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Updated: Nov 1, 2018 237 Comments · by

Thursday’s TPS Report: Angel Dress

The Personal Shopper (TPS)· Under $150

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Our daily TPS reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices. Reiss Angel DressReiss is having some killer sales right now — tons of $350 dresses down to below $100. Take, for instance, this paneled dress (which I believe Claire Underwood wore on House of Cards). Love the elbow-length sleeves, the ladylike V-neck, and the interesting paneling — and the huge, massive sale. It's available in navy and red (limited sizes only, alas) for $97 (was  $360). Angel Panel Detail Dress Seen a great piece you'd like to recommend? Please e-mail tps@corporette.com. (L-2)

Sales of note for 9.10.24

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Comments

  1. anon

    I’m sure this has been asked before, but what is Reiss’s sizing like? I’m a 2 in Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, an XS in most stuff….

    • Reiss Smithfield

      I’d say Reiss is cut narrower and longer than Ann Taylor, BR, JCrew, etc. I think XS in most things will be 2 or 4 in Reiss. If you are petite you’ll have to get it hemmed.

    • Anon

      Curious also. If Kate Middleton and Claire Underwood wear this, how does it work if you are not shaped like them (who knows — their stuff is probably heavily tailored and not off the rack). If you’re a Nordstrom Taylor Curvy 6 in pants, is that like a Reiss 10 (with heavy altering to the waist)? And do any stores carry them? I’d hate to order 10 pieces to check sizing just to wind up sending them all back.

    • Diana Barry

      I think it is slightly smaller than J Crew, but the latter has been making their sizes weird for a while now, so who knows.

      I just got 2 suits from them – one was an 8 jacket and fit well, the other was a size M jacket and was giant.

    • Clementine

      I wear one size up in Reiss- normally a 6 in J Crew/BR/etc but I wear an 8 with Reiss.

      Also, for the taller/longer torsoed ladies out there- I ordered this dress and sadly had to return it. It’s tailored for someone with a torso about 4 inches shorter than mine is (I’m 5’8). Consequently, the hips hit too high but because of the way it was tailored in the back, there wasn’t a way to alter it and have it fit correctly- I just needed 4 more inches of length in the torso.

      I got indigo and the color was gorgeous and I really liked the neckline and elbow length sleeves but ended up returning this and one other Reiss dress. I have another Reiss dress (in a 6- bodycon not office dress) and don’t have this problem at all.

      • LackingLuster

        I also ordered this dress and had to return it. I’m normally a US 2, ordered this in a 4, it was cut too tightly around the hips but weirdly had extra fabric that ballooned out a little in the midsection. I am also 5 foot 8. Maybe the same problem. I don’t own any other Reiss.

    • MJ

      I own a lot of Reiss, and it’s cut small (but relatively long, especially in the arms). I’d say similar to Theory. They do not anticipate you have hips.

      • Hips don't lie

        Re: hips – YES. I went to a Reiss store last year, tried several dresses on and they were all terribly unflattering. If you have curvy hips I’m not sure Reiss would work (I’m normally a size 4/6).

    • Kanye East

      Dudes, I am here to tell you (and Ru can back me up if you won’t take my word for it) that I tried on this dress, and the waist was at my mid-ribcage and the hips were at my actual waist. I wanted to love this dress and make it mine, but it was not a good look.

      • Clementine

        Having had the SAME fit experience, I am relieved to find out I’m not freakishly long-torsoed all of a sudden and that this dress is just cut short in the torso.

      • zora

        Well, that’s where my waist actually is (sigh) so i want it even more!!! but reading the other comments, it probably still won’t accommodate my hippy-hips. {{{single tear}}}

    • Anon

      I bought this dress and love it. Same size as the OP, (size 2 AT, BR) and the size 4 was perfect. I am only 5’2, so can see where it might not work for taller people.

    • Annon

      Shopping ban for the year broken, I had to give in, first clothing purchase of 2014 !
      Hopefully the size fits.

    • B

      I normally wear a 12 at Banana, J. Crew, Tory Burch, etc. and it appears that Reiss only goes up to a 12, so no option to order up a size. It sound like it’s not worth even bothering to order anything – if anyone disagrees, please let me know.

  2. Anonymous

    Any advice or resources to help me prepare for a behavioral interviewing (“tell me about a time that you…”)? I’m an in-house attorney and don’t recall ever encountering such a thing in my career. It has been a while since I’ve interviewed…

    • NOLA

      I would say that you can assume that the those kinds of questions will be crafted to get at the skills, qualifications, and characteristics that they have already expressed in the job posting. The other possibility is getting at whether you fit with the culture – that may be harder to prepare for. They’re just getting you to try to describe examples that illustrate how you fit those qualifications and their culture – beyond your resume. So look through the job posting and try to figure out what they’ll be looking for. Otherwise, I would say that, if you need a minute to think, that’s ok. Don’t ramble while you think. We once had a candidate, in phone interviews, who wasn’t really qualified, so when we asked her these questions, she would say “I don’t really know but… ” then ramble on. It was painful.

    • TBK

      What I’ve heard is that you should think of 4-5 stories from your work history ahead of time. Then when you’re asked a question, you pull from one of these stories and highlight the issue the interviewer raised. So if you did a major project last year, you think through what you accomplished on the project, what challenges you faced, how you handled those challenges, where you might have improved, what your interactions with your team members were like, etc. Then if you get to the interview and the interviewer says “tell me about a time that you had to overcome a challenge under a tight deadline” you probably already know when you did something like that on one of your past projects.

      • rosie

        In addition to this, think about what are the relevant parts of the 4-5 stories so you don’t go off on random details. For me, it’s helpful to think of a 1-2 sentence way to frame the experience so I can easily give a clear context for the example.

        • eagon

          Try the STAR method:
          Situation
          Task
          Action
          Result
          Spend most of your time talking about your actions and results. Least on situation and task. Generally the impulse is to go into lots of detail about S & T, but A is where the action is, and R shows how you add value.

      • BankrAtty

        A variation on this advice is to write down 5 adjectives that you want the prospective employer to associate with you, and then concrete examples from your work history of each quality. (I usually make something like a bubble chart of this information, so I can visualize it…) This means that all of your examples and stories ultimately come back to a handful of core qualities.

    • ChandraNH

      Our organization uses behavioral interviewing techniques and it is because our philosophy is that past behavior predicts future behavior and success.

      You’ll want to provide very specific examples for each question of what happened, what was expected, how you handled it and what the outcome was. Don’t be vague.

    • HappyHoya

      Remember that behavioral interviewing questions may ask about negative things (times when you failed, didn’t meet a deadline, were reprimanded at work, etc.). According to the advice I’ve received (which I believe has served me well), the interviewer wants to see how you handle these questions as much as they are looking for what you say in response to these questions. Staying positive and calm when being honest about failure is important. It shows your confidence isn’t easily shaken and they won’t have to walk on eggshells around you.

      • emeralds

        I would also say, that with those inevitable “Tell me about when you struggled” questions, to remember to also talk about how you fixed it/what you learned/what you would do differently next time. My answer is usually along the lines of “In [previous position], I struggled with [thing] because of [reason]. When I realized this was causing [problem], I took [these steps] to fix it. And I learned that, going forward, I need to be more mindful of [action that I can take] and also [thing that speaks to office fit].”

    • OHCFO

      BTW, just had a candidate yesterday in a behavior based interview whose story could have been ok, but he provided extraneous details that made the response veer toward inappropriate. Fewer words that directly speak to the example are better!

    • brittaland

      I recently went through an exhaustive round of behavioral prep and a few things helped me.

      1) Practice. My first practice was pretty awkward and I realized I wasn’t fully prepared. It was a good wake up call and made me realize I had a lot more work to do.

      2) Organize your stories. I made a spreadsheet with the following rows for the category of story: individual contribution, manage/lead, persuade, analytical skills, challenge/failure, creativity, teamwork, dealing with ambiguity, project management…the categories will vary depending on what is critical for your role. The rows were: background, strengths shown, my specific actions, outcome, and relationship to “personal brand” (you will need to have thought about your personal brand…lots of good info online for this).

      3) Read the book “Brag” by Peggy Klaus. You may not need this but it helped me breakthrough the awkwardness of talking about myself.

      Good luck!!

      • brittaland

        Sorry, meant to say the COLUMNS were “background, strengths shown, my specific actions, outcome, and relationship to “personal brand”…

        • Silvercurls

          I read it the first time and mentally substituted “columns” where you had said “rows.” Very helpful idea! Thanks.

  3. LilyB

    Just bought that Reiss dress last week- love it! I got a size 6, normally wear a 2-4 in Banana/J Crew. So consider sizing up one size.

    • emeralds

      I love that dress. OMG. This is the first time I’ve been seriously tempted to break my clothes-buying ban.

  4. Diana Barry

    Hey ladies – I need a new work tote bag to schlep my files back and forth between work and home. Currently I have a Michael Michael Kors tote in pebbled leather that is red.
    Requirements:
    – leather;
    – BIG in order to haul a bunch of legal sized redwelds;
    – one pocket inside, no dividers (again, for files);
    – not too heavy.
    – Under $300 would be ideal.

    Has anyone seen anything like this lately? :)

  5. Legally Brunette

    Has anyone had professional teeth whitening done in a dentist’s office? I think there is something called Zoom but there might be others as well. I have been using the Crest professional whitening strips I bought at the drugstore and don’t see any difference (admittedly, I’ve been using them sporadically but even then I would hope to at least see some improvement). I am not a coffee drinker (black tea one cup a day) and drink the ocassional glass of red wine, and my teeth are noticeably more yellow than they were in past years.

    Can anyone comment on the effectiveness, cost, and pain of such a procedure (I have heard that some people who have this done feel an intense pain/sensitivity)? Anything I should know ahead of time?

    • SouthAsian

      The British introduced milk/cream with their tea because the tea was staining their china. So……

    • Ellen

      Yay! I love REISS Dresse’s, I would get this dress, Kat execept for the V neck, which give’s Frank a cheep excuse to peek and I am VERY TIRED of him lookeing at my boobie’s.

      As for the OP, I did get my dentist, Dr. Vine to give me an IN-OFFICE whitenening treatment that realy helped me b/c for year’s I drank black tea and it stained my teeth. Dr. Vine cleaned all of that up in 1 treatement in office. Yes, my teeth were sensitive for a while, mabye a week, but that went away.

      Dr. Vine gave me a followup home treatement, he made a plastic mold of my top and bottom teeth, then I squeeze in some of this Opalescence and let it stay for the eveneing and I take it out, brush my teeth, and go to sleep. The manageing partner says I have teeth like Jenifer Annisten and mabye he is right, but it was worth it. I wished I had the BODY of Jenifer Annisten, b/c if I did, I would SURELEY be MARRIED by now. Yay for the Teeth, but FOOEY b/c I do NOT have her body.

      Willem want’s to know if I would make our dateing exclusive. I realy do NOT want to comit to that b/c that leave’s me out of the cold if another guy come’s along. But considering that most guy’s are looser’s, including guy’s like Gonzalo and the manageing partner’s nephew, mabye I do not loose to much. I need to get MARRIED and have children, in that order, so I am getting pressure to do SOMETHING. Mean while, Mason and Lynn are goieing at it hot and heavy. I surely hope he does NOT hurt her. FOOEY on him if he doe’s. Most men do. DOUBEL FOOEY!

    • Anon

      I’ve heard from someone that using Crest Whitestrips is just as effective and that they wouldn’t bother with teeth whitening in the first place. Maybe try to full regimen per the instructions.

    • kc esq

      I had Zoom done about 5 years ago. I noticed a considerable difference, but I found it terribly painful for about 12 hours after the procedure — definitely make sure you have no other plans after. According to my dentist, mine was about the worst reaction you can have, for whatever that’s worth. The effects lasted about a year.

      • anon-oh-no

        i actually just did the crest professional whitestrips and had the same reaction. for 24 hrs. it sucked. and then of course i googled it and found out this is fairly common both with the OTC and the dentist.

      • anon0321

        I had it done about 10 yrs ago and also had the same reaction. It felt like my teeth were hollow and in pain in that hollowness at the same time. I remember I kept downing ib-profin and nothing helped until it just faded the next day.
        Since then I haven’t been able to use strips because I start to get the same weird pain after a day or too.
        They do have a kit that goes slower though for more sensitive teeth (Crest I think?). That one seemed to be ok for me.

    • mascot

      I did a treatment with one of the freestanding companies that used the gel/uv light. Took about an hour and there was no real sensitivity like I had with whitestrips. I did take some advil ahead of time. There are usually deals on groupon/ living social etc.

    • Bewitched

      I didn’t do teeth whitening in my dentist’s office, but I did purchase a “system” from my dentist-it’s basically a plastic mold (upper and lower separate) which you use with a gel that they sell you. You put the gel inside the mold, and put the molds on your teeth for 2 hours. Do it for a week or 10 days, one session per day, and your teeth are Hollywood sparkling! Benefit is that you can keep the mold for years and just purchase new gel. I think I paid about $400 for the molds and starter gel. It can cause some sensitivity for the first day but not too bad. I didn’t do it for a full week but did notice a very visible improvement. The molds are very lightweight and could be worn out in public (no eating/drinking with them on) but for me, they caused a slight lisp, so I tended to do it at home, after dinner. I’ve had the molds for several years now and they’ve held up well.

      • mascot

        I have these too. You’d ask your dentist for custom whitening trays. They will know what you are asking for.
        Getting the molds actually made involves basically filling your mouth with putty to take a full set of impressions, similar to what they do when you get braces. It’s slightly unpleasant.

    • LilyB

      I got a system called Luster, it was about $40, and I’m happy with it so far. I’d give that a try before paying $$$ at the dentist’s office. I hate white strips, they make my teeth hurt SO bad and they’re a pain to use. Luster uses a rinse, then a gel that you brush onto your teeth, then hold up a light to your mouth for 2 minutes, and repeat as many times as you want. I’ve had almost no tooth sensitivity and pretty good results.

    • Anne Shirley

      I would really recommend trying the OTC products properly first. They’re cheaper and in my experience less likely to cause sensitivity.

    • MJ

      I did Zoom from a Groupon about two years ago. My appt was at 8am and I was done by 10am. (I got to watch Austin Powers during the procedure). It just felt sort of hot while it was happening, but not painful. The doctor warned me that it’s generally not too painful for most people and that ibuprofen afterward would be a good call. But…I have redhead undertones/coloring, AND…that means I am more sensitive to pain.

      I got home around noon and major, crazy pain kicked in. Like the air passing through my teeth hurt me. For hours. Yes, breathing hurt. It was EXCRUCIATING. So my advice is that if you do this, get ahead of the pain by taking painkillers first. It wasn’t painful at the time of the procedure, but it hurt like a mother afterward.

    • Alana

      In order to get a proper color before repairing a chipped tooth, the dentist made a tooth mold and provided whitening gel. As a person with tooth sensitivity, Orajel helped. The indoor and outdoor temperature also made a difference, so I learned to use the gel over the weekends during warm weather rather than deal with the effects of winter or a cool office where the temperature is under someone else’s control.

    • S in Chicago

      Don’t do it. I did Zoom whitening before my wedding and had never had any problems with tooth sensitivy (I used strips a lot and had good effects, but figured professional would be even better). It didn’t hurt when it was done but hours later it felt like I had zings of electricity shooting through my mouth. Literally, bring you to your knees with shots of pain. I took some of my husband’s leftover painkillers from knee surgery because it was so horrible. And even though I’m not once to see a doctor if I don’t have to, I literally went back and forth for about a half hour on whether to get to the emergency room. The pain finally stopped within a few hours and then there was sensitivity for another day or so. But it was such a horrible experience. Don’t even risk it.

      FWIW, another friend had Zoom done and didn’t notice any results at all. My teeth were a bit whiter (not much) and nothing different from strips. I’ve had better luck having trays made at my dentist and using whitening stuff from them.

    • anon-oh-no

      i dont know about these specifically, but i find jimmy choo to be the least comfortable of all of my high end shoes. stuart weitzmann and manolo blahnik are by far the most comfortable.

    • A Nonny Moose

      There is a (very small heel) wedge version of these– I think they are Beck– which I wore for my wedding and LOVED. I didn’t want a height boost so that worked out really well for me; can’t speak to the heeled version. But to contrast the above poster I have two other pairs of JCs (very basic work pumps) and I find them very comfortable.

      • DowntownBK

        I wore the Becks for my wedding, too, and loved them! I had the gold glitter version… they were perfect for me since DH is only an inch or two taller…

    • J Choo Too

      I am pretty sure I tried those on and found them comfortable. I decided to go with the lower heel Jimmy Choo Isabel for my wedding later this year.

    • DC Wonkette

      I wore the Isabel version of these shoes for my wedding and loved them. Completely comfortable for 7 hours with the lower heel and so pretty. I’m not trying to figure out an excuse to wear them again (any thoughts, ladies?)…

    • Carly

      I have these in the gold color from last year. They are extraordinarily uncomfortable. It’s mostly that the fabric is very tight against my outer toes (baby toe and the one next to it). I’m sure it depends on your foot shape, though. If it helps, I find Prada and YSL comfortable on my feet, but cannot wear Louboutin at all. I’d strongly recommend trying them on in store.

      • J Choo Evelyns

        This is the problem I had too! I thought the fabric was a little tight on the outer edges. I thought the Isabel may have been too short for me but based on the reviews here I will go back and give it another looks.

        • J Choo Too

          I’m not sure if you are in NYC area, but if you are, I was able to get the Isabel for about 50% off at the Jimmy Choo outlet at Woodbury Commons this past summer.

        • Carly

          Maybe the sales people would have a suggestion for stretching it? It’s not leather though, so I don’t know if it would actually work. Anyway, you want to be comfortable and happy on your wedding day and not thinking about your poor feet!

  7. Emmabean

    I’ve been considering buying Sarah Potempa’s Beachwaver. It’s basically a spinning curling iron. Does anyone have it already? If so, can you speak to whether it made curling easier or faster? I can curl my hair with a curling iron now, but it takes longer than I’d like it to. I’d splurge on this if it would make it happen faster. Thanks!

    • zora

      have you tried curling with a flat iron? I’ve switched to that and it is SO much faster, but my hair is naturally straight and fine.

      • Emmabean

        Yes! I do that sometimes, but since I have naturally wavey (basically a bird’s nest) hair, it’s difficult to run the flat iron down the length of my hair. The curling iron allows me to curl it without snagging it if my hair is not blown out straight.

        • LilyB

          have you tried “leading” with a comb, so that the iron is passing over hair that was just combed through? my hair doesn’t get tangled but I use this method when I want a really smooth ironing job.

    • Anon

      No review, but as a heads up all Sarah Potempa is 15% off in the birchbox store until 4pm eastern with code SARAHPOTEMPA15

  8. AssociateAnon

    Man, we had an office event last night and when a particular associate didn’t have a drink, there was rampant speculation about the status of her uterus. Can’t a woman just not want a drink? It bummed me out.

    • Killer Kitten Heels

      This is why my drink-of-choice is vodka soda. So when the day comes that the contents of my uterus require me to switch to just soda, it’ll be easier to conceal.

      And yes, it’s sad that it even occurred to me to think this way, when I’m not TTC and not planning to anytime soon.

    • LizNYC

      How annoying! I’m not TTC or close to it, but I am watching what I consume, so I’ve been abstaining from alcohol more than I used to. This would annoy the heck out of me.

    • Parfait

      I declined a drink the other night and I got “I don’t even know who you are anymore.”

      A little annoying, but a lot less so than any cute remarks about my plumbing.

    • anon

      Yup. Most of my office has had me on bump watch since I got married. It’s just gross.

  9. Wildkitten

    Does anyone know the dimensions of the DC Bar certificate? I need to frame some stuff and would like to buy a frame for it before I get the actual document.

    • roses

      I don’t, because you have to special-order one. They don’t give one out for free, unfortunately. just FYI!

    • Wildkitten

      Everything about this process has been ridiculous, but I did place the order for the cert. Now waiting a couple months for it to arrive, apparently.

    • CountC

      You hilariously reminded me that I still haven’t received mine and I’ve been a member since October 2013!!!

  10. Thermos?

    I know I’ve seen it here before but can’t find the thread. What’s the thermos that everyone loves around here? I am looking for something sleek, midsized (like medium Starbucks size), and 100% leak proof that’s easy to clean.

    This is the difficult part though: I don’t really like the feeling/taste of plastic. Are there any thermoses that flip open into a cup or have a ceramic/metal lip?

      • RR

        I just got one for Christmas, and I love it. It does have a plastic part where you drink though.

      • Godzilla

        Yep, zojirushi. It doesn’t taste/feel like plastic to me. And it’s very sleek and easy to clean.

        • SF

          +1

          It is excellent. I bought one for myself and loved it. Then I bought it for my brothers and their wives for Xmas.

    • MJ

      I have a Thermos Backpack mug. It has plastic on the lip (and a locking clip, so it cannot leak in your bag) and it doesn’t taste like plastic to me :)

  11. LilyB

    Ladies- I’ll be spending 3 full days (not counting travel) in California in late April with my mom and cousin (who is my mom’s age). Our cousin lives in Hayward, and we’ll be staying with her, but we will have access to a car. I’m looking for the following:

    -suggestions for a full day’s worth of activities/eating in SF. We like cultural things, love architecture. Vegetarian-friendly restaurant recs would be awesome.

    -suggestions for another full day’s worth of activities in one or more locations we can get to conveniently from Hayward. Napa? Sonoma? Berkeley? Haven’ t been to any of those places.

    -for the third day, would prefer not to spend the entire day out and about- any suggestions for half-day activities convenient to Hayward?

    Also, what can I expect the weather to be like at the very end of April? TIA!

    • Silver

      SF is very veg friendly. For vegetarian places, there’s a ton of Indian options in the South Bay. In SF some good options include Greens, Millennium, Burma Superstar, and Saha. In Berkeley, there’s Cancun (great salsa bar), Cha Ya for vegan sushi and of course Cheeseboard. Have fun!

        • hellskitchen

          If you like Indian flavors, check out Dosa in SF. Indian fusion with more subtle flavors than your usual Indian restaurant. It is delish!

        • Sarabeth

          I actually (as a vegetarian) anti-recommend Greens. Have been underwhelmed by the food, and SF is veggie-friendly enough in general that you don’t need to go to a vegetarian restaurant. If you want to, though, Millennium is better.

          How fancy? Coi will do a vegetarian tasting menu. Range, a bit less fancy, will always by my favorite place in the city. In Napa, I believe Ubuntu is still around. Papalote has lots of veggie options for burritos. There’s a million places on Valencia these days for a $10-$15 meal, it’s fun to wander until you find something that looks good. Delfina pizza, Perbacco, Berretta, are all good Italian options (Delfina’s restaurant has fewer veggie options). Get Bi-Rite ice cream and walk up to the top of Dolores Park. I need to stop this list before I quit my job to move back to the city…

          • Amy H.

            Unfortunately, Ubuntu has closed. There are tons of great casual vegetarian options in the Oxbow Market in Napa proper, though. I also love Redd, Redd Wood and Bouchon in Yountville (none of these have a vegetarian focus, but all will have delicious veggie options).

          • ExcelNinja ,,,^..^,,,

            Hey zora, I have no plans this weekend and it would be fun to meet up with another r e t t e! Are you open to a lunch? :-) you can email me at excelninja r e t t e at google mail.

          • zora

            Oh darnit! I am going out of town this weekend! Unlike every single other weekend :o( but I’ll email you, let’s do something soon!

    • Orangerie

      You don’t necessarily need to spend a whole day in Berkeley – it’s only about a 30 minute drive from Hayward. I’d go have lunch/do some shopping there on your third half day, and spend one of the full days in Napa. It’s usually gorgeous up there in April.

    • MJ

      Check out Sunset Magazine online. They have “Day Out”/”Things to Do In _____” features which are just what you are looking for. In SF, I would suggest Legion of Honor (gorgeous views), a walk on Chrissy Field, and maybe a visit to Burma Superstar or a walk on Union Street in Cow Hollow to go shopping. If you have more time, maybe a visit to Academy of Science too, but I prefer the Legion of Honor over that…I think it’s cooler. (Also, the café at the Legion is pricy, but completely delish, if you want to do lunch there). NB: Sunset’s search feature on the website is a bit (rap, but if you search on the goog and then use the links from there to get to Sunset’s website, that’ll help.

      For your other day out, I would suggest a day hike in Marin (Mount Tam/Muir Woods), further afield, Point Reyes National Seashore or a quick trip to Sausalito (lots of cute shops to walk around and visit). If you are not looking for something that active, I would suggest winetasting. Sunset can also suggest itineraries.

      Also, if you’re willing to drive South, you could do Monterey and Carmel in one day too and visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which is super-amazing.

      In April, SF could be gorgeous and sunny (once the fog burns off) and just stunning, or it could be raining. It’s just hard to know in advance…you’re going to have to check the weather right before you visit, unfortunately.

    • ExcelNinja

      Sounds like you have a great plan already! I second the suggestion to skip the full day at Berkeley and just head up to Napa/Sonoma instead. There’s also a great wine region near Hayward called Livermore that you might want to check out – it’s not as far.

      You will have no trouble finding restaurants in SF of any kind. Yelp is used a lot around here.

      The weather at the end of April will be beautiful – probably low/mid 70s and sunny, but hotter in Sonoma/Napa and the South Bay (SF has its own special climate). Bring a jacket or light sweater and carry it around with you – it gets chilly at night! (I moved here from Canada and was very surprised at the temperature differential between day and night)

      Actually, if you really love wine, you could do Sonoma/Napa (I personally like Sonoma better and find it more friendly) on day 2, and then Livermore on day 3 since it’s so close :)

      My favorite day in the City was one where my hubs and I went for breakfast, then walked all the way from downtown/financial district up to Fisherman’s Wharf through Chinatown, just stopping as things/shops caught our attention along the way. Also, the Alcatraz tour has won awards and is so worth it, but will take up half of your day.

      The SF MoMa was decent but small. You can burn through it in a couple of hours.

      • LH

        I’d definitely go to Napa/Sonoma for your full day. Livermore is kind of dumpy (granted, I’ve only been there to go to a rodeo, so I saw a, shall we say, “different” kind of crowd, but still – it’s not my favorite place). I think the majority of locals probably prefer Sonoma but I much prefer Napa/Yountville. If you like food, you can’t go wrong in Yountville – pretty much any restaurant you walk into will be excellent. Napa and Yountville are definitely a little more touristy than Sonoma, but to me that’s a good thing, because it means the downtown areas are cuter and a little more developed & there are more things to do besides eat and drink. In Sonoma we kind of wandered around feeling like “what are we supposed to do between meals?” If your primary purpose is visiting wineries, you might like Sonoma better because I think the tastings might be slightly cheaper there.

        With 1 free day from Hayward, I’d definitely go to wine country as opposed to trying to go south to Monterey/Carmel. Carmel and that part of the coast are beautiful, but wine country is a lot closer.

        • LilyB

          thanks for your suggestions! My mom mentioned Livermore, but I’m really set on doing Sonoma or Napa so we’ll probably do one of those. Sounds like Berkeley can be done in a few hours. I was in Carmel/Monterey just a couple years ago so we can skip that.

        • Amy H.

          If you would like to check out the Sonoma side — and yes, the winery visits and tastings are cheaper there, plus they tend to waive tasting fees if you buy any bottles — I highly recommend the town of Healdsburg for wandering/shopping/eating. For tastings, just drive up and down Dry Creek Road and West Dry Creek Road and stop anywhere that looks good. I love Unti, Ridge, Rochioli, Quivira, Michel-Schlumberger, Seghesio, Medlock Ames, J, and Frick.

          On the Napa side, the town of Calistoga is small and cute. It’s at the north end of Napa Valley. Amazing wineries near there include Chateau Montelena (which won the white wine competition at the Judgment of Paris — subject of the movie “Bottle Shock” which is really fun to watch before a visit to wine country) and Schramsburg, which makes sparkling wines. If you make a reservation in advance you can go on a tour of their caves and find out all about how champagne-like wine is made. Plus lots of tasting. :)

          If you know your wine preferences, that’s the best way to decide which valley to visit. Love Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay? Go to Napa Valley. Love Zinfandel and Pinot Noirs? Go to Sonoma Valley, and specifically, Dry Creek Valley (zins) and the Russian River Valley (pinots).

      • I am a banana.

        SF MoMa is closed for a remodel right now, so don’t put that on your list.

  12. Slow Cooker v. Oven

    Does anyone do low-and-slow oven cooking when you’re not home? I know it’s kosher to leave a slow cooker on all day if you’re not home. But an oven (better texture, can brown a roast in a Dutch oven and then put that into the oven) just seam like it would give you stuff that’s more interesting / varied in texture. It’s electric if that matters (like the slow cooker) (but under the stove part that is gas and wouldn’t be left on). I can’t help but think that my fire department friends would hate this idea (but I think they’d not like the slow cooker idea, either). #tiredofmush

    • Kathryn

      Hmmm… I’m pretty risk-loving when it comes to stuff like this and I don’t know if I would even do this all day while gone.

      What about roasting all day one weekend, chilling, then re-roasting at high heat to reheat and get a nice brown brust when you want to eat it? Stuff like this tastes better a day or two later anyways!

    • Kontraktor

      There are quite a few dishes that Orthdox Jews make this way because they can’t work on the the sabath. One dish called cholent is a beef and bean stew, recipes I’ve read basically say to stick it in the oven for 24 hours+ on really really low heat (the lowest the oven will go). Obviously people will leeave the house to worship while these are cooking, and you don’t hear too often about those folks’ houses burning down. Probably would be fine to do occasionally on low heat, taking care not to overfill the pot. I might be worried about the electric bill though. ;-)

      • Marilla

        Yep, my MIL uses the oven at low heat (I would guess at 200) for this. We have always used our slow cooker, but the oven works well and seems perfectly safe!

      • tesyaa

        People use a crock pot for this purpose, or an aluminum sheet on a very low heat stovetop burner. I don’t know anyone who actually does it in the oven. Even if using the oven, leaving the house for 2 hours vs. leaving for 8+ hours is entirely different.

    • roses

      Fire risk aside, bear in mind that it takes a ton of energy to run an oven – way more than a slow cooker. You’ll be facing a hefty electric bill if you run it all day.

    • mascot

      I’d be more okay with this technique if I was only out of the house for quick errands or doing it overnight as opposed to gone all day for work. It’s probably irrational from a safety perspective.

    • LizNYC

      Can you brown the meat before you put it in the slow cooker? This might make a difference in the mush level.

      • Parfait

        Yeah, I have a slow cooker where the innards can go on the stove, then pop into the slow cooker base.

    • NOLA

      I’ve never been able to talk myself into this. I only leave things in the oven when I’m home. A friend has a recipe that cooks at really low temp all night and I’d even be nervous about that. I have a gas oven so not concerned as much about the cost of leaving the oven on.

    • Coach Laura

      My oven has a timer setting. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has the oven turn on when I’m gone – surely that’s the point of the timer. My relatives use it all the time. I have put partially frozen dishes in the oven in the morning before leaving for work and the oven goes on at a certain time and then I also set the off time so the meal won’t be over cooked if I don’t get home as expected. I’m more worried about the dish coming to room temp and growing bacteria than I am about the house burning down.

      I don’t have a gas oven though, and I’d be more worried about that and the potential for problems.

    • anon

      I do this overnight (like for making stock in the oven, which is a great technique that I highly recommend, btw) but I am too risk averse to be out of the house with the oven going.

  13. Anon for today

    Sorry for the rant, but I just need to give a Godzilla RAWR at criminals and the justice system. I am sitting in the hallway of the courtroom for the 3rd time, missing work (which I have to make up), because I was subpeonaed for a case where someone found and missused MY credit cards. And down the defendant isn’t even here yet, 20 minutes after she was due. May I also add that she has already confessed that yes, she did use my cards fraudulently, so its not even a dispute.

    And do you know what this person bought with my credit card? $150 worth of food from Dominos! That she had delivered! And now I’m stuck here wasting MY time because she’s a repeat criminal offender. RAWR RAWR RAWR!

    • Labradoodle

      As a justice system participant can I just thank you for responding to your subpoena anyway? We couldn’t do our work without the support from the community and then the criminals really would be running things. Sorry you are having such a crappy day. Maybe the prosecutor can proceed in this woman’s absence? Maybe once she is picked up on a warrant she will plead guilty? If you didn’t show up the charges would be dismissed and then she definitely would get away with it.

      So, good for you, RAWR to her, but you can comfort yourself that at least you are doing the right thing!

    • Anon for today

      Here’s the link to the news story, for your amusement:http://www.morningjournal.com/general-news/20131119/police-stolen-credit-card-used-to-order-nearly-150-in-food

      Although they did add $1 to the order for a St Judes donation, they did NOT bother to trip the driver that delivered all that food, and he got subpoenaed as well.

      Last, sadly, the police officer also told me that there were several children in the house when he recovered the credit card, and since it was govt subsidized low-income housing the family will probably be kicked out for this offense, since forging my signature on the credit card receipt is a forgery, and felons are not permitted in those housing projects.

      • Anon for today

        *felony, not forgery . And she didn’t even spell my name right!

        But she didn’t show so now at least I can go have lunch with my husband. Tiny silver lining.

      • Yoga

        I read the story. RAWRS to the criminals and RAWRS at the ridiculous commenter who said you should decline to press charges against the theives/liars who spent YOUR MONEY because they were ‘bored.’ People are ridiculous.

        • Ginjury

          That comment really bothers me. It seems racist, as in “Oh pity those poor minorities. They just don’t know any better.” Ugh.

          • Matilda

            It took me a second to realize that you meant the comment in the article seemed racist, not Yoga’s comment. :-) Totally agree.

          • Anon for today

            I suspect the comment was sarcastic – our town has a lot of racial tension, and there was probably a story that day about it and how we should all be more understanding,, with one of the local hippies quoted as saying that if we all just held hands and sang kumbaya the world would be a better place with less crime.

            But yeah, the comment trolls on that news site are pretty bad, I dont even look at them anymore.

        • Orangerie

          Yeah, I read the story as well and that comment was a major WTF.

          OP, sorry you have to deal with all of this.

        • Senior Attorney

          And also, in my jurisdiction at least, the concept of “pressing charges” really no longer exists. If a crime is committed, it’s up to the prosecuting agency to decide whether to file. They may take into account whether the victim is cooperative, but it’s not up to the victim to decide whether a prosecution goes forward.

          And yes, it’s a shame that victims are not treated with more consideration in court. I’m glad you at least got a nice lunch date out of it today!

          • Jo March

            Yep, as a Crown attorney, it’s definitely not up to the victim/complainant to decide whether or not to proceed with charges. Though as SA says, their co-operativeness is definitely a factor in deciding whether it’s we have a reasonable likelihood of conviction (one of the considerations, along with public interest in proceeding) in deciding whether to actually prosecute.

    • Alanna of Trebond

      I dunno, it looks like a family that really needed food that stole to get it. :-(

      • Sadie

        I’m sorry, that is a ridiculous comment if you read the story. They placed ONE order of $150 worth of Dominoes. That’s not a needy family, that’s a party. $150 at the grocery store might be a different story. And it still wouldn’t excuse the behavior. I’ve BEEN on food stamps before, with children. If you’re careful, the amount they give you IS enough to feed your family. If you are too proud for food stamps, you ought to be too proud to steal.

      • Ginjury

        While that may be true, the way they went about getting the food was really foolish. They could have easily gone to the Domino’s and ordered the food there to avoid giving out their number and address. I looked it up and the Domino’s is less than a 10 minute walk from their neighborhood.

        Not to mention, they clearly knew they were doing something illegal, hence trying so hard to cover it up. It’s certainly an unfortunate situation and more resources should be available so people should are not forced to go without, but that doesn’t mean they can spend $150 of someone else’s money on Domino’s pizza.

      • ExcelNinja

        It made me sad to hear about an under-privileged and hungry family too, but unfortunately stealing someone’s credit card number is not the way to go (even if it had been groceries instead of domino’s). I personally have been very poor and hungry myself ($5 used to get me enough beat-up apples and cheap peanut butter to last a week) so I definitely sympathize with their plight but stealing is wrong and counter-productive (losing their housing).

      • Alanna of Trebond

        I agree that this family was not very bright and certainly not very good at using the resources they have. But this makes me more sad than people being arrested for drug possession (which many people oppose) — a felony will be on their record forever and evict them from their home — how can this help them from stealing again? $150 of domino’s pizza doesn’t sound like that much food for a number of children and their parents.

        • Anon

          I don’t think it was a family trying to get the most food for their buck. They ordered 8 liters of soda and stuffed bread. There were only 2 pizzas actually ordered.

      • Olivia Pope

        Not to me it doesn’t, and I grew up in extreme poverty. Government assistance, food banks, getting excess food from restaurants while they are closing, etc, is how need looks. Heck, even stealing food from grocery store looks like need (still morally wrong and shortsighted though).

        Stealing a credit card to get food delivered to your house just look like criminal activity, plain and simple.

    • NOLA

      Someone once used my credit card to sign up for the TOEFL – of course in their own name. Sorry you’re going through this!

    • Anonie

      Honestly, I am really surprised that you got such a proactive response from police. When my checks were stolen and someone was using them all over town, it was like pulling teeth just to get a police report to submit to my bank. I have never heard of police doing anything to investigate fraudulent credit card charge.

      • SF

        Yeah…. A friend of mine had his violin worth $35,000 (not kidding) stolen, and through amazing detective work found the person who stole it. My friend called every vioin/musical instrument dealers within a 5 state area and had them look for someone coming in trying to pawn it. And sure enough, someone brought in the violin to a local dealer – in the same city it was stolen! The store owner called my friend to warn him, and gathered the thief’s personal information to give the police.

        My friend went to the police with everything, after already filing a police report when it was stolen. They couldn’t be bothered to look into it. They just brushed him off and said… “for all we know the guy didn’t steal it himself… blah blah blah”. They never called him, never went to see him.

        My friend never got his violin back…. The thief just got away with it.

      • Anon for today

        Yes, I was very lucky on the police front, and I am appreciative that we do have a good and responsive police force here – just enough crime to justify having a decent size force, but not enough to keep them too busy dealing with more serious crimes. I also did some of the legwork myself (determining that the Dominos was the local store, calling them and talking to the manager) and it helped that the officer was able to get over to Dominos while the manager and delivery person were still working that day, and the dumb criminals still had the pizza and wing boxes spread out in their living room.

        Although I am a little annoyed that I ordered (for my family) from Dominos the other day, and the employees recognized my name and asked if I was the same person (very small town) – but they still didn’t ask to see my ID!

        • Blonde Lawyer

          Are you the person that had too much to drink and lost her purse? I was curious how that ended.

  14. Yoga

    Someone here recommended a morning/night yoga routine DVD not too long ago. Can anyone remind me what it was??

    • Baconpancakes

      I’m a fan of the Rodney Yee AM Yoga for your week, particularly for beginners – it has five very quick routines that focus on standing poses, backbends, forward bends, twists, and hip openers. 20 minutes each – a really good intro.

  15. Kathryn

    Hi hive-

    I’m going to Las Vegas for a conference at the end of March. I’m an event planner, so I’ll be there to make sure our client event runs smoothly and handle the other entertainment things we do (going out, restaurants, etc). I have been on a total shopping freeze for several months and feel like I have nothing to wear, and I think I’m ready to splurge a bit for one or two dresses.

    I’d like something I could wear to work with a cardigan/blazer, but that’s a bit more fun/super flattering to wear in Vegas. We’ll probably be going to nightclubs and trendy restaurants.

    I’m curvy. The Reiss dress above is amazing, but I’m not sure if it will fit correctly (see: curves) and also, is it fun enough? Any thoughts on styles, stores, or specific dresses would be amazing. I’d also like to keep this on the modest side, price-wise. Thinking something similar to the above, a nice brand that’s on sale for $100 or a bit less.

      • Kathryn

        No, it’s the GIOA conference actually. I’m in finance. Will you be there (in LV) too?

    • zora

      I’m curvy on the bottom, and I have had great luck with Karen Kane’s dresses that have A-line skirts. Their jersey is thick and really holds up, and they have good patterns too. Of course I have a high waist, and you don’t say where your waist/hips are, but might be worth checking out.

      • Kathryn

        Awesome. I have a high waist too. I’ve never heard of her but am going to check her stuff out now! Thanks.

  16. XC

    Reading TJ – I know there was a previous discussion about not having time to read for pleasure. I’m an avid reader, but I’m getting a bit overwhelmed. I can finally download a book I had on hold from the NYPL, but now I’ll have to be in a reading frenzy to finish all the books I checked out.

    All of that to say, I don’t have a real question or problem. I just wanted to rant out my frustrations.

    • M

      What’s your frustration, exactly? That you have too many books to read? Not trying to be a jerk, just trying to figure out the complaint.

    • KC

      It’s some sort of library law that when you have multiple holds, they’ll all become available at once. :)

      Usually I pick either the one with the longest wait list or the one I’m most excited to read and return the others and re-add myself to the wait list for them. I figure that if there’s no chance I’ll finish them all, I’m better off letting the next person in line have the book instead of waiting a few weeks for my borrowing period to expire.

      • Lady Harriet

        Does your library have a way of suspending holds do that you stay on the list, but won’t be sent the book until you activate the hold again? My brother is an avid reader and has 200+ books on hold from the library. (He’s reached the hold limit, so he actually has another list off books to add when he frees up space in his holds.) He only activates a couple of books at a time so he doesn’t get swamped. It also means that by the time he’s ready for a book he’s almost always first on the list.

    • LizNYC

      I hear you. I just returned “Gone Girl” for the 3rd time unread because I have such high hopes when I check it out, but then I get sucked into another book. Maybe the 4th time will be a charm. :P

    • OHCFO

      Maybe not the most ethical solution but…

      The way my library works with the dowloads is that it automatically sucks the book back once the check-out period is over. But it can’t do that if you disable your wireless (airplane mode). If I’m in the middle of a long book and I’m afraid that it will get taken back, I go into airplane mode until I’m done with it. Actually, I keep it in airplane mode most of the time to keep the battery life strong.

      • Portia

        My library’s ebooks work this way too. On the due date the book ends up back in their system so others can check it out, but it also stays on your device until you connect to the wi-fi/3g. If you turn your wireless off you can’t add any new books if you have additional holds come available, but it does let you finish whatever you were working on.

      • Mpls

        Yeah, I totally do that too. But I also make a point of returning the book before the end of my check out period if I’m done with it, so I figure it balances out.

    • Anon

      I’m currently very sleepy at work because I stayed up way too late last night reading… in part because the thread the other day gave me some great ideas. So, commiseration? :)

      • CapHillAnon

        Plenty of commisseration–I’m a bit embarrassed to say how frequently this happens to me when I’ve got a good book going! Which book were you reading last night? Hang in there! Have some tea, some chocolate, and get back on a reasonable schedule tonight

  17. I'm Just Me

    I love the new patterns that Lands’ End has for spring in their ponte welt pocket dress, and I know the dress fits well. But will the fact that the pattern isn’t matched along the front seam line make me crazy?

      • Miss Behaved

        Oh, wow. Those are cute. I’m trying to decide if I like it better in the pink or the blue print.

    • Totally Agree -- LE needs to step up its game

      I’ve long thought that how LE pieces these dresses out of smaller pieces of fabric cheapens the look. I would spend more $ to have the top front (one dress) or bottom front (other dress) be of one piece of fabric (same with the back, but that has been less of a problem). Talbots does their ponte dresses this way and they look a ton better with the only visible seams at the waist detailing.

      THEN LE came out with these pretty patterns on The Dress. So pretty! But they’re noticeable paterns and that front seam on the skirt part makes them look horrible! As much as I love, I’m holding myself back. I usually love LE, but I hope they read this and fix this and I’d be happy to buy The Dress again.

      • Ginjury

        Agreed. I really love the dresses, but that front seam with a pattern that doesn’t match just completely throws it off. I honestly feel like I could do a better job myself and I’m not a stellar seamstress.

    • Mpls

      There’s a chance that they might match on the one you actually receive? This would be a case where I might want to see it in the store – there have got to be at least a few that match up more closely than that, even if just be chance.

    • AMB

      It’s not so bad on the navy floral one (which I am currently having to restrain myself from ordering…)

      • Meg Murry

        Yes, the navy floral one looked ok in the store – I actually noticed the seam less than on the solid. I didn’t see the pink or blue print though. I have the solid version and the seam does annoy me, but I got it on enough of an end-of-season sale that I don’t care. I wouldn’t have paid full price for it though. Then again, I never pay full price for ANYTHING from Lands End – they pretty much always have some kind of coupon code going.

  18. "Whatcha working on?"

    Do you guys find it annoying if friends at work consistently ask what you’re working on? I have a friend here who was in the same position as me and was recently promoted. At least twice a week when saying hi he’ll look down at whatever I’m typing/reading, and ask “What do they have you working on now?” For the life of me I can’t figure out why it’s so annoying to me but it somehow really is. What’s your take?

    • HSAL

      Honestly, if it was a friend I’d probably answer “your mom.” It would bug me too.

      • OP

        Hahahaha, I love this. Like, dude – get out of my face. I get immediately flooded with irritation everytime he asks.

    • Em

      Normally it’s just office small talk. If this guy is doing it in a way that suggests he thinks he’s your boss or something that’s one thing, but otherwise he’s probably just trying to make conversation.

      • OP

        Thanks for your perspective! But it’s weird – we have tons of other stuff to talk about (some common t.v. shows, etc.) It just somehow bugs when he starts leaning in and looking at my papers .
        Thing is – I’m sure you’re right. :)

        • ExcelNinja

          Oh, this question would not bother me, but the leaning in and looking definitely would!! My coworkers and I often chit-chat about stuff we’re working on, but I feel like peeking at each other’s screens while asking would change the tone of the question entirely to more of a snooping sneaky insinuation that you’re not actually working on anything.

    • Matilda

      Has he always asked this, or just since his promotion? If he’s always asked, then there may be nothing to it: I actually ask the colleagues at my level pretty frequently what they’re working on, and mostly it’s just me making small talk — there’s no ulterior motive. I’m just a touch socially awkward, and I suck at the whole “How’s the wife and kids?” line of conversation. (Now I feel bad — I hope I’m not irritating anyone!)

      Another possibility (and I’m totally projecting my office culture here on your situation, which may not be appropriate) is that he may be trying to gauge whether you have the capacity to take on more work or help him with a project.

      • OP

        I’m sorry I made you second-guess yourself! I truly think I’m picking up on something else unique to him in the seemingly innocent question. After writing my initial complaint, I recalled I have a couple other friends who actually ask me the same thing. Somehow it seems much more casual when they do it. Maybe it’s also because they’re not leaning into my work and looking at it when asking!
        There’s always been a touch of competitiveness from him, which I would’ve thought would have abated when he was promoted. It might be that element that I’m reading into.
        Truly, I’m sure you’re fine. : ) I think people can pick up on intents behind questions. In your case, you’re just asking to be nice and friendly, and I imagine that’s detectable, even if not consciously so. And thanks for your perspective!

        • Marilla

          It sounds like you’re annoyed because he may be projecting an air of “I’m asking as your manager/because I think I can edit your work” or “I’m asking from my lofty promoted perch, because I am patronizingly interested in what the little villagers are doing.” Which is different than friends at work chatting about projects. My former manager does this sometimes and it vaguely annoys me too, but when co-workers sort of at my level (or just above or below) ask, it doesn’t annoy me at all and I like the opportunity to share info on our projects and priorities.

      • AnonInfinity

        I ask that a lot too (to the people on my level) because I figure that if someone is working on, say, an FMLA case and I get one later, that person might be a good resource if I run into a problem. Or if I’m at an event and someone asks me if my firm has experience in FMLA, I can say, “Yes! I know someone who’s working on that right now…”

        A new person started recently, and she never wants to answer and will always say something really vague (she’s the only one that does this). For a while I wondered if she thought I was asking so I could steal her work or if she thought I would be jealous of what she was doing (she’s taking over an area I was doing for a while that I am glad to give up), but now I wonder if she maybe just finds it annoying for some other reason. For the record, I stopped asking after it was clear she didn’t want to tell me. It has just bugged me and it never really occurred to me until this moment that would be an annoying question.

    • Woods-comma-Elle

      We have someone who asks this in order to elicit the response of ‘oh, X, what about you’ so that he can tell everyone about all the amazing work he is doing and how important he is and how much more important his work is than yours. Probably it’s just small talk, though.

    • Anon

      One of the guys I work with does this all the time. I think it’s a conversation starter more than anything. They aren’t sure what to say when they walk in so that’s the opener to the conversation.

    • zora

      Not this specific question, but there is a guy at work who just Annoys The Cr8p Out Of Me no matter what he says. I don’t know what it is and I know it’s totally my problem, but there’s something about his tone and mannerisms that just sets me off. I bite my tongue and send an allcaps IM to a friend (you know who you are) to get it out of my system when it happens, but it’s just this person. I think sometimes people’s personalities just don’t go well together and I try not to feel guilty about it. Or to breathe Godzilla fire which is what I really want to do.

  19. Dallas Therapist?

    Can anyone suggest a therapist in Dallas with experience in blended families/step-parenting issues?

    • KLG

      Not near Dallas, but just wanted to say good luck! My therapist is amazing in helping me deal with those sorts of issues.

      • Dallas Therapist?

        Thanks! Several women here have commented about how great their therapists have been to deal with these issues. Unfortunately, I don’t think any of those women are in Dallas.

    • My Stepkids' Mom

      If you want to call mine (not in Dallas, but we love her) and ask whether she knows anyone in Dallas, email me at namelessstepmom AT gmail and I will tell you her info.

    • Meg Murry

      Can you ask the guidance counselor at your kids (stepkids?) school? Chances are they’ve made referrals in the past.

  20. Anon for today

    Did I mention that they found my wallet in the grocery store parking lot? And down the street from the food pantry? I feel sorry for the kids, but thats still no excuse for stealing. The joke around town is that at least everyone would have understood if they used the cards for the good, local pizza place, not for Dominos crap :-)

  21. Purse Dilemma -- MZ Wallace

    I have new OG that I like a lot, but it’s both too big (50% of the time it’s just holding a wallet and a blackberry and some personal items) and too small (14″ laptop & a ream or so of paper). If I travelled more, I think it would be perfect, but it is a big large to take out at lunch and use as a purse. Probably should have gotten the TT, but hindsight is 20-20.

    I am thinking about switching to the MZ Wallace Bea for every day since it’s more purse like (and just using a plain vanilla tote for the buzy days in addition). Any thoughts re the Bea v. other MZ Wallace bags (I think the Belle would be my other choice; the Kate just seems to be too big)?

    • Killer Kitten Heels

      The Kate (which I have) is ENORMOUS. I carry a laptop, snacks, a Kindle, a wallet, a medium-sized makeup back, sometimes flats, and the usual purse odds and ends (plus 2 phones) daily, and the Kate holds it all without looking overstuffed.

      Bea and Belle would both probably be fine for what you’re describing – also the Jane (or maybe even the Baby Jane, you’d have to check the dimensions) would probably work.

    • Another MZ Wallace Fan

      I bought my first MZ Wallace based on Killer Kitten Heel’s recommendation on this site. They really should give her a commission because now I’ve bought another.

      I went with the Jane for my original purchase. It fits my laptop, kindle, contents of my purse, a pair of ballet shoes, umbrella and a makeup bag plus my phone and whatever other crap I feel compelled to carry on any given day. The Kate just looked far too big on my frame (but I could totally have filled that bag with stuff to carry!). I carried the Jane daily for months and it still looks new. I bought the Bianca for weekends and love that shape as well. Harder to cram my laptop into though but it still fits.

      I’m already eyeing another bag in navy. I really need to stop.

      • Killer Kitten Heels

        They just came out with the new dark gray color, and I’m drooling over it, even though I already have a dark grey bucket bag for weekends from JPK Paris. I so need to get a grip on myself.

  22. PSA

    Just wanted to tell everyone that I’ve been doing T25 for a few weeks and have been seeing good results. I’ve been doing it on days I would otherwise do nothing, and it’s just long enough to give me a good workout, but not be so long that I won’t do it on days I think I am too tired. It is supplementing my gym workouts rather than replacing, but I think it’s great to have this option when the dreary, snowy weather makes me never want to leave my house! I highly recommend it, and am curious about P90x, Insanity, etc. if anyone has any experience with it that they’d like to share…

      • PSA

        It’s the new Shaun T exercise video. It’s 25 minutes, and with the basic package, you get two DVD series. I’ve only done the “Alpha” series, which is the first DVD series, but I plan to start the second “Beta” series very soon. It really gets your heart pumping, but it’s only 25 minutes, so it’s not a huge commitment. I am pretty fit generally, but I’ve definitely noticed some changes and tightening from doing T25. You can do anything for 25 minutes!

    • L

      I love love love p90x. It’s intense if you try to keep up with the schedule, but I use the workouts on my regularly scheduled workout days (so every other day, instead of every day) and it’s pretty awesome. The downside is they’re long, but if you just skip ahead to the workouts and skip all the talking, you can get in about 45 minutes.

    • Hollis Doyle

      I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE (sorry for the ELLEN caps) Shaun T. I started with Insanity several years ago and have done it numerous times. I always get amazing results, although the workouts are long (almost an hour in Month 2). It’s definitely intense though and really high impact, so if you have bad joints, it’s probably not for you. I love T25 also because the workouts are shorter but still intense and still give great results. You should try Gamma. It’s more strength focused, but the Speed 3.0 workout is killer! In general, all of the Beachbody workouts (P90X, Insanity, Turbo Fire, etc) are great; it just depends on what you like and what your goals are.

    • Double-Bingo

      I liked P90x for similar purposes – good workouts when I had limited gym access. The workouts are all around an hour, though.

      If you follow the P90x schedule, I highly recommend doing the “P90x Lean” version, which is essentially doing the workouts in a different order, with the upper-body-heavy ones less frequently. I am in pretty good shape, lift weights, etc, and when I tried regular P90x I could barely use my arms by the second week, and one of my forearms swelled up!

    • Miss Behaved

      I’m doing something called NetFit through Roku when I get home from work. It costs $10 a month. I go to the gym on my lunch hour and then I come home and do NetFit. My favorites are tabata, KickFit, Step, and Kickboxing.

    • JBB

      LOVE P90X. Doing the P90X3 right now with my hubby. It’s kind of the wimpy version of the original, but the fact that it is only 30 minutes makes it so much easier to commit to. Hubby has lost 8 pounds by week 6. I’m rocking some six-pack abs thanks to it. Highly recommend. Plus, you just feel so awesome and tough being able to do pull-ups.

  23. Rural Juror

    Anyone have tips for dealing with superiors that are rude to you? I work at a firm where certain partners are downright rude to me (I’m an associate). Yesterday afternoon a partner literally closed a door in my face – I popped my head in the doorway of her office to tell her that our client was here for a meeting, and she turned around and closed the door in my face, leaving me out in the hallway. I stood in the hallway for a few minutes and eventually she came out and we had the meeting and she didn’t mention it again. But… rude! I would never treat someone like that and it bothers me to be treated that way. This is just one example of many.

    • anon-oh-no

      I agree that doesnt sound very nice, but do you know whether she had someone in her office or was on a phone call?

      And as for tips, just ignore it. Youre going to have to get a thicker skin than that.

    • Rural Juror

      This sounds like not that big of a deal now that I am re-reading it, but she wasn’t on the phone or had to close the door to change or anything like that. And I would understand if she said “just a minute” and then did it, or “sorry, just had to X, ready for the meeting now” or even any acknowledgement of what she did. I don’t think I normally overreact to things and this actually left me speechless out in the hallway. It really seemed like it came from a place of her not even recognizing that I am a human.

    • Anne Shirley

      Wine. Pictures of cats. Savings account. Law firms accept, by and large, that partners can be rude if they want.

    • Killer Kitten Heels

      Are the partners you’re talking about like this with everyone, or is it you-specific?

      If it’s everyone, just try not to take it personally.

      If it’s you-specific, maybe ask a (very) trusted slightly-senior associate or support staff person who is familiar with the partners whether you’re doing something to trigger this nonsense (for example, I used to work for someone who basically refused face-to-face contact that wasn’t preceded by an email warning him you were coming, in an office where 98% of people were completely open door – if you violated his “no talks without warning” rule, he’d be completely rude, and he never actually explained that that’s what he wanted, so without a tip from his assistant, I never would’ve known). It doesn’t excuse their rudeness – rude is rude – but it could help you make the interactions less unpleasant.

    • Kate

      I find it annoying when people say things like “that’s how it is” or “get used to it” when people are rude. Are we really supposed to be so deferential to those in power? It’s like when employers never get back to a job candidate who interviews in person twice – it’s incredibly rude behavior, but half the people you tell it to will say “oh, that’s job searching for ya.”

      OP, I don’t have any advice – I’m not sure how I would handle that situation. It would really bother me, too, and I would definitely have my perceptions of that person colored by the incident (especially if there were no plausible explanation, like a one-off important phone call).

      • Kanye East

        Nobody’s excusing it, but it’s the prevailing culture at law firms in this country. Work to change that, absolutely. But meanwhile, adjust your expectations (otherwise you’re creating more misery for yourself) and know that as lawyers, most of us are fungible. If you don’t want the job, they’ll find someone else to take your place. It’s the sad, harsh reality.

        • Another MZ Wallace Fan

          You’ve hit the nail on its head here. Unfortunately it is the prevailing culture at many law firms. I also think the law may just have historically attracted people who are less than nice/cooperative. My advice – work to change the culture by not acting like that partner. You can’t change that person and until firms decide these people are more of a liability than an asset, you’re stuck with them. Unfortunately they don’t often decide those rude individuals are liabilities, even when their rudeness is abusive or involves sexual harassment!

  24. Darjeeling

    I bought this dress last week and am still on the fence. It fits nicely at the hips and the vertical proportions are right (I’m 5’2) but the whole top half is too big and I can’t decide whether I like it enough to get it altered. Wouldn’t really recommend for my fellow pear shapes although I will probably keep it since the sleeves are so perfect

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