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Frugal Friday’s Workwear Report: Scalloped Knit T-Shirt

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A woman wearing a black scalloped tee and white drawstring pants

Our daily workwear reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.

I’m always on the lookout for work-appropriate tees that can be layered under cardigans and blazers, so this scalloped-neck version from T Tahari caught my eye. The neckline makes it feel just a little bit fancier than a crewneck and would look perfect under my favorite jardigan/swacket/sweater blazer.

I’d probably grab the black or white because I love a neutral, but it comes in five other colors, too. 

The shirt is $19.97 at Nordstrom Rack and comes in sizes XS-XL. 

Sales of note for 4/24:

195 Comments

  1. I’m attending an Asheville bachelorette for a group of 30-somethings. Recommendations for bars where we could go out dancing? Also looking for a cute post-dinner cocktail spot!

    1. I won’t be any help on places to go dancing, but I love the cocktails at the Chemist for your post-dinner stop!

    2. Not what you’re asking, but the Chocolate Lounge (French Broad Chocolate) is an amazing post-dinner dessert place. Highly recommend!

  2. I will be in Charlotte, NC at the end of April from Thursday through Tuesday with my 11 year old son. We will have one day for sightseeing/lounging around and staying at the Le Meridian/Sheraton hotel. Any nearby recs? It looks like there is a park nearby – we love easy hikes.

    Also I am torn about renting a car. How hard is it to get to the airport to the hotel? I am kind of a nervous driver when I am in new places so leaning towards Uber.

    1. I travel to Charlotte for work, and have never had a problem getting a taxi at the airport. I normally take an uber from downtown back to the airport, cause I find them easier to request in downtown.

    2. It’s a very easy Uber to Uptown from the airport. A car would be nice for the day of sightseeing but not required. Freedom Park would be an easy Uber. You can also walk to a greenway access from your hotel pretty easily. April in CLT is SO nice with blooming flowers/nice weather so it should be a nice walk!

      The White Water Center would have more easy hike/activities but it’s a farther drive and it might be hard to get an Uber back.

      1. Agree — the greenway from near the hotel towards Freedom Park is beyond lovely this time of year. There is a NASCAR museum close to your hotel. The aquatic center is across the street. There are plenty of restaurants and a Whole Foods towards the NASCAR museum. The arena is also walkable — maybe there will be something fun going on there? It’s a great town. I don’t think you need a car and FWIW 277 is a nightmare and I won’t let my kids even try to drive on it (Google exit 3A).

    3. I find Charlotte very driveable and much easier to get around with a rental car than an Uber. For an 11 year old, I can’t recommend the Whitewater Center enough. If he’s into activities, a day pass may be worth it (kayaking on the Catawba, rock walls, whitewater rafting on the course) or you can do single activities or even just walk around and watch. It’s more geared towards locals with some recent pricing changes, but it’s a really unique and fun asset to the city of Charlotte.

  3. Apologies if I missed conversation on this! It looks like there is a Boden pop-up next weekend in NYC. Has anyone been and any thoughts if it’s worth it?

    1. Pop up or sample sale? I’ve gone to their sample sales and it can be fun if random. Come dressed in something you wont mind changing in in front of others as I don’t think there are any actual dressing rooms.

    2. Just FYI, in case you’re ever traveling in Atlanta (well, north of Atlanta), we have a Boden store! First one in the U.S. It is delightful.

  4. Hi, I’m in London and would love some shopping advice for brands I won’t see in a major East Coast city. in particular, fine jewelry or dresses suitable for wedding ancillary events. I’m open to different styles – elegant or vintage or funky. Just something different.

    2. these might be wildly outdated but when i lived in england a bajillion years ago there was a store called next which was sort of like ann taylor. i also loved warehouse.

    3. For wedding guest clothes Peter Jones and John Lewis Oxford street are good department stores for wedding clothes.

      Brands like Hobbs, L K Bennet and Phase eight have great wedding clothes.
      Hobbs have own stores in Covent Garden and Kensington High St.

      There is both a Sezane and a ME+EM on Marylebone high street.

      Monika Vinader for jewelry, Marylebone or Covent Garden.

      Vintage: Brick Lane, Notting Hill, Chelsea, Marylebone and St Johns wood are good areas for vintage and second hand. If you want vintage as retro styles, Covent Garden and Pimplico have some good retro vintage places for dresses.

    4. I would check the What Kate Wore blog; lots of interesting UK brands and boutique jewelers

    5. I’d go to The Fold London (if you call ahead they can often do a pull for you), Liberty London (great beauty/accessories), Harrods, and Alice Cicolini if you like funky/enameled fine jewelry.

      1. Looked at her website, and it is beautiful! Castro Smith is another London based jeweller… not in my price range, unfortunately, but his work is beautiful

    7. If you have time for it, Trinny London’s social media accounts will have some archived youtube videos of her walking through stores in her upscale London neighborhood shopping area and giving short tours of the stores themselves, their new collections, and what the brands are known for/best at. I’d look at a recent one of those and narrow down what I liked/was interested in.

  5. This is kind of embarrassing but I think I have a mild case of ringworm on my inner thighs and not for the first time. I have good hygiene etc so it’s probably related to an immune-suppressing condition I have. Is there any OTC product that’s better than others? I probably didn’t knock it out fully before.

    1. I am not one to run to a doctor for things generally, but girl, go to a doctor and get a Rx.

      1. I mentioned it to a doctor last time it happened and she said just go to the drugstore. It’s definitely a minor case and I got the impression she reserves pills for the serious ones. But I could try to call again.

          1. This is an overreaction. If it’s ringworm, it should be treated with basic OTC creams.

          3. Systemic fungicides are the nuclear option; the doctor is right to not jump immediately to them for mild skin infection.

          4. I’m not saying she should have a systemic fungicide, but if she really has a immune suppressing condition, recurring (apparent) ringworm is something I’d want to discuss with whatever doctor manages that condition.

    2. Do you have reason to believe it’s ringworm? I only ask because my Alpha Gal symptoms had ringworm like hives before I was diagnosed.

    3. Why is it embarrassing? It is not actually a worm, you know. You probably got it from the gym. My gym is a petri dish. I am surprised we’re not all covered in staph and ringworm.

    4. I have eczema in that location and originally thought it was ringworm. Are you sure it’s ringworm?

      1. I guess I’m not 100% sure but the doctor thought it looked like ringworm. It did go away with the creams in the past but I didn’t do the entire four week course that the tube apparently recommends.

        1. If you didn’t do the full course, that explains why it has come back. You can’t stop treatment early just because it looks like it’s gone.

          1. Yeah… I hope it’s not resistant now! I guess the best place to start is giving the previously used product a try but this time follow the four week course of treatment.

    5. Don’t be embarrassed. An over-the-counter anti-fungal cream worked for me. The same active ingredient is used to treat athlete’s foot. Mine was super itchy, a distinctly round patch, and only healed with the anti-fungal cream.

      1. OP here and it’s not itchy but looks identical to pictures of ringworm. I’ll make another appointment for a closer look so the doctor can help make a determination. It was a bit of a rushed visit last time. Thanks all.

    6. There are a few different active ingredients available OTC–I’d ask your doctor which one is most effective for ringworm, or if she won’t say then you could do a web search.

  6. Is anyone in the US deferring travel to Europe due to the situation in the Gulf / Middle East? An anxious family member thinks that a long-planned spring break trip, which would be my first trip abroad with a teen child (prior trips thwarted during COVID and dealing with several grand parental illnesses and elder care), is too stupid and reckless to consider (Rome, not Cyprus). I am stubborn enough to go, but want at least a neutral audience to weigh in. I think staying in the US wouldn’t be 100% safe from reprisals and even somewhere like London isn’t risk free (maybe Dublin is less on a reprisals radar). IDK. WWYD?

    2. I think your relative is probably overreacting. Nowhere is risk free at any time and you just have to live your life.

      I’d actually think many European destinations are safer than NYC or DC right now, but also, I’m still going to visit friends in DC this weekend.

    3. I’d avoid the eastern Mediterranean but otherwise would not worry too much about it.

    4. To Europe? No. To the Middle East, yeah, although we had no imminent plans to go there anyway.

    5. You’re fine. This reminds me of when my then-boss told me I was crazy to go to Italy in March 2022 because Russia had invaded Ukraine. We went anyway and saw nothing except a few businesses with Ukranian flags or signs welcoming refugees.

    6. I would go without a second though but I have a pretty high travel risk tolerance

      But the risk here is basically the low likelihood high severity kind: probably nothing bad related to the war will happen but if it does, it could easily be really bad. People react very differently to that risk profile

      As a point of comparison to clarify your own thinking through, can you estimate a likelihood for the event you’re worried about (Is it “Iran bombs Rome”, which is terrible and scary; or “Iranian bombs hit *you* in Rome” which is of course much worse and much less likely than the first?), and compare it to the likelihood of other low-prevalence-high-severity risks you either do/don’t accept (ie. Maybe the risk of catastrophic transatlantic plane crash)

    7. I might hesitate to go to Asia since the flights often go over or through the middle east. But no issue with going to Europe.

      1. Unless you are transferring in the Middle East, I don’t think this is a concern. Every direct flight I have taken to Asia from the east coast and Midwest has gone north over the edge of the North Pole, not via the Middle East.

    8. I would have originally said no, but a military officer in my family is re-thinking their trip to Paris later this month. Specifically worried about retaliatory attacks by terrorists. They are not usually the panicking type, which is why it surprised me. I’m now holding off on scheduling a trip to Greece that I had been planning for the fall and will wait and see how things go over the next few months.

      1. That doesn’t make any sense. France did not attack Iran and opposed the USA and Israel doing so. Why would Paris be a target?

      2. As a European who travels twice a year to see family in Germany, I have similar concerns about potential terror attacks.

        Will that prevent me from visiting my family? Unlikely.
        Will we spend some more thinking about activities in big cities? Definitely.

        The US is using military basis in many European countries, and German news reported specifically on an Israeli government airplane being parked at the capital airport.

    9. Generally yes, this just isn’t a time that I feel like being abroad. I’ve also been to Europe many times so waiting a few years is fine for me. I don’t think it’s reckless or anything but it doesn’t feel like it would be fun right now for many reasons.

    11. You’re going to Rome? I think you’re fine, I would be cautious and aware but I would not cancel.

    12. I wouldn’t worry about Europe any more than I worry about my day to day life in NYC, which I guess isn’t risk free either but also not something I am going to abandon on the basis of something like a hard to predict event that can happen anywhere and may not happen at all. For reference, I wouldn’t go to, say, Turkey right now. But I also know people who have visited Ukraine since the war broke out and come back without incident. Life goes on. You have to figure out your own risk tolerance. If you don’t think you could enjoy the trip, cancel.

      1. I feel the same way as an Angeleno. Sure, I could get mugged in DTLA or Santa Monica but it’s very unlikely, and even more unlikely I’d be physically harmed.

        Everyone has a different risk calculus. I have an aunt who thought I was nuts for going to Beijing on my own (to do touristy things as a very touristy tourist) but she sees no problem in driving alone cross-country on minimal sleep with her ancient animals and a car she doesn’t maintain (she has the funds but is basically the cheapest person alive).

    13. I wasn’t worried about this but maybe now I am? DH has a work trip to Berlin in late March and had a work trip to Adu Dhabi in April which was just relocated to Switzerland for obvious reasons.

      Thread jacking slightly- would you go to Mexico right now?

      3. I would (and am) happily going to Europe but Mexico, no thank you. Although I didn’t care for the “don’t leave the resort bubble” best practices in more carefree times in the first place… so it’s not a hard one for me to pass on.

      4. I will never go to Mexico. I’d love to see some of the Mayan ruins and the culture of Mexico City but the risk isn’t worth it to me after seeing a nightmare situation with a family member there. I have limited time and money and won’t prioritize somewhere I don’t feel safe.

      6. Yes for Mexico if staying on a resort in the Cancun/Playa del Carmen. I usually do some off resort trips and I wouldn’t do that right now.

      7. Personally, I would not go to Mexico right now. With that said, I know of several families at our school who are going to the Mayakoba / Playa del Carmen area for spring break in a couple weeks.

      8. Yes I would go to Mexico now, especially Cancun/Tulum area which is on the other side of the country from the recent unrest in Puerto Vallarta. I don’t think the Cancun area is materially less safe than it was a few weeks ago, I think more Americans are just now aware of the cartels and potential for cartel violence. But that potential has always existed, and the risk is low in Quintana Roo especially if staying at a resort and only going out in the day time. I wouldn’t go bar-hopping in Cancun at night, and I wouldn’t plan a trip to Mexico if skipping the bar-hopping was going to impact my ability to enjoy the trip. But we’re not nightlife people.

    14. I went to Israel three weeks after 10/7/23 and I’ll go again in May if airspace is open. When I’m there I feel totally safe. The risks of traveling to Europe are extremely low, but nothing is zero risk.

    15. Your relative is taking a perfectly reasonable stance. I would absolutely not want to travel internationally right now because I’d be nervous every time I opened the news. That’s not relaxing. It’s probably early enough to recoup money spent and I’d cancel. I think it’s really not fair to call the relative anxious over a very reasonable point of view, just because it’s different from yours.

      1. Agreed. We have a client stranded abroad right now in Asia but not really near the Middle East. Air travel is just affected across the board.

    17. My husband and I are going to France for vacation in a few weeks and we haven’t considered canceling or deferring.

    18. I wouldn’t be nervous for Rome, but reading some of these responses I’m starting to second guess myself.

      We’re planning a trip to Greece this summer, and now I’m starting to wonder if that’s too close for comfort to Turkey and Middle East? I’m of Greek descent so it would be a family trip that isn’t a new destination for us, but this is giving me pause.

      1. We have one planned for September and aren’t doing anything to unwind it, but we are sticking to Athens & the Peloponnese area, not like, Rhodes.

    19. Not US based, but I would have no qualms going to Rome.

      I wouldn’t currently go to Cyprus or areas in the Eastern Med where the US have military bases.

      Would think twice about a hotel in an areal close to a Synagoge or embassies, though, no matter where. Not necessarily because that would be dangerous, but because proximity to armed guards is far from my idea of a pleasant holiday.

    20. I’d go and feel slightly sad for a relative who is that frightened about a perfectly safe destination when you’re tripping down the Spanish steps or whatever doing an Audrey Hepburn impression. Italy is a place where not every idiot has a Constitution-given right to own as many guns as they can hide in their basement. Go and have a wonderful time.

    21. We’re going to Southern Spain in April and as of right now have no plans to cancel. I agree with the sentiment Europe is probably safer than NYC or DC right now.

    24. You’re at least as likely to be shot at your grocery store as you are of encountering issues in Rome.

    25. Nope. We are travelling to Spain at the end of the month and am no more worried than usual (which is to say I’m mostly worried about packing the right number of things and obsessing over what the weather might be than my safety).

      There are certainly places I would avoid (anywhere in the middle east) but those places were already on my avoid list due to instability concerns before the most recent news.

      I’d be a little more worried about places in the eastern Mediterranean, as well, but we haven’t thought twice about Spain (or a trip later in the year to Scotland).

    26. We’re going to Paris and Vienna for the weeks before and after Easter. USA is more likely to a target of any retaliation by Iran. None of the European countries attacked Iran so I don’t know why there would be a risk in Europe.

    27. USA is much more at risk for reprisals. London and Rome are not the ones who blew up an unarmed ship without warning and left the surviving sailors to drown

  7. I’m what I consider vain but low maintenance – I like to look good but not put much time or effort into it. This means mostly investing in liking my baseline: fitness, skincare, hair, a streamlined wardrobe I love. I can get ready and out the door in < 10 mins and like almost everything about my appearance.

    My one hang up is my hair. I have a cut/style I love and I do twice annual balayage that I adore. But, I really, really prefer my hair when it’s straight. I live in a humid climate, so it’s poofy and sometimes frizzy if I don’t straighten in… but also, if I do straighten it it doesn’t stay straight. I also don’t love heat treating it every day (bad for my hair, time consuming, not always reasonable – I spend a lot of time at the beach, for example).

    Any tips or suggestions? I don’t want to do a semi-permanent straightening treatment because I workout a lot and thus have to wash my hair a lot and I just don’t think it’d last long enough to be “worth it”.

    Hair is fine but thick, I prefer to keep it collarbone length (would prefer shorter, but poof), a bit wavy (but inconsistently so). There are days when my hair has a truly insane amount of volume and other days when it’s limp and dull… I can’t seem to find a cause for this.

      1. Huge +1 to this.
        Source, just did it this January and love it – it will last 6 months from my previous experiences.

    2. I would try a few things – ask your hairstylist for a good clarifying shampoo and use that once a week or so (especially if you’re sweating a lot, you may need a scalp detox). I’d also do a deep conditioning treatment/mask to help with the frizz – it won’t eliminate it but it should help somewhat.
      I almost always tie my hair back in some way if I’m outside and then take it down when I’m inside. Having a hair oil on hand to smooth things down helps too.
      You also just need to come to terms with the fact that you do not have naturally straight hair, and short of a brazilian blow out you are not going to be a woman with straight hair at the beach. Look at photos of Taylor Swift after a night of performing or at the beach – if she can’t maintain a bouncy blowout with billionaire money I don’t think anyone can.

    3. I would try Olaplex which is what my stylist recommended for similar issues in a humid climate.

    5. maybe look up “Irish curls” and see if that sounds like you? My hair was very very poufy and frizzy when I was younger and surprise, it’s actually curly. If you’re OK with wavy I would probably do one of those heatless curl products (headbands?) just to smooth it out and control it, but if you work out in the morning that wouldn’t be ideal.

      Are you always washing your hair in the same shower? If you’re washing it at the gym sometimes then it might be a difference in hard/soft water.

      Jealous of the baseline investments you’ve made though, they’re all really smart!

    6. It sounds like we have similar hair and I also straighten mine despite living in the humid south. My answer is good ol’ fashioned hair spray after I blow it out. I spray it into my hands and run through my hair with a focus on the top layer. Also the color wow thickening mousse seems to act as some sort of humidity barrier and my blow outs even survive mild drizzle when I use it.

    7. I bought a bottle of ColorWow Dream Coat Supernatural Spray and it’s been a game changer! I have fine, thin frizzy hair and live in the South so there’s plenty of humidity, but this stuff keeps my hair smooth and manageable. It is heat activated, so you do need to blow dry your hair, but it’s supposed to last 3 days. I think it makes my hair easier and faster to blow dry. I’d imagine that running a flat iron or heated tool through your hair afterwards would also help lock in the product.

    8. I don’t know if this is directly responsive, but I spent time learning how to do an updo/bun that I really like, and I specifically get my stylist to color my side pieces so they look nice pulled back into the bun. I also purposely wear interesting earrings on those days. It means that on days where I don’t have time, or I want to give my hair a break from the heat, or whatever, I don’t feel schlumpy.

    9. I like the Aveda Smooth Infusion line. I don’t do the heat, just comb it on and let my hair dry. I also find some water makes it look great and some frizzes it up, so take a reusable water bottle along to rinse it at the gym.

    10. I am you!! Look into Japanese straightening. It is a reverse perm but permanently straight. this seriously changed my life. Keratin and Brazilian wear out and I found myself going back way too often. For Japanese, as your hair grows, it will grow in curly so most people need to (a) return every 6-9 months and (b) touch up a little in between, depending on how fast your hair grows. I go to Sei Tomoko in nyc. I travel there by train (Philly) but totally worth it. I also try to stretch it out as long as I can tolerate, which for me is 9-11 months. The chemicals are not great but the heat was really damaging my hair when I was straightening myself.

  8. I could use y’all’s help with a kitchen issue. The prior owners of my house DIYed their kitchen reno and trapped the dishwasher. I had to cut out a ~4” wide strip of the tile floor under/in front of the dishwasher to replace it. The new dishwasher sticks out slightly farther than the old one and the strip of tile I cut out won’t go back. The edge is somewhat jagged and I don’t have a lot of faith in my/DH’s ability to cut the tile without getting a jagged edge (he used a fancy tile cutter with water and taped it and the whole bit). What do I do with that space that looks intentional?

    I’m not going to replace the entire floor. There is no space between the top of the dishwasher and the countertop, which means there is no flooring that could fit under the dishwasher unless I raise the countertop somehow, which basically means taking apart the entire kitchen. Over a strip of flooring that you wouldn’t notice unless you’re looking for it. But I know it’s there and it bothers me, so I need SOMETHING there. Thanks for any suggestions!

    1. Why don’t you at least try to cut the tile and see what happens? Nothing to lose, right? If worse comes to worse, couldn’t you just cover the jagged edge with a bit of stripping or something?

      1. Get a piece of a door sweep or weather stripping type thing, and cut it to cover the edge of the tile? Sounds like this is incredibly not-visible and so just a smooth piece of something to bridge tile-to-floor might scratch the itch?

        2. What you need if you go this route is called “cove base” in my area. Might also be called cabinet base. It is stripping that comes in a roll and goes at the bottom of a cabinet to hide any gap between the cabinet and the floor. you can get it in basic colors like black, white, and brown.

    2. Call a professional. Don’t fix DIY with more DIY. You can get parts of floors replaced.

      1. Agree. I think you need either a pro or an area rug–not a lot of in-between options on this one.

    3. Every house I’ve lived in with tile, the POs (sometimes the “POS POs”) have left extra tile that I have never, ever used and eventually had to haul off. Are you sure there’s not some extra tile hiding in the crawl space? Or can you still buy the pattern in case you mess it up? Find a few tiles on FBMP? Cut a full tile out of a closet? Whatever you end up doing, tile labor is not expensive, although it should be, and you can probably get a pro to do it for a couple of hundred dollars.

      1. If we put tile back, then the dishwasher is trapped again. That was the whole problem in the first place. I was just going to lay the tile back in place but not secure it down with anything. A contractor won’t do that. And I don’t think anyone is going to come out just to cut some tile for us, it’s not worth it to them.

        2. We tiled all the way under our dishwasher. Is there enough height under the counter to remove the dishwasher, have the contractor tile all the way back to the wall, lower the dishwasher legs, and replace the dishwasher on top of the tile?

    4. Oh dear…. life pro tip for those who will encounter this in the future. Counters can come up and off, then either put back or replaced a lot easier than fixing what you’re dealing with.
      OP, this sounds like a case where a throw rug or ergonomic kitchen mat/runner would work well.

    5. Cut the tile straight so it is close to the dishwasher but doesn’t need to be scribed around any protrusions. Install a piece of trim (quarter round, baseboard, whatever size and height makes sense) to hide the remaining gap. Given the proximity to water, this is one spot I would opt for a synthetic trim piece rather than wood or MDF. Paint to match the cabinetry toe kick if you want it to blend in even more.

    6. Is it too late to return the dishwasher and get one with a slightly lower height? Even 1/4″ would make a difference.

  9. I work for a pretty casual, fully remote start up. I’m in middle management. I’m on video calls with the video on pretty much all day. I usually have my camera on with the blur on.

    During casual/brainstorming meetings is it rude to get up and move around, within view of the webcam? I’m usually just making coffee or maybe just standing up. I’m still completely engaged and no one thinks I’m distracted or not engaged. Just trying to gauge how weird this is.

    I did have a coworker who used to make bread throughout the day and you’d see him more the dough to different stages etc.

    2. Standing up – not weird if you have a standing desk. I think even walking on a treadmill would be fine.

      Making coffee seems like maybe it’s better for a down moment? My husband is on work calls all day and they take “bio breaks” for bathroom and other quick breaks; I like that terminology.

    3. Yes, I think it’s rude to visibly make coffee during a meeting. If you need to stand up to stretch, grab water, etc., I would just turn your camera off for a couple minutes.

      2. I avoid doing things on video that I wouldn’t do in an in-person meeting. If the video call itself doesn’t require attention to the screen, then I think cameras off is the way to go for getting up and folding laundry, making coffee, or dealing with bread dough. Doing that type of thing while on screen seems like it should be limited to personal/informal video calls than professional business meetings, even if they are remote.

    4. If your office culture is accepting of bread-making then I think you’re in the clear with grabbing coffee off to the side… but from the perspective of a more stodgy corporate world, walking around the room for a minute means you turn your camera off and say “brb.”

    5. I don’t know if it is rude, but it would certainly be distracting to the other viewers. I would not want to be distracting from the conversation or what ever is being presented, so I guess in that context I would find it rude.

      1. People at my company always turn their cameras off if they have an interruption in the middle of a meeting. I think you would come across as bizarre if you made coffee or stood up and stretched or something. It’s more common for people to be on camera at the start of a meeting and then turn off their camera as a presentation begins and the focus turns to whoever is leading the meeting.

    7. Yes to weird. I work in a similar environment and I just turn my camera off for the minute it takes to make my tea or take a squeaky toy from the dogs — it is unnecessarily distracting to co-workers otherwise.

    8. Agree that you should turn your camera off in these moments. If it takes longer than you think appropriate to turn off the camera, you shouldn’t be doing it during a meeting.

    9. At my office, it’s standard to put in the chat “going off video for a second while I finish lunch” or similar.

    10. I would turn off the camera for that with a note that you’re still on just need to stretch

  10. Tea drinkers, help. I’m trying to switch away from tea bags to loose leaf for several reasons. I have two different little stainless steel devices that are supposed to hold the loose leaf tea while it brews, but both leak a bit, and I get little bits of tea leaf on my tongue (kind of disgusting). What am I doing wrong? If there is a loose leaf tea holder you swear by, please let me know where you got it. Thank you!

      1. THANK YOU YES. I also bought tea bags from Amazon and feel guilty about it because more waste blah blah but what’s also nice about tea bags is that you can make several at once so you can just grab and go.

        But I hate loose tea. The only thing that I’ve seen work slightly well are the tall ceramic cups with the tiny strainers built into the lid. I’ll try to find a link. My theory is that loose tea and the metal strainers are fine for some kinds of tea, maybe because of larger leaves, but for the herbals like I drink they’re a PITA.

        1. +1, yes this type of strainer should avoid little floaty bits. Nothing that opens and shuts will work perfectly as a strainer.

      2. The fine mesh infuser you linked here is my favorite style and I have replaced all of mine with this type. The holes are too fine to let anything but powder through (so turmeric, ginger, and cinnamon teas might be a bit rustic). No leaves get through.

        I spent way too much money on cutesy versions that look like little people soaking in a spa but are too small to fit tea into, animals that hang on the side of the mug but have big holes for tea to fall out of, screw-on lidded options that are pain to clean, or spring loaded tong-like things that don’t hold the tea inside. Don’t bother with those.

    3. David’s tea has a stainless steel stainer that you brew the tea in your cup and then remove. Similiarly, my teapot has a basket in it and you just pour the brewed tea into your cup. No leakage.

    5. I have a comment in mod for a link, but search for “GROSCHE Aberdeen Tea Infuser Teapot & Smart Tea Maker” – it brews in a little pot that you then place on top of a mig, and the teas strains through mesh into the mug. I love it.

    6. The best are the super-fine mesh strainers as mentioned below because then you don’t need a special kettle or other appliance if you don’t want to go that route. Get the ones that have extended “arms” from the cup so you can fit it on any size mug.
      You also can buy unbleached cotton or muslin tea bags and make your own, then reuse the bags over and over again. They will get stained but won’t retain flavor if dried completely.

    7. A) brew your tea in a teapot, strainer over cup when pouring
      B) get a teapot with an insert
      C) use a deep, fine mesh strainer in your mug

  11. Does anyone have a concierge style family doctor? I’m interested in the price and experience. Do you keep your health insurance or just opt for the high deductible catastrophic plan and then pay out of pocket.

    I have regular health insurance but I can’t seem to find a doctor who will spend more than 10 minutes with me per year. If I have an acute problem they send me to urgent care. A parent was recently diagnosed with stage four cancer that came out of seemingly nowhere. While thank goodness he’s getting good care and doing relatively well now, it’s really spooked me. My dad was constantly on top of minor health issues and I’m convinced doctors dropped the ball or could have done better. All this is to say, I now understood why people gravitate toward alternative health practitioners and grifter adjacent “functional medicine” people without mds or dos. But I’d really like to have an actual doctor to talk to for more than 10 minutes per year.

    My kids have an amazing pediatrician but I fear he’s retiring soon.

    1. Not concierge, but see if you can find a nurse who runs her own practice. Ours will spend hours with us – my 80 year old mom, my husband, and I all go.

    2. Direct care, yes. The price so far has been less than $100 a month for the two of us. Definitely better than being sent to urgent care or ER every time something needs to be checked out promptly! I had undiagnosed symptoms when I started seeing this practice, and by taking the time to review my whole medical history, the direct care internist was able to diagnose two conditions I have that had simply been missed despite showing up in my labs for years. My previous provider had been honest with me that her hospital system does not give her the time to manage rare disease patients or patients with complex comorbidities, let alone coordinate with specialists, so that is what drove me to find a doctor who had more time (I was basically fired by a doctor who didn’t!).

      I keep my health insurance and also keep a regular PCP who is affiliated with a hospital system as well as the specialists I need. I am not honestly sure what a prompt cancer diagnosis would do for someone who was only carrying catastrophic coverage? But I do have a high deductible plan and a HSA if that’s what you mean.

      1. Op here and thanks. Yes – high deductible and hsa was what I meant. My dad had excellent insurance; maybe it’s not the doctors fault but anxiety is kind of like how could anyone ever find anything when they only have 10 minutes to focus on you? Its crazy you can be going to a doctor and they say you’re fine then boom stage four cancer. A friend who had a concierge doctor but lives far away was raving about full body scans and other pretty through preventative measures that I’d be willing to pay cash for at the direction of an actual doctor.

        Is concierge something different than direct care? Obviously I have a lot of work to do. I appreciate your help.

        1. I think mine is $250 a month, but it was recently subsumed by a big regional medical practice, and I’m unclear on what the changes are re billing (but I’m generally unhappy about it). I see them for 90 minutes a year to go over bloodwork and ask questions, but otherwise if I need to go in they book me, help schedule visits with specialists, that kind of thing.

        2. I’m really sorry about what your dad is going through and glad he’s getting good care now. I think direct care is more bare bones, and concierge is supposed to be more of a red carpet experience, but it’s probably partly a matter of marketing?

          Among my friends and family, many pretty serious diagnoses have been delayed because symptoms were assumed to be something minor, because relevant testing wasn’t ordered, or because abnormal test results were basically ignored. I honestly get twitchy now when somebody’s new concerning symptoms are declared “idiopathic” or chalked up to stress or anxiety or whatever isn’t considered the doctor’s problem to handle. I do understand that the entire system is under a ton of pressure and that sometimes as patients we can be too quick to accept reassurance!

          Things like full body scans can be pretty controversial though (what kind of actual doctor is trained and qualified to review a full body scan, really?). I have one loved one who would very probably be alive today if they had just gotten an MRI in time, so I very much understand wanting all the information we can get. But the usual view is that on the population level, false positives can cause a lot of harm even when weighed against the harm of missing things (I think we should sort that out, but that’s where things stand right now).

          But generally, if you want to do more preventive care, you don’t need to leave it all for those 10 minutes once a year. So for example, if you plan ahead, you can schedule with dermatology for a skin check instead of just having your primary care take a look at that mole that looks funny for you, same way you schedule your mammograms once you’re old enough for them. Whether it’s worth it to you probably depends on how high your skin cancer risk is, but there are similar considerations for other screenings.

          What would happen if you scheduled a separate appointment with your current PCP to discuss your family’s cancer history and whether you need any extra screenings? Unlike the acute stuff that gets bounced to urgent care, that kind of appt can probably wait till there’s an opening. But it’s another 10 minutes that may lead to something helpful. Or if you have ongoing symptoms that you’re not happy about, you can schedule a separate appointment just to discuss those (that usually gets billed differently so it will come out of your deductible in a way an annual check up may not, but you already said you’re willing to pay out of pocket).

          My understanding is that some PCPs sort of get dinged for specialist referrals, while other practices sort of reward it (concierge can be reluctant to refer as well and may have weaker relationships with local institutions). A premature referral will just annoy a specialist, but it’s okay to want to see e.g. a gastroenterologist before accepting that “IBS” is the whole story if the family medicine work up hasn’t led to any answers. But whether you’re seeing a concierge provider or not, no doctor knows what your level of concern is and how much you’re willing to invest in getting help unless you tell them.

          1. Honestly my dad didn’t have something that routine screening for breast or skin cancer would have caught. He had a series of symptoms that were blown off as something minor. I realize the whole system falls apart if everyone gets these but it is life or death and I want a doc who looks a little harder. Or at least who I don’t wonder would have maybe looked a little harder if she had another 10 minutes.

            As to my primary: she’s a nightmare. I had written before about how she made everything about food, weight and excercise. I’m at a healthy bmi without pre diabetes but she had problem with me eating oatmeal and really shamed me about it. I spent the last year trying to improve my health but also to be visibly skinnier than her so that this year she’d be quiet. I now see how messed up that is. Your doctor shouldn’t make you feel like that.

            Her reviews online are impressive. Five stars. I did some research via social media and saw she is hugely Maha /maga which explains a lot of the weirdness but also has me thinking she’s not evidence based and why on earth am I listening to this woman? Like can I get a primary doctor who thinks kids dying of the measles is bad?

            My prior doc who was also my dad’s primary was always a little strange and made me uncomfortable but just said “ok stay healthy!” after making a series of extremely awkward jokes. I later found out he’s being credibly accused of abusing female patients and it just…tracks.

            My feeling now is that I need someone to help direct my care who has a reasonable approach to medicine and a philosophy that I trust. I figure with a specific doctor that I pay personally I can gauge their position on “toxins” and vaccines and whether they’re abusive before waiting six months for 10 unhelpful minutes. Life’s not fair but the way the system is set up seems so suboptimal for people like me. I guess I don’t get clocked as worthy of any type of quality care. I’m willing to plunk down bucks to get out of it.

            I’m sure you mean well but your comment kind of reflects the feeling I get from my doctors. That 10 minutes is good enough and if it’s not a thing they routinely screen for well…we can’t screen everyone for everything. I get that that’s what needs to happen on a population level but if I have the money to opt out maybe it’s worth it.

          2. Anonymous–I’m a different Anon, but I do hear your concerns, and wish we had better options, genuinely. It’s my feeling that it’s only in the last 20 years that the expectation of living arose, whereas before we were just kind of expected to die. Medical stuff feels scary because it is.

          3. You may be a good candidate for a concierge practice and for extra opt-in screenings if that is what you want! Just know that “evidence based” may not be exactly what you are looking for the way that’s usually defined (you may be looking for something more like “precision medicine”).

            Your primary does sound like a nightmare, and I would also switch away from a MAHA provider ASAP. That’s awful about your prior doc too.

          4. Thank you. If you told me 20 years ago that I would get bad medical care because of my doctor’s political views I think I’d be shocked. I still feel weird about it. But I really feel like I can’t trust a doctor who really thinks beef tallow is good and vaccines are bad. I get the feeling that I’ll never be thin or fit enough to have substantive conversations with her about my health.

    3. My GP is concierge. I joined under duress when a huge number of physicians went concierge simultaneously (including my GP) resulting in a shortage of non-concierge doctors at the same as my diagnosis with a serious medical condition. The way my model works is I pay $1800 annually. All billing other than the annual charge goes through my insurance just as before. About two weeks before my physical, I go in for blood tests, urinalysis, EKG, hearing screening, frailty assessment, etc. When I have my physical, all of the results are charted and available with comparisons to prior results to see trends. I spend about 1.5 hours with my doctor for the actual physical, as well as reviewing test results and recommendations. When I need to get in quickly, I am seen the same day. When I have needed referrals, my doctor has investigated and made a specific referral for my needs, rather than just drawing from a standard list. My doctor reminds me when I am due for a colonoscopy or mammogram or booster shot. I was a skeptic at the beginning and I hate the inequity, but the healthcare I am receiving is much better under the concierge system. On the other hand, my husband has a concierge doctor (his old GP) and the system operates exactly as pre-concierge, same inattentiveness and failure to follow up as before. He pays a few thousand dollars for the privilege of being a patient who is treated as poorly as pre-concierge. All are not the same.

    4. Direct care and concierge are different models. With concierge care, your insurance company is billed for all care. All the concierge fee gets you is the privilege of being a patient. With direct care, the doctor’s fee covers some actual medical services in the office but probably not labs.

    5. My health insurance will cover one physical exam a year with my primary. Last year’s was my first and was suggested to me as an option by my PA during a short targeted visit for a symptom. During that later physical, she spent about an hour with me, did a thorough physical exam, reviewed blood test results, and meds, checked mental health, checked moles, referred me out to a dermatologist, mammogram, and colonscopy. The dermatologist then found Stage 2 cancer, referred me to Oncology Derm at Stanford, surgeries happened, prognosis good.

      TLDR: All this to say, take advantage of your yearly physical exams if you have them. As a fairly healthy, not regular doctor visitor, I was so glad to have this offered to me and to have received the early diagnosis and treatment for what could have been a life-threatening cancer if not caught sooner.

      1. She also referred me to a new endocrinologist (mine had retired). A lot happened in that 60 minutes!

      2. Oh wow. My physical happens during the ~15 minute annual appt and is necessarily perfunctory (which is part of why I do schedule a separate skin check). I wonder if it’s billed differently from a 60 minute exam!

        I’m so glad it’s a good prognosis and that it was caught at this appointment.

    6. Yes, I pay out of pocket for a concierge doctor. I am in a HCOL area, and costs vary substantially. I almost wept after my first meeting with her, when she didn’t blow off my health concerns, helped me catch up on neglected screening without criticizing me, and didn’t fat shame me.

  12. Has anyone bought a washable rug recently? Was in the market for a one-piece Ruggable (our roomba and vacuums hate the two-pieces, which we needed during our dog’s puppy stage) but I see Annie Selke and others now making similar products. Any recommendations? This is for a kitchen work area and a mudroom, so it will eventually get wrecked also.

    1. I have a ruggable mat at my kitchen sink and I’m really happy with it. I’d buy again in similar sizes and somewhat larger, but would not buy one so large that it did not fit in my washing machine because I know at that point I’d lose the convenience factor.

    2. Not what you asked, but thank you – have been debating getting a roomba and wondered how it would do with the two piece ruggables I have in my kitchen and front hall. Sounds like I need to continue manually sweeping and vacuuming!

      1. Fwiw my roomba does fine with our two-piece ruggables. Occasionally it’ll get trapped with the one in the mudroom, but it typically doesn’t.

        1. OP and we have an issue with an edge curling up with the Roomba but the suction on the real vacuum lifts the top up from the backing, so maybe one-piece would help?

    3. For the kitchen, we have the Wellness mats from Williams Sonoma which we love. The squishiness makes standing in the kitchen so much better. Bought ours 10 years ago and they are still going strong.

  13. anyone familiar with Houston? I asked this before but can’t find it…. My son and I are going for a March Madness game which is at Rice. We will arrive the day before and the plan is to go the space center, then be in houston, go to game and fly out of Bush International relatively early the next day (which is a sunday). where makes the most sense to stay? by rice? by the airport? somewhere else?

    1. Staying by Rice or downtown would be the most fun/have more to do than staying around the airport. I’d definitely rent a car, Houston is very spread out.

      No specific hotel recs as I haven’t ever stayed in a hotel there, just with my parents!

        1. Rice Village, Museum District, Medical Center are all walking distance to Rice. There’s tons of hotels by the Medical Center. You could also stay Downtown and take light rail to Rice, but it’s not terribly pedestrian friendly.

        2. Rice is in the museum district, so something there (Hotel Zaza maybe)or in West U would be good. I like the Heights, Bellaire, or Montrose but not sure what the hotel situation is like there.

          All of that is on the opposite side of the city from the space center though.

    2. Family is from Houston, and we just returned from a trip. You probably mapped it, but that is a lot of driving and traffic is always backed up. If you are committed to the Space Center and are ok with losing a full day, it is worth it. I would not stay near the airport, far and terrible traffic. Check out the Med Center or the Museum District, you will be walking distance from Rice. My only caution is the Rodeo happening and prices may be high. My next two areas would be the Galleria for ease to 610 and then downtown. And a plug if you do have time, check out the Rodeo.

    3. Stay by Rice and then you can walk to the art museum and zoo, and around Rice Village (shops and restaurants). Keep in mind that the Space Center is really far from downtown Houston, plan for a whole day going there and back. You could also check out the Kemah boardwalk while you’re over there, it’s nothing too fancy but it’s got some seafood restaurants on the water and a Ferris wheel.

    4. Also, if you haven’t booked flights yet, look at Hobby rather than Bush. It’s on the same side of town and closer than Bush is! It’s a Southwest hub.

    5. You want to stay in the Museum District, Rice, or Downtown. Spendy experience hotel options are Hotel Zaza – Museum District, La Colombe D’Or Hotel, Hotel St. Augustin, Four Seasons. Less spendy options are The Marlene (B&B in super walkable area), and any of the downtown hotels around Discovery green. For downtown, I’d stay around Discovery Green, over main street.

    6. ALERT. Longtime Houston resident here. The March Madness games are “hosted by Rice University,” but the games will occur at the Toyota Center downtown, not at Rice. The Four Seasons, an Embassy Suites, and the Hilton Americas are all within a five minute walk of the Toyota Center.

  15. I could use some advice on an in-house counsel role (not GC, small legal team) at PE portfolio company. It’s relatively new (6 years old) in the healthcare sector. It’s buy and build, not a flailing company that got bought by PE. I know the CEO as he was the owner of a former client of mine when I was in private practice, and think very highly of him. I have very little experience with or knowledge of PE backed companies and am kind of freaked out by horror stories of terrible work life balance, unstable companies, unhittable KPIs for bonuses and equity that never materializes. Mostly worried about horrible WLB. Anyone out there in an in-house role for a middle market PE port co and able to give perspective?

    1. My experience of PE firms is this. It’s great at the start. They squeeze everything and it starts to get uncomfortable.

      How comfortable are you in the healthcare space defending a company against negative claims made by patients/consumers? Can you sleep at night with what they are going to be asking you to do?

      I’m in a finance function and have worked with PE firms. I leave when I’m no longer comfortable with what I’m doing. You need to know what you are getting into, why the role was created and what they are expecting you to do. Privately you need to have clear values about what is and isn’t acceptable to you.

      1. I’m in a healthcare private equity adjacent space and this post is correct. It will work well for a little while and then things will start to change. So don’t go into it expecting a very long-term plan.

    2. I talked to two friends who worked for companies bought by private-equity. Their experiences were both extremely negative. One person was thrown under the bus by the new CEO and lost his job in a toxic way. The other person said “the company lost its soul” after being acquired by PE and later quit.

  16. Came here to also recommend antidote/Chemist!

    Asheville is kind of sleepy early/ I’m not aware of any dancing spots

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