Suit of the Week

137 Comments

1. I’m looking for a pair of full-length track pants or sweatpants that are not leggings and not joggers. Something like this (link below) is what I have in mind, but the price seems steep and I was also wondering if anyone can provide a recommendation for something similar that would fit my curves. I’m 5’4″ and a size 12-14. I want something that I can wear for WFH, but also to go out for a quick walk or run. Really wish we had better selection since I really don’t want leggings (not breathable enough and I can’t throw them on over shorts) and I don’t like how joggers fit on me.

   https://www.zappos.com/p/adidas-originals-primeblue-firebird-track-pants-black/product/9458895/color/3

   1. So…DH bought the whole family track suits last Christmas as a joke. The joke’s on all of us because we love them. Here are my pants: https://www.amazon.com/adidas-Womens-Essentials-3-Stripes-Fleece/dp/B07KW1WZZ3/ref=sr_1_4?crid=3E0FLU0WVG86G&dchild=1&keywords=adidas+track+suits+for+women+set+2+pieces&qid=1610569607&sprefix=adidas+track+suit%2Caps%2C209&sr=8-4

      1. Those are joggers though. Any chance anyone in your family got a non-joggers version?

         1. How are they joggers? I thought joggers had a gathered ankle. If you want something that doesn’t have sporty styling, maybe the Lands End Starfish line would have what you are after?

         2. Sorry, nevermind – I clicked the wrong link and was confused. Ignore me. Maybe try searching for warm ups or warm up pants?

            1. search for open bottom sweatpants – this is all my special needs child will wear

   2. Maybe the All In Motion fleece pants at Target would work. I’m about 5’5, and they’re ankle-length on me. But they’re probably a bit more tapered at the ankle than you want.

   3. I don’t know what is a jogger and what isn’t, but I have these in every color and I love them: https://www.jcrew.com/p/womens_category/sweatshirts_sweatpants/matching_sets/jogger-pant-in-vintage-cotton-terry/AT783?color_name=RAW%20INDIGO%20$69.50

      (It says jogger so I guess it’s not what you want, but in case anybody else wants awesome sweats, here you go.)

      1. Jogger is that tapered ankle instead of a regular open leg.

      2. How tall are you? I’m 5’8″ with long legs and often find joggers are too short. My ankles get cold!

         1. I’m 5’10” with long legs and my solution has been men’s sweatpants!

            1. But they ain’t got no junk in the trunk! Or at least that has been my problem with men’s pants. The back waistband dips down because all that fabric is needed to contain my sitting parts.

   4. I used to get these at Olympia sports. Basketball players still wear them over shorts before and after games.

      1. They don’t have any non-joggers pants on their website for women now. Frustrating.

   5. You might like the Lululemon Dance Studio Pants. I have the lined ones and love them. The price is steep but I’ve been wearing them for years and they still look new.

      1. That’s the shape I’m looking for and if you think the quality is good, maybe I will suck it up on the price. Thank you everyone for the recommendations.

      2. Seconding the Dance Studio Pants. Also, check out the sweat pants at Roots (canadian staple) if you want old school sweats.

   6. Have you thought up NorthFace Aphrodite pants? They are a light fabric that look like cotton pants but are stretchy. They have sort of a straight cut leg. They were my go-to over the summer when leggings were too hot/tight.

   7. What about Talbots? I got mine there last year & they have been great.

2. Given all the rug questions lately (and I too am in the market!) this NYT article made me chuckle: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/13/style/moroccan-trellis-rug.html

   1. Ugh. I have this and have had it for like 4 years. I see it everywhere and it makes me want to get rid of it.

   2. Haha. I continue to be baffled by the positive reviews! I have it and it serves its purpose as a rug my kids can ruin but it doesn’t look great in person and feels like the cheap polyester it is.

   3. You can get an authentic barber rug from The Anou which connects buyers directly with artisans. But be aware they shed like crazy.

   4. I *JUST* noticed it in an apartment listing this afternoon right after seeing that thread!

   5. I have very very very slowly over the years collected vintage Persian rugs for most rooms in my house. My particular favorite style is Shiraz and I like orangey red main colors. I bought my first at one of those parking lot tent sales. I was charmed by the fact that the artist who made it wove his/her initials into the design. I love the mix of colors and the fact that the design is not 100% symmetrical. Once I found out what I liked, the rest of my rugs have been stalked and bought online. It’s easy to find 5×8 rugs, harder to find other sizes, but if you’re willing to go slowly, it’s totally doable.

      I think whether it’s Persian rugs or real barber rugs or whatever look it is you’re trying to get at, it’s so much more satisfying to take your time and find the real thing.

   6. Oh my god I own this rug.

      Honestly it’s funny that it’s so popular but I bought it because I couldn’t find anything remotely similar to it!

3. I am a transplant to the Carolinas. WFH. Today, I killed 3 things that look like tiny roaches. They were close to black, three body segments, antennas. Slow enough that I could smush them (usually I am skittish, as roaches sometimes fly and are very fast and I’m not used to them). I am using to roaches seeming huge. Also being more of a blackish red, but I know that there are different kinds (huge ones, and some that seem smaller, and others that seem to be cousins).

   Are these babies? Will there be more? Where are they coming from? Will they get larger? It gets below freezing at night but 40s-50s during the day, so I’m surprised that things might be hatching now.

   SO many questions. Help!!!

   1. Maybe stinkbugs? My house – and just about every other house in my small town – gets invested now and then. This year I’ve seen a a few, even in the last couple of weeks when it has been cold here, but some years there have been dozens, it freaks me out. I have not looked at them closely enough to see if they fit your description (I squash them in a paper towel and toss them as fast as possible) but maybe google an image or two?

      1. *infested

      2. In my experience, stinkbugs are sort of shield-shaped – but you might have different ones in NC! They’re definitely annoying tho. Maybe a weevil or ground beetle?

   2. Year-round pest control is a fact of life for us in many places in the South. Bugs come inside sometimes for water or because the temperature keeps fluctuating or just because it’s Tuesday. Do you own or rent? Sounds like you could use a visit from the exterminator to review the treatment plan.

      1. +1. If you own, get a pest control contract. I never heard of these until I moved to the South. If you rent, call the landlord.

   3. They kind of sound like earwigs.

4. As we’ve been talking about saving for college for kids – middle class goal, upper middle class goal, etc. – I ran the cost of my alma mater (top 25 university, private) through an inflation calculator. If costs had risen with inflation from the time I started there, it would cost about $48,000 a year. The actual cost is $79,000 a year.

   As much as I loved my experience at my alma mater, I cannot fathom how much money I would need to see that as a worthwhile use of my funds. I would rather tell kiddo to get a merit scholarship somewhere else, go to the flagship state university ($25k a year), or go to the uni his father teaches at (free tuition), and use the rest of the money for graduate school or a down payment.

   Private college has always been expensive; what shocks me is how much more expensive it has gotten in 20 years. Back in the ’90s, people hovering between middle class and upper middle class were able to afford to send their kids with the help of some scholarships, grants, and reasonable loans. (College would knock $5k off the sticker price; kid would find a few random scholarships; kid graduates with $8k in student loans.) Now, it’s so much money that saving up “most” of the cost is not even a goal I have.

   Anyone else feel the same way?

   1. I have nothing to add as a Canadian, but wow. I don’t see how anyone manages to succeed with those prices. I paid a whopping 20k for my undergrad at a truly amazing academic institution. I paid it off in one year, easy peasy, and I moved on with life. I wish Americans saw the value in keeping education prices reasonable.

      1. It appears rising college costs is an international issue. A CBC article says tuition and fees in Canada tripled from the 90s and a Global News article says they rose by 40% in the past decade? Raw numbers are well below average U.S. tuition and hopefully stay that way, but they are solidly trending upward.

         1. In 1980s, you could pay tuition, fees, living expenses with your summer job in Canada plus a bit left over. In the early 2000s, you could pay it with your summer job plus working during the year. Now you’d need to take out some loans. It a big increase compared with what it was but still way less than state school in the US.

   2. $79k a year seems insane to me. For most degrees it would be a bad investment, right? I just don’t see private colleges still being popular in 20 years time if they keep charging these tuition rates. What in-debt millennial who is probably still paying off their own loans is going to want to saddle their kid with the same fate? Something has got to give.

      1. I’m the OP and I’m glad someone else noticed this, too. Our parents saved and we took on heavy loans (i.e. two generations paid for our college). You can’t have two generations paying for the next round.

         1. … and we can save less for our kids because we spent the first decade of their lives paying off our own educations.

      2. This. A million times this.

      3. I agree. The bubble WILL burst and sooner than later, I think.

      4. I’m very involved in my alma mater and the staff proudly tells us every year that 80% of the students don’t pay full price thanks to scholarships/grants. As someone whose parents scrimped and saved and paid full price, this is always mildly offensive to me… it’s like health insurance or Ann Taylor/J.Crew prices, it’s all just a stupid sticker price.

         1. I’d challenge you to push beyond the talking point. What % pay 90%? I technically got a teeny tiny scholarship one year, probably so my school could fling a stat like that around.

         2. So you’re one of the “I had to struggle so everyone else should too” kind of people?

            1. I think its more that if you have a certain tuition amount and then give a lot of scholarships to a lot of people . . . that is literally Ann Taylor sale pricing and not really fair to the people paying full price. Why not just lower the price and then give out fewer scholarships?

   3. Yup, and wage growth has been flat. This is why no amount of skipped lattes or avocado toast are going today’s young people. Baby boomers pulled up the ladders behind them.

   4. I went to one of the Ivies on nearly full financial aid (my parents both worked blue collar jobs, sticker price for one year was more than their combined annual incomes). My income is much higher than my parents. But between taking care of them (it’s a cultural non-negotiable that they’ll be living with me within the next 15-20 years and their money is going to run out eventually anyway), and wanting to give my future child(ren) a better childhood than I had, I don’t know how I can ever afford to send them to my alma mater if they are accepted. I don’t know how I would tell them, “I got to go here because my parents were poor and the school paid, but you can’t go even though we’re much wealthier.” I chose a public institution for graduate school so that I wouldn’t have loans weighing me down, but still don’t feel like the Ivies or other selective private school are within my financial reach for my children.
      I have no solutions, just commiseration.

   5. Yes. I don’t have kids yet so I’m praying that by the time they’re college aged something has changed. I work in government, I make 60k a year, my boss makes 80k and the top dogs at my agency make 95k. It’d physically impossible for me to afford college like that! It’s also sad to me that having a decent government office job that requires a degree doesn’t pay enough, even at upper levels, to make paying for college reasonable. I have a good friend at work who left her job because daycare was untenable on the salary. I know others who struggle to find homes to buy within reasonable commuting distance.

      I graduated from a very good but not omg amazing private university in the last 10 years with “only” 35k in debt (lotssss of financial aid, as my parents are legitimately middle class). I loved my experience, but yikes if I had to pay full price. If I had to do it again, I’d have done ROTC.

   6. So many people think like you that Flagship State U is not realistic to hope for in most states now. We have an excellent community college and I suspect that my good (but not remarkably good) but fungible daughters from the largest high school in the largest city in my state may have to plan to spend a year or two there and then transfer. The competition among their peers is fierce.

      1. Not to mention so many states are defunding higher education that tuition is rising fast.

      2. “So many people think like you that Flagship State U is not realistic to hope for in most states now. ”

         I explicitly stated that I would prefer to send my kid to our flagship. Autopilot is for flying planes in nice weather, not for insults.

         1. Riiight, but she is saying that BECAUSE so many people think ‘oh I’ll just send my kids to State U’ that the competition is SO much more intense that it used to be. I honestly think that’s true, our sitter had both of her kids go to the main campus of our State U and they both worked really, really hard for it and reported that many of their peers had acceptances from fancy private schools but didn’t get into main campus of our State school.

            1. The interquartile SAT range at my state’s flagship U is 1100 to 1300. A “fancy” private school might happily take a student with a 1200 SAT, but a “fancy” private school isn’t the same as an elite private school. If you’re into JHU or Northwestern, you’re almost certainly into almost any state flagship, perhaps with the exception of Berkeley, UMich, or UVA.

   7. Yes, I feel the same way. I attended Davidson, had an amazing experience, and am an enthusiastic alum. I am involved with the alumni network and do my best to donate at least something every year. When I attended, tuition was $28,000 and total costs were $36,000. Now, about fifteen years later, tuition is $55,000, and total costs are $73,000. So, basically, it’s doubled in 15 years. If it went up only with inflation, it would have increased about 28%, so total costs would be $46,000 instead of $73,000.

      $73,000 is actually about my take-home salary, 10 years into my legal career. I do not find the idea of saving that much attainable. I would not encourage my kid to take out that kind of loan. I know Davidson is among the schools offering full need-based aid, so I know that many of its students do not pay full freight.

      1. Hi from another Davidson alum! Also had an incredible experience and give every year. When I attended slightly before you, costs were between $25-28k, and I had $20k/year in scholarships ($10k/year from Davidson, $10k/year from an outside source). My parents paid the difference, which wound up being only slightly more than UNC-CH.
         Even with Davidson’s (and similar schools’) generous aid packages, I don’t see a way that my kids would be able to attend. My family has an income that puts us in the UMC that would likely disqualify us from aid (and, frankly, should). We’re saving aggressively in 529s, but even between that an a relatively high HHI, $400k/kid for private college is just…too much. That much money seems like it could be used for so many better purposes. Hoping something changes over the next decade before our oldest would begin. It’s also hard to justify when my public-school educated husband and I ended up in basically the same place, professionally.

      2. At 73K/year * 4 (let’s hope) years, at what point on the income spectrum do they expect for people to be able to pay that?! Even if I make say 250K/year, I am pretty sure I couldn’t write a 6K check each month to college for four years straight (or even 3K a month if I had saved the rest and invested it perfectly). Davidson is a tiny school. Would the math work out better for students if with AP credits it could only take 3 years and they let in 25% more kids? This looks unsustainable.

         1. Our current HHI is ~$300k, which I expect (hope) to remain fairly stable for the foreseeable future. I assume we would not qualify for aid at that income level, and I don’t think we should…yet, there’s no way we’re well-off enough to simply pay that amount, and while we’re saving a lot via 529s as I noted above, we’re not saving at quite that level. Davidson in particular, at least when I attended, was very focused on having students there for four years exactly. I know very, very few students who graduated early or late. AP credits were also capped at a certain amount so you couldn’t shave off a whole year. This was 20 years ago, though.

   8. Yeah, $79k is straight-up crazy. I know someone with a German degree from Tulane who came out of undergrad with nearly $200k of debt ten years ago.

      My parents told me they’d pay up to the cost of in-state tuition at our state’s flagship university (which today is pretty damn steep, but attainable for upper middle class families) and anything beyond that was on me.

      1. That’s still over 35k a year in my state! Pushing 150k for in state is insane to me!

         1. Yes, it’s absolutely crazy!

      2. This is what my parents offered me also – we will pay for in-state tuition at big state-U or you can take out loans for those ‘fancy’ schools you got into. I picked state U and am glad I did. I graduated with $0 in school loans. I worked for a large retail store chain a few years after college who offered tuition reimbursement.. I got an MBA for free back in 2008. I just finished up an M.Eng in Cybersecurity that my current employer paid 100% for. I like learning and I really like free learning.

   9. My sense is that there is a lot of cross-subsidizing going on. Some people have to pay sticker price so that others pay less. I don’t think that schools use their endowments (and I feel strongly that schools like Harvard should). State U is not as bad for sticker price, which make it so popular that isn’t isn’t realistic to hope for. Rather than expand size (easy to do with online and hybrid models), kids are stuck and so are families. Don’t even get me started on schools that can’t offer courses and it takes a kid extra semesters to finish.

      1. Yes, for my brother and I private colleges were cheaper than in state public. We would have paid full price at the state school but got financial aid at the private school. We were solidly middle class, but not poor so I was happily surprised how much aid I got (still graduated with loans)

         1. Ha, my parents definitely bragged about how I got a scholarship to our prestigious State U (it was not much, but to even GET a scholarship as an in-state student was practically unheard of). I got a MUCH bigger aid package at my private school and thank my lucky stars that it was enough to allow me to graduate and pay off my loan in a year (practically unheard of for a millennial). Not having loans hanging over my head is the main reason I was able to buy an apartment, start a 401k, and have a cushion in the bank before I was married and had the advantage of being a DINK, which very few of my contemporaries could say.

   10. Yes. It’s insane. I blame the government taking over student loans and not actually managing the lending process. Schools can charge whatever they want and the government will lend it. That’s how you get over inflated prices. Schools should be co borrowers on student loans.

       1. I agree that this is exactly what happened. My private college raised the prices each year I was there. I otherwise loved it and it fit my goals well, so I wasn’t going to transfer out. I just took on more loans than expected.

          I personally do not have the goal of paying full price for a private university. I am aiming to be able to pay for State U. If my kids want something more expensive, they can figure it out! My husband and I both agree that if we had a kid with entrepreneurial kick, we would absolute give her money to start a business and skip college altogether.

       2. Yup. Exactly this and it doesn’t get talked about enough.

       3. 100%

   11. Holy moly, I just looked up the annual tuition, room and board for Oberlin (my dream school, ultimately didn’t go there) and it’s almost $76k.

       1. eeep… Oberlin was also my dream school. Ended up going to a different state’s (aka not my home state) flagship university for about 25k/year, now around 35k a year for out of state students. Their in-state tuition was about 5k/year about 15 years ago, now it’s 8k.
          I know we talk a lot here about private colleges and local state U, but out of state Us can be a midway point too, pricewise and sometimes have better academic reputations for specific programs. Unless it’s some of the UCs. My sister went to a UC (also not our home state) and I think it was something like 50k/year for out-of-state students when she attended? Somewhere on par with some private colleges but Dad insisted on the prestige of UC Berkeley. (I mean, sis makes good money now and can pay back her loans but… cultural expectations, as discussed in the other thread I guess.)

          1. That’s a good point. In particular, some state schools with a heavy athletics program (roll tide) will recruit out-of-state students with high test scores and offer generous aid packages.

             1. I’m not in Alabama. Fully expecting my kids to maybe wind up there. Roll Tide!

             2. The athletics department at Alabama actually does not subsidize the scholarships. The athletics department is actually a separate corporation. Out of state enrollment at UA though is currently at about 50% in part because of the athletics program, and most of those students are paying full price out of state tuition (which is still cheaper than some in-state schools). Those students subsidize the scholarships many students receive. It is a bit like a pyramid scheme actually.

             3. It’s also a way of increasing their average SAT scores. They throw money at smart Northern kids.

   12. Yes, and both my kids are going to state colleges. We’re in California, so there are some good ones. The CSU system for one and UC for the second. The prices are just ridiculous and if you dig deeper into what’s causing the increases, it’s not professor salaries. It’s things like nice gyms and amenities they have found parents and students are looking for when they choose a school.

       I went to a small liberal arts private college on full financial aid (and paid loans until I was over 35.) My daughter applied and was accepted, but with the scholarship she qualified for based on GPA and test scores, and it’s all forumlaic now, it only brought the annual cost to $40K. It just didn’t seem worth it to either of us. And I don’t really want to financially support all the reasons their tuition has inflated well in excess of general inflation.

       Our strategy for college savings has always been that we will save in-state public college tuition, room, and board for a 4 year degree, and we’ve always been very clear with them that that is the deal. They can go private if they get amazing scholarships or they take out loans.

       My daughter was surrounded by kids who had parents or grandparents who pledged to fully pay for college wherever they wanted to go, so she felt self conscious about attending a CSU, but since she’s been going there, she met kids from more backgrounds and now feels fortunate to have funding for a fully paid four year degree (or five in her case, as she’s going to be a teacher. Virtual classes and not living on campus this year has helped fund the fifth year.)

       At the end of the day, making sure you are adequately funded for your own retirement is priority one. If your kid has to go to state school or take out loans, I’m sure they will prefer that to supporting you in your old age.

       1. Administration costs are crazy high in the UC system now too. There are hundreds of departments and divisions and staff involved in every aspect of students’ lives. At some point, it’s not going to matter if there are 10 qualified mental health specialists in each quadrant of the campus if no one can afford to enroll for even one year.

       2. I think it would be better for me to buy my kid a nice paid-off 2BR condo in our city and have them go to community college for 2 years and then transfer to Local State U (for all you Davidson people: UNC Charlotte) if they are going to be in any direct-to-job majors like nursing or accounting. And especially if they aren’t and will be looking at graduate/professional school so they could at least be debt free (and a paid-off condo is something they could trade up from down the line). I just feel like if a parent makes any $ at all, colleges will think that that $ is for them (vs parental retirement), so best to plan on never spending it in the first place. UNCC is maybe 145K/4 years, so not free by any means, but not unreasonable (and we have some local early college options for some programs that are already so oversubscribed as to not be attainable except through the luck of a lottery for slots).

          1. “I just feel like if a parent makes any $ at all, colleges will think that that $ is for them (vs parental retirement)”

             Or feel like it’s for them instead of for the family to enjoy. Yes, I get that it’s important to pay more so that brilliant, driven kids from poor families can go, too; however, the change from (inflation-adjusted) $48k to $79k just seems like they are sucking as much money out of families as they possibly can. Tough luck if the family would like to occasionally hire a cleaning service because both parents work; tough luck if the family would like to go to Europe once; tough luck if you want a massage to help with sciatica: if you want your kid to have what you got in the ’90s, you have to give ALL of that up.

          2. I have a friend who went to an out-of-state public university. Her parents actually did buy her a 2-BR condo and put it in her name. One year into college, she qualified for in-state tuition. She stayed in the area for medical school, also at a public university. Her sister followed her for undergrad at the same university and lived in the 2-BR condo with her and got in-state tuition. After everyone was done with school, the parents sold the 2-BR condo for at least what they paid.

          3. * Laughs at the idea of buying a 2BR condo for the price of college tuition in Bay Arean *

             1. I honestly don’t know how anyone lives in the Bay Area.

             2. Ha, yeah, it was in Ohio.

   13. For fun, I calculated what it would cost now to get the education I received – 4 years at Stanford + med school at big IVY = $700,000. Seven hundred thousand dollars.

       We totally need to reform our medical system in the US. But how the h3ll can anyone afford to become a doctor anymore?

       I would never pay it. I only went to Stanford because I received grants/loans/work-study and I went to med school for free (very competitive and rare scholarship). I would have never gone to med school if I had to pay for it.

   14. Most kids don’t actually pay the full published price. There are school funded income based grants and scholarships that lop a chunk of the price off the top, then alumni scholarships that are automatically applied if you qualify (or are easy peasy guaranteed if you just submit your information), work study, and other scholarships that are “found” if you have trouble paying the balance. Some schools offer free tuition if you parents make below a certain amount of money (that amount starting at solidly middle class incomes, like 60 – 100k+ HHI).
       That is seriously the only way these schools will meet diversity pledges (diversity based on student interest/talent, geographic area, income level, and background) when at some schools upwards of 30% are legacy nearly automatic admits.
       The sticker price is typically reserved for international students and rich kids.

       1. I think this IS Ann Taylor pricing.

          And at what point does full sticker price apply — HHI of 200K? 150K? There aren’t that many people who can fund 75K per year and most people have more than 1 kid.

          1. It applied to me with a HHI of 14k when I applied to university in 2000, because I had no idea taking a few gen eds in community college would take away my first time in college status and aid that is only available to FTIC students. I had no idea. There are so many reasons why I’ll never donate to my Alma mater and this is a biggie.

       2. Where are there legacy auto admits like that? Not at Flagship State U. I doubt at Ivies (maybe though).

          1. Boston College.

       3. I’m telling you, there are discounts off the published price for certain combinations of GPA and test scores (though not test scores this year because most tests were canceled) but it’s a matrix and is published. You can look it up now. It’s not negotiable and it’s not all that generous. At my alma mater, the top tier of scholarship brought the annual cost down to in state public college prices, but only one student would qualify. The rest were going to pay significantly more.

          I’m not talking about need based or athletic discounts here. Just straight up, parents make over 100k a year, student is smart enough to go to college but not the #1 top performing single student in their year.

5. I actually kind of love that yikes blazer with a simple black dress or black pants.
   It’s definitely a statement though.

   1. I hadn’t read the post, but saw your comment and got excited that there might be a blazer emblazoned (see what I did there?) with the word “YIKES.” It would go great with the leggings I’m going to sew myself tonight — the fabric says “back off.”

      1. Oh man, I love this!

6. I recently purchased some items from Neiman Marcus and am really disappointed by the terrible customer service I received. One item wasn’t able to be fulfilled, so they sent me a discount as a consolation–the discount does not work. (I emailed them to report this problem–no response.) Items I purchased were too big (because I foolishly used their online algorithm tool to predict my size, and it was wrong). I tried to exchange the item for a smaller size but the online return process wouldn’t let me do an exchange. I contacted customer service by email, but after a few days got no response. I then called and spoke to someone who put me on hold–after 20 minutes I hung up. Pretty poor customer service. I will not be eager to shop with them again.

   1. I have to say, the poor experience across brands with exchanging for another size is why I shop online like I do – ordering two or three sizes and sometimes sending all of them back.

      Otherwise, the odds are (1) the item sells out and I’m out of luck, (2) the item has bounced from a sale price to a higher price in the interim but finding anyone to do the exchange at the lower price is an exercise in frustration, and or (3) if ordering sequentially, and none of the sizes work, it’s yet more effort to ship the stuff back.

   2. Ugh, I had a bad experience with them trying to return something I bought online to the store, which apparently are two separate systems. They finally took it back and then the refund never posted to my account.

   3. Tweeting gets pretty quick responses. Once they see your complaint, they’ll ask you to DM your contact info. I can’t see NM not reaching out if they see your post. Good luck.

7. What’s the likelihood of Giuliani actually getting disbarred?

   1. Aunt Jamesina,

      You will be pleased to know that the the NYS Bar Association may take action and not renew his membership because of violation of the association rules.

      https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2021/01/11/new-york-state-bar-association-considering-expelling-rudy-giuliani/?sh=7d15ac0731f2

      https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/new-york-state-bar-association-moves-remove-rudy-giuliani-its-n1253722

      Seek and ye shall receive!

   2. High.

      1. +1

      2. Great!

8. Help me find a beloved travel memento: In 2007 I traveled to Tokyo for work and stayed in a large hotel in Ropongi (I think it was a Hyatt). In the gift shop of the hotel I found a wooden box painted with an image of a tree. Inside it holds a scented pouch. The top of the wooden box has slats to vent the lovely smell. At the hotel store there were four of these boxes with images of trees representing all four seasons. I love the one I bought and would love to know where to buy more and how to get a replacement for the scented pillow inside. Any leads?

   1. I’d call the hotel and ask if they still have them. Or you can take a picture of it and do an image search (not sure how to do this offhand, but I’d google it) to look for something like it.

      1. Or email a picture to the concierge. I have found international big-hotel concierges to be incredibly responsive over email.

   2. Do you mean something like this?

      https://omotenashi-j.com/product/shoyeido-kyoto-genji-wooden-box-incense-hananoen/

      I know nothing about this shop, but there seems to be lots of places to buy japanese scent sachets or incense cushions, so you should be able to get more scent. (Even the Japanse museum in L.A.).

      1. There are four of these boxes with different trees and flowers. They’re not seasons, but illustrations from “The Tale of Genji”.

         https://omotenashi-j.com/product-category/incense/

      2. YES! This is just like the box I have. (I remembered that it seemed expensive. I guess it was! Now I know why I bought just one.) Thank you so much! Really exciting find :)

         1. Glad to helpI I belive making beautiful boxes from this particular tree sort is a very highly regarded skill, so my guess is that if it’s handmade by a traditional professional, it will most definitely be expensive! :)

9. Hoping the hive can help. My grandparents had this garish wallpaper in their home that I’d really like to find. I’m assuming it was from the 60s when they moved in. It had birds on it. I think I have a photo of it somewhere, but they no longer own the home. Where would I try to find that exact wallpaper? Or is this just a fool’s errand?

   1. A few places to look from someone who loves sourcing original midcentury stuff:
      -retrorenovation.com has a number of midcentury sources and images
      -check Etsy for bird wallpaper and choose “vintage” in the filter
      -do a Google image search and comb through the results

      1. On google image search, you can upload your photo (crop to show only the wallpaper) and search for similar images.

   2. Can you do a reverse image search?

   3. Reddit maybe? If you can share a picture, someone may be able to point you to who manufactured it.

      1. Yeah, I’d try r/homeimprovement

   4. Not exactly what you asked, but I’ve read some bloggers who had a photo or file of a wallpaper and sent it to be printed by a company (spoonflower I believe is the name, but there may be others who offer the same service). They print custom fabrics as well. I sew and I’ve been thinking of having a custom printed fabric in cotton or silk. I’ve also wanted to design my own silk scarf with a repeating pattern that looks geometric from a distance, but when you look closer is something like tiny squirrels curled in a circle that looks like a polka dot, or an abstracted flower inside a square. I also have dreams of a bird wallpaper for one of my bathrooms that would be reminiscent of Victorian birds, but modernized like a more stylized mural at the same time. I have very specific tastes:)

      1. Oh I love that

   5. Can you describe it in more detail? Do you remember the colors, the scale? All of that will be helpful. When did they sell the home — if in the last decade, are there photos of it from the house listing?

10. One of my favorite Food Network personalities posted something to her FB group with big graphic text “BE READY” and I’m trying to figure out how to take this in a non-civil war/ “end of world” kind of way? Here’s the full text from her post (but the graphic just said BE READY):

    Right now, it can feel like everything good is under attack.
    Everything that God designed and designated as “good” is either under scrutiny or engulfed in flames.
    It can feel like the walls are closing in.
    Just this morning, I said to [husband], I wasn’t built for a time like this.
    And [husband] said, well maybe that’s just what God wants to use — Moses stuttered and didn’t know how to speak. David was a shepherd, not a king-in-training. And Paul… well Paul hated Christians with what he thought was a righteous anger.
    Soooo…I think what we have to remember is that when it comes to God, every day is opposite day ? Be ready.

    1. This type of post seems deliberately designed to allow anyone to interpret it in any way. Which in the current context I find really irresponsible.

       1. +1

    2. I can’t comment on how unhinged any particular TV personality is, however, the most charitable way of interpreting her post in the Evangelical world would be as follows. Many Evangelical/protestant denominations believe in a literal interpretation of both Satan and demons/demonic forces. There is a dogma around “spiritual warfare” in which one calls on God/Jesus to protect them from these force. These demons/demonic influences directly try to harm believers , and it is up to each believer to call on God/Jesus and strengthen themself against these attacks (see “putting on the armour of God”- see Ephesians). So one could say that she’s comparing times of strife in the past with the times of strife we’re currently experiencing. And that one must be ready to “fight” these forces (spiritually, not literally).

    3. That post is really confusing and poorly written, but I think she is trying to say “Be ready for God to use you in ways you didn’t expect, and to see yourself rise to the occasion.” And/or “Even though things seem awful now, be ready for a change.” So a positive message? Worded very, very awkwardly?

       1. This is how I interpret it as well.

    4. Just ugh.

    5. Yeesh. She lost me at “everything that God designed…” since I do happen to believe in evolution and science and humans having free will and all that. Not that I follow Food Network personalities or anything, but I hope this wasn’t one of the ones whose show I have enjoyed watching from time to time.

       1. I know plenty of people who believe in God but also believe in evolution and/or free will.

          1. Including Einstein.

          2. In the words of my very Catholic grandmother: “God gave you a brain – use it.”

    6. Something I don’t understand, and also really hate, is the idea that everyone with a platform has to share their opinion as gospel. Is it not enough to be quiet and learn, or at the most to post that that is what you are doing?

       1. The world doesn’t revolve around athiests any more than it revolves around Christians. Telling someone that is religious to “be quiet and learn” is incredibly condescending and borderline bigotry. If you want to say “posting very religious things on a fashion blog IMO is not appropriate” is fine but you seem very hateful of people of faith. Please examine yourself and your character.

          1. Maybe I’m reading this wrong but I read Vickys response as saying she dislikes when public personalities state their own opinion as something important, the phrase “as gospel” I read as referring to someone thinking their opinion is as important as the Bible

          2. Anon at 5.36, that is such an obnoxioisly phrased post and a very defensive without being atacked, wearing the shoe because you clearly assume it fits you, intepretation of what Vicky Austen said. That is not how I understood her words. Wjat she said has literally zero bearing on atheism and Christianity. Every name you called her for, you literally modeled in your post.

    7. Who?

    8. Why don’t you just say who it is? Why be coy?

11. Any suggestions for adjustable shelving for a reach-in pantry approximately 3 feet wide?

12. Y’all that video Holly Figueroa O’Reilly posted on Twitter with the rioters discussing the schematics and layout of the building while they were inside is completely freaky. They clearly had been in that maze of a building before and had planned it out. So lucky they never got to the members – https://mobile.twitter.com/AynRandPaulRyan/status/1349312406804025345?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

    Plus they got into areas not open to the public – they had to have help https://gizmodo.com/parler-users-breached-deep-inside-u-s-capitol-building-1846042905/amp?rev=1610480731991&__twitter_impression=true

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