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Updated: Oct 31, 2018 65 Comments · by

Coffee Break: ‘Voyageur Q-Tote®’ Nylon Tote

Coffee Break

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Tumi 'Voyageur Q-Tote®' Nylon Tote | CorporetteI always like a nice nylon tote — they're lightweight, durable, and versatile. This one from Tumi looks nice (pictured in the pink but available in 5 colors, including basic black) — I like that it has feet (!), a bit of structure, a top zipper, and slips over a rolling suitcase (as pictured) — lovely. It's $195-$245 at Nordstrom. Tumi ‘Voyageur Q-Tote®' Nylon Tote Here's a lower-priced alternative. (L-3)

Sales of note for 9.30.24

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Comments

  2. Ellen

    Yay! Coffee Break! I love Coffee Break and this tote, which has feet! I alway’s wear my tote’s out b/c they do NOT have feet and it get’s all SCUFFED, and I have to throw them out. FOOEY! Tote’s are expensive and lately I am haveing Mason carry my shoes so I do NOT want him scuffeing up my tote!

    The manageing partner’s brother stopped by and gave me an ultemeatum. He said that I was nearing the end of my child bearing years, and that if we were to marry, he would ensure that I would be impregenated by the end of the year. He want’s Harold to have another sibling and I am the best way of makeing this happen. All I could see was his bald head and mustache and kept thinking of how hard he would be trying huffeing and puffeing on top of me in order to ensure that he was right and that he got me pregenent b/f year-end. FOOEY! I am sure that he would turn me into a pancake b/c he is very stockey and would insist on being on top the whole time in order to control me. DOUBEL FOOEY! I told him I was dateing someone (even tho I am NOT) and therefore respectfully declined his offer. YAY!

    I hope Myrna’s freind provides some alternative, but I do NOT want him in the hallway where the manageing partner’s brother can see him. He hang’s in the hallway alot, particulearly when he hear’s people comeing into my apartement. After telling him I was already dateing someone, I do NOT want him finding out that I am now lookeing at someone new. TRIPEL FOOEY!

  3. Meg March

    I need a good tailor in NYC, who can do alterations on a bridesmaid dress. Anyone you trust for major alterations (not just hemming)?

  4. Anonymous

    Anyone have recs for some great summer reads?

    I’m looking for the 2015 version of Gone Girl or Where’d You Go Bernade**e, etc.

    • anne-on

      I just read the Children’s Crusade and At the Water’s Edge. Both good, not great, but light/easy enough for beach or vacation reads. I also liked the Royal We if you’re into princess-y type fiction.

      • a voice of dissent

        I have to be the dissenting voice here. I thought Girl on The Train was incredibly overrated and nowhere near as good as Gone Girl. My entire book club agreed! And I had very high hopes for it.

        • Cesca

          Completely agree – Gone Girl was excellent writing, Girl on the Train was meh in terms of quality. Still fairly entertaining, but not without some eye rolls.

    • LilyS

      If you haven’t read The Light Between Oceans then I highly recommend it. The film is coming out this year I think.

    • Anonymous

      If you read short stories: Single, Carefree, Mellow by Katherine Heiny. But it is not a thriller. Also Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty, so so funny!

    • A Nonny Moose

      Big Little Lies– very entertaining, good mix of serious and light. Perfect summer read.

    • anon

      I have used the regular Rogaine (not the one for women) since 2006 with excellent results. I have thin, fine hair and was losing hair. Now my hair looks thicker and I’m constantly growing new hair (my hair stylist points it out). It’s been life-changing.

      • anxious

        This is great to hear. Are there any negative side effects? The only thing I’ve heard is that you can never stop using it, but if it works, I’ll totally use it forever!

        • anon

          No, but I’m really careful to wash my hands well any time I’m using it. It only works where you put it, so it’s not like you’re going to grow facial hair or anything. I haven’t used the foam (don’t know how that would work) – only the liquid. I use it twice a day, as directed, although I tend to use a little less so it doesn’t run down my scalp. When I first tried it, I thought it made my hair look greasy in the spot where I put it, but now you’d never know. I did get pregnant at one point when I was using it and I asked the doctor if I should discontinue. He said that it would only cause a problem later in the pregnancy and only if it was a girl. The pregnancy didn’t last, so I never had to pursue that question.

        • anonymous

          If you stop using it, does your hair just go back to normal, or is it worse than before?

          • anon

            It just goes back to the way it was before. No worse. Of course, I haven’t ever stopped using it. So I think it’s not like the new hairs would fall out. You just wouldn’t keep growing the new hairs.

    • Dana

      My dermatologist recommended I use men’s Rogaine once a day, rather than the women’s twice a day. He cited some study or other. So, that is what I do. I use to prevent fallout, however (stress), so I know my case is a little bit different than most.

    • Dana

      My dermatologist recommended I use men’s Rogaine once a day, rather than the women’s twice a day. He cited some study or other. So, that is what I do. I use to prevent fallout, however (stress), so I know my case is a little bit different than most.

      (Sorry if this goes through twice, it didn’t seem to work the first time!)

  6. anne-on

    A bit of a brag – my department is being restructured under a horrible boss, which has led to massive firings/resignations. I was able to resign but still keep a position in my company in another department under a great boss, and got a hefty raise to boot! Yay!

  7. Jennifer

    Does anyone know how to/if there is an easy remedy for squeaky shoes? It’s a pair of flats that is probably 2 years old at this point, and that has a small tear where the back meets the sole, so it could just be time for a replacement. (Unless it is a $5 fix that any cobbler could easily do that would last for at least 6 months of 1-2x weekly wear.)

    • Anonymous

      Trash ’em and get a new pair. I’ve never been able to get rid of squeaky.

  8. anon

    People who use their personal relationships (marriage, affairs, whatever) for professional bullying just suck.

      • anon

        Probably only common in academia. But say two people are either married in a relationship who use their relationship to vote in a block to influence policy or to treat their colleagues badly. It probably wouldn’t be tolerated in any other industry. Although when it’s two people who are having a clandestine affair, it’s harder to prove or deal with.

  9. la vie en bleu

    Is it weird that I am finding it really fun to sort office supplies back into original boxes to put back into the supply cabinets? It’s like my favorite day at work in weeks. (I am going to assume the answer is Yes)

    • Me too

      I love stuff like that. And also detangling necklace chains. If only I could figure out what that could translate to for a day job…

      Oh, and I fully agree that it makes me weird.

    • KT

      I pretty much just like office supplies. I have school supply season because I can stock up on completely unnecessary things (protractor? Don’t mind if I do!)

  10. Personal site

    I was surprised to see that some people think a personal website is useless in the recent discussion. I’m in academia and it’s almost a necessity. Most people have a static page but I’m thinking of adding a blog/diary to mine, most people use the term “News”. My work involves a fair amount of time in the field. Sometimes there is travel to interesting places. Would it be considered unprofessional to include a travelogue of sorts on the site? For those who have personal websites, what sort of stuff do you include?

    • Anonymous

      My dad used to have to do this for his organization – he won the internal prize for best blog one year.

    • Anon in NYC

      I have a friend who is a professor and an amateur photographer and he often includes photos of his travels without commentary on his faculty webpage. I don’t know if this is something his school encourages, but I don’t think he’s faced any professional backlash because of it (he just got tenure).

    • Anonymous

      I think it’s nice for a personal site (if you have one), to include some of your personality. A travelogue is fine, but I wouldn’t include anything that an employer might look askance at (e.g. your tour of Amsterdam’s best “coffee shops”, or something like that)

    • Anon

      I’m not in academia, but I read Mary Beard’s blog, A Don’s Life, which includes personal posts as well as professional ones. She gets maybe more personal than you are talking about (there’s a post about a new clothesline she bought?) but I think always relatively light and charming.

    • Anonymous

      I think it’s totally normal in academia to have a personal section of your website. My husband is in academia and I’d say somewhere between 50 and 75% of his friends and colleagues have some personal info on their websites. The most common thing in the personal section seems to be photos of and/or brief information about one’s family. The next most common thing is personal photos, including travel photos. I’d only worry about info in the personal section if it might be objectionable if a potential employer saw it. A travelogue sounds perfectly appropriate (and awesome!) I wouldn’t worry about it at all.

    • CJ Craig

      In academia, pre-tenure. I put up a website with a blog that I call “news.” I’ve been doing a lot of work travel in the last year and I have pictures on that page (of myself, of the places I visit, and of other people). I also mention fun things that I do at the conference venues outside of the conference (e.g., a celebrity chef restaurant or museum visit). I don’t have any personal information or family news though, because I am a nonwhite woman and pre-tenure and I want the focus to be 100% on my work. The website is definitely a marketing tool for me as an academic.

      That said, if your travels are work related, a travelogue could absolutely be appropriate, even if you are focusing on your travel experience and not just the research. It makes you seem human. I would be wary of putting up personal details though depending on your tenure status and gender. It’s true many academics’ websites have personal info and even family pictures but I can’t think of many pre-tenure female faculty websites that do so….

  11. A Nonny Moose

    PSA: cole haan clearance is 40% off right now. Lots of good shoe styles on deep discount and some marked down outerwear too. Final sale only.

  12. Poppies

    Just want to say, I have this tote in black and love it. I’ve had it for 2 years and it still looks brand new. I’ve thrown it in the washing machine a few times and it’s held up great. Holds a ton and is lightweight (at least compared to my leather handbags). Expensive, but I bought it on sale which made it better.

  13. Debating a Colleague

    I swear there was a case about this (or similar) but I can’t find it via google. Anyone remember? Pregnant woman works with dangerous chemicals. These chemicals are known to be dangerous to her fetus. Company offers different duties with same pay/benefits to pregnant workers so they do not have to be exposed to the chemicals. Pregnant woman decides she doesn’t want the alternate assignment but wants to keep working with the dangerous chemicals despite the known danger to her fetus. Employer won’t let her. I thought she sued and won and it is the mother’s choice whether to protect the fetus at work. Colleague thinks the company has a duty to prevent known harm to the fetus and could face a lawsuit so it has to prohibit her from working with the known dangerous substance. Third colleague thinks they can require a doctors note saying it is okay for the fetus. Fourth colleague made the analogy to child protective stepping in when a woman is abusing drugs while pregnant.

    There are few cases in this regard because most women are fighting for the right to get light duty to protect their fetus (UPS case for example) and not for the right to expose their fetus to known harms. This isn’t like “oh your job is stressful, so you can’t do it” as that situation has been ruled to be illegal. This is more working with this chemical can cause birth defects.

    This all started because we know someone who is pregnant and is annoyed with her work restrictions but they are restrictions based on a known harm to the fetus. She would likely follow them anyway (and likely would have requested them) but she is annoyed that she didn’t request them and had them imposed on her.

    It led to the stereotypical “is this legal” debate.

    • Mpls

      I kind of feel for Pregnant Employee – it seems a little paternalistic for the Employer to just decide for her, without sitting down and consulting with her about how she wanted to approach the situation, even if the results are the same.

      As she works with the chemicals everyday, she may have a better sense of which restrictions make the most sense for her (I’m imagining a lab situation, as opposed to an assembly line).

    • Digby

      You might be thinking of the Johnson Controls case – battery-manufacturing plant, known risk to fetuses, company had blanket prohibition against assigning women of child-bearing age to production jobs. The Supreme Court ruled it was sex discrimination.

    • Digby

      You might be thinking of the Johnson Controls case – battery-manufacturing plants, known risk to fetuses, company had blanket prohibition against assigning women of childbearing age to production jobs. The Supreme Court found it to be sex discrimination.

    • Baconpancakes

      Morally, I think it’s paternalistic and wrong to put restrictions on someone based on potential risks to the fetus (not the employer – airlines have a reason to ground late-term pregnant employees due to the potential to need to make an emergency landing), but legally, it’s unclear. As a country, we don’t afford fetuses the full rights of people, but neither do we treat them as entirely part of the mother’s body and allow her complete agency over them. I disagree with blanket anything to protect fetuses, though, as it opens up an avenue of potential abuse I could absolutely see some of the more “lifer” states pursuing. Illegal to buy alcohol as a pregnant woman. Illegal to eat raw fish while pregnant. Illegal to work as a pathologist with diseases that might cause infertility. Illegal for women to become radiologists. Illegal for young women to take Accutane, regardless of plans for children. Etc.

  14. False Modesty

    Ladies, how do you deal with false modesty in the workplace? I have a coworker who is extremely intelligent but has a way of putting herself down constantly. I have friends that do this out of low self-esteem. I’ve also found that it can be hard sometimes for women (and I don’t know why) to accept a compliment without undercutting themselves at the same time. I’m often guilty of that. But it has become cringeworthy to listen to her complain about her (perfectly fine) performance or wail about not receiving any “constructive criticism” every time she performs well on a project.

    To make things worse, I work in a very stressful field. Everyone is trying very hard to do the best that they can. There are other in our group who have not experienced as much success as she has, and that are trying very hard to bring themselves up to speed. I do not think she realizes that how tactless and off putting her comments can be to others that are dealing with their own problems and are receiving much “constructive criticism.”

    Anyone have a similar story to share? Any tips for defusing these situations? This may just mean that I need to start steering clear of her.

    • Wildkitten

      I would assume that she is being completely genuine and perhaps let her know about imposter syndrome – sometimes women who are awesome don’t know it. If it really is fake, maybe that could be a hint that her modesty isn’t helping her or helping her get along with others. (Just an idea – I’m not an expert on this one).

    • Wildkitten

      Second idea – If you suggest people who are struggling get help/guidance from her, what would her reaction to them be? Helping others is a great anti-dote to imposter syndrome.

      • Anonymous

        I personally do not think this is a case of impostor syndrome, but bad manners. She has been comfortable in the past giving unsolicited advice to her coworkers and I would not send someone to her for advice. I wish I could give more details, but this is an environment where loudly complaining about your progress (or lack of it) is really off putting.

  15. Anonymous

    My mom has this tote. It looks very nice in person (she has a teal-ish color). She said she got it in an airport Tumi store for quite a bit less than the price online.

  19. PJ

    FYI – I’ve seen the Tumi totes at TJ Maxx quite a bit. I’ve had a black one for years that has been all over the world with me and still looks great.

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