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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.
I've long thought that light gray is an easier color to wear in summer than white — and this gorgeous suiting is now on a pretty great sale, by Reiss standards.
The skirt was $220 but now comes down to $150, the blazer was $445 but now comes to $325, and the pants come down to $165 (sizes available in S, R, and L 0-12). Happy Wednesday!
This post contains affiliate links and Corporette® may earn commissions for purchases made through links in this post. For more details see here. Thank you so much for your support!
Sales of note for 9.30.24
- Nordstrom – Beauty deals through September
- Ann Taylor – Extra 30% off sale
- Banana Republic Factory – 50% off everything + extra 20% off
- Boden – 15% off new styles
- Eloquii – Extra 50% off sale
- J.Crew – 50% off select styles
- J.Crew Factory – Up to 60% off everything + 50% off sale with code
- Lo & Sons – Warehouse sale, up to 70% off
- M.M.LaFleur – Save 25% sitewide
- Neiman Marcus – Friends & Family 25% off
- Rag & Bone – Friends & Family 25% off sitewide
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
- Talbots – Fall Cyber Monday sale, 40% off sitewide and $5 shipping
- Target – Car-seat trade-in event through 9/28 — bring in an old car seat to get a 20% discount on other baby/toddler stuff.
- White House Black Market – 40% off select styles
And some of our latest threadjacks here at Corporette (reader questions and commentary) — see more here!
Some of our latest threadjacks include:
- What to say to friends and family who threaten to not vote?
- What boots do you expect to wear this fall and winter?
- What beauty treatments do you do on a regular basis to look polished?
- Can I skip the annual family event my workplace holds, even if I'm a manager?
- What small steps can I take today to get myself a little more “together” and not feel so frazzled all of the time?
- The oldest daughter is America's social safety net — change my mind…
- What have you lost your taste for as you've aged?
- Tell me about your favorite adventure travels…
Anon
Piggybacking off of this morning’s discussion, anyone else sad that the future of many small private colleges is in jeopardy? Some schools were SO borderline before the pandemic even hit and even though I’m out of school and don’t have kids, I feel a pang of sadness thinking of all the great smaller campuses that aren’t going to be able to weather the financial storm. SLACs offer so many benefits and I dread to think of the lower-resourced ones not making it through this pandemic.
Anon
as someone who works in higher ed – it will be interesting to see the long term impact. and yes i do think some colleges won’t fare well, but there are many colleges and grad schools that have dismal graduation and employment rates and honestly should probably not exist.
Anon
This is it exactly. While the for-profit universities have gotten plenty of well-deserved hate for saddling students with debt, poor grad rates and poor employment, there are non-profit colleges and universities that fit this same profile.
Anon
+1. Sorry, but the higher-ed herd needs some thinning. Way too many institutions fighting for funding and/or students. I don’t want to see colleges/the “college experience” completely go away, but let’s face it – college has gotten way too expensive and colleges that can’t offer a decent ROI (as in, if I pay $60k a year in tuition for four years I will at least be able to graduate and possibly get a job afterward) need to go away. Higher education is an industrial complex. Not everyone should go or wants to go to college, but in order to keep institutions propped up society has had to seed that belief into kids from an early age. When you look at statistics, 10 years into a career it matters very little where people went to school if it wasn’t an Ivy. So paying private college tuition at a boutique school and taking out mondo student loans to get a degree that lands someone in the same place they would have ended up if they had gone to State U, or 2 years of community college + 2 years of State U (and graduated with no loans), doesn’t make a ton of sense. I am glad people are finally waking up to the idea that the system that we evolved into isn’t the only possible way to do things.
Hildy
+1 I hope that a silver lining of this is a move away from the messaging of everyone must go to college. We’ve sold an entire generation on a pretty terrible investment and I only hope we can stop the madness of having 18 year olds mortgage their future for a promise that never materializes. I’m all for education but there are a lot of different ways to get an education and the traditional 4 year model isn’t worth it for most.
Anon
I do think most kids need to go to college but I’m also a big proponent of public universities. My daughter currently attends one and my son will be applying to all in-state publics this fall.
Hildy
Agree to disagree. I think there is value in higher education but it’s not necessary for everyone (e.g., you know you want to be a firefighter or open a restaurant – both real life examples of friends who dropped out of college, are very happy and very much wish they weren’t paying student loans).
Even for those where it’s necessary (I’m an attorney), I don’t totally agree. I loved my college experience but if I didn’t have a scholarship I’m not sure I’d agree it was worth the money when I could have gone to a community college for 2 years first to get a lot of my credits and probably only needed one year of college after transferring.
Anon
The problem is the cost of those schools more than anything else.
My husband is a professor at a state school whose mission is to educate first-generation college students and be a second-chance school for kids who were not ready for college at 18. They succeed in their mission largely because the school is so inexpensive: in-state tuition is less than ten thousand a year. They make it easy for students to work their way through (a lot of night classes, online classes, and flexibility to take an extra year or two), which further reduces the cost.
If they are not ready for college, they find out quickly and inexpensively. If their purpose of being at college is to take remedial courses, it barely costs more than a two-year school. Essentially, a borderline student can take a risk on college; if they succeed, they end up with a very inexpensive degree and decent job options (state overall does not have many college graduates, so a degree of any type does open doors); if they fail, they fail quickly and inexpensively.
The problem is schools that charge a spare organ or two for a degree, but take students who are not ready to succeed and who feel like they need to keep going in order to make it pay off. Look at, say, Pine Manor and Newbury in Boston (the former merged, the latter folded).
The Years that Matter Most Opened my Eyes
Do you mind saying which school your husband works at? I would like to figure out how to find similar schools.
And please give him hugs from us. He’s doing the angels’ work.
Anon
We’re in a small area, so it sort of might “out” us. But if you want to look for similar schools, they are called regional comprehensive universities.
I’ll tell him that! He really loves his job and loves teaching. Also, his department is amazing.
Anon
+1 I’m mostly concerned about the historically HHCUs and HBCUs that are on the smaller and less well known side, which are avenues for a lot of kids to step out of a poverty circle and are really much needed. It really got me thinking upon the announcement that Netflix is donating $120M to Morehouse, Spelman and the UNCF. I mean, it is an amazing infusion of cash for these schools, especially since it’s dedicated to student scholarships, but there are more than two (these are two of the three most famous ones) HBCUs and numerous HHCUs that don’t get much attention and I hope they are able to weather this pandemic as they typically have paltry endowments. I can say first hand that most of the very successful black engineers, scientists, and doctors in my company and social sphere came out of HBCUs because they receive STEM support they simply can’t receive from big state schools.
Anon
I agree. I think my city’s HBCU will be okay in the short term, but the legislature has been slowly starving it of funds and programs since higher ed was integrated. Long term, I’ve no idea how long they’ll be able to hold out. It’s a damn shame, because they really do amazing work with what limited funds they have.
Anon
+1
anon
I’m also in higher ed and agree with this. Strong schools will survive, through alumni/donor support, endowments, etc. In my rural state, there are several small schools that provide a … really questionable quality education. If they fold after this, it would be for the best. The students who attend those schools are, IMO, throwing away their money. I work for a large R1, but I am completely supportive of SLACs that provide a strong education. There are several of those in my state, too — those aren’t the ones in danger of closing!
College
Yes, after teaching at a European university for a few years, one thing that really struck me about the American system in comparison is how consumerist the US is about the college “experience”, and how important the branding is between schools. In the European country I worked in, campuses were adequately funded but rather spartan, and nobody thought twice about what “experience” you would have when selecting a program.
Soon after that, I spent time working in a very WASPY high school where I was staggered by the number of strong students who didn’t get into an Ivy or comparable school, but then would pass over admission to (for example) a top-ranked Big Ten program to go to a middling liberal arts school at four times the cost. And while some of these families were truly wealthy, a number of families had to take out loans to pay for their kids’ $55k/year “experience”.
Small Law Partner
This. I’m a product of the top two UCs, and would much rather have those names on my resume than a SLAC that costs five times as much anyways. I had a fine experience as a UC undergrad, had minimal UG debt because tuition was under 6k a year when I went. I can’t imagine paying many times more for a “better experience” from a less well-regarded and less well-known school. The whole point was to get education to get a job, at least for a poor kid like me.
Anon
Theoretically yes, it’s sad to think about. But I also think my liberal arts college was in an arms race with others to have the latest, greatest and fanciest, all while driving up costs and half-hearted attempts to promote inclusion and diversity. I’m not in higher ed and I know there’s more to it and I’m being over simplistic…. but I’m really angry about the astronomical rise of tuition from my liberal arts school that while has name recognition, did squat to help anyone that didn’t study economics find a job. And, maybe schools like mine will survive this, and if that’s the case, then I’m not sad, I’m irate.
Anon
I still love the faculty, the community, and the curriculum at my SLAC, but I can’t kid myself that that is where all or most the tuition money is going. They have needed to rein it in for a long time now.
Anonymous
I think that elite schools may have to trim a lot and/or allow in slightly larger classes (which I don’t think is problematic for their mission or vision); they may have to anyway to get the yields they want. What will be hurt probably are HBCUs and smaller less-elite schools (like they could have had a kid paying full-tuition but that kid got into a higher-ranked school looking to fill out its classes (some kids may opt out of SLACs and go to State U to save $, so upper-income non-scholarship kids may have an advantage, but if they don’t keep the lights on, scholarship kids won’t have schools to go to).
My local community college saw huge increases in the years after the 2008 from upper-middle-class kids where the college fund wasn’t enough to fund college for 4 years, so they did 2 years locally and transferred.
Anon
The intersection of rising costs, shrinking pool of traditional students and now the need to reinvent to deal with the pandemic means that there is zero possibility that there won’t be a major shakeup. It’s been on the horizon for a while.
Covid fallout
I just need to vent. My family and friends are sick of hearing about my wedding drama. We cancelled our fall wedding before more of our deposits were due and before our friends and family made travel plans (so a few weeks ago). We had planned for an indoor wedding with about 200 people (plus vendors). Well, now, apparently, our state is allowing unlimited attendance at events and our venue insists they can hold the wedding (so won’t give us any money back). Most of our other vendors were reasonable and refunded us. I am so frustrated and sad. Plus all of the money we lost on Airbnb’s for events that we can technically still travel to, but don’t feel comfortable doing so. We not only don’t get the wedding we’ve been planning for over a year, we also have lost over $10k due to cancelled events. Thank you for “listening.” And sorry to everyone else who is dealing with Covid fallout (especially those, of course who have been sick or lost loved ones).
Senior Attorney
Ugh I’m sorry!
Anom
I’m sorry. That’s really frustrating. They are definitely rubbing salt into your wounds from having to cancel your wedding. I hope you figure out a way to have a meaningful wedding ceremony without the big party.
Anon
I’m sorry. This is probably a time when I’d leave a bad review on every wedding website for the vendor – I hate doing that kind of thing, but sometimes a little pressure is what they need to do the right thing.
Cat
Ugh, that is terrible.
Though I certainly don’t wish it on the world in general, I can see “reopened” states walking back their permitted activities if cases start spiking again… so maybe you’re not totally out of luck.
Anon
I’m really sorry your wedding is canceled, that’s a huge disappointment and one you’re certainly entitled to wallow about. I guess I’m in the minority, but I think it’s fair for a vendor to keep a deposit when it was your choice to cancel. If the vendor is unable to provide the services (and that includes not being able to provide them because large gatherings are illegal in your area), then they owe you a full refund, but it sounds like that’s not the case.
Anonymous
Enh, I don’t know. The venue will likely be able to rebook the day, seems like they’re double dipping. I get the industry has been hard-hit, but this I’d be pretty ticked about this. Sorry, OP.
Anon
I agree if they can rebook the day it’s pretty crappy not to refund OP’s money. However I really, really doubt they can rebook the day. Most people book weddings on more than a few months notice so even in normal times it would be hard to rebook a fall date in June, and people are canceling large gatherings left and right now, even in places they’re legally permissible.
Anonymous
That’s fair. I pictured them definitely able to rebook as all the couples who were planning on spring weddings may rebook to the fall now that it’s an option.
Anonymous
I actually think it would be easier to rebook now, given that people had their weddings canceled this spring might be eager to rebook for early fall rather than wait a year or more!
Anonymous
I’d be ticked. Weddings are typically multigenerational events. Older relatives, those with underlying medical conditions, etc. should not go according to CDC guidance. And states that have “opened” are now getting surges. That’s hardly the same as a simple “I changed my mind.” And they are keeping ALL 10K?Crummy. I’m so sorry OP. That absolutely sucks!
OP
I would agree with you under normal circumstances. I’m mostly frustrated that 1. The venue expected me to wait to make this decision until 45 days out (which seems a bit impossible considering all of the moving parts of a big wedding); 2. They believe it is safe to have a “socially distanced” wedding for 200 people (not that that many would show up) in the middle of a pandemic. And of course I am required to pay extra for more tables, plated food instead of buffet, etc. (which is not exactly what I signed up for a year ago); and 3. That my state is okaying these large gatherings while cases continue to increase.
I just feel stuck. We wanted to have the wedding. We still do. But we care about our friends and family (most of whom would have had to travel) too much to ask them to attend an event that I don’t believe anyone thinks is safe (not to mention a wedding where we’re supposed to stay 6 feet apart. So no hugs, close photos, dancing, etc.) Not exactly the ideal situation. Anyway, I’m trying to get over it. I know there are worse things and someday I will (hopefully) be able to laugh about it.
Shenandoah
I’m so sorry you’re going through all of this! One thought I had is if you could find a couple that perhaps had their spring or summer wedding canceled due to COVID, then you could recoup all or some of your venue deposit. Where I am there are at least a couple of very active FB wedding groups that you could post (and that I have seen people post similar arrangements). If it is a local couple with primarily local family/friends, it would be pretty easy for them to set up a wedding within a few months.
Anonymous
I also feel like a lot of the so-called “reopening” is to shift around the economic fallout. Like if there’s still a lot of COVID-19 in your area and you’re afraid to go to work but your work is supposedly “open,” then you can’t get unemployment. Similarly, if big events are allowed, then nobody can get a refund even if it’s not really safe to have those big events.
Anon
+1
Anon
Would you consider still having your wedding with 1/2 or a 1/4 of the people so that you don’t lose all that money on the venue and can still have people spread out enough to hold the event safely? You could have a huge party in a year for your anniversary where you invite everyone that was on the original list.
I have a friend that also had to cancel her wedding and this is what they are doing but I don’t know if their venue is open or not. They are just having a very small wedding so that they can get legally married and they will have the big party next year.
Either way, this totally sucks and I’m so sorry you are dealing with it. By any change did you pay the deposit on a credit card? Could you make a claim through your credit card’s purchase protection?
OP
Thanks for your suggestion. We are older, which means our families are also older. We don’t feel comfortable at this point asking our families to travel and having an indoor event. Honestly, the few times we’ve seen friends, we haven’t even gone indoors. I know fall is a while yet, so things could improve, but I’m skeptical. I am also skeptical that next year will be any better (for large gatherings, especially social ones like weddings), and we don’t want to go through this again. At this point we are cutting our losses and will likely have a small backyard ceremony when things feel relatively safe for travel for our parents.
Anon
That makes perfect sense. I’m so sorry you are in this position.
AMB
A fellow 2020 bride here – that is really frustrating overall. You would indeed be on the hook for so many extra costs while being able to have fewer people there. I’m in Canada and we are only allowed to have 10 people for a reception as of right now, up to 50 for an ceremony and I can’t believe businesses trying to sell you on having anything big these days. We are doing the small backyard and hoping things will be better by next year (I punted our deposit forward) but I am prepared to lose some of it at this point depending on how things go.
Airplane.
I’m so sorry. This sucks. Cancelled weddings, graduations, rites of passage, celebrations, reunions, funerals. I really think these losses are all awful. Nothing I can tell you will make this suck less. But happy to “listen” on here.
Anon
I’m sorry and that really sucks for you.
Honestly venues like this have to be among the hardest hit by the coronavirus and recession. I can’t really blame them for sticking to their polices unfortunately.
Maybe you can advertise the availability of your slot on your social media network to help them fill it. Certainly they’d be willing to give you all or most of your deposit back if they were able to receive equal revenue from another party.
Anonymous
I 100% understand both sides here. It absolutely sucks for the OP for all of the reasons already mentioned. It also sucks for these venues as they have been making no money and many will not survive. The whole thing sucks.
Anonymous
I hope you are planning to occupy the venue on the day. If it were me, I’d set up a bunch of bounce houses or something and bring in massive amounts of food and drinks for a small group of friends or just me and the fiancee.
Anon
The only thing more depressing than having a bounce house instead of your wedding is having a bounce house and having no one show up because that’s way too much COVID risk.
Anonymous
It was one version. And my invited friends would come. You do you.
Anonymous
My midsize law firm refuses to upgrade any technology, but I’m allowed to do small things on my own dime. I am really interested in online scheduling software, where the client can schedule time without emailing me/my assistant. I’ve seen Acuity Scheduling for a couple lawyers and even my hairstylist uses something. I need it to work with Outlook and I need it to be an online system, not app-based (my firm has no document sharing or client portal resources).
Have you used any you like, dislike, or clients like or dislike? I anticipate putting a link in my client newsletters and on my bio. I would like to spend less than $300/year on it since it’s out of my own pocket.
ATL rette
With the caveat that I have no idea how expensive it is, I really like Calendly! Seems very user friendly and intuitive.
anon
+1 for Calendly
Cat
No advice… but are you suuuuure you want to do this? One major annoyance of in house life vs. being at a firm is that all your clients can see your calendar, and assume that because you have 1.5 hours open on a particular day that it’s theirs to claim. Never mind that I need that 1.5 hours to read something that I received that morning for the next meeting….
Anon
Completely agree. I’m not in law, but my calendar is booked 8 hours a day most days because people just drop meetings on it since they can see when I’m available. It’s gotten to the point where I have to block off time so they can’t schedule anything.
Op
I understand I can set up times clients can choose from – for example, they can only pick between 10a-2p MWF, they have to book 48 hours in advance, anything more urgent still gets handled via phone or email. The clients won’t see my calendar, only my pre set availability (and it syncs with my Outlook if I am out of the office, it’s not shown as an option). My assistant and I probably get 30 emails or calls a day that focus around “when can we talk with you”. So I want to try to reduce that non billable time and number of emails. Open to other suggestions!
Anonymous
I think fielding those calls is your job as a service provider. Booking slots online is what I’d expect at a tech savvy legal aid or clinic.
BB
Counterpoint, I am WAY more likely to book a service that has online booking where I don’t have to call someone to schedule. It wastes less of my own time and I have an easy record of it. I can also enter my email and everything myself so no spelling it out for someone. It also lets me see all the times that are available without having to ask about multiple dates. Bonus points if I can also reschedule online.
Anon
We use the free version of Calendly. It lets me designate the interval someone may claim (e.g. 15 mins, 30 mins., or custom) and it lets me make time unavailable. The limitation on a free account is that I can only have a small amount of “event types,” but “Consultation” works for our purposes.
One thing I do wonder about as you’re an attorney is the security of Calendly. IDK whether as a client I’d be comfortable entering my name and email as an appointment on an attorney’s calendar.
Serafina
I’d second Calendly! There’s a free version that should be enough for what you’re looking for. You can set up specific times that you are available (so you can limit it to specific time blocks) and it also syncs to your calendar, so if a non-calendly meeting gets scheduled on your calendar, it gets blocked off automatically.
Elderlyunicorn
Check out TimeTrade!
Anonymous
I think you are smart to invest in this. If your firm uses Microsoft O365, you might already have access to an option. Check out MS Bookings. I use it and like it, but also recommended Calendly.
Anon
I commented this morning, but I’m in higher ed at a public university and I think small private colleges are actually better off in general. They don’t rely on state funding the way we do, and they don’t have the situation we do where in-state students don’t pay enough tuition to cover their costs and are subsidized by our out-of-state (largely international) students, who may not be able to get here or may be less inclined to come here, given how poorly the US is doing at getting the virus under control. I certainly think there are schools out there in jeopardy because they charge a lot for degrees that aren’t worth very much and don’t have strong alumni networks, but the name brand liberal arts schools discussed in the morning thread (like Swarthmore and Davidson) are no worse off, and quite possibly better off, than flagship state universities.
Anon
Oops, meant to be a reply to the first poster of course.
Anon
That’s not consistent with what I’m reading in the news, though. I keep hearing about how a LOT of smaller private colleges are in jeopardy, not just random low performing ones. Swarthmore and Davidson might be okay, but classic schools in the Sweet Briar bracket are probably pretty at risk.
Anon
That’s the thing about recessions and economic downturns. Institutions in distress either have to pivot and adapt, or they cease to exist, which frees up resources and market bandwidth other businesses can utilize. The same thing is happening with colleges that’s happening with companies – the ones that have been on the bubble, struggling to find a viable business model, will probably die (and many of them are dying, like Pier One, which hasn’t had a viable model for years). And honestly, if a college can’t offer much besides a pretty campus, an old name, and sky-high tuition in return for not-great graduation rates or employment prospects, I question why that college needs to exist.
Anonymous
Bit of a threadjack – Sweet Briar is an interesting example. They nearly shut down about 5 years ago, but was able to rally alumnae support and hold on. There was an rather unique lawsuit filed in Virginia to keep the college open and some cy pres doctrine implications if the board of trustees were to try to close the college (the land that the college sits on was given for the specific purpose of educating women). In 2015, their endowment was around $85 million*, much of it having use restrictions. I can’t imagine it’s grown all that much since then and I don’t think they’re going to make it through this and come out the other side as your traditional college.
For reference, Swathmore’s endowment is listed as $2.1 billion as of June 30, 2018 , and Davidson’s is $919.6 million as of December 31, 2019 (per their websites).
Anon
This is all true, but there are roughly 100 colleges with endowments in excess of $1 billion. You don’t need a billion-dollar endowment to survive; the issue is attracting students, reining in costs, and providing value for the education.
I hope Sweet Briar comes through this. It may be well-positioned to handle the pandemic, simply because it is small and rural, and therefore, social distancing can be a lot easier than at, say, NYU.
anon
I will tell you that as a person who works for a company that extends credit to higher ed institutions, we are viewing small to midsize private colleges as highly financially risky and we expect a number of institutional closures. The top tier of small privates, and the less well-known ones that happen to have large endowments still appear to be fine, but we view that as a smaller group than you might think. So the Swarthmores and Davidsons of the world may be okay, but the Guilfords and the Whittiers and the Ionas may not be.
Anon
Do you extend credit to public universities? My point was not so much that SLACs aren’t at risk, but that there are other higher ed institutions that are even more at risk. Definitely the higher ed industry as a whole is in very bad shape.
Anon
I understand that pretty much of all higher ed has been downgraded by the rating agencies. Of course, the institutions that had a lower rating pre-COVID will likely end up with a lower rating than those institutions that were highly rated financially before the pandemic.
anon
Yes, we serve the entire sector but view small privates as the highest risk portion of the industry.
Anonymous
Also in higher ed here… maybe 10ish years ago a keynote speaker at a major conference spent 30+ minutes discussing “small privates” and my colleagues and I still giggle about this phrase.
Anon
“Small privates”, hahaha
Favorite easy salad?
Help! Despite searching all over the interwebs and trying out many recipes, I realize I dont have an easy go-to salad that I could do for lunch everyday. I am foodie so usual Caesar is too boring for me but the ones I found online involved too much work… anyone have a happy medium? Clearly I am not looking for an unicorn!
Ms B
Mason jar salads are good for this because you can do four or more at once and then bring them with you all week. This is one of my favorites: https://www.makingthymeforhealth.com/southwestern-quinoa-mason-jar-salads/. If available in your area, I like topping with the flash friend and freeze dried Hatch chiles from Costco.
Anonymous
I have a couple that I like:
Greek: romaine lettuce, cucumber, tomato, red onion, olives, feta and greek dressing
Strawberry: spring mix, blue cheese, strawberries, avocado (add grilled chicken if you want) and balsamic vinaigrette
southwest turkey: any kind of lettuce, deli turkey cut up, shredded cheese, red onion, canned beans and corn, and avocado salsa for dressing.
I usually make one of these for the whole week by chopping everything up on the weekend and then just assembling each day.
Anon
I like Cobb salad, but you do need to do some prep work. I can get 3 salads out of one hour or less of prep, though.
Sloan Sabbith
Baby spinach, grilled chicken (or chopped up chicken strips- Costco’s breaded chicken strips are fantastic), some sort of Asian-style salad dressing (sesame is my go to), sliced cashews, snap peas, mandarin oranges if you like (I don’t), top with wonton strips or the Asian salad bagged topping.
Coach Laura
Budget Bytes has a few.
Cobb Salad https://www.budgetbytes.com/cobb-salad-meal-prep/#wprm-recipe-container-37999
Others on her site – Mediterranean meal prep salad w/hummus, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers
Curried tofu or chicken salad
Orzo salad
Apple Dijon Kale salad
Lemony artichoke quinoa salads
Taco salad with leftover chicken or beef or spicy beans, avocado or guac, tomatoes, cheese, rice and lettuce.
She has lots of variations on each salad, different add-ins. I’ve made all of the above except tofu and each are great.
Vicky Austin
I lived on her Honey Mustard chicken salad in college. Pack a baggie of spinach, pile the salad on top of it at lunch, boom.
Ribena
I really like the pre-cooked puy lentils as a base, with spinach and caesar dressing, and some form of cheese.
Elderlyunicorn
I like to make a batch of farro and roast some beets, then combine that with some arugula, maybe some goat cheese in some kind of lemon/mustardy dressing. The farro just makes a nice base for whatever else you want to add … leftover salmon or chicken, veggies, etc.
Anon
I love the Smitten Kitchen Italian Sub Salad. You prep all of the toppings in advance and keep it separate from the lettuce.
https://smittenkitchen.com/2014/06/nancys-chopped-salad/
kk
I make a batch of cous cous or quinoa at the beginning of the week and add a scoop or two to salads through the rest of the week.
Do you have access to Gotham Greens? Their crunch (here it’s windy city crunch) is my favorite romaine- and it stays good in the fridge forever.
Here’s an ideal week for me:
1. Gotham Greens + cucumbers + blueberries + grain + seeds for crunch + garlic expressions dressing (blueberries and anything that needs to be eaten first or else it will go bad)
2. Gotham greens + black beans + diced tomato + corn + shredded cheddar + squeeze of lime
3. Gotham greens + grain + apple + fennel + celery + parmesan + garlic expressions dressing
4. Gotham greens + grain + chickpeas + zoodles or noodles + goat cheese + lemon + red pepper
5. Pizza
(just kidding – gotham greens + grain + mozzarella + basil + tomato + sundried tomato or roasted red pepper + balsalmic reduction)
I’d add chicken/shrimp/flanksteak to any/all of the above
Abby
My go-to is a take on greek salad:
Base: chopped lettuce, tomato, cucumber (i cut out the seeds or buy english, red onions (usually i use no crumbs left marinated onions), greek yogurt as dressing, SALT & PEPPER (most important part of salads that I think so many people miss), and handful of crushed pita chips
Other optional items to add if I have: avocado, feta, beets, a drizzle of olive oil if the salad seems too dry.
I also love a chopped cabbage salad with peanut sauce as a dressing, especially for lunches at work because the cabbage doesn’t wilt. Shredded purple and green cabbage, cilantro, green onions, shredded carrots, edamame, avocado, sesame seeds, tortilla strip topping, and a mixture of peanut butter, soy sauce, and water to make a liquid peanut sauce (or buy premade bottle from most asian aisles)
MagicUnicorn
The beach bean salad from smitten kitchen was a hit in my house last week: https://smittenkitchen.com/2020/05/beach-bean-salad/
Anon
I just made a salad from the dregs of the fridge/counter that was pretty good.
1/2 red onion, macerated in life juice while prepping
Chopped garlic or regular chives
Kernels from 3 ears grilled or steamed corn
Chopped heirloom tomato
Minced cilantro
Olive oil
Salt
Aleppo pepper
Just before serving – diced avocado
Anon
*lime juice haha
I grow garlic chives but regular chives would be good too
Anonymous
Lighthearted vent: Alinea in Chicago has these to-go meal kits during the pandemic that are pricey for takeout but an absolute steal compared to regular Alinea prices. I am a Foodie, DH is not. I got one for $100 yesterday. DH took bites of everything and complained that it wasn’t that good, overpriced, etc. I disagreed, but whatever. I couldn’t eat it all but was very excited to finish the leftovers today. DH ate all my leftovers! After complaining about how “bad” it was!
Anon
DTMFA! Just kidding. But I would be soooo mad at him!
Patricia Gardiner
Oh I’d be so annoyed!! He owes you another one!
Aunt Jamesina
Oh man, I can commiserate. One of the first things my now-husband learned soon after we moved in together is that you Do. Not. Eat. my restaurant leftovers. Rawr! I love food and anticipating it is half the fun. Looks like he owes you another round of Alinea :-)
Senior Attorney
Oh, man. I would be VERY ANGRY!
Anon
My husband and I long ago established boundaries like this with each other but now I have hungry teenagers and nothing is sacred. I am honestly shocked at how much a 17 year old 6’3” boy can eat.
Coach Laura
I have to put my name on anything that I don’t want DH to eat because he eats like a teenage boy – anything that’s not marked is fair game.
anon
Noooooo! I’d be soooo upset. He owes you bigtime.
Carmen Sandiego
My husband does this too! And the reverse (which maybe is worse?!!) where he will say something’s “really good” at the time, but when we have leftovers, he says “well, it was OK.” Let’s just say the words “revisionist history” get used a lot when discussing leftovers at our house!
Anon
I can commiserate. My husband once came to bed, just as I was about to turn out the lights and hopefully get some sleep (because I was pregnant and nauseaous and exhausted) and said offhand “Oh, by the way, I finished your banana pancakes – they were delicious!”
I was at that stage of pregnancy nausea where only like 3 things sound appetizing and you are very protective of your leftovers for that reason.
Guess who ended up back at the diner getting me more banana pancakes when they opened at 7am?
Anon
I just have to reply to tell you that bananas were my pregnancy aversion! My oldest is in college and I still don’t eat (or smell) bananas.
Anonymous
Good luck not killing him in his sleep tonight.
anon
OMG! That’s so annoying. My SO will eat my snacks and then later tell me that he doesn’t actually like these particular foods that much. Why are you eating them then!?!?
Anonymous
What shoes would you wear with this suit in a conservative formal office? I expect to be back in the office in a suit every day starting August 1.
Anonymous
Big fan of M.Gemi Stellato flats if you can swing it.
Ms B
Faux reptile pumps in a cream to grey to black colorway with a cream or grey blouse or shell; medium grey faux croc or suede pumps with a blush/lavender/pale blue blouse.
Anonymous
+1 Probably one of the most useful pair of shoes I’ve ever purchased was a gray snakeskin pair of pointy toe flats. (It was the Rockport Adalyn, but they don’t come in that colorway anymore.) They work so well with gray!
Never too many shoes...
Grey snake would look great or black suede. Personally, I would go with a black top and a bright pump – red, purple, green all look great with light grey.
kk
hmm. The ann taylor tortoiseshell pumps with a mustard yellow shell? Or navy suede pumps with any color. Towards september, I’d trend toward maybe burgundy or a mocha/chocolate suede.
Anonymous
I like pewter metallic snake. It sounds like a lot, but blends well with different greys.
Anon
Things are tough right now, but is there anything you’re particularly proud of? Celebrate!
For me it’s that I’m piloting a hybrid externship/law school clinic this summer in an area I’m a SME at. I’ve LOVED putting together the syllabus and materials and am so proud of how well they turned out. I just finished the first half of the of first day training and my students both said they really liked it! I may want to consider teaching in the future I’ve liked this so much (even as an adjunct just teaching a class about this area at my old law school).
Ellen
Kudo’s to you! I wish I could do an internship and teach at the same time, as I think I have alot to offer students who might want to teach themselves in the future! Right now, I am stuck at home, but I was out with Grandma Trudy in Long Island b/c she had a recurence of the IBS that made her (and everyone else) miserable at Dad’s house. Dad was not happy and wanted to send her to a specialist, but she would NOT hear of it during this COVID pandemic. I said that people do not get COVID from a rectal surgeon but Grandma Trudy did not anyone let alone a surgeon looking up her tuchus. I can’t say that I really blame her, as my ex often tried to do stuff like that when I was half asleep and I did NOT apreciate it at all.
Ribena
The project I’m running met its regulatory deadline last week!!
Anonanonanon
This suit is gorgeous. I wish I had an expectation of being able to wear it, soon!
Anonymous
I want to install Roman shades on two smallish (35″ x 45″) windows. I’m open to fabric as well as bamboo options. Anyone have a favorite source for this kind of thing? Amazon, Wayfair and HomeDepot have affordable options but I’m wondering if there’s a specialty retailer that has better offerings.
Anon
blinds dot com!
SmallLawAtl
I have used both blinds dot com and blindster dot com and had great experiences with both. I ordered blinds for 3 windows from the second one a month or so ago and received them within a week, much faster than I expected.
Anon
Smith and Noble was good, but really like the Shade Store. But they both ran about $500 per shade…I’d love to find something less expensive, at which point window coverings will become more of a priority!
Anon
Honestly, JC Penney hands down if you need custom sizes. I think they still do this, but not sure as many have closed down.
The Frenchie is my favorite kid
I had good luck on etsy! I had expensive customer curtains from my daughter’s bedroom in our old house and needed two matching roman shades to make them work in her new bedroom. I sent the extra fabric I had to the etsy seller and got lovely roman shades. The sellers also had a choice of fabrics.
I also had great luck getting customer 2 story curtains for an amazing price on etsy. I just picked sellers with lots of good reviews and pics.
Good luck!