Coffee Break: The Lip Bar

108 Comments

1. I don’t know if this is happening for anyone else, but the site isn’t loading correctly in two different browsers (Chrome and Firefox) – there’s a ton of white space on the top and I have to scroll all the way down to see the posts and comments. Flagging for Kat in case it’s a real glitch.

   1. Happening to me on my laptop, but not on my phone.

2. I picked up a Lip Bar lip matte at Target after seeing an instagram ad and love it. In the olden days pre-COVID, I always wore bright lipstick to work and I really like the now 3 different lip bar lip stains I have. I definitely recommend! I’m pretty sure I have Hawte Mess, Bawse Lady and Hot Mama. They all look great on my fair skinned, brunette self (if I do say so myself ;)).

   1. I’m a fair skinned brunette and usually wear dark rose colors, maybe similarly saturated but less plum toned than the color pictured. Do any of the colors you like fit this bill, because I’m itching to order one but online colors are hard for me.

      1. Nvmd I was looking in the wrong place. All the colors are bright! I ordered the color pictured, Curlfriend, and another more muted color, Unimpressed.

      2. I think they do a good job of showcasing models with different skin tones on their website.

   2. These lipsticks are INCREDIBLE. Bawse lady is an amazing red lipstick. I just restocked with a gift card from target and got primma donna and prom queen. Highly recommend!

      1. That’s awesome to hear! I ordered Bawse Lady and I can’t wait for it to arrive.

         1. This is such a sweet selection, beautiful colours! Thank you for featuring this brand!

3. Same as the poster above, and I also was not able to reply to any comments in the morning post. Clearly I can reply on this post for some reason.

4. Novice camper reporting back:

   Hey all! Thanks for asking my many newbie questions re camping. I am still, bless my heart, good at taking direction with outdoor related things, but am still really, really learning. But what better way to distance than to go out into the woods (and in the sticky SEUS summer, with a cot-like think to elevate you off of the ground). And I now know that hiking =/= backpacking =/= day hiking =/= “walking in the woods”.

   At any rate, all is good, if different now. Day trips and walking in the woods at state and county parkland and wildlife areas that are open.

   AND I taught a merit badge class via zoom, which required about 3x prep time vs zooming time, but next time I will have my notes to use. It was (obvs) not one of the outdoorsy merit badges. I wouldn’t mind sitting through one just to learn someday.

5. If you live down south (or anywhere where temps nearing 100 with humidity) are common, how much water do you drink per day? Is 8 glasses enough or does it need to be more? Do you offset any caffeine with more water or do you just assume that that coffee/tea counts as liquid because it was made with water? Just moved down here from NY and I’m debating what I really need esp if I’m indoors, not out in the sun.

   1. I’m in the south and I just drink water when I’m actually thirsty; I don’t force myself to drink more or less on any set schedule or try to hit any set amount everyday.

      1. Same.

   2. I can’t answer your question exactly but I just want to say this is my first summer down here and this heat and humidity is balls.

      1. Just wait until August. It’s not even really bad yet. (And I just drink water when I’m thirsty)

   3. So kinda gross, but this an effective gauge. What’s your daytime pee color? If it’s very pale to clear, you are doing good on hydration. I find that starting my day with 16-32 ozs of water (in addition to my morning coffee) makes a big difference in my energy. It’s hot here, but most everything is air-conditioned so I’m not sweating all day.

      1. +1 That’s how I determine. Otherwise, when I force extra water, I am uncomfortably running to the bathroom every 15 minutes.

      2. I just flashed back to my dad who, for some reason, explained to me multiple times that “you have to watch how much you’re peein’. If you’re not peein’, you’re dehydrated.”
         Thanks so much dad, it was really great of you to say that when my first boyfriend was over for dinner.

      3. Agreed. This might have been the ONLY thing I learned from my ex. He drank alot and also had to drink H20 b/c he needed to dilute what he drank, so his pee would not be too yellow. Dad confirmed that my pee should NOT be to yellow or I was not drinking enough H20. I know now that I also should NOT wait until I was thirsty to drink, so I always have a 20 oz glass of water (no ice) sitting on my counter, and when I finish it, I just refill it. I do this at least 3 times a day, and wind up peeing alot during the day. I learned NOT to drink after 8 unless I had to b/c I would wake up at 3-4 in the morning just to pee. I would rather sleep and get better FITBIT sleep scores, and ever since I got rid of my ex, there is no one there to wake me up at 1 a.m. for s-x. That is a big relief, b/c all Alan ever did was wake me up, start on top of me for mabye 3 minutes, and then roll over to sleep. I was NEVER able to go back to sleep b/c he was very selfish and did not care about my needs. I also had to get up and clean up the mess while he snored. FOOEY on him!

   4. Lawdy — the SEUS means that the A/C makes it frosty and then you wilt when you go out. I am loving the WFH aspect that I control the temp, so I keep it at 76 inside which is fine for me for desk work. In any event, I drink when I am thirsty and not otherwise except for morning caffeine (Diet Mountain Dew over crushed ice; repeat as needed). I walk a lot and try to do that around 6-7 am and in the evening (hour before sunset). Am amazed that there are people here who go running or play tennis between noon and 4 — those are pool hours and office hours but not outdoor exercising hours from June-August.

      1. The ability to not freeze to death from the office A/C while working has been an unanticipated perk of WFH.

   5. Live in GA, I workout 5 days a week, I average about 80 oz on non workout days, infinitely more on workouts days (100 oz? 120 oz?) And yes, if I drink espresso I usually chase it with a glass of water. I’d encourage anyone to try drinking the minimum of 64 oz a day and see how good they feel. These other responses literally hurt my brain and skin and soul thinking about dehydration. Also, your bladder gets used to it- I probably pee 7 or 8 times a day? Which is maybe once a day more than when my sad dehydrated college self exclusively drank iced coffee and vodka cranberries. So don’t let that scare you!

      1. Omg, I would die drinking that much. My stomach hurts when I drink a lot of water. I’m a camel. I think this is a totally individual thing.

6. Hey, PSA to people scheduling meetings: I know it’s hard to get meetings scheduled right now but just because the only time available for a group is from 12-1 doesn’t mean it’s a cool thing to schedule the absolutely mandatory meeting from 12-1. That time is free BECAUSE IT’S LUNCH TIME. WHEN PEOPLE HAVE TO EAT. BETWEEN THEIR OTHER MEETINGS.

   So f-ing sick of Zoom meetings.

   1. I mean, a lot of us are scheduling meetings across time zones. If your 12-1 time slot is so precious, gently, BLOCK OFF YOUR TIME FOR LUNCH! :)

      1. +1. People schedule meetings for 12-1 all the time because of the east-west timezones. Block it off if you want a defined lunch time.

      2. This. I have every day lunch time blocked off because I go home to let my dogs out. I move it around as necessary if a truly urgent meeting comes up, but that block is on my calendar daily. If someone’s calendar is open, I take it (especially if as kk mentioned, I am scheduling across time zones).

      3. I usually do but….mandatory meeting. That I cannot miss.

         My lunch time is blocked but it’s all within our org, we can all see each other’s calendars. At our org 12-1, pre-COVID was a formal “do not schedule” hour and now it’s fair game. :|

   2. I mean, some people eat lunch at 11. Some eat at 1. Some work through lunch. Block it off if it’s that sacred to you?

      1. This thread has me puzzled over why we (collectively) are now beginning our sentences with “I mean.” First in speech and now in writing… ugh. Why?

   3. Sorry, it is so hard to schedule meetings on multiple calendars that I have never once thought “but that’s someone’s lunch hour.” I feel like the concept of a lunch hour is kind of old timey and quaint.

      If you want the time blocked, block it yourself.

   4. Really? Eat whenever you get a break. Didn’t realize lunch time was so precious after age 5 when mama will be checking to see if your lunch box is empty or not.

      1. Do adults not get hungry at regular intervals? Did I miss the memo on that?

      2. Pointlessly mean comment

   5. Most of our important meetings happen during lunch time, and we’re expected to eat during the meeting. Zoom has not changed this. Fair or not, over ~20 years I’ve never worked anywhere where you could say “that time doesn’t work for me–I’ll be eating lunch.”

   6. I eat lunch while I work. If you want a lunch hour though it would be prudent to block it off on your calendar.

   7. I don’t mind noon zoom meetings, but I feel like if you schedule an in-person meeting from 12-1, there should be food. My firm does not follow this unwritten rule and I’ve eventually chalked it up to my own personal unreasonable expectation based on past experiences which I nonetheless refuse to let go of. (We all get a few of these, right?)

      1. Wholeheartedly agree. But also, I get overly excited about free food and thus overly disappointed by its absence. I will sit through any training if there are cookies. I’m a toddler basically.

         1. Yes! Same same same!

         2. Lol at this. Me too.

   8. Shesh seems like you have a whole lot of workaholics replying. I also respect people’s lunches because it’s just a polite thing to do and my office generally values personal time. Usually I find external folks book lunch meetings and I definitely side eye those orgs.

      1. I am the opposite of a workaholic and I vote for blocking off the time. I have no idea and don’t really care if my coworkers eat at 11:30 or 12:30 or 1:00 and trust that they will mark their calendars as unavailable if needed.

         1. Yeah, I don’t think this makes you a workaholic. Especially for a lot of us that work with people from across the country or world. Between different time zones and different eating schedules, nearly the entire working day could be considered “lunch hour”. I expect people to take breaks as needed and update their calendars accordingly.

            1. +1 My boss scheduled a meeting for us this morning with our colleague at 7 am our time and lunchtime my colleague’s time. I was eating breakfast, he was eating lunch. It was the only time all day all three of us had “free.” I think my EMEA colleague preferred the lunchtime meeting to a meeting later in his evening, which unfortunately also happens to him a lot (I try to always avoid scheduling my EMEA colleagues late in their day). You cannot please everyone across all time zones, which is why I block mine off.

      2. hmm. In my org, we are spread across the US – so the people on the west coast cant/wont join meetings until 11am EST, and the east coast people cant/wont join meetings that end after 3pm PDT, so lunch is actually one of our best options.

         I think the word ‘workaholic’ would be more likely thrown around if there was an expectation to meet at 6am on the west coast or 6pm on the east coast- but lunchtime zoom meetings are standard for the sake of getting anything done at all.

         1. Right. A noon meeting in one time some when planning for multiple time zones is nothing. Even a noon meeting in the same time zone is nbd when everyone’s schedule is crammed, though I do agree lunch should be brought in if feasible and the meeting is in person. Or even calling it a “brown bag lunch” meeting, suffering people bring their own food.

            It should also be ok for you to eat some lunch during a noon zoom.

         2. Same. It can be difficult to coordinate across multiple time zones. I would just turn off the video and eat during the meeting.

   9. I get it, OP. There’s an unwritten rule you don’t schedule meetings from 12-1 at my org. Of course I get that not everyone eats lunch precisely on the dot at noon, but nobody scheduules meetings for that hour.

      1. Same unwritten rule at my org and I am very thankful for it!

      2. Right. It was an absolutely inviolable unwritten rule pre-COVID and now it’s fair game. Really frustrating. We all are in the same time zone. Obviously if it’s an urgent meeting and it’s the only time that works for everyone, that’s fine. But the one I was at today was absolutely mandatory, but unnecessary and scheduled from 12-2.

         1. Knowing that you’re all in the same time zone, I would be super annoyed too. My lunch hour is sacred and I disagree with anyone trying to normalize working through meals. No one is at their best when hangry!

   10. So I work for a theatre with 10-6 office hours, and most people eat at 1 or later. (I can’t go that late). I don’t think there is a universal lunch time.

   11. Our company told us to knock off the meetings from 11-1 because it was stressing out the parents. Multinational so people blocked off their time and most days this seems to work to keep the stress level at a dull roar.

   12. In my office, all meetings are scheduled from 12-1 because it is the only time everyone is available. It is so frustrating. I never get lunch!

7. I love the color but the model’s lips look so dry.

   1. Yes! I thought the same thing.

   2. I thought the same thing.

8. People with kids: I was thinking about sending my friends with kids a quarantine care package with stuff to entertain their kids for a bit. I don’t have kids and have no idea what’s age appropriate for various ages. What could I send for kids 5 and under (that isn’t huge or heavy and therefore easily shippable)?

   1. My first instinct was “bourbon,” but I read on and you meant care package for the kids? Pop up play tents shaped like firetrucks, school buses, etc. Amazon has a ton. (My kids played with a fire truck one for a solid 10+ years, from toddlerhood) Stickers, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, activity books, Duplo lego (the Duplo is the bigger blocks/less chocking hazard), costumes. There are also some science-y kits for the very young, but I think those take a fair amount of parental supervision…which is not what anyone wants right now!

      1. first sentence made me laugh!

   2. so thoughtful of you! i have 2 year old twins – they love anything new for their play kitchen (Melissa & Doug makes a bunch of great sets), sidewalk chalk, bubbles, stickers (still require a lot of parental involvement right now), they have a doodling toy, which both they and i love, because they can color without making a mess! Melissa & Doug Water Wows. they also love getting new books. currently very into the Elephant and Piggie series, which I actually also enjoy reading to them. Blocks, cars/trucks, trains. If they have a backyard and don’t already have one, a mini splash pad,

   3. One of those cardboard structures that the kids can color and then play in, if the parents won’t mind how big it is. Or the Antsy Pants blanket fort frames from Target.

   4. My son is 5. Big hits include stickers, coloring books, Melissa and Doug activity books (water wow for the younger, scratch art and magic pen for the older), cars or trucks or trains, art supplies, bath toys, bath paint or crayons, small books, balls (sports ball or something like a puffer ball), card games, or even a starter board game (I highly recommend cooperative board games from Peaceable Kingdom, especially while parents are WFH).

   5. My biggest advice would be nothing that requires any time commitment on the part of the parents. For kids under 5 that rules out toys that have to be assembled (which includes most outside stuff like a sports hoop or water table) and a lot of crafts and science kit-type things. I have a 2 year old and the things she/I would most like to receive would be books, Lego Duplos, stuffed animals and stickers. Books are my #1 choice because even if they’re duplicates or the kid doesn’t get into them, they can always be donated to a library and make other kids happy. They won’t fill up a landfill the way toys will.

      1. Crayons and colored paper, bubbles, stickers, marble run (for 4-5 year olds), matchbox cars, glow sticks, paper airplane book. Play doh, which can be made at home if you don’t want to buy it. Gel food coloring works best for coloring the homemade stuff. If you send craft stuff, make sure you include googly eyes and shiny things that can be glued or stuck on, and magic erasers for their parents.

   6. A sticker book and stickers. I promise this will keep them entertained. The n, if you are so inclined, stick a package of stickers (or better yet one for each kid) in a regular mailing envelope every week or so for a while. They will be SO excited.

   7. My kids (8 and 3) enjoy:
      Matchbox cars
      Art supplies
      Stomp rocket
      Balls (we bought a 12 pack of beach balls in Amazon and it was amazing)
      Frisbee
      Chocolate
      Magnatiles and Duplos
      Figurines
      Slinky

   8. If they have a yard, stomp rockets. No question.

9. Semi-regular poster (less recently), anon for this. I was just told unofficially to not expect to be back in my office before the end of the year. I am an in-house attorney and legal is just not high priority to be in the office. My family and DH’s family is all on the opposite coast of where we are. We have a 2 year old and no sense of when her daycare may resume operations (plus – do we even want her to go back?? except we both work). We don’t expect him to be back in the office until Sept/Oct, and even then it may be voluntary to be in person. We’re considering taking the risk to travel cross country to be near family for the next 6 months. Would you? We’d probably rent a house out there so we would not be staying with family (that would be a whole other can of worms), but we’d rely on family for childcare. Driving cross country is basically my nightmare. Would you risk a flight? Anyone want to talk some sense into me in either director or give me considerations?

   1. I would definitely go, and I would fly. Three of the five members of my family have flown in the last month. Airports are empty, planes were clean, everyone was masked. I know everyone has different levels of risk tolerance but if I had a two-year-old I’d do about anything to a) have family support and b) not have to drive cross-country.

      1. +1 to all of this.

      2. To push back on this, I’ve been hearing that planes are NOT enforcing masking. This was in the news because people showed up for essential flights and discovered that others were not wearing masks (including the flight attendants in some cases) and that the airlines have been instructed not to enforce.

         1. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/travel/coronavirus-flying-face-masks.html

         2. Even if not everyone is wearing a mask, I think this results in less overall exposure than a cross country drive, which would require numerous stops.

   2. I would go, and at this point I would probably fly.

   3. I’d drive just because I’d want to have the car once I got there.

   4. Yes I’d fly tmrw in this situation.

   5. Yes. I posted yesterday that I would not risk it with young kids for a visit to elderly grandparents, but you are essentially moving- and for free / convenient childcare.

      Only consideration is if you can take all you need on the flight. Wouldn’t you want a car in your arrival location?

   6. We did the same thing and we flew.

   7. Yes. I am very risk adverse but I would go and I would fly.

   8. I have kids ages 2/4/6. For this, I would fly *unless* your immediate family or the family you are flying to are in some way immunocompromised or otherwise high risk (I wouldn’t weigh 70 y/o healthy grandma the same as 60 y/o grandma or kid that is compromised).

10. Makeup ad illustrations bear basically no relation to the actual makeup. They don’t have to use a real person or the actual product, let alone both together. It’s basically abstract art, with any combination of actual photo and/or overlaying effects, intended to evoke an idea about the product.

    1. Hmmm…this was me, trying to reply to the comments about dry-looking lips in the visual.

    2. I had no idea. This makes me kind of mad! I definitely thought it was the real makeup on a real person.

    3. I find it even more surprising then that the model’s lips look so painfully dry. They are trying to evoke the idea “dry lips”?

11. Update to my comment this morning about plans for kids going back to school this fall: just received an email and my junior high kid is going back full-time in the fall! The school (connected to a big church) has a decent amount of extra space and part of the plan is to spread the kids out. The email made it clear that the needs of working parents were considered when deciding whether to do a part virtual/part in-person schedule. I am very happy.

    1. Lucky! I’m so jealous of everyone that has daycare/school for kids. This whole process seems so random based on where you live, and your location/school district isn’t something that’s easy to change on short notice.

    2. Where do you live roughly?

       1. Chicago suburbs.

       2. Chicago suburbs.

    3. My kids’ public school district will probably do something hybrid or split, which I understand in theory but I think it’s just going to be a PITA that won’t actually slow or hinder transmission of COVID-19. The district is good in a lot of ways but the higher-ups are excruciatingly risk-averse, even in situations where I doubt they’d get in trouble for slight deviations from the norm. The huge district around us is probably going hybrid too.

12. Late in the day but hoping we may get some ideas – what is your business doing for Pride Month? Last year my firm did a cake and an optional group photo in the lobby. This year we will probably have about 40% of our 150 employees back in the office by the end of the month, with masks/social distancing in place.

    1. Please do not make it any type of in-person event. This would put a lot of pressure on employees to put themselves in an unsafe situation for fear of making themselves look bad if they didn’t attend.

       1. +1

    2. My company had rainbow ray-ban knockoffs made with our logo and they were a HUGE hit last year. I love mine! This year my company is doing t-shirts. I do not like corporate t-shirts….

13. Do you know anything about having a receiving hitch installed on your car? Is it truly something U-Haul can do or is it better to go to a repair shop? This would be to have the ability to put a bike rack on the back.

    1. We had one put on our Highlander by U-Haul. They did a fine job.

    2. Yes, U-Haul is great for this. It’s really simple. I had a hitch put on my Subaru for a bike rack and it took less than an hour. You have to call them in advance to make sure they have the right hitch (or they’ll order it), and make sure you know what size the receiver needs to be for the bike rack (will be in your bike rack specs).

    3. DS had it done at U-Haul.

    4. We had u-haul do it on our prius, they did a fine job (we bought the hitch from them, too).

    5. DH did ours. Uhaul is fine!

14. My 70 year old mom has Covid. It’s really terrifying because my parents have been really strictly self-isolating, only leaving the house for grocery pickup and takeout food, which they reheat. They visited my (also self-isolating) family recently, but they drove here without stopping and returned home almost three weeks ago, so it seems really unlikely we’re the source (also no one in my family has been sick at all). So far my mom’s case is really mild (she doesn’t even have a cough) but I know these things can turn quickly, and I’m worried about my dad too, who fits several of the higher risk categories. They’re trying to stay as far apart from each other as they can, but their house is small and they weren’t distancing from each other until she showed symptoms. Gah, it’s so scary. Stay safe, everyone.

    1. I’m so sorry. While I realize this is purely anecdotal, my SO’s 87-year old grandmother caught it and is apparently well on her way to recovery. Hoping your mom has a similarly mild case!

       1. Thank you. My mom is extremely active and fit (for a while they thought the illness was due to a tick bite or contaminated lake water, since she spends so much time outside) so while it’s scary, I’m confident she’ll be ok. It’s just terrifying to me that she could get it all, because it’s virtually impossible to self-isolate more thoroughly than my parents have been. I don’t see how we can control the spread of this virus at all if you can get it through grocery pickup or takeout food (that you reheat!)
          My husband and I are going to get antibody tests this week, although I’m 99% sure we didn’t give it to her.

          1. Don’t know if you’ll see this, but would suggest that your antibody test results will be inconclusive at best. At this stage, if you were positive when your mom was with you and it was only three weeks ago, it may not be long enough ago for you to have antibodies yet. So negative antibodies could mean you never had it or that you had it recently. And if you test positive, that doesn’t mean you had it while your mom was with you. It just means you had it at some point.
             The recent WHO update indicates that spread from truly asymptomatic individuals (those that never go on to have any symptoms) is very rare. So if you never got sick, you can feel pretty confident you didn’t give it to her. I know the uncertainty is difficult.

    2. We went through this with a parent. I will say a prayer for your family—I hope that’s all right.

       1. Thank you <3

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