna in a salad with very little dressing or mayo
I find it much easier to have a big breakfast, medium lunch and small dinner myself. Then I’m fueled for the workday and not tempted to snack. Easier said than done but small lunches have always led to weight gain not loss.
Budget Bytes crustless quiche.
So you’re drinking a 200 calorie latte with no nutritional value and are probably overeating at lunch to compensate for low blood sugar. Recipes might help, but you need an earlier snack with protein that is filling so you aren’t overeating at lunch. Eat some yogurt or toast and peanut butter by 10 to see if that helps. Just 100-200 calories would keep you in a 400 “breakfast” calorie goal that keeps your blood sugar even until lunch.
Eat a protein shake at breakfast.
https://www.woodlandgardensorganic.com/recipes/just-keeps-getting-better-lentil-salad
Thank you to whoever suggested the Uniqlo mini dress the other day. I just picked mine up and it it perfect!
I play violin and love it but consider us to be a hothouse flower of musicians. Band is cool. Rock bands are cool. We sit and are indoors and get sheet music. And yet mariachi — are these the only standing outdoor violins? How did this evolve separately? Guitars go outside and so do ukuleles. Pa Ingles took his fiddle in a covered wagon. But as a kid I just saw the limits.