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For busy working women, the suit is often the easiest outfit to throw on in the morning. In general, this feature is not about interview suits for women, which should be as classic and basic as you get — instead, this feature is about the slightly different suit that is fashionable, yet professional. Also: we just updated our big roundup for the best women's suits of 2024!
If you've recently decided your “color season” is autumn, this would be a great suit. I feel like we've frequently seen a lot of brighter, cooler yellows, so this darker “Island Glow” yellow is a nice change.
The “Sculpted Stretch” collection from Banana Republic Factory is one we've featured many times before, of course — it's affordable, cut in modern lines, comes in relatively wide size ranges in regular and petite sizes, and is machine washable.
I like the suit styled with white, but I'd also try it with navy — and maybe bring in accessories for a pop of color like coral, teal, or an orangey red.
The suiting pieces include a blazer, a bootcut pant, a wide-leg trouser, and (in different fabrics) various tops, dresses, and a slip skirt.
Sales of note for 11.5.24
- Nordstrom – Fall sale, up to 50% off!
- Ann Taylor – Extra 40% off sale
- Banana Republic Factory – 50% off everything + extra 25% off with your GAP Inc. credit card
- Bloomingdales is offering gift cards ($20-$1200) when you spend between $100-$4000+. The promotion ends 11/10, and the gift cards expire 12/24.
- Boden – 10% off new styles with code; free shipping over $75
- Eloquii – Fall clearance event, up to 85% off
- J.Crew – 40% off fall favorites; prices as marked
- J.Crew Factory – Up to 60% off everything + 60% off clearance
- Lo & Sons – Fall Sale, up to 35% off
- M.M.LaFleur – Save 25% sitewide
- Neiman Marcus – New sale, up to 50% off
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
- Talbots – Buy one, get one – 50% off everything!
- White House Black Market – Holiday style event, take 25% off your entire purchase
Vicky Austin
Giggling at the idea of a suit from Banana which is indeed bright yellow.
Anonymous
Good one!!! Ha,
Housecounsel
SO on brand!
Anon
Where’s the big yellow hat?
Anonymous
Sold out. Owners of pet monkeys bought them all.
Lobby-est
lol
Anon
Giggling right along with you!
Anon
Anyone catch the Byrne and Hooven op-ed in the NYT today? Finally.
Anon
Ok JK. But how is someone else identifying as trans hurting you?
Anon
It does not but if you actually read the op-ed, they are not claiming that it does.
I firmly believe that gender identity needs to be respected in almost all circumstances (i do have issues with biologically male sex offenders wanting to be placed in women’s prisons and the sports question concerns me at the competitive level). But there are two biological genders and sometimes it does matter. (And to respond to someone below, males with Klinefelter syndrome are still male). This is another example of college educated liberal elites trying to re-make the language and either confusing everyone else or pissing them off. And frankly I think it hurts the cause of trans rights. When you make arguments that most people know instinctively are BS, it is not helpful. Trans people deserve to be treated with kindness and respect because they are human beings with inherent value, not because biological sex does not exist.
Anon
“The problem is that “sex assigned at birth”— unlike “larger-bodied”— is very misleading. Saying that someone was “assigned female at birth” suggests that the person’s sex is at best a matter of educated guesswork. “Assigned” can connote arbitrariness — as in “assigned classroom seating” — and so “sex assigned at birth” can also suggest that there is no objective reality behind “male” and “female,” no biological categories to which the words refer.”
I’ve been saying this for a while. In circumstances that have nothing to do with the trans rights movement, someone might be “assigned” a sex at birth (ambiguous genitalia, XXY chromosomes, etc). In that circumstance, the language of “assigned at birth” refers to a social, not biological, determination: “the baby’s genitals are ambiguous so we will raise Jamie as a girl.”
However, for almost everyone, your sex is determined at conception, and starts to matter a mere month thereafter. It isn’t “assigned.” Many of us who got pregnant in the last decade got blood tests around the beginning of the second trimester to determine the baby’s biological sex. No one “assigned” Y chromosomes to float around my bloodstream; those were from my son.
If you want to use language that is more inclusive, it should be accurate, not misleading. I could go for “male at birth” or “male at conception,” or maybe just a society that understands that “biological male” conveys nothing of interest except chromosomes, and personal expression is a different story.
Anonymous
I have a crush on a coworker, and an upcoming work trip with just him… talk me out of anything stupid! Neither of us is married but he’s my superior, and in a practice area I want to work in.
Senior Attorney
Nope, nope, nope. He’s not a co-worker, he’s your boss. Not good. Whether it goes well or badly, it will be bad for your career.
Vicky Austin
Yeah I think you can have an affair with the guy or work in that practice area, but not both. Keep that in the front of your mind.
Davis
+100
And again, nope.
Strategies: See if you can get hotel rooms on different floors. Moderate your drinking. Don’t overshare personal info. If you find yourself drifting into dreamy thoughts of him, combat that with the various ways he’s tedious or demanding.
Anon
Superior like boss or superior like “ranks above you but isn’t in your food chain?”
Not in your food chain…I mean, humans have to meet somewhere. Just be 110% sure you’re willing to find a new job if things go south.
Anonymous
My friend married her boss. It’s been good for her.
Anon
I have had a long-running crush on a coworker (except we are both married, we have chemistry, and a reporting line in common). For me, thinking of that particularly annoying tic he has that just isn’t cute no matter how hot he is, that time when he forgot deodorant and stunk like death by the end of the day, his occasional callous comments, that fugly shirt that he actually chooses to wear on repeat, etc. help cool things down. Fantasizing is fun, but breaking up families, losing jobs, torpedoing my reputation in a small industry? None of that is fun.
NYCer
OP said neither of them are married. No one is breaking up a family here. I don’t know, I have two good friends who met their spouse at work (all parties were single)….it happens.
Me
I think she was speaking about herself when she talked about not breaking up families. She was talking about things she thinks about instead of going down the lala land trail about her coworker.
NYCer
And my point was that thinking about breaking up a family is irrelevant to the OP. Single people can and do meet their spouses at work sometimes.
I agree that it is a very, very important thing to consider if either party is married though.
V
Cute story. Single people can and do but shouldn’t when there is a direct reporting relationship. At several companies I’ve worked for that will get one or both of you moved or fired.No one wants to be in litigation if things go south. And it’s not fair to the rest of the team.
Anon
I wouldn’t exist if people didn’t meet at work. I’d tread cautiously and be prepared to leave even if you just date. But don’t rule out a happy life because of a short term circumstance. Sounds like you’re at a law firm and those are easy to change.
Anon
Dating coworkers is fine. Dating your boss, or even someone you don’t directly report to but still superior to you in the same area, absolutely not, don’t even think about it. I’m old enough to see how this almost always ends up worse for women, even in relationships than seem to be mutual and not exploitative. A man in this situation who is willing to date you is not someone you want to be with. If it’s meant to be, it can wait until you don’t work for him.
Anon
+1 on the consequences falling mostly on the woman (and the person who is lower on the org chart), *even in relationships that seem to be mutual and not exploitative”
I didn’t used to believe that, and then life happened. This is a social/structural effect that doesn’t get canceled out by good intentions. And we are *assuming* good intentions all around.
Anon
Superior seems like such an old-fashioned way to describe somebody more senior to you.
Anonymous
Not married doesn’t equal single. But, should you hook up on your business trip? No.
Yes, people meet at work but you also need to think about what happens if something happens and your entire office finds out.
Anon
Anyone have a Switzerland itinerary I can copy? Looking to go for about 10-11 days (including travel to/from the US) next summer and must fly into and out of Geneva, not Zurich. We want a mix of mountains and city and I’d prefer to base ourselves in at most 3-4 places total and do day trips from there, rather than hopping around to a different hotel every night. I’ve planned lots of trips to Europe but for some reason am feeling really overwhelmed by this. Maybe because it’s a small country and I feel pressure to cover a lot of ground.
Flats Only
For Europe, my “cheat code” for this type of thing is to consult Rick Steves website and guide books, and also look at his tour company itineraries. Tour Co itineraries are a great way to get a basic idea of what makes sense logistically, and then you can add/subtract per your interests.
anon
I’m not familiar with the French side so if you want to explore the area closer to Geneva then I don’t have recs. We took the train from Zurich to the Bernese Oberland area, and that seems to be doable from Geneva as well since this area is in the center of the country. We stayed in Wengen and used the train pass to visit nearby towns in the mountains and on the two lakes. Interlaken makes a good base transportation wise but I’d advise staying up in the mountains. Wengen is small and cute, Murren sits high up with mountain cliffs right in your face but it’s a pain to do day trips from here, Lauterbrunnen is down in the valley, and Grindelwald is the most developed. Which one you pick depends on what vibe you’re going for. Bern, the capital city, is in the same region so that will satisfy your city portion.
anonymous
Serious question, and if it matters, I consider myself a middle-of-the-road Democrat.
For those of you who consider the Biden Administration’s support of Israel to be tantamount to supporting genocide or ethnic cleansing, will you be not voting or voting for a third party in November? I’m curious how you weigh Trump’s possible reelection with casting an affirmative vote for someone actively abetting genocide or ethnic cleansing.
Anon
Serious question: for those of you in your position, how do you think Trump is going to improve the situation? Not voting for Biden is voting for Donald “Netanyahu should finish the job” Trump. It’s also a massive f-you to immigrants, women, and other groups in our own country who will face serious rights violations under another Trump presidency, not to mention endorsing the greatest democratic threat to our republic that I’ve ever seen. If you’re patting yourself on the back thinking that snubbing Biden is a win for human rights, think again. If you think it stops Israel in any way, think again. That’s myopic af.
Anon
+1 ultimately it’s a binary choice, Trump or Biden. Casting a “protest vote” is a narcissistic and childish act that comes from wildly overstating your own self-importance.
Anon
Yeah, voting for Trump results in Israel continuing to do what it’s doing while we all get to live under Trump. How does anyone “win” at that? It makes zero sense to me.
Anonymous
Depends where you live. I live in Illinois which went for Biden by 17 points last time. I feel like there is room for a few protest votes here.
Anon
Are you really willing to risk it? There are other ways to protest
Anecdata
Mathematically, “not voting for Biden is equivalent to voting for Trump” just doesn’t make sense. Not voting for Biden (staying home or 3rd party) increases the likelihood of a Trump win, but not by as much as actually voting for Trump would
Senior Attorney
+1,000 FFS you are all about binary choices when it comes to sex, but you can’t understand it when it comes to elections?
Anon
*Standing Ovation*
go for it
+ 10000000
Anon
Sex is binary. Personality (identity) isn’t. There’s a great opinion piece in the New York Times today on the subject.
Vote Biden if you care about the fate of Palestinians. I care and that’s who I’m voting for.
Anon
I have news for you: Israel will continue to do what it needs to do to protect Jews with or without Biden. Or, as I saw written on a protest sign recently, “Did’t you get the memo: Jews fight back now.”
So we can have Israel protecting Jews and reproductive and voting rights in (most of) the US, or we can have Israel protecting Jews and autocracy in the US.
Anonymous
Sex isn’t always binary though. Some people are XXY.
Anon
There’s no third gamete.
Anon
“Jews fight back now” is so powerful after thousands of years of oppression.
Anonymous
Disgusted by Israel and Hamas. Frustrated by U.S. complicity in the genocide in progress and lack of public acknowledgement, scrutiny, and criticism of the prolific propagandist liars on both sides. Flabbergasted by widespread, knee jerk conflation of one’s ethnicity/religion with uncritical nationalism for bad actor foreign countries among Americans, especially on a day like today.
Still voting for Biden, because Trump is a buffoon with a malignant personality that will only inflame the worst of all of this and, despite the fact it is hard to turn away from the endless criminality overseas and shameless attempts to recruit for support here, we have our own issues and I support Biden and Democrats in the work to be done here at home.
2bu
Non binary identities are built on misogynist and misandrist stereotypes. Instead of breaking stereotypes they codify them.
Anonymous
+1 to @2bu
But I also agree that specifically in healthcare, providers need a way to gather relevant information besides assumptions based on external appearance.
Anon
NB is the ultimate “I’m not like the other girls” flex.
Anon
RE: nonbinary identity. No one should be shocked that girls and young women are opting out of being female. Unfortunatley, they will still suffer oppression.
Boo
“Jews fight back now” should be more accurately “Zionist fight back now by killing thousands of defenseless children and women and starving them to death with the funding and weapons from the richest country” so powerful!!
Anon
Senior Attorney, who are you talking to? Just a weird take because neither gender politics nor Zionist sympathies run along partisan lines. Who is this “you are all” in your head?
Anon
+ 1 million
Anon
while i realize there are people out there with this view, i do not think that Biden is “actively abetting genocide or ethnic cleansing” and find that characterization of the current war extremely offensive…however, i also realize that is not OP’s question.
not voting or voting third party is as like when you ask a child if they would like the red cup or the blue cup and they say they want a green cup and you don’t even own a green cup…so yes, if you’d like to behave like a 3 year old, go ahead
Anecdata
I vote third party sometimes, and I don’t think of it as a fruitless temper tantrum at all – for me, the line of thought is more “how can I vote in a way that most likely accomplishes several competing goals”. One of my goals is “no more Trump terms”. But I/also/ want “An option for a political party that better aligns with my views”; and “reasonable competitive policy differences” (I don’t think it’s a good thing for the country, long term, for Democrats to run on “the other side are antidemocratic racist probably fascist nutjobs” but since the modern Republican party /can’t/ function as a reasonable opposition, I want to support possible up and coming parties who might). I live in a reliably democratic state and I watch the polls as the election approaches, and sometimes yes, I am willing to take the very very small risk that California flips red this time because I voted third party. If the only thing I cared about was absolutely minimizing the chance of a Trump win, yes I would vote Biden even in California. But given multiple priorities, I think my approach is pretty reasonable. And the calculus would be different if I lived in Pennsylvania.
Anon
Donald Trump would happily help Netanyahu carpet bomb the entirety of Gaza. That is like not voting for Biden because you do not think he has done enough to secure abortion rights.
Anon
Yup.
Anon
I don’t think Biden’s done enough and I resent how Dems have strung us along for years, using women’s votes to get elected but then never prioritizing protecting abortion. Not even attempting to repeal Comstock is unforgivable. But even with all that? F*ck yes, I’m voting for Biden and fighting Trump.
Anon
+1
Peaches
Yeah this is where I fall, too. In the fringier online communities I see some people saying they won’t vote for Biden in the general election, but for the most part I see people using the primaries to show their protest votes.
Nasty Woman
Agree with all of this. Not voting for Biden is classic cutting off your nose to spite your face. To protest voters/non-voters out of protest I ask: A Trump win will result in more and greater material hardships for people you purport to care about. How do you defend prioritizing your discomfort–your feelings–about casting a vote for someone who hasn’t done enough for these people you purport to care about over their material wellbeing? We should all be aware by now of the damage Trump can cause and of the structural changes that he and his Party of Loons (no offense to the majestic bird) can bring about that will continue to make progress difficult for generations. See, e.g., the federal judiciary.
Protest voters wield the most power NOW, when political parties are trying to court their votes. Putting pressure on candidates now could result in material changes. But failing to support Biden at the ballot box is just giving away your power, not using it.
Anon
I despise our middle east policy (in its entirety, absolutely all of it, not just this) and do indeed find our support here tantamount to supporting genocide, but the alternative is…Trump? And he’s not a choice. So yeah, I’ll vote for Biden.
Do not ever forget that Trump won in 2016 by only a few thousand votes here, a couple thousand votes there. Pockets of protest votes in November and we end up with Trump 2.0.
Anon
so you want to be like the people who stayed home because of Hillary’s emails
Anon
+1000
Anon
I’m voting Biden without a single second of doubt. Not voting Biden means voting for Trump (even if we try to pretend it’s third party voting) and Trump had been very clear that he’ll be a million times worse, on this and a lot of other things.
Anon
I work in politics, and I’ve met Biden several times over the years. Just casual things – a hallway chat here and there, seeing him talk informally to small groups, etc. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Biden the Man is genuinely heartbroken by the human suffering and is deeply affected by what he’s hearing. But Biden the President has to keep supporting an ally because that’s what allies do. There is so much that the average American doesn’t know about the US-Israeli alliance. Israel does much of the US’ Middle East dirty work…bad guys disappearing in the night, that sort of thing. And Israel is calling in their chits because that’s the way things work, so we’re still shipping bombs. (My jaded work self is resigned to this, but my personal self prays for peace throughout the day.)
Regardless of this issue, I want someone in the White House with a conscience. Let’s say we have two candidates who will both equally honor alliances – you want the one who will honor the alliance and have a conscience, too, don’t you?
Anonymous
Yes, so many people really do not understand how politics and governments work. Unfortunately there is a lot of compromise because always being *right* doesn’t make you friends and leads to vulnerabilities.
anonymous
100%. Biden doesn’t just “support Israel” because he loves Jews or some nonsense. It’s a major strategic ally in a very terrifying area of the world that’s, ya know, exporting terrorism worldwide. The myopic belief otherwise is frankly shocking to me sometimes.
Anonymous
The NY primary was yesterday, with the party presidential nomination the sole issue. I turned in a blank ballot as a protest vote against current US policy on Israel & Gaza. I’ve also written letters to my senators, the president, and the DNC on the issue, and let them know that I am not donating to the campaign until the policy changes. But I’ll vote for Biden in November, no question, because I care about so many issues, and none of them align with another Trump presidency.
Anon
Yeah you’ll soon be living under a Trump presidency, which is far worse for Gaza, but you will be able to tell everyone about your protest non-vote and I’m sure they will be just as impressed with you as I am.
Anon
How does a nonvote in a (basically) uncontested primary give us a Trump presidency?
NYNY
Did you read? Anon at 3:32 clearly said she is voting for Biden in November. A primary that is already a forgone conclusion is the right place for a protest vote.
Anon
I’ve posted a couple other places on this thread, and I just want to say that I LOVE the primary protest votes throughout the country! It’s exactly the right place to make that stand. And it sure as heck gets campaign consultants and the like to notice.
Anon
+1
Anonymous
I have serious doubts about President Biden serving another term. I loathe Kamala Harris. I believer our current administration listens far too much to those who yell the loudest. Lucky for them, I hate, loathe a despise Trump. So, yay Biden/Harris, vote for the candidate you hate less!
Anon
Putting aside your offensive premise, we have a two party system. Not picking one of the two sides is tantamount to not voting at all. You do that and you are the problem.
Anecdata
Voting third party is not the same as not voting at all: 3rd parties get some real benefit from your vote even when they have no chance of winning (for example, in many states, a party that gets at least 5% of the vote this time gets to be on the ballot next year; or they could qualify for public campaign financing; or at least it gives them a clear indicator of interest they can use in fundraising). And second, the major political parties pay more attention to people who actually voted for a third party; then if you just don’t vote (case in point: “turnout in the primary was 10% lower than expected” would get a lot less media coverage and administration response than “10% of primary voters went to the trouble of voting non committed” is currently getting).
You can totally make an argument that the risks (another Trump presidency) of voting 3rd party aren’t worth it — but I don’t think it’s reasonable to say it’s the same as not voting at all
Anon
Nope sorry, you’re deluding yourself if you think you’re still voting and you vote 3rd party. Go live in England or something with a parliamentary system if you want that kind of vote to matter. This is how we got Trump in the first place.
Anon
How, HOW in 2024 are not-dumb women still falling for “I’m opening my own business with [insert MLM]!!” No, dear, you’re not. It’s not a business. You’re not an entrepreneur. You’d make more at the end of the day going to work for Bath & Body Works in that strip mall on the edge of town. How do these companies still get women to sign up? I don’t understand how there are enough women in the world who don’t know how these companies work to sign up and invade my FB feed. Sigh, off to mute one of DH’s sweet but sheltered cousins on FB.
(PS – my eyebrow pencil comes from Avon and I’m actually really addicted, so this isn’t a comment on the merits of MLM products themselves. Whenever the pencil goes on sale for $4, I order 10 and give credit to some sales rep their directory found in my zip code whom I’ve never met.)
anon
It baffles me too.
…but tell me more about the eyebrow pencil? Is it a good color or texture or …?
Anon
If we are talking brow products, I am absolutely amazed at how good my brows look when I use Beauty Pie Archology in Perfect Brown. I don’t have that many brow hairs, yet somehow the brow gel makes up for it.
Anon
I mean, do you want a rant about MLMs and what feeds them?
From what I’ve seen, women who have other genuine sources of income (ie job with a company that pays her on a W2) tend to get less sucked into the idea of MLMs as a way to make money, and see it as a fun side hobby.
But women who haven’t earned their own money, have kids, and are fairly smart are the ideal MLM target audience. They are smart enough to be bored (in the sense that they have mental energy that needs to be directed), so they need something else to do. That something has to be flexible to meet daycare, school, and extracurricular schedules, and offer some hope of actually making some money. The promise of MLMs is that if you hustle enough, you can make money. And these women are the ones who diligently did all of their assignments in school, got good grades, didn’t do pot behind the bleachers, all that – they worked hard and were rewarded. Good college, job upon graduation, married to a good guy, life has mostly worked out. So they expect that their hard work in a MLM will be rewarded.
This is NOT a judgement on them – it’s a judgement on MLMs and also a lot of the sexist rhetoric about women being happiest when staying at home.
anon
I don’t know, but one of my friends is in not one, but two, of these boondoggles. And I have lost a lot of respect for her as a result. You’re smart; why are you doing this?
Anon
I have a former coworker who has gotten into two MLMs basically at ground level (the first being LulaRoe – she was tight with the exec team but split before the downfall) and she is making BANK. Like, did $100K of sales with her current “business” in one month and is their top ranked salesperson in the country. She must have a lot of business savvy because she knows when to get in, how to hustle up a customer base and most importantly when to get out! She does make it look easy and appealing, so I can kind of understand why other women buy into it, but also kind of can’t because hasn’t there been enough exposure of the downsides by now??
Senior Attorney
Well she is one of the scammers, not one of the scamees. I know I’ve told this story before, but many years ago I took the deposition of somebody like that and he just came out and admitted that when he first joined (Amway? can’t remember) he was “doing it wrong” by trying to sell products — the “right way” was to recruit a bunch of people to be under him and take a cut of what they bought for their inventory, whether or not they ended up selling it or making any money themselves.
Senior Attorney
That’s assuming the person referenced by Anon at 5:38 is telling the truth about making bank, which isn’t necessarily a given.
NaoNao
I used to be really interested in this and if you want to do a deep dive “Pink Truth” website is a great place to start. I also wrote a fictional thriller set in the world of MLM’s and explore just why women choose these schemes, how they get entangled, and why they stay.
A couple reasons:
Typically the women who rise in these orgs are Type A, attractive, successful (usually bankrolled by family or spousal money), and very charismatic. Women want to be like them and around them.
Many women are terribly lonely and the businesses know this. The meetings, parties, calls, award ceremonies, conferences, trainings, and overall constant communication is nectar in the desert to them. Imagine going from no adult conversation to a constant flow of happy, uplifting, encouraging chit chat with dozens of women.
These businesses/schemes target divorced women, wives of the military, or other women who struggle to be employed in the traditional working world. If it’s pitched well, it makes sense–make your own hours, work from home, be with your kids, bring in pocket money, low barrier to entry.
Many (most, I’d wager to say) people aren’t critical thinkers or business savvy. They don’t like to say no or rock the boat. They have $100 to “try it out” or “take a class” and the first step is presented as low-risk, back out at any time.
Then they have some success with their “warm market”–friends and family buy a couple trinkets to support them. Their manager is excited and they get to show off their success at the next meeting, which is playing dance music, has balloons and sparkling wine, people are getting little prizes, and the drudgery and boring same-same of a 3 year old and 9 month old and being home alone all day every day is brightened by these meetings. If she doesn’t keep selling, the fun new friends and feelings of success all go away.
So she buys some items for herself and extended social group on a credit card–rationalizing that hey, it’s sales, and this is just to get to that last few dollars for the goal. Thus it begins…
Menu advice
Menu-planning help: I’m hosting a Passover seder this year. Appetizer will be butternut squash soup. Main course will be apricot chicken. What should my sides be? (They have to be grain-free, legume-free and non-dairy.) I was thinking something like a green salad, quinoa pilaf and smashed potatoes. Although potatoes and apricots seems like a weird combination to me. Thoughts? Improvements? TIA!
Vicky Austin
I think potatoes are a blank enough canvas to go with whatever, but perhaps you could do some other springy vegetable dish instead? Something with artichokes maybe?
Anon
so obviously this is a know your crowd thing and people’s observance levels, but i’ve found that when the conservative ashkenazis adopted eating quinoa, many now also eat legumes or they eat neither. i think it depends on how passovery you want your menu to be – like do you want to include gefilte fish, matzoh ball soup, etc. We usually have a spinach kugel at ours (made with matzo meal) that tastes pretty good, i would do another vegetable, even something as simple as roasted apsaragus, rather than quinoa pilaf since to me potatoes and quinoa are both kind of starchy.
Anonymous
In my experience, we never need as many side dishes as we think we will. We typically serve a veggie tray after karpas, plus people have eaten matzo/Charoset, plus we usually serve home made ge fire fish and hard boiled eggs, etc. Two carbs, like potatoes AND quinoa, can be a lot. I like to serve two vegetables. But things we have done are: asparagus; roasted carrots; endive or Little Gem lettuce boats with Cara Cara oranges/olives/fennel in them; little beet salads; stuffed roasted squash. One time I did braised scallions and that was pretty good, or roasted or glazed onions could be good. If you eat legumes/kitniot you can aldo do green beans.
Anon
Two carbs may be overkill for the meal but results in leftovers, either for the host family or for guests to take home. Also, people tend to overeat on holidays, not that I’m encouraging it but it’s a fact. (I’m personally not buying the costco bags of kosher for passover chocolate almonds and mints this year, since I will eat half the bag myself. Lesson learned.)
Anonymous
Editing to add – we also serve matzo ball soup! I was trying to remember why I thought everyone was so full by main course time, and that is why.
Anon
If it matters, you might want to think about your foods visually. You have orange soup, white and orange chicken, green salad, brown pilaf, and white potatoes. A few thoughts for color:
– Does the chicken have to be apricot? I’ve done blackberry before. That gives you a beautiful purple on the table.
– Could you use red potatoes to smash instead of brown?
– Include peas and shredded carrots in your pilaf?
Anon
I like the idea of added color – what about pomegranate seeds in the soup or in the salad? Purple beets would be a great side dish too.
Peas are generally excluded on Passover, subject to the caveats a different commenter mentioned above.
Vicky Austin
Ooh or mixed potatoes, including purple, or maybe some kind of rainbow carrot dish?
Runcible Spoon
No carrots, they are also orange like the butternut squash and apricots. What about asparagus and blue potatoes, plus a green salad with red pepper rings?
Anon
I recently found this carrot recipe online and have made it many times. I add an equal amount of grated ginger with the garlic. You can triple it and it’s fine (I haven’t tried more): https://batelskitchen.com/moroccan-style-carrot-tzimmes-salad-rosh-hashanah-table/
From Joan Nathan’s “Jewish Cooking in America,” my favorite Pesach recipes are American haroset (386), Passover brownies (410 – I make them in a 9 inch round as a cake), Orange compote (365 – better 2 days later) and eggplant/green pepper kugel (408 – you can omit the matzah). I also always love a big green salad.
I just realized the brownies have dairy (butter), so orange compote it is.
Anon
Cauliflower leek kugel with a dill almond crust. It’s on the Epicurious site. Highly recommend. Can make it with gluten free matzah meal, if needed. The fresh dill makes it very spring like.
joan wilder
This is my go to dish every year too! +1
Anon
Related: I just saw #JewBelong’s new Passover Haggadah. I haven’t reviewed it closely, but I very much like the new ten plagues. See here: https://www.jewbelong.com/holidays/passover/#section6
My house will be using these this year.
PS: My favorite #JewBelong billboard is “Does your church need armed guards? Because our synagogue does.”
Anonymous
When you pack using those cubes, do you do it by day or by category? Like, put all your underwear in one bin, pants in another? I tend to unpack every time we get to our destination, but my system could be optimized a lot more!
Anon
depends on how well i know my itinerary/plans/the weather. we just went on a family disney trip and i did it by day which made the days so nice and easy, but we knew exactly what our plans were each day and they weren’t really subject to change versus when I go on a beach trip for a week I do it by category because our plans aren’t quite as set in stone
go for it
underwear has a separate cube, as do pjs
otherwise pack by activity; ie, hiking lives with hiking…fancy lives with fancy
If staying for the whole time I might unpack, otherwise I pull out of the cube as need be
I also keep the underwear in my carry on because if my luggage gets lost they are a hassle to replace
Anon
I usually pack by garment type (underwear in one small cube, shirts in a medium one, pants in a large one). I don’t pack distinct outfits for each day, though, and instead pack more of a capsule that can be mixed and matched during my trip.
Anon
I have 4 kids, so space is at a premium, but we travel a lot, particularly in winter to do cold weather sports. Our family system is (1) color code by person, (2) underwear, bathing suit, long underwear, socks, pjs in smallest cube, (3) Tshirts and thin pants in a medium cube, and (4) warmer sweaters and bulkier/fleece layers in largest cube. If we aren’t traveling to a cold weather destination, (3) and (4) are the same cube. Always compression cubes. Always roll the clothing before it goes in (backpacker for life!). Kids always know what cube to grab when they are looking for clothes. Cubes all get placed in a drawer at the location, and I put clean clothing directly back in its cube if (when) I wash clothes during the trip. Makes packing to leave a breeze. I can get all 4 kids in one suitcase with this system, and have done multi-week, international trips with lots of stops with this method. If I’m traveling in nicer clothing or sans kids, I’d pack my base and light layers in a cube, and fold my nicer clothing in the suitcase directly.
Anonymous
Three kids but this is basically exactly our system.
ALT
Depends on where I’m going and for how long, in addition to what’s planned. Typically undies, socks, bras and PJs share a cube and the other cubes are divided by day. For short trips I’ll have a “normal clothes” cube, a workout/pjs cube, and an undies/socks cube.
Anonymous
I generally pack by garment type. I mix and match most items so packing day by day usually doesn’t make sense. There are exceptions, if I’m only spending one night at my next location then I’ll pack that day’s clothes in one cube so it’s easy in and out. If I’m doing more technical hikes that require rain pants, thermals, special socks – stuff that I wouldn’t wear around town – I’ll pack that stuff together in one cube.
Senior Attorney
Same. And if I’m doing a two-climate trip, I’ll do cold weather stuff separately from warm weather stuff.
Peaches
Maybe I’m an outlier but I try to minimize the cubes I use and cram as many items in each one as I can. No rhyme or reason other than matter.
go for it
underwear has a separate cube, as do pjs
otherwise pack by activity; ie, hiking lives with hiking…fancy lives with fancy
If staying for the whole time I might unpack, otherwise I pull out of the cube as need be
I also keep the underwear in my carry on because if my luggage gets lost they are a hassle to replace
go for it
nesting fail
Real estate property v stock market
I will be inheriting 400k from my grandmother soon (will not be recieving an inheritance from either parent). I am considering investing in a rental property rather than putting the money in an investment account. Thoughts? I would be looking at property around $250-300k. Would probably put down 100k and take out a mortgage for the rest.
HHI: $260k
Fully funding 401ks every year and funding 529s
Mortgage $360k at a very low-interest rate
One car payment, which is over in 2026.
No student loans
500k in 401ks (started late)
500k in an investment account
50k emergency fund
OP
Early 40s, married, 2 kids
joan wilder
I would not investment in a rental property until you at least double the emergency fund so that you could conceivably carry both properties (your primary home and the rental). Also, are you considering in a vacation area or in your primary area? There are a lot of other factors to consider that add (or subtract) costs.
Anon
She has 500k in an investment account, I think she’s fine. I personally have no interest in dealing with a rental property and would just keep piling money into index funds, but it seems like a reasonable decision if that’s the kind of thing you’re into, assuming you understand your local rental market and everything checks out for the specific property you have in mind.
joan wilder
Everyone has a different risk appetite, but if you have to possibly liquidate investments meant to be held long term to cover rental property losses or carrying, then to me, you can’t afford it. My last tenant before I sold my property didn’t give proper notice, and then didn’t move out on the day they insisted on, so I am sour on trusting things to go well.
Different anon
If she’s inheriting 400k and putting 100k down on this property, then she has 300k left for said emergency fund. I’m also not an investment property type of person but I don’t think this is high risk.
Anon
The thing about rental properties I had never thought about before I was a landlord was property management.
Will you be managing it yourself or using a service? A service cost 10% of the rent 15 years ago when I last owned rental property.
Are you handy or will you have to call a tradesman every time there’s a glitch at the house?
Are you prepared to deal with calls for ridiculous things? One property had a gas hot water heater in the garage. The tenant liked to leave the garage door open, and if the wind blew a certain way, it blew out the pilot light. The second time she called and said there was no hot water, I told the PM to tell her this was the last time we’d pay for a service call for it – she’d have to shut the garage door and/or learn how to relight the pilot herself.
Are you prepared for literally every appliance in the house to die for no reason, all within 6 months? Happened. Not fun. They really “don’t make them like they used to.”
Do you have the cash on hand to replace major systems, like HVAC, or a new roof?
What about lawncare? Will you pay for a service to keep it neat or expect tenants to do it? What if your tenants don’t do it or don’t do it often enough? Will you pay for seasonal cleanups if they pay for routine lawncare?
What if your tenants damage your property far beyond what their deposit will cover? Are you prepared to take them to court? We had a tenant with a special needs teen who had tackled a second floor toilet, damaging the plumbing pipes in the wall, sending water gushing down through the floors of the home, buckling the hardwood floors on the first floor, and ruining the ceiling/floor. They never said a word and just left the house like that when they moved out and we pieced together what happened. Their teen also chewed on mini blinds, colored on the walls, and spilled paint on the carpet.
Will you allow pets? How will you make sure they’re “good” pet owners? How much pet deposit will you charge? We rented to a female executive from a well known local company and she had two cats. The house stunk so badly of cat pee when she left that we had to recarpet and repaint the entire house that was only 10 years old.
Clearly rental property is not my preferred income source ;) Good luck whatever you decide!
Anon
Did you get to keep the security deposits?
Anon
I have two very close friends (close enough to tell me everything) who have rental properties. There’s always the unreasonable tenant who expects perfection, the tenant who doesn’t pay & has to be hounded or evicted, and then there are unexpected repairs.
One friend/couple kept their first house as a rental property when buying their current house. They fight about it a lot. The second friend decided to rent out an inlaw unit on his property for passive income. Having an unreasonable tenant is extra hard when they’re right in your backyard and you can’t get away from them.
I don’t think either of them would do it again.
Anon
I’m a long time renter (for reasons, mostly moving around a lot for family), and I agree with this.
It’s obvious to me that many tenants must be just terrible because any reasonable tenant gets these tiny annual increases in rent that often don’t cover inflation. Money talks, and it says “Please don’t leave – the extra $2k we could get from a different tenant isn’t worth the potential headache.”
Anon
LOL where are these tiny annual rent increases for normal people you’re talking about?
Anon
In the seven years that I lived in one place, before moving across the country, my rent went up by $75 total. Will be moving again next year (sigh); current annual increases are $50 a year.
I fix things (correctly), notify the landlord about leaks, keep things clean, don’t make a racket, and shovel.
Anon
@ 7:47 both of my landlord friends would kill for tenants like you. But they haven’t found them yet! Their experiences turned me off being a landlord forever. I can’t afford a second home in my area anyway (Bay Area) but during the brief period husband and I toyed with an out of the area vacation home that we’d rent out seasonally, our friends’ stories turned that conversation around immediately.
Anon
Are you in a LCOL area? I just ask because I am in a low cost of living city – well a suburb of a small city, well outside any large city and with nothing but farmland in between us and the large city.
Houses around me that went for $170k back in 2018 now go for over $300k. If you are not completely current in the real estate market, you may be shocked at how little house you can get for $250k. Even here, that’s small fixer-upper territory.
Anon
Similarly, the housing market is at a high now. Prices are already unsustainable for large swaths of the country, I’m wondering how much further they are going to go up? It’s probably impossible to speculate, but I’d be nervous that carrying the property, plus management and upkeep costs, wouldn’t yield a great rate of return in the end. I’m also risk averse, though, and would just keep dumping cash in the market which is basically guaranteed to go up over the long term
Anon
Rental properties are h3ll to manage, especially if it’s in a tourist area that’s seasonal and won’t be occupied a lot of the year. We’re selling my grandparents’ home in a beautiful tourist destination soon, because dealing with a house that’s unoccupied most of the year is so difficult.
If i inherited that kind of money, I’d stick in an index fund and start taking nicer vacations.
Anonymous
Pay off house and car. No mortgage and no car payments sets you up really well for the future. You never know what can happen. So much financial flexibility for your household income in the future.
If you really want more property, you could take the payment you make on the mortgage now and use it for a vacation property that is rented by the management company and avoid all hassles of dealing with renters.
You don’t want to have 360K on your mortgage and then have to take out a second mortgage because you can’t evict tenants from your rental property and they are refusing to pay rent.
Anon
Landlord here and I don’t think it’s a bad idea and a pretty easy way to diversify. That said the truest adage in real estate is location location location. If you’re talking about getting a rental property in a place with high renter demand, it can be great. As others have noted, it’s more hands on than buying stock or funds – people will call with issues etc. I’ve never found that to be as much of a hassle as it’s made out to be but having a roster of good fix it people is key. So is vetting potential tenants (although yes even with that you can still get a nightmare). I do it because the returns on real estate far outperform the stock market in my area and I come from a real estate family so I grew up around it and understand it. But it’s a good business to be in with good cash flow as well as an appreciating asset (as long as you choose well location wise).