Tuesday’s TPS Report: Wool Trim Jacket
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Our daily TPS reports suggest one piece of work-appropriate attire in a range of prices.
Fit is everything with this kind of jacket — but I love all the little details on this wool jacket that its worth a try. Silver buttons, white and navy details on the trim, and Bemberg lining. Lovely. It's $398 at Brooks Brothers. Wool Trim Jacket
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Sales of note for 3/15/25:
- Nordstrom – Spring sale, up to 50% off
- Ann Taylor – 40% off everything + free shipping
- Banana Republic Factory – 40% off everything + extra 20% off
- Eloquii – 50% off select styles + extra 50% off sale
- J.Crew – Extra 30% off women's styles + spring break styles on sale
- J.Crew Factory – 40% off everything + extra 20% off 3 styles + 50% off clearance
- M.M.LaFleur – Friends and family sale, 20% off with code; use code CORPORETTE15 for 15% off
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off
- Talbots – 40% off 1 item + 30% off everything else (includes markdowns, already 25% off)
And some of our latest threadjacks here at Corporette (reader questions and commentary) — see more here!
Some of our latest threadjacks include:
- I'm fairly senior in BigLaw – where should I be shopping?
- how best to ask my husband to help me buy a new car?
- should we move away from DC?
- quick weeknight recipes that don’t require meal prep
- how to become a morning person
- whether to attend a distant destination wedding
- sending a care package to a friend who was laid off
- at what point in your career can you buy nice things?
- what are you learning as an adult?
- how to slog through one more year in the city (before suburbs)
This comes dangerously close to grandma. Stylish and well put together grandma, but I digress. Worn with unexpected youthful bottoms, it could work. I am thinking Ann Hathaway in the Devil Wears Prada post-transformation when she walks in with the Chanel jacket, leather leggings, and thigh-high boots. That remains one of my favorite outfits of all time. This could work with skinny grey-black jeans.
I agree. It also reminds me of the boiled wool jackets that the mid-50s ladies used to wear to church when I was a kid in the 80s. I think I will stay away from these styles until I, too, am of a certain age!
Agree that this one can be tricky. FYI for those that love it, there is a BB friends & family sale either now or soon. I left the code at home, but can post later if anyone needs.
PS: Has anyone noticed how weird the BB styling has gotten lately? One of the models on the website is wearing thigh highs!
The 90s are definitely back, while the boxy Chanel never goes away in the first place. I love both.
I am trying to think what “the 90’s are definitely back” means – can’t recall what was “in” in the 90’s. I know that in the 90’s I had a couple of Chanel type jackets, one boxy, one fitted. Both very beautiful but I wouldn’t wear them today. In place of those I would be more likely to wear a flyaway sweater or a plain tailored jacket with lapels maybe a velvet one. Something maybe l;ess prim looking, with less metal, less of a military look. I don’t thing a military look is very good right now.
This year I feel good about a monochrome look, with very little contrast trim.
I think the 90s are back in the sense that colorblocking is back, that shade of dark bright blue that most people love and I loathe is in again, pleated skirts and even tapered pants are starting to mount a small comeback, and, yes, the military look is back in some places, too.
Interestingly I remember the early 90s as being the time when the 70s were back in — bell bottoms, long sexy hair, loose blouses, and long skirts, etc. And, now it seems that the 70s are also enjoying a comeback along with the 90s, or is it a 90s version of the 70s? And it is all just way too meta for me.
I think fashion tends to do those cycles. The 50’s were fashionable in the 70’s (see Grease), the 80’s are big right now and the 60’s were in in the 80’s and there are some similarities between 60’s fashion and 20’s and (19)00’s fashion…
We should be due for a 70’s/90’s revival about now.
Early threadjack here: Has anyone tried any of the (million) iPhone apps or software/online programs that help you track exercise, food, and body weight. I took about a 6 month break from the gym, and also put on about 10 pounds (it’s sort of a chicken/egg situation — not sure which came first and brought about the other). So, I just joined a gym again and while I am finding it a slow start, I’m pretty committed to not enter the winter on this slippery slope. (Boy, do I love winter carbs and flaw-hiding sweaters!) I’ve heard of the WW online tool, LiveStrong and some others. Anyone have any reviews? Or preferences? I’d really appreciate any guidance!
I used the myfitnesspal app for a while and liked it fine. It was fairly easy to use and tracked food, weight, exercise (calories burned), as well as some other nutritional things (carbs, protein, various vitamins and minerals), which was all nice. It’s also pretty simple, you can sync between a computer and app, and works well for both droid and iphone (hubby and I both used it).
I got away from it after a few weeks, though, because it was just too much trouble to enter everything in. I’m sure that that’s about the best that can be done (you can enter in prepared foods or most chain restuarants’ foods, or you can enter in most generic type foods and create “recipes” or “meals” for foods that you eat a lot), but I’m a foodie, and it was very tedious to try to enter in each ingredient in every recipe that I made, then try to estimate how much of that I ate, and so on, plus I could only give my best guess when I ate at a non-chain or someone else’s cooking. But, if I were really serious about weight-loss, I would definitely force myself to use it again, and I’m not aware of anything that’s better.
I tried myfitnesspal and another one that always gets mentioned here. Fitnesspal was infinitely better b/c it has more normal food. But I found them both very frustrating because I don’t eat most of the food that’s there, so it was just a giant pain in the a** to add anything. For instance, it has, like, every lean cuisine entree or just about any other processed food that I can easily see the calories of myself anyway, but it can’t add a cup of coffee with regular milk and one sugar. You can only add coffee with cream and no sugar, or coffee with skim and splenda, etc., etc. Same thing with lunch or dinner. It’s just an annoying hassle to try to approximate everything. My personal conclusion is it basically it depends on what you like to eat – it’s an easy way to keep track of prepackaged food and it definitely does make you more mindful, but I just didn’t find it helpful for me.
For things like the coffee (that you have a lot), it’s pretty easy to set up a “my food” that has everything- Say, “coffee plus 2 TBS half-and-half plus 1 tsp sugar”, and after that, you can enter it in pretty quickly each time.
But I had the same problem as AIMS for other foods- Sure, I can enter in standard coffee quickly, but if I eat chicken and dumplings one day, lasagna the next, pumpkin curry the third, (all homemade) and have to enter in each and every ingredient in each of those, then try to eyeball what percentage of the recipe I actually ate, it gets to be a pain.
Pumpkin curry??!??!??!?? Please, please, please share the recipe! That sounds delicious!
I don’t know what Lyssa’s recipe is, but I make a really easy pumpkin curry as follows: get a can of pumpkin puree (make sure it is not pie filling), put it in a saucepan/frying pan, add a bottle of thai red curry sauce, add fresh spinach and cashews. Serve over rice. You can also add other vegetables if you like, peppers or whatever, or use fresh pumpkin if you have it. Very simple and delicious.
Dare I admit that I was kind of hoping that would grab someone’s interest? It’s pumpkin & cashew, actually, and it’s right here: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Creamy-Pumpkin-and-Cashew-Curry-355211
I love working with fresh sugar pumpkins this time of year! (the same magazine also had a really wonderful pumpkin quesadila (sp?) with feta and cilantro, which is to die for. (You should be able to find it on the epicurious site, too.)
I noticed that recipe on Epicurious this weekend and was already intrigued. After seeing pumpkin soup on the menu of what seemed to be every place I ate at during a couple of fall trips to Europe (Switzerland, Germany, etc.) – then seemingly ordering it at all of them! – I decided that we really undervalue pumpkin here in the U.S. Especially since I hate pumpkin pie.
AD, I completely agree that we undervalue pumpkin, particularly in savory applications. Also look on the epicurious site for pumpkin, pork, and kale stew. We made that last week, and it was delicious and perfect for fall!
My brother started using myfitnesspal at the beginning of the year and has lost 70 pounds. He and I have run together for years and I figured he was fat (and saying he was fat is not unkind, it was true) because of what he ate. Sure enough, he started tracking his food and the weight came off (although he certainly misses some of the foods he used to eat). Now he runs 9:15 miles instead of 12:00 miles–and I’m the one sucking air.
I used WW online nearly a decade ago, so they must’ve changed it by now (back then they didn’t have any kind of Palm Pilot integration). I liked the website and content well enough and the program “worked” in that I lost what I wanted to. They had boards and forums but skimming them, I didn’t feel like I fitted in anywhere which wasn’t a huge deal.
In the past year I’ve used FatSecret which is free and syncs beautifully with iPhone and Android.
The hardest thing about both, or any, programs for me is that to me it is incredibly tedious to sit down for 15 minutes after I eat anything and plug it into the database/calculator. I end up eating the same breakfast day after day or leaning toward packaged foods with nutrition labels instead of wanting to take the extra time to plug in an entire recipe for my homemade mac-n-cheese.
I use Lose It.
Lost 40 lbs with LoseIt and have been using the app to keep it off for almost 2 years now.
I think all of the tools you mentioned are good (I’ve personally used myfitnesspal and WW). When you are in weight loss mode, take an hour or so and plan out meals – the food that you will ACTUALLY eat every day and make sure you eat those things every day, no more, no less (eating too little can make you gain weight, how fun is that?). Once you know the contents of the food you typically have and you stick to it, it’ll be easier for you to mentally track. But I found that I had to do the hard work initially by tracking on an app/website before I got to the point of mentally tallying up points (WW). Just keep a list, I should type mine up, actually, with the foods you typically eat. And try not to eat foods you don’t know the calories/points for – do your research first!
I have tried most of these, and I’m not someone who is good at writing down what she eats. WW makes it easier than the rest, and while it’s not free, the results speak for themselves. I’m about to reach the “lose 10% of your body weight” goal and I’m not quite 2 mo in to my 3-mo $50 pass.
Congrats! I used WW as well, online-only, and lost 30 lbs of “happiness weight.”
I love map my run. If you have gps enabled, you just “start a route” and run, walk, or bike and it turns your phone into the display on a treadmill. It tells you how far you have gone, how fast you are going, what your average speed is, how long you have been going and calorie count. You can also save work outs. It is great if you want to just go for a 2 mile run but don’t know how far to go out and back. You can also predesign routes on it from your computer.
I have been using LiveStrong for the past month and have found it to be very illuminating. It’s great in that it accounts for calories burned (love my HRT) and has such a wide variety of foods/drinks in the db. Once I realized how much calories/fat/etc I was mindlessly consuming with my daily “non-fat” lattes etc, I was able to make some easy substitutions. Seven pounds down, hopefully more to go!
oops, i meant HRM.
I think this jacket looks pretty frumpy and shapeless on the model. My body is unlikely to improve it.
Threadjack–any assistance welcome!!!
Last night I knocked a glass of Yellowtail Shiraz over such that red wine spilled all over the carpet and the cream colored wall. I managed to get the stain out of the carpet through the immediate application of large quantities of Resolve and water, but the wine on the wall seems to have left stains. Any suggestions for getting red wine stains off of cream paint from 1993?
Mr Clean magic eraser. If mr clean can’t get it out, nothing can. Also depends on the type of paint. A semigloss will be much easier to clean than matte.
Yeah, the magic eraser is kind of amazing. Try it out somewhere that isn’t really obvious (like behind the couch), first though. I’ve never encountered a problem myself, but I have heard that the magic erasers can discolor some paint. You’re probably just fine with cream, though.
Do you know if the magic eraser is okay on upholstery? I just spilled something on my light blue couch (I think it is probably EVOO that stayed around after I got the quinoa off). It’s not a terrible stain but noticeable if you are looking. Any ideas?
Tide Pen? Again with testing it somewhere inconspicuous though…
I’d try oxiclean (start by testing a hidden area). Magic eraser is like a sponge but kind of shreds as you use it, so I wouldn’t want to use it on upholstery.
I’d try Resolve for upholstery. It removed the red lipstick my son smeared all over my cream damask sofa.
My understanding of the magic eraser is that it’s essentially a very fine grit sandpaper. This is why it removes pretty much everything in the world from any hard surface, but also why it “discolors” some paint (and, in the case of builder’s grade paint and/or straight drywall, pulls off what feels like half the wall). I’ve seen it used on leather or imitation leather but I doubt it would work on fabric.
There’s been a hint on pinterest suggesting using chalk on oily stains. Rub chalk on the stain and it absorbs the oil, then clean the chalk up.
Man, I love that magic eraser. I don’t know how it works, but it’s amazing.
A solution of water and oxiclean?
Oh, I feel your pain – I dropped a glass of red wine from my third floor landing, and it spun as it plummeted, creating Jackson Pollock-like artwork on the cream walls all the way down that stained before I could get it all cleaned up.
I tried Magic Eraser, but I found it altered the texture/sheen/finish of the paint . . . so I ended up repainting. I know that’s not what you wanted to hear.
I have noted that with the “eraser,” especially if you have to scrub a bit more/harder. Did lose the gloss on my 40+ year old wood floor in patches where I was removing black streaks from ? shoes ? deliveries ? and have seen on the matte paint on my office suite going the same way…
I heard about using white vinegar. Haven’t tried it though.
Wine Away is a plant-based stain remover specifically created to clean red wine stains. It works better than anything else I’ve tried. I can attest to its ability to make wine stains on our beige walls (left by drunk party guests, naturally) disappear!
Good tip, S. I have a friend who works at a winery in Sonoma who keeps Wine Away at home for the many, many times she gets spilled on.
This. Wine Away is amazing,
Yes, get Wine Away at bed bath and beyond.
second the magic eraser. Also white wine gets red wine out.
I heard somewhere that white wine is good for getting out red wine stains. Haven’t tried it myself, and I think the tip I heard was for carpeting/upholstery, not walls, but it does make sense that the pigments in red wine would be soluble in white. So I might try that, or even cheap vodka, which will have a much higher ethanol concentration than white wine. Or rubbing alcohol. Acetone (nail polish remover) might also work, but I would be concerned about it taking the paint off too, so I would only try that if all else fails and it looks like you are going to have to repaint the wall anyway.
Also, for future reference, if you put salt on a red wine spill immediately, the wine will get drawn up into the salt and then you can just vacuum the salt up and it will take most of the wine with it. But obviously this will not work if the stain has already dried, and I doubt it would work on a wall.
I feel your pain! My mom is a huge gadget person and she bought me a wine opener with CO2 cartridges in it, which resulted in red wine all over my cream ceiling.
I like to think no one looks at the ceiling, anyway.
“Nature’s Miracle.” It’s an enzyme based stain remover marketed to clean up pet stains, but it’s worked for me on wine stains before. Not sure about paint stains but it’s worth a shot before repainting like someone suggested below.
I spilled a drop of red on my beige carpet and quickly sprayed it with a water/baking soda/vinegar solution. Worked like a charm. I’ve also tried that mixture to get rid of scuff marks on a white wall with good results.
Thanks for all of the suggestions! I tried the Magic Eraser but it looks like it will take off the paint. I’m going to try the white wine and/or vinegar next, since I have those on hand. Next, Wine Away.
Another early threadjack here: My company that works with many different industries. My dad is a senior executive at a major company in one of those industries. He is interested in talking with someone at my company about expanding our solutions in his industry. My work is very different, and I don’t know anyone in the group that he wants to talk with. I don’t even think that anyone I know would know anyone in this group. How would you handle this? Get an email address and have my dad contact the group directly?
I’m not sure I totally understand all of the facts, but this sounds like something that would be good for your company. As such, I think you should be involved in all of the steps, not just hand it off to your dad. So, get a phone number (not an email address, in my opinion) or go walk down the hall to the person’s office. Tell them you have a potential client interested in working to expand solutions. Are they interested? If so, I’d be glad to set up a meeting. Etc.
Is there a Chief Ethics Officer or similar capacity that you can vet this through, just to keep it separated?
Response to ML who posted last night about when to leave her firm (I don’t know if she’ll see it if I post on yesterday’s thread):
I stayed at my firm for five years, basically hating every single second of it. I’ve now been gone two months (I accepted a career law clerk position with a judge) and am very glad I stayed for five years for several reasons: (1) I made enough money to pay off all my debts and pile up some substantial savings (since I hated my firm job by about Day 2, I knew I would leave and lived very leanly because I knew the next job would not pay as well); (2) I had a lot of time to see what non-firm lawyers (DA, AUSA, career clerks, in-house counsel, non-profit lawyers, etc.) do and consider whether those were jobs I would like; (3) I networked with people who had these non-firm jobs to find out more about what they did and create connections that would help me get the job I decided I wanted; and (4) people assume that because I was at big firm for 5 years, I must have been good at it and be a competent lawyer who left on her own terms rather than being asked to leave because the firm firgured out I wasn’t very good after a couple of years.
Another lawyer who left our firm a couple of years before me also stayed 5 years and she was glad she did for most of the same reasons (even though she too didn’t particularly enjoy the big firm life).
Good luck!
Agree with all of this advice 100%.
Another reason to stay for longer than a year or two is that you may turn a corner and like it better after you get your feet under you. Ok, I know chances are just as good you may not, but unless it’s a really big people/co-worker/office culture problem, you may just need some time. Law is a steep learning curve and I know I personally floundered for a year or three. I’m a senior associate now and much happier. Still do not know what my 5 or 10 year plan is, but am definitely happier and do not see myself leaving (of my own free will) anytime soon.
Another suggestion: keep up with the lawyers who leave your firm (check in via email or for lunch/drinks every couple of months). Two benefits: (1) talking to them about their new jobs is the same as doing an informational interview (one co-worker left to be an AUSA, a job a thought I’d like; the more he talked about what he did at his new job–which he loved–the more I realized that wasn’t the job for me; same with a co-worker who went in-house and loved it) and (2) you may want to get the same job they have and they can help you get it. The second factor may be particularly true with people who go to other firms. Finally, by keeping up with these people over time, you’ll see if the luster wears off or whether they still like their new jobs 1 or 2 years later.
Just to play devil’s advocate, I left my firm after 2.5 years and am so glad I did. I miss the money and may end up going back to the private sector but non-profit life is suiting me very well. Never been happier!
Hi all,
Just wanted to say thank you for all the responses! Tried to earlier and the site kept crashing on me. :( Anyway, thanks also to those who left comments yesterday (Herbie, yours was really practical and helpful). I hear what you guys are saying and you’ve confirmed that I should be keeping my eye out for new jobs and updating my resume even though I don’t want to leave just yet; and you’ve also reminded me that I really shouldn’t rule anything out (ptnrership). I never expected to work at a firm post law school and I never expected to enjoy it, and I’m really glad I gave it a chance. So I probably shouldn’t rule out the possibility of staying.
Thanks again!
I just started using a prescription retinoid to help with acne scarring and I think I am in the middle of the “purging” process.
How long does this process last? It seems that no new pimples are forming- just healing now. They are all cystic, sort of painful, and hard to cover up!
It’s hard to work in an office when you have bad skin. Is there only “one” purge so I know I should be done with it after this?
I used Accutane, and the process you describe lasted about three weeks. Don’t know if it will be the same with a retinoid.
After the bad part, my skin was like alabaster — literally glowing from within. Try to keep that image in mind during this hard part.
I’m not sure what you mean by purging, but my skin can’t handle any retinoids; it’s just a constant face-falling-off sloughing of dry, peeling skin.
I did one round of Accutane last year after having decades of bad skin, and I only regret not doing it sooner. That, plus I continue preaching the Gospel According to Clarisonic (this Kool-Aid is delicious!)
Similar concern, different product.
DDF stopped making the face wash I loved, drugstore stuff made my skin look kind of dull or something, so I went back to the clinique 3 step, which I haven’t used since college.
I’ve been using it for about 2 weeks and am getting more pimples (although the rest of my skin is smooth and radiant, unlike with the drugstore stuff.) I’ve heard this may happen when you start with it because it is drawing impurities to the surface. Has anyone else experienced this and know if it is temporary or not? I don’t recall this happening last time I used clinique, but I wasn’t on birth control then so I had a lot more pimples generally.
Purging, I think, specifically tied to retinoids (accutane is an oral variation of topical retinoids- all are derivatives of Vitamin A).
Retinoids/accutane work by shrinking oil gland size. This process causes the oil and trapped dirt to be squeezed out of the pores, which can lead to breakouts until the gunk is all squeezed out. These are probably pimples that would have eventually occurred, but maybe not all at once, had the retinoids not “purged” and squeezed out the gunk.
Theoretically, once that is all done, your pores are clear and your acne should improve/clear up. I have a bunch of events planned in a couple of weeks and I wanted to know if my skin would have improved by then.
I still use another acne product (BP), so I’ve laid off the retinoids for now (was doing it about every 2-3 days) to try to clear up this acne. I’m thinking I probably should have done a 1-2 day/week retinoid program but I have a super low strength one so I didn’t think this would happen!
Oh and yes, flaking skin is another symptom. I have heard that after this purge your skin will be amazing so I’m really try to be positive, but sometimes I just want to go back to my old routine that wasn’t perfect but better than this!!
I’ve definitely been through this with Retin A. I was through the purging in a month. My skin is now perfectly clear so it was worth it. The only drawback, as others have mentioned, is the flaking. I handle that by reducing my use to every other night and doubling up on Omega 3 pills. I’ve found the oil in those keeps my skin glowing and the retin-a keeps it clear.
I also started using a retinoid recently, and though I still don’t think my skin is perfect, it’s definitely helped clear up the break outs (which were mostly on my chin and very annoying to deal with at 30). One thing I think that helped with the peeling/flaking is to use a very little amount, concentrated on my problem areas, and then following up with a non-clogging, oil free moisturizer. For the occasional peeling around my nose at the outset, I used argan oil. It went away in a couple of days.
My one problem with the retinoid is that I went from having relatively clear skin everywhere but my chin to having no major break outs but tiny little pimples that never seem to go away in places I never used to have breakouts before (cheeks, forehead). Is this normal? Does it go away? It’s very odd. And nothing I do seems to clear it altogether.
Is your skin now too dry? I get breakouts like this when I’m not using a strong enough moisturizer. I have some very small pimples on my cheeks now in fact – I usually need to adjust when the weather turns one way or the other.
Hmm. I would not think “too dry” but maybe that’s what it is. Maybe I will try a thicker moisturizer.
By “purging” do you mean exfoliation? When I used topical retinoids, the dry skin would peel off every few weeks. Ask the doctor for a gentle physical exfoliant recommendation, or gently wash your face with a slightly rough washcloth and warm water several times a week.
You also might benefit from the occasional use of a light, hypoallergenic, noncomedogenic moisturizer.
Hi all, I need some advice dealing with a know-it-all at work. I work in a litigation group and KIA is not a litigator, nor is KIA in a supervisory position. KIA will often make suggestions that do not necessarily make sense to the litigators. I recently lost my cool and need to figure out how to address the problem in a more mature manner without getting snippy. Any advice? I know I can always ignore the advice, but as a group we really do need a consensus.
I don’t know anything about lawyerstuff but why does KIA have to be at meetings or whatever? What is her role? Let me naively ask why can’t you just leave her out?
Also– why don’t the litigators say something like? “OBJECTION! RELEVANCE!” Just kidding.
Sort of. But seriously now, why don’t any of the litigators steer the conversation back, even if they don’t call KIA out for not making sense?
Don’t let the litigators make you be the messenger/bad-guy who voices the real feelings of the group, gets none of the benefits, but all of the downside.
I usually say “I disagree” then a few words about why I disagree. Something like “I disagree, that strategy might allow the opposition to file a ____ motion.”
Pretty much out of the blue this week, I’ve started to get dark circles and puffy bags under my eyes. I’ve been sleeping enough lately, so I don’t know why they are just showing up now. I rarely wear makeup, so I’m interested in other ways to deal with them. Any ideas? If makeup is the only solution, could someone walk me through what products to use and how to apply them?
I’ve also found gray hairs recently. I’m only 28, but it’s like I woke up older one day.
Is it allergies? Do you take any medications for them? Also, maybe dust mites. Perhaps it’s time to change your pillows and wash your blanket.
It sounds like it could be an allergy. One of the symptoms of my brother’s childhood milk allergy was big dark circles under his eyes. Have you recently changed any products you use or food you eat this past week?
Don’t forget you can also develop allergies to foods you were fine with in the past (sadly, I have).
When I started waking up with very puffy eyes, my doctor told me to take a zyrtec every night and I must say it helped a bit. Though my eyes are still puffier than I’d like.
As far as camouflage, I always seem to recommend this here (only b/c it works!), but I really like Origins’ eye zing. It has light reflecting particles which make dark circles look less noticeable and caffeine which shrinks the puffiness a bit. It’s about $30 for a jar that lasts about 3 months.
If you are going to do makeup, aim for a concealer that is creamy and about one shade lighter than the rest of your skin tone. Often, I like to pat just a bit of eye cream on after the concealer b/c I think it makes it look less cakey, but that’s a try and see kind of thing.
Sadly, I have too. This summer I developed an allergy to peaches and nectarines, apparently. I LOVE peaches.
That’s almost exactly what happened to me. It’s so sad. I also LOVE peaches. And yet now my whole face will swell up if I eat them and I’ll get a splotchy, itchy rash. So not fair.
Allergies !If you have other symptoms, liquid zyrtec doesn’t make me too sleepy. See an allergist to do a prick test and that way you can figure out what it is and how to minimize it. (sometimes flex spending covers air cleaners, dust mite pillow covers, and dust mite mattress covers – which really helps my dust allergy).
Circles-
I use this mabelline mousse stuff for under my eyes only. Other than sunscreen I don’t use any other foundation or powder so I was also at a loss. I think it is mabelline or covergirl but it is a jar of mousse. But I use my ring finger and throw a little on during allergy season. I also carry a mini one in my purse for touch ups.
Puffiness – coffee zaps it. If you don’t drink coffee then get some caffeine gel. The gel can come in a Roller ball tube which also help break up the puff and if you keep it in the fridge it really helps if you are on the go. I used to do this but found coffee usually takes care of the puff after I got a an air cleaner.
I am 29 and I have been dyeing my grays for almost 5 years! So don’t feel bad. And allergies can come at anytime in life so that’s not an old thing. :)
My sister recently pointed out that I have pretty dark circles and gave me a YSL Touche Eclait pen. You can get them at sephora. I just paint it on under my eyes and it really works wonders. It is a bit expensive but is lasting me a very long time. I don’t wear foundation or anything and it blends in just fine.
You all are awesome. I didn’t know that it could be related to allergies, but that makes total sense. I’ve been sneezing like crazy for a couple of weeks. I’ll pick up some allergy medication today and hope that helps! Thanks!
A couple of my work friends (male and female) and I have started a book club that will meet in a bar for some low key post work social time that also encourages us all to read more. We’re starting with ‘Room’ by Emma Donoghue but does anyone have any suggestions for interesting but not too deep books that would appeal to both sexes and spur some good beer-fueled conversation?
That sounds like fun. At my office, the ladies meet monthly at a bar for what is jokingly called “book club”, but it’s really just for drinks with no actual books involved. :)
book club = wine club for me.
this
Okay. I’ve got 4 possibilities.
For fiction: Faithful Place by Tana French or The Informationist by Taylor Stevens
For non-fiction: Scoreboard, Baby by Ken Armstrong or Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
I could give you more, but I’ll stop at these 4.
My book club (all women) read “The Year of the Flood” by Margaret Atwood. My husband picked it up after I was finished and ended up liking it even more than I did. “Oryx & Crake” is a companion book to that one that is better IMO, and my husband liked it more as well. If you’re not familiar — They’re about the same and related characters. O&C was written first, but you can read and understand YotF without first reading O&C. Those will definitely give you lots to talk about.
I second Oryx and Crake by Atwood — this is one of my favorite books of all time! I hadn’t heard about The Year of the Flood but now I’m going to seek out a copy!
Ooh yes. After reading both books, I really want to know what happens next, and hope Atwood continues the series.
Two good ones my book club has done lately: “Devil in the White City” by Erik Larson (non-fiction), “I Do Not Come to You by Chance” by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani (fiction) and “The Tiger’s Wife” by Tea Obreht (fiction, and a little heavier than the other two)
Love Devil in the White City!
I just read Special Topic in Calamity Physics, and loved it.
I don’t think it’s particularly deep though it definitely gives you a lot to think/talk about if you are so inclined. It’s also just fun and very well written.
I also recently read Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English and found it very enjoyable, and a good fit for what you describe.
If none of you have read the Dragon Tatoo books, that’s another option.
Or what about an oldie but a goodie like, say, Prisoner of Zenda?
I’ve been recommending “We need to talk about Kevin” by Lionel Shriver.
It is long and depressing. But its very well written.
My book club just read this and we’re meeting next weekend to discuss it! Wow – what a story. It is long – 400 pages – but I hit somewhere around page 225 and stayed up the rest of the night finishing the book, which I haven’t done since college! The same thing happened to my friend. At some point, you just ruthlessly decide you have to finish.
I just downloaded this based on your reviews! Sounds great!
I loved Kitchen Confidential. I also loved In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larsen, but it may be too deep for a casual book club. It is taken from the diaries of the US Ambassador to Germany and his daughter during the ’30s. For a slightly lighter read, The Paris Wife (about Hemingway’s first wife) is also really interesting and would probably appeal to both sexes.
I also liked The Attachments- it is a really cute/light book about an IT security guy who reads employees’ emails.
I read Attachments after reading Room — I definitely needed something light and fun after such a heavy book! Room was well-written and a fast read, but dark. Attachments was totally adorable – loved it!
I love this idea!
Any of the Malcolm Gladwell books (Outliers, Tipping Point, etc.) would be a great choice, but the downside is that lots of people have already them.
Also the Steve Jobs biography just came out, with quite favorable reviews. It might make for good discussion.
“The Imperfectionists” by Tom Rachman
Fictional account of a newspaper written in English based in Rome. LOVED it. It has chapters that are about the individual people connected with the paper interspersed with the longer history of the newspaper. It could lead to larger discussions about the media, but it is interesting enough on its own.
“The Art of Racing in the Rain” by Garth Stein
Written from the point of view of the dog. Chronicles the changes in a man who owns the dog from bachelorhood to marriage to family. Man is a race car driver.
“Downtown Owl” by Chuck Klosterman
Fictional account of a small town.
“Bossypants” by Tina Fey.
Loved Kitchen Confidential and The Paris Wife, too.
I second the recommendation for “The Art of Racing in the Rain”.
I am very tempted to add all of these recommendations to my Amazon cart!
Second Downtown Owl.
There’s a local group doing that around my metro – albeit on a larger scale. They’ve done The Room, moved on to The Gargoyle, and are now doing Friday Night Lights, the book the (first) movie was based on, and inspiration for the television show.
In the past, I’ve enjoyed The Sparrow by Maria Doria Russell. My personal subtitle for that one is Jesuits in Space…
I love The Sparrow (which was shocking for a non-sci fi person). The sequel was not nearly as good.
I just finished “A Visit from the Goon Squad” by Jennifer Egan and really liked it. Since I started working four years ago, I almost never read for pleasure other than on vacation because I feel like it’s all I do all day at work, but I grabbed this at an airport and read it at every opportunity and just finished it last night.
I really liked that book, and will add:
Rock Paper Tiger by an author I forgot (but how great is that title?)
City of Thieves by David Benioff
I just started this which is dangerous because I should be writing papers and it is really good! I also loved Mr. Chartwell, a story that spun off the fact that Churchill referred to his depression as “the black dog.”
– A Fierce Radiance – a fictionalized account of how pennicilin was developed during WWII
– The Hand that First Held Mind, by Maggie O’Farrell – I don’t know how to describe it without giving it away
– Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro
And the rest of my books have been strictly tv-watching replacement and are not book club worthy ;-)
Loved loved loved Never Let Me Go but was so disappointed by the film.
First Light. It may well appeal to the men more then the women but it’s an excellent read.
Battle royale; much better then the film.
Also seconding the gargoyle and oryx & crake
A Novel Bookstore, by Laurence Cosse
The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery
The White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga
Seconding The White Tiger and Devil in the White City. I just finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy, which is a pretty quick read and definitely not chicklit, and kind of haunts you… probably won’t set you up for a rollicking good time, but I think it could potentially be a great book club book. The Hunger Games trilogy is fantastic, and sort of in the same vein (but old) is Enders Game. My all time favorite book ever is Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, but its 900+ pages so your club might not be able to meet for months!
A Novel Bookstore and the Elegance of the Hedgehog are both amazing reads. I basically love anything published by Europa Press.
Yes, me too! Did you read Muriel Barbery’s other novel about the food critic in Hedgehog? Can’t remember what it is called but I loved it.
Thanks, guys! This post just cost me $200+! It’s easier to resist clothes than books……
Two things I’ve started doing lately to save money on books:
1. If you use a kindle, look at Amazon’z Daily Deal for books. Every day a new book is up for deep discounts. For example, today’s book is normally $8; today it is $2.
2. Last month I signed up for paperbackswap.com. You post books that you are willing to mail. When someone requests the book, you send it out and get a credit for it. You use your credits to get books that you want. You can also make a wish list so that when a book gets posted that you want, you can request it. At approximately $3 per book, I think it’s a good deal.
I got Kitchen Confidential through the Kindle Daily Deal a couple of weeks ago.
I don’t know if all areas do this, but one of my favorite places is the Wheaton, MD library booksale. It collects all the older or duplicate copies of books from the Montgomery County libraries and sells them at a steep discount (like $2 for hard backs and $1 for paperbacks the last time I was there). It’s great for books that were super popular a year ago, not so good for the latest read. I bet other areas do something along these lines.
I actually have a spreadsheet on Google Docs of the books I’ve read in the past 7 years, the genre, and my rating. Just in case you want to spend even more money…
I want this! Not that I need to spend more money, but I could use a guide to what I’ve read.
Okay. Here it is: http://tinyurl.com/3qnnhyz
Rockin’. Thanks, Bunkster!
Wow. Bunkster, this list is amazing – thank you for sharing! I wish I had kept track of what I’ve read like this. (Although my lists would be much, much shorter in recent years, sadly. I need to go back to being a prolific reader!)
OMG, Bunkster, this is shockingly amazing. I thought I was a prolific reader. Apparently not. I am super impressed. You have inspired me to create a similar list, and I seriously need to print off yours.
(Apologize if there are two similar posts, got the “you are posting too quickly” message)
For nonficiton, check out Mary Roach. My BF particularly enjoyed “Boink” and “Packing for Mars.” Another nonfiction book my bookclub (all women, but still) enjoyed was “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.”
I’ll second the recommendation for “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.”
Boink was great! I hear “Stiff” (same author) is pretty good, too.
It was. “Spook” was also interesting, but I think “Boink” and “Stiff” were better.
My book group is reading The Paris Wife (about Hemingway’s first wife, fiction). Cutting for Stone is probably my favorite book of the ones I have read this year.
This thread made my afternoon. :)
Add these to the list:
*The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Maarten Troost – playful and interesting account of a young couple moving together to a tropical island;
*Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux – Very interesting account by my favorite travel writer of an overland trip through Africa, including some cutting observations on the negative effects of foreign aid (maybe a little dark for bar book club but a great read).
Second “Dark Star Safari”. Actually I think Paul Theroux is fabulous all the time. He also put me on to VS Naipaul.
No-one has mentioned Salman Rushdie here, and he may be too much for a book club, but everything he writes is amazing in my view, and in terms of personal favourites, he and Vikram Seth tie as My.Bestest.Authors.Ever.
Agreed on Rushdie. Midnight’s Children is one of the most brilliantly written books I have ever read. And now I have two new authors to explore, thanks Nonny!
Ohmigoodness – I run off to a meeting (where I did a pretty excellent job of going through a deck for a number of different departments, am a little chuffed) and come back to a goldmine of material! I do need a reason to read more Atwood and will mine through the rest of this list. Thanks so much! Though I have to admit it’ll be a little weird to buy a physical book, have been reading just on the i.Pad recently but can’t really post-it that up.
Here are a few books that both me and husband enjoyed, and we have pretty different tastes. Many of these are nonfiction, as ‘rettes have contributed some great fiction titles (Art of Racing in the Rain, Year of the Flood, Paris Wife):
Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston (fabulous nonfiction about an Italian serial killer, very interesting take on the Italian legal system)
Rome 1960 by David Maraniss (I am not that into sports, but found this book about the Olympic Games incredibly fascinating)
No Shortcuts to the Top by Ed Visturs or Breaking Trail by Arlene Blum (both are autobiographies of mountain climbers and should appeal to anyone who is incredibly career driven–the life these people live to do what they love is fascinating)
The Big Short by Michael J. Lewis (explains some of the financial craziness behind the 2008 crash)
Flashforward by Robert J. Sawyer (SciFi with mass appeal)
I recommend Bel Canto by Ann Pachett (fiction)
Synopsis: a group of international diplomats and staff members are attending a gala in an undisclosed South American city when they are taken hostage by homegrown political terrorists. One of the hostages is a professional translator who can speak to/understand many of the diplomats as well as the terrorists. The story encapsulates the days the hostages spent under guard, the translator’s difficulty with translating for everyone, his inner turmoil between professionalism (strict translation, even when he personally disagrees) and avoiding angering the hostage takers. It’s a really fantastic story, and the character studies of the various players are superb.
I love this! Not grandma! Pockets are sooo cute. Nice work on this pick.
got an amazing invite to a charity fundraiser on Saturday. My boss invited me as her date. The attire is black tie. Suggestions on what to wear?
I was thinking red cocktail dress (knee length) and heels, clutch, minimal make up, and hair ironed straight or styled down.
Is this appropriate? I have a hard time figuring out the distinction between cocktail and black tie.
Black tie normally involves a floor length dress.
Thanks!
I was hoping against this… I have one floor length dress. But I don’t care for the fit. Let me try it on and see what it looks like.
I’d err on the side of caution and go with floor length if you have it. Depending on the event (or if it said black tie optional), your dress could be perfectly appropriate, but some black tie events I’ve been to have been almost exclusively floor length gowns and anything knee-length sticks out like a sore thumb. If if were you, I’d be more comfortable in floor length.
See if there are pics from the prior year on line or ask her what she is wearing and what most women wear. I agree that black tie typically means floor length, but at most of the black tie events I have attended, a floor length gown would have stuck out in a crowd of cocktail dresses. This may be regional (I am in NYC). I have a red cocktail dress from BCBG that I have worn to “black tie” events.
Ask the boss if she knows whether the event trends towards floor length or knee length gowns. If its knee length, then you are golden.
Anybody seen the ABA article about a study done by a law prof re: legal secretaries who don’t want to work for female partners? I’m not tech-savvy enough to post a link, but I found it very interesting and relevant to some discussions we’ve had here before.
Eh. The prof interviewed less than 150 secretaries, which hardly seems like an adequate sample size. You can’t tell anything about the methodology of finding that sample unless you want to buy the article. Were the women who responded self selected? Where they of a certain demographic profile?
The headline is misleading, I think. My understanding is that the survey said that 50% preferred working for male partners and 47% didn’t have a preference between men and women. Above the Law takes that to mean that only 3% preferred working for women, which I think is a dumb data point to be focusing on, given that we don’t know what the margin of error might be on the data reporting. I find it more significant that half of the responders didn’t have a preference. Which I find way more significant.
Agreed. If I had done the survey I would have published the results as “most people don’t care if they work for a male or female atty. 47% had no opinion!”
Yeah, to me the study mostly says “sexist people who judge a boss based on gender tend not to like women!” and I’m not sure “sexist people don’t like women” is exactly as significant as the reporting on this study suggests. I suppose it’s evidence against the complaints of the basement-dwelling men who roam the internet complaining about how oppressed men are.
Ann Althouse (law prof/blogger) had an interesting discussion going on about it yesterday here: http://althouse.blogspot.com/2011/10/142-legal-secretaries-surveyed-and-not.html. I had thought about linking it here, but never got around to it.
I agree with noner that there is a fairly small and undefined sample, and that it’s certainly significant that basically half had no preference, but I do think that there are a lot of significant things going on behind this. Women (in a broad, broad generalization) can be hard to work with, particularly for other women. I’m sure that there are a lot of really diverse reasons for that, but, based on my experiences and observations, its undoubtedly true. (This doesn’t in any way mean that any particular woman is going to be more or less difficult than any particular man, of course, nor does it mean that there aren’t easy to work with women and extraordinarily difficult men.)
I would like to know where these non-emotional, non passive-aggressive men are. Every place I’ve worked has had a least a few men who really just needed to put on their big boy pants.
Dating quandary: I met this guy through a mutual friend, told the friend to give him my number after some flirting (but he didn’t ask me for my number). Guy contacts me, we talk for a half hour, he asks me out. We go out. Didn’t hear angels singing exactly, but it was fun and we had a sufficient amount of chemistry to make a second date worthwhile, I thought. We left one another with him saying we should get together again soon. That was Wed. No word since.
Do I contact him or let it lie? He didn’t ask me for number in the first place so maybe he was never interested. I was counting on him taking the next step and had sort of just decided to write him off, but I’m wondering if I’m being old fashioned.
FWIW, I hate “He’s Just Not That Into You” for many, many reasons, but I know what that book would say!
My two cents? Call him to reiterate you had a good time and ask him out. Sometimes they need prompting.
I didn’t hear angels singing when I met my BF either, but here we are a year later and going strong. If you think there is definite potential, it is worth pursuing. Worst that can happen is that he turns you down, which shouldn’t be so bad as you have only had one date anyway.
This – it doesn’t hurt to reiterate (once) that you are interested. If you the dodge or some non-committal response at that point, I’d probably let it go, but one follow up wouldn’t hurt.
THIS
My conclusion, for what it’s worth, after reading everyone’s comments is that I have nothing to lose by sending a short text. In this case, it was follow up to something we’d talked about that I was going to get back to him about. I truly doubt I’ll hear from him and generally believe that if they like you, they call you. That’s always been my philosophy. But I’m also 33 and single so maybe I’m doing it all wrong.
I pursued 2 out of my 3 serious relationships, calling both guys first when they didn’t initially make the first phone call. One turned into my first serious relationship. The other, we were together 7 years. You never know how it will work out. Both those men loved me to pieces. I wouldn’t say that the advice “if he’s not really interested now, do you really want to bother” is always sound, considering. You’ve got nothing to lose by sending one text before moving on. Worse case scenario, you don’t second guess yourself and have an easier time getting him out of your system. Let us know what happens :)
I would just let it lie and move on to the next dating prospect. Sooner or later, he may pop up with a text message or phone call, but I’d rather date someone who is 100% into me than someone who kinda/sorta is.
Sometimes, people just get busy and can’t drop everything to go out on Date 2 less than one week after Date 1. Wasn’t there just a post here about how people here sometimes get too busy to even get 2 decent meals into themselves each day? ;-)
I’d leave the door open (or the phone on, in this case), and at some point, maybe drop him a short, friendly email. Just to leave the communication open, but no pressure.
I don’t think he’s “Not That Into You,” because if he weren’t, he wouldn’t have bothered to call you after the mutual friend gave him your number. That would have been the easy out.
Why does he need to take the next step? Give him a call/text, tell him you had a good time, and then go from there. If you don’t hear anything after that first contact, then let it lie.
either
1) contact him exactly once, to say hi / it was fun / let’s meet up again.
or
2) move on.
but either way, pick one, stick with it, and don’t speculate. the speculation is what makes dating difficult. learn to not do it. good luck.
Good point!
Very good advice!
If he was interested he would call. He may be sorta interested, but is that enough? It’s been about a week and I think he would have reached out to you over the weekend, maybe try to plan a second date. I’d let it go and just be friends with him. The beginning of a relationship sets the precedent and he’s setting it pretty low. I wouldn’t give him a second date at this point.
This is how I usually see things–but I’ve also been told that I’m too quick to rule guys out or think they’re not interested. Experimenting a bit in how I date. Thanks!
If a guy wants you after testing the waters with a date, he’ll text right away. Period.
If you like what you see, you lock it down.
You’ll hear angels with another guy another time.
I don’t know, maybe he doesn’t want to come on too strong. Or maybe he has a crazy week at work. That’s why I don’t like this silly guessing stuff. I had to put off some really important stuff last week.
My vote: call/email him once, say you had a good time, ask him out again. Then you’ll know.
Okay, I sent a little text. Thanks!
Sounds worth a shot!
I would probably have tried once, and suggested something fairly simple and non-threatening.
If he doesn’t bite then, I’d leave it, though.
In my experience, the busiest of busy busy men will still find 90 seconds at some point over the course of 6 days to quickly call (or text or email) to tell you that they had a great time, want to see you again, are slammed with work, and will be in touch when they come back up for air (if they can’t go ahead and make plans right then). If he was interested, you’d know it. I’d say move on.
Don’t contact him. If he nonchalantly contacts you offering nothing and asking nothing, don’t flirt for free. If he asks you out and you want to go out, go, wholeheartedly, have fun.
Repeat with the next guy, till you like one who likes you. It’s gotta be even steven, no one convincing themselves that they like a person more than they do or a person likes them more than they do. When it’s fun for both of you, you will both want it to keep going and both be confidently clear about that.
Dating: Enjoy when it’s enjoyable, and when it’s work, walk.
Does he seem shy, nervous or not really a go-getter type? If so, this may be the reason that he failed to contact you. Otherwise, I personally would let it go.