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Coffee Break: ‘Laureen’ Leather Pump

VANELi 'Laureen' Leather Pump | CorporetteThis comfort heel from Nordstrom is highly rated, and I think it looks like a great basic. Zappos has a few more colors, as well. The shoe is $124 and is available in medium, narrow, and wide sizes (and note that 6pm has four other color choices from $61 to $75, as well). VANELi ‘Laureen' Leather Pump Psst: On the hunt for other comfortable heels? Check out our Guide to Comfortable Heels — or, share some of your favorites with us, below. (L-5)

Sales of note for 12.13

  • Nordstrom – Beauty deals on skincare including Charlotte Tilbury, Living Proof, Dyson, Shark Pro, and gift sets!
  • Ann Taylor – 50% off everything, including new arrivals (order via standard shipping for 12/23 expected delivery)
  • Banana Republic Factory – 50-70% off everything + extra 20% off
  • Eloquii – 400+ styles starting at $19
  • J.Crew – Up to 60% off almost everything + free shipping (12/13 only)
  • J.Crew Factory – 50% off everything and free shipping, no minimum
  • Macy's – $30 off every $150 beauty purchase on top brands
  • Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off, plus free shipping on everything (and 20% off your first order)
  • Talbots – 50% off entire purchase, and free shipping on $99+

And some of our latest threadjacks here at Corporette (reader questions and commentary) — see more here!

Some of our latest threadjacks include:

121 Comments

  1. Do you have a vacation “style” in terms of liking more frequent quick trips or prefer long periods of being disconnected? Do people like both for different reasons? I rarely take long vacations. I do hate the catch-up that comes from long periods away from work. I also feel like I’m just a homebody and like to travel but after a few days away I kind of want to be back home. Now I’m thinking maybe the long vacations would be better for recharging and maybe I should plan more. Do you think you can recharge from 3-4 day quick trips?

    1. Short answer is both for different reasons, but I think I like longer a little better.

      I can’t recharge from a 3 day trip because the part i hate the most is the actual traveling: airplanes, airports, all the crowds of stupid people.. so if I’m going to fly somewhere I want more than a couple of days to enjoy the place I go. I did a super fast trip to Europe once, and while I loved it, I was exhausted when I got home so I won’t do that very often.

      I have done long trips, like 4-6 weeks, too, and while I am also a homebody and get homesick after a couple of days, that usually goes away again and I start to really enjoy it, it’s like a cycle that I go through. ;o) So, I’d say give a longer trip a try at least once and see if you like it. I like spending enough time in a new place that I can try out lots of different restaurants and hangouts and really get a feel for a place, too.

    2. Yay! Coffee Break! I love Coffee Break’s and these shoe’s from Nordstrom’s even tho the manageing partner perfer’s me in 4″ heel’s, I think I should have this pair b/c it is easier to walk around in, and they ARE closed toe, which is a MUST in the winter!

      As for the OP, I would absoluteley LOVE to have a long vacation, but since comeing to this job, I have NOT been abel to get away for more then a week (attached to a holiday), makeing it about 10 day’s includeing weekend’s. I used to be abel to go away for week’s, both in school as well as afterward’s when I worked for the process server company, but NOW, I am told that I am INDESPENSIBEL to the firm’s well being, and can NOT go away longer then a week b/c nothing would get done w/o me. Frank even said that he suffer’s withdrwaral symptom’s when I am NOT in for more then 2 day’s, but he confieded to me that it is b/c he has no other boobie’s to stare at other then Lynn, who’s boobies belong to Mason, and Madeline, who does NOT have any boobie’s worth stareing at. FOOEY on men that think that our boobie’s belong to them. They are OUR boobie’s and they are NOT for stareing at, particiularley by men who are MARRIED, like Frank. I told him I think he goe’s home and stare’s at his wife’s boobies, but he say’s no. He say’s once your married, your wife’s boobie’s are NOT to be stared at w/o his wife’s permision. I told him I never would stare at my husband’s winkie, and he thought that was a good idea. YAY for something.

      I billed 23 hours yesterday, and now Frank is on my case b/c I want to take 1/2 of Thursday off. My dad is comeing into NYC and I want to go to lunch w/him. He said NOT until I meet my quota. I said I would bill on the 28th if I had to but he called in the manageing partner who told me he wanted to send out the bills at COB on Friday. FOOEY! I guess that I AM INDESPENSEIBLE after all. We are moveing to our new space on April 1, and the manageing partner has postponed our Spring Fling until after we are in our new home. I will FINALLY get a new chair without petrified food (and other) stain’s on it. I can NOT wait! YAY! Myrna said we should burn my old chair, but I told her the stench would be unbareable. FOOEY! 50 years of compressed farting from partner’s long gone is NOT something I want to smell. DOUBEL FOOEY!

      Myrna is comeing over and we are goieng to watch the Boyhood movie together. Patriciea Arquette said it right. We women have to stick up for ourself, because we ARE INDESPENSIBEL! DOUBEL YAY!

    3. I did 2 three weeks trips last year, and I found them just a little long. I ended up working for part, and it was hard preparing to leave and to come back to hundreds of emails.

      I usually do longer trips because I like to really travel, not lie on a beach, but this year I’m going with 2 weeks at a time, because 3 was just too much.

    4. I like 5-10 days for anything that requires a flight. Under 5 is too short to recharge, and over 10 starts getting old for me. Staying in hotels and eating out all the time is kind of oddly draining for me, even if it’s a nice hotel/food. I guess I would enjoy a vacation cottage type deal, but then I’d miss my kitty :)

    5. My preferred length of vacation is roughly 1-2 weeks. I find that I don’t really recharge with just 3-4 days, especially if there is travel involved. I struggle with trips longer than 2 weeks because part of me feels like I should be on the go all the time (sightseeing, etc.) and after about 2 weeks I get tired and just want to sit around the hotel, so I feel like it’s a waste and I should just be sitting at home.

    6. If I had to pick, I’d say I prefer longer trips. I find somewhere close to 2 weeks ideal, although most of my trips tend to be closer to a week to 10 days due to work. I’ve been going on more short trips recently to take advantage of some long weekends and while it’s been nice to have these little mini-breaks (Florida in the middle of a brutal winter feels lifesaving) I don’t think it would work for me to “recharge” on such a short trip. One other major benefit of a longer break for me at work is that I notice that I lose some of my bad habits when I come back….. As if I forget how the internet can suck an hour and a half from your morning with nothing accomplished. So in that sense, I tend to be really productive after I come back (and before I leave, too, trying to get lots of things done).

    7. I think my ideal vacation length is 1 week. 3-4 days is too short to fully recharge and 1 week is better, without making you absolutely miserable when you get back to work. In addition to the catch-up at work afterwards, 2 week vacations can start to feel exhausting themselves, particularly if you’re on the go a lot. By the end of the second week I am usually very ready to go home and I don’t normally get that feeling on 1 week vacations. That said, I take some 2 week vacations (and wish I could take even more) because I like to go to a lot of places that are hard to get to & have too much to see to try to do in 1 week.

    8. 3-4 days is okay for a short trip. If I’m flying any distance, I want to be there at least a week. If I’m leaving the continent, I want to be there at least two.

      My last big trip was 3 weeks and that felt too long. I missed my fella terribly and just wanted to get home.

    9. I love 2-week vacations. There’s something so luxurious and relaxing about the weekend in the middle, knowing you have another week of vacation left!

      That being said, DH’s job demands are going to limit us to 1-week (or maybe 10 day) vacations for a while. Sad face.

    10. I like short, planned trips. Planned meaning with an actual schedule of some kind, so we can do as much as we can on the trip, have fun, and come home without a big backlog of stuff to do. Short meaning at least 3 days, no more than 7.

      If I’m going overseas and jetlag is going to be more than just 4 hours, then longer trips are better. It takes at least a few days to get over jetlag and to actually start enjoying myself – so overseas trips require at least 2 weeks!

    11. I can rarely make this happen, but my ideal vacation length is 8-10 days, with 2 full weeks actually off of work – I can take the weekend on each end to clean and prepare/unpack and do laundry, and then feel like it was an actual vacation rather than having to leave directly from work or go right back, jetlagged and cranky.

    12. I think you can re-charge from short, 3-4 day vacations if it’s the kind of thing where you have a set getaway spot that’s not too far from home. For me, that would be wine country about 1-2 hour drive with great, luxury hotels. It doesn’t get old because there’s always another winery or restaurant, but it’s definitely enough of a break to relaaaax.

      That said, if the goal is to explore a new culture, then longer is better.

    13. Wow, this is wild to me. I never would have guessed that someone would prefer a 7-10 day vacation over a 2-3 week one. I always root for longer if possible, though I know it can be hard to get a bit block of time — I haven’t taken more than 6 consecutive work days off in five years, but am planning to take several weeks whenever I make my next job transition.

      That said, one of the best vacations I have ever taken was 4 days, and that included 4 hour flights each way to another country. Once I was at the airport, I was in vacation mode, and that lasted until I showed back up at work. It helped that I went some place I couldn’t get my email, so I was completely off the grid until I came back and I was able to recharge even in that short a time frame.

  2. My husband and I got hit with a massive federal tax burden this year, which we believe is largely due to his deferred comp awards. On paper it looks like we make a lot of money, even though a lot of it is untouchable when he receives the award (and we didn’t cash any out this year). Since getting married we have always set aside money for taxes, but this is more than double what we budget for and well more than what we have owed in the previous few years.

    We’re going to be asking our accountant how to better manage this going forward, but I was wondering how those of you who receive deferred comp handle this sort of thing? Is there something he can be doing when he receives the award? Do we just need to be saving more?

    1. Talk to your accountant but you’ll not need to save more, you’ll need to send in more before the end of the tax year, because for 2015 taxes you’ll have a penalty if in 2015 you don’t have at enough withheld (or paid in taxes) to equal the 2014 tax owed.

    1. I have one that is…4 years old? It hasn’t gotten daily use for those 4 years, but has gotten a significant amount of use and I don’t see any signs of wear. It’s a slouchier style in the pebbled leather. I’ve been very happy with it.

    2. I just got this purse for Christmas and it’s held up really well so far. The material seems sturdy.

  4. To piggy back off the vacation question above- how much vacation time do you get? What trips do you have planned this year?

    1. 18 days. This is in addition to 7 that everyone in my company gets (Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc). No big trips planned because husband will be relocating to a city that is a three-hour flight away for a 1-2 year period, so vacation days will be mostly used to make 3-4 day weekends together.

    2. I don’t get a set amount of vacation time, that is up to me.

      Previously I was really bad at taking time off, taking just a week with maybe a Friday or a Monday added on.
      Then I started taking a week in the winter too, since winter is dreadful here.

      Now I am up to taking 2 weeks in the summer (first time ever last year and it was divine), we were away for 9 days of that, puttering a home the other 5. 2 years ago I took 9 days for the winter vacation and this year I am taking 10.

      It sounds like a lot (to me), but I am 48 and have been working for many years. When I add it all up I take about 4.5 weeks of holidays a year. I rarely take sick days (which are also unlimited)

      My husband gets at least 5 weeks vacation, and also gets comp time off, 5 days of family leave etc etc.

      We are going to Florida for 10 days in April, haven’t figured summer vacation out yet.

      I have a friend who has invited us to come to her beach house on the Kapati coast of New Zealand between Christmas and New Years but I can’t imagine going to that part of the world for less than 3 weeks, since it takes so long. I’ve neve taken that kind of time off and it freaks me out.
      Maybe someday.

    3. I can’t remember off the top of my head what my upper cap is–probably like 2.5-3 weeks? No major trips planned yet, but I’m doing a four-day weekend in NYC in March, and visiting my SO’s sister in South Carolina for five days total in April so they can hang out and I can get some sunshine. I’m hoping to go to Europe in the fall, either England and Scotland or Greece and Turkey, but I can’t finalize that until some work uncertainty gets nailed down.

      1. Hope you enjoy South Carolina, my home state! Weather here in April is great.

        1. I’m so pumped. I’ve been to Charleston (looooooooove) and Myrtle before. SO’s sis lives in the Columbia area, so we’ll be spending most of our time there, but also one day in Charleston and one day at the beach.

    4. Officially 3 weeks (large law firm), although most associates take far less than that. I travel a lot compared to people I work with and don’t think I have ever taken my full 3 week allowance. I usually take one big trip (either 1 or 2 weeks) every year and then save my shorter domestic trips, including family visits, for holiday weekends. We don’t have any trips on the docket for this year because we both have a lot going on at work. We were really hoping to go to Thailand for 2 weeks over Christmas & New Years but that is probably not going to be possible because of work schedules. If we can’t do that trip, we’ll probably try to sneak away for a vacation closer to home (maybe an all-inclusive in Mexico) for a week in the summer. We did 2 weeks in Alaska last summer, which was absolutely incredible.

    5. I get five weeks, but that’s combined sick and vacation in one bank. Plus 9 paid holidays. I’m not planning anything TOO major this year. I am going to Chicago over the 4th of July. I’m going to Burning Man again. We went to Florida last month and I’m going to San Francisco in April.

      I’ve had to use a good chunk of my time for sick days already. That’s always a bummer.

    6. 24 days (sick and pto all rolled into one). I don’t take much sick leave usually. We do one 1-week vacation per year plus good time off over thanksgiving/christmas. I don’t take the time between christmas and new years off (it’s an easy time to be in the office). Then I take a bunch of 3 or 4 day weekends and random half days.

    7. 23 PTO for the year (sick and vacation rolled into one), plus one floating holiday, plus our office closes the week between Christmas and New Year’s. It adds up to just under six weeks, which I think is pretty good!

    8. I get 4 weeks of vacation time (which does not include holidays, sick, or personal time). In my previous position, I got 5 weeks of vacation, but never used all of it. In the new position, it’s use it or lose it, so I’m going to figure out how to actually use it. :)

      We have a family trip to Hawaii for my parents’ 40th wedding anniversary, and DH and I are planning to tack on some time on another island to decompress from all that family. The whole trip will probably use up close to two weeks. Other than that, I’m not sure what I’ll do, but it will likely be a combination of long weekends and another trip.

    9. 20 days plus an additional 20 or so days in holiday, etc. We don’t count sick leave. I find it hard to take it all. I took a big trip in the fall, so I don’t have anything planned coming up, other than to see family. I often take a week off in the summer just to relax and do project around my house.

    10. About 20 days plus holidays and more sick leave than (hopefully) I can ever use. I’ll be using a big chunk of it to go to Peru soon.

    11. I get 15 vacation days a year + 5 sick days and 12 or so paid holidays off. I’ve been hoarding my vacation for my wedding and honeymoon, where I’ll have almost three weeks off (can’t wait!). That will be the longest vacation I’ve ever taken since I started working 7 years ago.

    12. Large law firm. Technically, I get three weeks. I take more than that – at least two major, week-long international trips a year, plus another week-long domestic trip (I typically work some during that), as well as a handful of long weekends, days tacked onto holidays, etc.

    14. 15 days vacation, 5 sick days, 2 “personal” days and holidays. My vacation DOES NOT roll over, which is unfortunate.

    15. Some of these answers are depressing.

      I can take as much vacation as I want but it is all unpaid so that limits me. My fiancé gets 6 weeks and we normally take a 2-week trip in the summer, another week in December, and sporadic long weekends throughout the year.

      This year we are planning to do about 1 week in my hometown for our wedding, 2.5 weeks in Hawaii for our honeymoon, 5 days in the Bay Area for a friend’s wedding, and a week at a ski house in my home state before Christmas. Im also going to the Bay Area for a long weekend for a friend’s bridal shower.

    16. This is one advantage of living in a country where pay is otherwise pretty average (Western Europe) – thirty working days, plus public holidays (depending on the year, can be up to nine or so, plus my workplace – a university – is usually closed for the fortnight between Christmas Eve and Jan. 5th anyway). We’re encouraged to be off for longer periods at once – since home is on the other side of the planet, I frequently take a month in late summer/early autumn, plus a week when it’s hot around August, and then a week or so in March-ish.

      Doesn’t quite compensate for the salaries on the morning thread, but it helps a bit!

    17. I get a ridiculous amount of paid vacation time off compared to some of you: 5 weeks, plus 15 holidays. 8 weeks? And it is use it or lose it within the calendar-year. It makes taking a week or two off a real possibility, a few times a year. Lots of people take 3 weeks at Christmas.

      Sick time is unlimited, within reason — I can’t remember the last time I took a sick day.

      Writing it out makes my total compensation sound so much better. :)

    18. Federal government, so 13 days leave plus all federal holidays. Only taking long weekends this year (i.e., using 0 annual leave days), because trying to save at least 3 years worth of annual leave + sick leave to use for maternity leave.

  5. I know we’ve played the “What would you do if you suddenly came into serious money?” game here before, but I’m wondering about a different angle of that scenario: Whom would you tell about your good fortune? And how? What kind of language would you use? Whom would you not tell?

    Question inspired both by recent news stories about lottery winners being required to declare themselves and by a good friend learning that he and his sibling are directly in line for a several-million inheritance.

    1. I’ll play–I would only tell my immediate family anything in detail. My friends? Only the closest and only in very vague, downplaying terms (i.e. “yes, Bali is in our budget this year because we were fortunate to come into a little bit of inheritance”).

    2. I would only tell those I felt very, very close to- My father, and a couple of people that I’ve been friends with for my entire life who are like family (and would also never ask for anything). I wouldn’t tell anyone else. I’d probably give a bit more detail than Sally- maybe a ballpark number.

    3. I would be entirely secretive initially, talking only to DH and lawyer and/or financial planner (assuming it was big time lotto/surprise money). I would, jointly with DH, devise a plan for saving, investing, donating, giving to family, etc. I’d then execute on the plan simultaneously with making said distributions. Then, we spend. :-)

      Not that I’ve thought of it or anything……..

      1. This is probably what we would do. We have always said that if we won the jackpot we’d pay off all of our debts, set ourselves up for retirement, set up our kids for college, pay off our parents mortgages/sibling college debt, etc. But first it would just be between me, DH, a lawyer, and a financial advisor. Maybe we would tell a close friend or two.

      2. I’ve also thought about it, and would do exactly that. I think I would be vague with everyone besides DH as to the actual, total amount.

    4. I am a very fortunate recipient of an inheritance now ($1.5 million) and approximately $3 sometime later (hopefully to be much, much later).

      My siblings know about it because they were also beneficiaries. My spouse knows about it, because, well, because I had to let him know. My kids know nothing, and it is none of their business. None of my friends, except for one, know about it. The one who does know is independently wealthy and I wanted to ask her about how she handles investments and charitable giving, setting goals for each.

      Apart from paying off the mortgage on our house, our lifestyle has not changed, so none of our friends would notice any change.

          1. Yes, at some point the kids will know, because they will be recipients of lesser inheritances from the same benefactors (and hopefully something from me, as well). At that time, I would want to work with them and develop a family plan for investment, charitable giving, and spending. Right now, though, they are good kids working to make their way in the world, so it won’t hurt them to work at that for a little longer.

        2. I’m of the opposite mindset. I think talking to kids about finances, savings, making good investment decisions, etc. is important. You could set a great example for your children by (i) disclosing your wealth and (ii) teaching them how to save and spend that wealth responsibly.

          1. I’m not AnonForThis, so she can obviously weigh in if she wants — but I suspect based on her other comments that she’s going to do all of these things, just without disclosing that she is working with such a large amount of money.

          2. +1 to anon – It’s important to teach kids how to handle money, but all the basic age-appropriate lessons about money apply regardless of the amount of money you have. The specific issues that apply when you get into larger amounts of money aren’t really understandable until kids are older anyway. So, educate the late teens/early 20s, but the 6 year old doesn’t need to know you are wealthy in order to understand being charitable or responsible with money.

      2. I am one of your kids – a few years later. I was completely oblivious until I was told on my 18th birthday. By then, I had been raised all that time in a modest lifestyle, so 10 years later I still shop sale racks and think very hard before big purchases — all of which come from my salary, not from any inherited money. My goal is to never touch that money and to pass it on bigger to my children.

        1. Just curious: if you pass it on bigger to your children, what do you then expect/hope for them to do with it?

          1. I don’t know. It’s so far away for me right now (not married, no kids), but I suppose I’d like for them to work hard and make it for themselves just like my siblings and I did because we never knew about this cushion. (Incidentally, I am the youngest, so how everyone kept it a secret for me to find out last is beyond me.) When I received it, I was told it was mine, but not to do anything stupid with it, so I guess I’d hope my children do the same!

        2. I work non-profit and deal with a lot of very wealthy people. Children raised with money/extravagant lifestyles are terrible adults. There is occasionally an exception, but in large part the only children that grow up nicely were those that had strict restrictions on access to wealth (must graduate college, work for several years, not allowed to touch the money, no lambos given to 6 year olds, etc.).

    5. My spouse, a lawyer, a tax expert, and a financial planner. Other than that lips sealed.

      The exception to that is if I won the Powerball or something else huge. If I wasn’t required to disclose, I wouldn’t. I would just tell my family/friends that we got lucky and that I’m able to now do X for them this once (if applicable).

    6. I’ll also answer my own question, cause obviously I’ve been thinking about it!

      Lotto winnings I think are a different ballgame, especially if you’re in a place where you have to disclose your identity in order to claim the winnings. But for an inheritance I think I would maybe take Sally’s approach. DP and I were talking about this today; he was very much thinking that he would want to keep it *totally* private–ie, if he inherited a million dollars, he wouldn’t want us to tell my family (with whom we’re pretty close) anything!

      I like Sally’s idea because I think that no matter what you say, if you make any kind of lifestyle change (ie going to Bali!), people will notice and wonder . . .

    7. We wouldn’t tell anyone. I just think money can mess up relationships.

      I’d give to family and friends, but couch it as “now that we’ve paid of the mortgage” (which would be entirely true, we are not that far from being there now). I don’t have anyone in my family or close friends that would need (or take) a huge amount anyway.

      Other than that, I’d set up a foundation if it was really serious money, and try to keep my name de-coupled from it, and donate money that way.

    8. My immediate family, but only because the very first thing I’d do after paying off all MY debt is pay all THEIRS – mom and dad’s mortgage, student loans, cars, the whole deal. This applies ONLY to my parents and my brother and sister-in-law, all of whose judgement I trust, and would probably be the biggest single sum I’d ever hand out. (Also, very severe “THIS ONE TIME AND ONE TIME ONLY” warning!) I’d tell my bf as well, and after that the only person to know the actual numbers would be my private banker.

      Anyone who noticed a change (newer car to replace my old Toyota, better clothes, new address, etc) would get a very vague “Well, I came into a bit of a windfall” kind of answer. Nobody who isn’t involved in my finances gets any kind of information at all.

    9. Interesting question. DH and I have very different families; my siblings are comfortable and my parents are well-off financially and will likely leave us a noticeable inheritance (although hopefully not for a good long time!); DH’s parents are both in debt, and will likely need help from us at some point, and one of his siblings is struggling to care for his family.

      If we came into a windfall, we would have to have a solid plan in place before telling anyone anything, because the requests would be immediate and recurring. If we weren’t on the same page about how to manage, it could cause serious strife in our marriage and in our relationships with his family.

      Maybe “tell no one, ever” is my real response?

    10. I would tell my immediate family and probably give most of the money to my parents immediately because they have spent So. Much. on me.. and I’m just me, so I don’t really need it for me or a family/kids or anything. I probably wouldn’t tell anyone else.

  6. All the talk earlier about retirement savings had me wondering (and panicking) if the 401K max includes employer contributions. Does anyone know offhand?

    1. If your question is “does the federal max of $x dollars include your employers contribution on your behalf?” I asked this on a finance site and was told no. The max is the amount of money you put in.

      If, however, you are trying to figure out if you are saving enough, you certainly want to consider what your employer is contributing on your behalf.

  7. Can I add to the travel threads today to ask for some advice about Morocco? I’m considering a one-week trip in June. We’re pretty active travelers but more in the running around cities sense than an athletic one, and it’s been kind of an exhausting couple of months, so at least one or two really relaxing days would definitely be in the plan too. Right now I’m honestly just stuck on what combination of cities to visit – should we be considering Marrakesh, Fes, maybe Tangier or Essouira? I would definitely love to do a day trip to the Atlas Mountains but otherwise am totally open to ideas!

    1. I’ve visited Morocco and had a wonderful experience (Marrakesh, Fes, Essouira, Casablanca, Rabat) but I think our resident expert local should weigh in and give you her advice!

    2. We did a tour, which was great because it enabled me to see a lot. It did make me realize that I have tours — too much time waiting around for the rest of the group and too much time on a coach. The highlight? An overnight in the Sahara. A friend set up an individual guide, which I would do if I got to re-plan. Marrakesh was great, but I think 2-3 days is sufficient.

    3. I’d say 10 days to visit 3 places would be ideal. We spent a week and ideally wanted to see one inland city, one coastal city, and one Atlas/desert trip, but only had a week, and it was going to be frantic trying to fit all of that in.

      We went to Marrakesh (4 days) and Essouira (2 days) and thought that was about the right balance – it allowed us to have 1-3 “goals” per day (and going to a hammam counted as a “goal” for one of the days) and the rest downtime/meandering. I would add a day to Marrakesh if you want to do a day trip into the Atlas and another 3 days if you want to do an overnight in the desert.

      Getting to Essouira was super easy from Marrakesh (we took the SupraTours bus which was pleasant) and it was fun to see the countryside roll by / see the changing landscape and vegetation.

    4. I did a trip there a few years ago. About two weeks, traveling all around. I didn’t care for Casablanca (not that much to see there) or Marrakesh (crammed full of tourists, and many people aggressively trying to sell stuff to/harass them, although there is a good deal to see there). Fes was fantastic, and I’d say don’t miss it! I didn’t make it to Essouira, but I understand it is nice. Chefchaouen is also beautiful and interesting. The Atlas mountains were striking, and there were a lot of interesting things to see in that part of the country. Another highlight was a visit to the Sahara Desert. If you want more information, I’d have to check my notes, so let me know.

    5. Thanks so much, everyone! I really appreciate the info. I’m fine with a decent amount of running around while traveling (side effect of never being okay with taking more than one week off from work, sigh) but I don’t want to totally overcommit, either.

  8. I have these shoes in ecru patent. They are comfortable, but the leather smells absolutely terrible. Like a skunk coated in some type of noxious chemical. They are so smelly that I am afraid to wear them.

  9. I have shoes that squeak. They’re heeled slingbacks and while I love them, the annoying squeaking sound means they’ve been relegated to the back of my shoe drawer. Any ideas on how I can get rid of the squeaking? (not that I can wear them because I apparently live in the middle of the arctic and it feels like it’ll never be warm enough to wear anything besides two pairs of tights and boots but wishful thinking on my part!)

    1. Are they new? The last 2 pairs of shoes I bought squeaked for the first few wears. I wore tights with them to make it less loud and they stopped squeaking after they had been broken in.

    2. Sometimes a squeak means something is loose. Have a cobbler take a look, and maybe, if spring ever comes, you can wear them again!

    3. I had that problem with a pair of cheaper shoes I got from Target or Payless and someone on of of the fashion forums told me to rub lotion everywhere inside. It fixed the issue. I wouldn’t do that with a nice, expensive pair, though.

  10. Posted this earlier today late in the thread, so reposting hoping for a few more hits.

    I know we’ve discussed junior associate lateralling recently, but I think my situation is slightly different.

    I’m about a year and a half in, I like my practice area and the people that I work with and I’m getting good training (not fabulous, but it could certainly be worse). Although I work long hours in our busiest times, I believe that my workload is very reasonable (if anything, I feel like I could be assigned more) and my office culture is very compatible with having a life outside of work. The biggest catch is that I don’t love my location. I don’t fit in with the overall culture and don’t believe I want to make permanent roots here.

    I have a few opportunities in the pipeline at extremely reputable firms in a more desirable location that I believe are an overall “step up,” at least as far as I can tell in the grand scheme of things. Is it completely stupid to leave a good situation to chance it, purely because of location? I see both the pros and cons.

    Also, is there enough of an “adjustment cost” for lack of a better term associated with switching firms where it’s tougher than it’s worth at such a junior level? I think about how long it’s taken me to really get my bearings and know our precedent documents and start to recognize patterns in our practice, and I guess I worry that starting from scratch would be so difficult, but I’m unsure if I’m just nervous and overthinking it.

    I’m sure a lot of junior associates would agree with me that sometimes the trickiest thing about evaluating our situations is trying to decipher between things that are characteristic to our firm/city/office in particular and things that are just the nature of the practice of law and will follow us anywhere.

    Any and all advice appreciated!

    1. It seems like you have a pretty good thing going. Not that many junior associates like their work, feel like the workload is reasonable, and like the people they work with. Is transferring to another office within your firm an option? That would give you the chance to get out of your city while still staying within a culture and group of people you know and like (presumably even if you hate the people at the New Office you could still get some work from Old Office?)
      One note – be careful about firms that are a “step up.” If that’s what you really want, then go for it, but you should be aware that increased prestige and money almost always means increased hours and often means worse culture/people. And it sounds like what you really want is to get out of your current city but keep your current work environment.

    2. In my view, a “good”‘reason is choosing your own life and making moves to make yourself happy. This includes things like moving because you want to live in a particular city for personal reasons. For me, it also includes leaving good jobs because of bad managers, and doing anything not career ending for my own mental health and happiness. “Bad” reasons, in my view, are changing jobs for some perceived bump in prestige when you’re getting great work and training where you are, for a promised reduction in billable hours requirements when that’s the only carrot, for a slight bump in pay, for anything small really when you have a good situation. The credibility you have in a good situation isn’t worth trading for minor, possible improvements. But that’s me. Ymmv.

  11. Has anyone been successful at talking a Big Law firm into letting them telecommute essentially full time? For family reasons I have to move to a tiny town with essentially no job prospects for a lawyer except hanging out a shingle. It’s 3 hours by car to the closest major city and my firm has an office in that city. I don’t work for any partners in that office though. Am I crazy to even ask or is it worth a shot? I’m a midlevel associate with excellent reviews and I don’t work for any partners in my current office.

    1. No experience but have seen people do similar. Asking to telecommute is worth a shot, but do it wisely. Research telecommuting, read blogs, perhaps see if you can find out if anyone in your firm has ever done this. Determine how you would communicate (phone, email, Skype, IM), how often you could go to the local office (once a week, once a month) and/or how often to the office where your partners work, how you would handle attending court or filing motions (if that is something that you do), how you would get paralegal support, where you would work (out of your home or rent an office space). Spell out if this is permanent or only until you transfer back to the current place. Then outline what you bring to the table – continuity, partners who depend on you, clients who need you/like you. Prepare a proposal and decide who to pitch it to. I’d say bring along the written proposal but do the pitch in person verbally.

    2. No, but I did hear of someone at my firm who did that for a while, then eventually became a contract attorney for the firm. Not in the sense of doc review, but as his own business who has a relationship with the firm, if that makes sense. He works far less, because he doesn’t have the billable hour requirement, but from my understanding he earns a decent living. I don’t know what type of work he generally does, but I don’t think it’s the big cases.

      ETA – a friend’s wife did a telecommuting gig for a while at a big consulting firm and I think she had to travel to their offices 1x a month, for about a week. Other than that, she was free to work from home. Different industry and norms though.

    3. I have a law school friend who worked at her (midwest) BigLaw firm for a year or so, then moved to join her husband at his job. She was allowed to telecommute with some frequent trips back to the city, and even continued when his job took them overseas. It’s been around 6 years now. Absolutely worth asking.

    4. I’ve seen people do it. Pitch it as if you were an incoming lateral:

      X is the work I do (note if special or hard to find a replacement)
      Y is the amount of value having me brings to the table
      Z is the benefit to the firm

      Be prepared for:
      — how will advancement / reviews go
      — how will you interact with team / clients
      — can you really mentor anyone junior
      — support staff
      — any needed changes in bar membership

      Maybe offer to try 1 day a week for now to help get them comfortable and show that you can handle the technology side of it.

    6. This is sometimes done at my BigLaw firm, and I have telecommuted for stretches of time (up to 3 months), and will likely eventually pitch a full-time telecommute situation. A couple of things to think about: the people in my firm who are allowed to do it tend to be fairly senior and autonomous in their work (don’t rely on partner/colleague input a lot). They also tend to be well liked by both colleagues and clients, so the firm is keen to hang on to them. However, in 100% of the cases it appears to have involved stepping off the partner track, as it is very hard to be on that track when you’re not in the office building relationships. Just something to consider. People do tend to forget about the telecommuting colleagues since they don’t see them day to day, so it’s important to show up at the office now and then and to keep building relationship as much as you can.

    7. I know a couple of people who have done this, but they each worked mainly for a partner who couldn’t live without them and were exceptional lawyers, and they had practices that didn’t require court appearances or anything in person (one did appellate work, the other had a transactional practice).

  12. I’m on a type of bc pill that makes me spot randomly (seasonale, which is great in some respects, but this part is super annoying). I have a gyn appointment tomorrow, and I’m spotting today. Should I reschedule the appointment? This issue has just never come up for me before, so I’m not sure what to do.

    1. Docs have told me that technicians reading Pap smears don’t like it because it makes them hard(er) to analyze but other than that the docs don’t care. As someone here said, docs have seen it all.

    2. Maybe TMI but I’ve had a pap when I was spotting before and the doctor said it was no big deal. I called to double-check though so that’s always an option if you’re feeling weird about it.

    4. if it’s just spotting keep the appointment it’s fine, if it’s full-on bleeding you should reschedule.

  14. I haven’t tried these particular shoes, but generally love Vaneli heels. IME, they’re comfortable and don’t fall apart.

    Unrelatedly, any suggestions for longer audiobooks? I’d like to download something for the Inca Trail.

    1. Define “longer”? Because I have a few that come up around 8 hours which feels pretty long for me, but I’m not sure if that’s standard for audiobooks or not.

      1. Longer for me is more in the 30-40 hour range. Enough to get through the flight and several days of hiking.

    2. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. I think it clocks in at about 30 hours? Book is about 700 pages long.

      1. I have read the paper versions, but have heard that the narrarator ( reader ? correct term?) for the audio books is fabulous.

        1. And its an 8 book series, so plenty of material -I think the shortest is 25 hours. But you should test one before you go -because its definitely something you either love or hate.

          1. How about The Son by Philip Meyer. Its a historical family story of 3 generations in Texas. The author is a professor at University of Texas. Very interesting. Also, there are several authors reading the characters which is nice. It’s 16 CDs. Perfect for a few weeks of my long Houston commute.

  15. Advice on writing your own recommendation letter? A friend recently asked someone for one and the person asked her to write it herself. This is for a graduate fellowship application. Also wondering how one would go about this if it arose in a workplace setting

    1. I did this when I was teaching. I knew students in a very narrow sense, centered on the class they were taking and I was teaching. In a letter I wanted to give a sense of how their accomplishments were related to their larger goals. I used the student-written letter as a crib sheet for this. Honestly, not much of the student’s original letter survived to the final draft.

  16. Hi all – when you have a really, amazingly awful day at work, what do you do to lift your mood? Drinking is out since I’m still working, but I’m in a place of mind where I feel like I need to be in fetal position (and obviously can’t, because again, at work). Suggestions?

    1. Oops. Did not mean to report.

      Can you take 15 minutes away from your desk and run/walk the stairs while listening to some happy music? Get the endorphins going? In the words of Elle from
      Legally Blonde…”.Exercise produces endorphins, endorphins make you happy and happy people don’t kill their husbands”. (or bosses, or clients, or co workers as the case may be). hugs.

  17. This is for Anon at 5:34 who is having an awful day:

    Sorry to hear it’s been a rough one! Check out the Zooborns site and the Drunk Furniture Tmblr.

    Good luck.

  18. Piggy backing off previous vacation questions, can anyone recommend good bikini’s that don’t “pinch” your hip area (ahem, love handles)? Also any sites (other than old navy) with inexpensive cover-ups. I’m going on my honeymoon in April and starting to shop!

    1. For me this has been a matter of trial and error in figuring out the appropriate size to purchase – i.e., larger size lays correctly but is not practical for getting in the water. A bottom with adjustable sides works especially well for me.

    3. Also, LOFT has some affordable swim wear and coverups this season, and I’ve had good luck stalking the Bloomingdale’s sale section for coverups as well. Signed, A June Honeymooner

    6. I like the ones with string ties on the sides because you can just let them out until they don’t pinch anymore. Unlike KinCA, I find that the wide strap ones are the worst for me and they just seem to have more fabric to push my flesh/flab up and out. Victoria’s Secret’s double-string bikini bottom is very flattering on me and I’m hippy.

    7. Melissa Odabash suits. Full stop awesome. They’re expensive but worth every dime. Super soft material and flattering. I will never mess around with anyone else’s swimwear again.

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