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Updated: Oct 31, 2018 80 Comments · by

Coffee Break: Lismore Business Card Holder

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Business Card Holder: Waterford Lismore Business Card HolderOooh, pretty! I remember a work friend once telling me a story about how she and her boyfriend made a special trip one weekend to the MoMA Store to look at and ultimately purchase a small, clear acrylic business card holder. “That's it?” he asked. “Yup,” she replied. You can still get that same $9 business card holder (online these days), but if you DO want something fancier you can always get this lovely Lismore business card holder, from Horchow. I love the simplicity of it, mixed with the general beauty of the Waterford crystal. It's $100 at Horchow. Waterford Lismore Business Card Holder (L-3)

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Comments

  1. Ellen

    Yay! What a cute busness card holder! I alway’s wanted one and Grandma Leyeh wanted to give me one, but back in the 1950’s, there card’s were ALOT bigger then mine is, so it would look sloppy on my desk. This one I would get. I will see if the manageing partner will get a set for all of the attorney’s who are LEGALLY admitted. It would be a VERY nice touch to have a $100 WATERFORD CRYSTEL on my desk to go with my Snoopy stuffed animal. YAY!!!!

    This guy from upstate has started to text me. I should NOT have given out my #. I had this probelem once before from a guy who never saw women from NYC before. I do NOT want to date a guy who works in LUMBER. He looks macho, but is NOT as smart as me, and that is alway’s a problem, Dad says. Of course Dad says to marry the first guy that askes, but I can’t really do that b/c so many loosers have asked and I turned ALL of them down.

    Even Sheketovits is not as smart as me, tho he was a CPA until his licence got revoked. I do NOT have that probelem, as I am duly admitted AND in good standing under the rules of the NY office of court administration, 3rd Departement. YAY!!! I also just paid my dues which the firm paid for. DOUBEL YAY!!!

  2. Moisturizer for rosacea

    Any recommendations? I use La Roche Posay currently, but I don’t think the results are good enough to continue paying that price. I don’t wear make-up, but want to help neutralize the redness from rosacea. TIA!

  3. Anon for this

    Hello hive–can anyone recommend have a good estate attorney in Va (anywhere in the state) who can consult on contesting a will?

  4. ChiLaw

    Can you help me with conference-wear?

    I am going to a meeting that is a Board of Directors meeting one day, then two days of [Other Meetings]. The agenda says, “Board Meeting: Business Casual; [Other Meetings]: Jacket Required, Tie Optional.”

    This makes me think that “Business Casual” is somehow more casual than a jacket without a tie? (This also makes me think they’re not thinking of women at all when they write these agendas.)

    Also I have to pack in a carry on and most of it will be taken up with materials for the meetings, so … help?

    Is “Business Casual” actually just A Nice Top and a Skirt?

    Does “Jackets Required” mean Even Women Have To Wear Blazers?

    I’m an attorney, but the meeting is not of attorneys.

    • TO Lawyer

      That’s really annoying.

      I think as a woman, you could get away with separates though. For instance, I would wear a black/grey skirt, silk blouse and perhaps a coloured or textured (tweed) blazer. And I think that would work for either dress code. Or a sheath dress and non-matching blazer?

      That’s how would I interpret it anyways – hope that helps!

    • chi lawyer

      Board meeting = wear normal business casual

      Other meetings = suit, but can be non-matching pieces (e.g. sheath + tweed blazer)

    • Anon

      I’d bring sheath dresses with blazers for both days. Non-matching, with a bit of style interest, totally professional, and they can be interpreted up or down as other attendees see fit.

      And seriously, who wrote that dress code? I agree it doesn’t make sense.

  5. It's Me Again...

    TJ – Career Advice.

    Aggressively interviewing and hunting for a new gig. I’ve been in my field for 14 years. I’ve been at my current company for 2+ years, was promised a promotion to VP nearly a year ago that never came to be because of “budget reasons” while my supervisor got a promotion a few days later. It’s been a downhill spiral since then, ending with a bad performance review and obvious attempts to push me out.

    Everything I’ve applied and interviewed for that is lateral (same title, different company) pays at least $30k less than what I make now. I know I’m at the top-ish end of the salary range for a director, but I also have far more responsibility and visibility than the typical director which is evident when I start talking about my role on these interviews.

    I’ve started applying to VP roles because that’s the next level up from director in my industry and it seems more on par with my years of experience and level of accountability – but I’m wondering if the ‘director’ title on my resume will be a huge obstacle when recruiters look at my application.

    Thoughts? Do I need to bite the bullet and take a huge pay cut just to get out of dodge? I’m feeling discouraged.

    • Anonymous

      Do senior director or Associate VP roles exist in your industry? Either of those could be an easier jump.

      Functionally, do you manage a full department? That’s the difference between director and VP in my industry, and VPs often get equity vs solely bonus based comp.

      • It's Me Again...

        Very rare to see Sr. Director and AVP is nearly unheard of in PR.

        I manage a full department – including 3 managers, 2 coordinators and budgets and I work directly with the office of the CEO. But you wouldn’t know this from just reading “director” on a resume.

        Am I doomed to take a salary cut because of the title difference?

        • Anonymous

          Not sure, not in PR. In my world, you’d be best served networking your way into roles that are the right salary/title given your experience.

          If you are cold-applying (submitting resume for posted job) then you might be stuck with whatever the role is budgeted at- and that sounds like lower than where you are at.

        • JC

          Then why aren’t you making that obvious in your resume bullets? That seems to solve your problem and show why you’re ready for the next step up.

  6. ugh

    Tax prep query: went with a (highly recommended by trusted friends) CPA for the first time this year because of some complicated stuff in 2015 (inheritance, tuition, etc.). Still haven’t seen a copy of the return, despite getting everything in more than a month ago. Should we be worried or just annoyed?

    We don’t plan on working with these people again anyway, so it’s really just about whether this is reasonable/trustworthy.

    • Anon in NYC

      I would call your accountant. I’d be worried that I didn’t have my taxes yet.

    • Anonymous

      I’m not quite sure why there is even annoyance. You have an admittedly complicated tax return and gave your data to your tax preparer at the peak of their busiest season. And you are a new client which means extra work on top of everything else. Yes, the tax deadline is soon, but it’s not here yet. This is the nature of the beast – maybe call and see when your return will be ready so that you can arrange to pick it up, but this is absolutely reasonable.

      • Scarlett

        +1, especially if they file for you & they can always file an extension if necessary. Getting stuff there a month ahead is cutting it close on a complicated return.

        • Anonymous

          And you’ve got almost a week before they have to be postmarked (Apr 18th this year).

          • AZCPA

            And that’s assuming something needs to be mailed – all the individual returns in my practice get electronically filed.

          • Anonymous

            Well – it probably doesn’t need to be mailed, but I was mostly referring to the “postmark” date as the date of official filing. Shrug.

          • Postmark Date

            As someone who has waited 90 minutes in line at the post office to mail taxes on tax day, knowing that I can e-file and NOT go to the post office is a welcome relief.

  7. anon

    Tax vent: Despite being under-30 and single, I’m co-owner of a family business and have had my taxes done professionally for the past 5 years by the family CPA. I unexpectedly received a bill earlier this year for 5 years worth of tax-prep. I thought the cost had been paid by the business/my dad, since I would have done it myself if not for all the business complications. When I brought it up to him, he laughed and confirmed he had not paid for my tax prep, ever. I paid it right away, but I’ve never paid a bill late in my life and I still feel like a total jerk about it. Had to clarify a few things today and kind of wanted to crawl in a hole.

    How does this even happen? Only in a teeny-tiny small town would a CPA do someone’s taxes for 5 years without demanding to be paid for it!

    • Anonymous

      You didn’t pay a bill late. Your sloppy service provider neglected to timely invoice you. Nothing to feel guilty about, and I think it’s inappropriate of them to do.

      • Anonymous

        +1 I’d make sure that if you renew with them, you get a commitment for billing within a more reasonable timeframe.

        • anon

          Thanks for giving me permission to let it be ok. I think I feel guilty because I’m sure somewhere lumped in with other paperwork there was probably a bill that never made it to me. Too late to go on a witch hunt now, and clearly the CPA office didn’t care enough about my relatively small bill (the company/my parents would be a much bigger bill) to send any follow up after not receiving payment… at all… for five years in a row…

        • AZCPA

          I’d like to put more emphasis on this – if you are being treated as a separate client receiving separate billings, then you need to actually engage this firm, make sure you are comfortable with their rates and terms, etc. If you never engaged them, then you’d have no expectation of a bill.

    • MNF

      On the bright side, for your 2015 taxes you’ll have a much bigger than average deduction for tax prep fees!

  8. anon

    I have been waiting for Coffee Break because I have seen so many good conversations here about adult friendships and working relationships–hoping you guys might have some insights.

    I am soon to meet someone with whom I will have a close working relationship in a leadership capacity. I have been told by people who know her that we are going to get along famously and that we will be a great team. I also know that she has been told the same thing about me. Several people who know us both have also started pointing out a lot of superficial similarities (think demographics, general aesthetics, hobbies).

    I am excited to get to know her, but to be honest, it feels like there is a lot of pressure for us to be BFFs right off the bat. I think I will be fine at managing the external expectations and cheerleading, but I would appreciate ideas on how to start the relationship organically even as we acknowledge these very loud enthusiastic voices from the sidelines.

    • Jules

      Why not say to her something like you’ve posted here? “It’s great to meet you, I’ve heard great things about you and I’m looking forward to working with you. But wow, everyone’s been trying to match-make us into BFFs before we’ve even met – but no pressure, huh?” And you probably will both laugh about it and move on to actually develop a relationship organically.

  10. Columbus

    Help! I am unexpectedly choosing a restaurant in Columbus Ohio for tonight. Anyone Ohio people want to help a woman out? Where should we go? I have never been here before.

    • Anona

      I am far from a Columbus expert, but I have done business travel there and the Short North area (north of the Hilton, south of the university) had some nice restaurants. There was an Italian/Tapas-ish restaurant called Marcella’s that I liked that I think is a safe bet for many different palates. From there, you can walk to Jeni’s for dessert – you really need to go there at least once.

      There was also a healthy/vegetarian restaurant (fairly casual – called something Star or something Horizon?) that was a few blocks north that I ate at a few times and liked and a place called Tasi (I think perhaps only lunch and breakfast?) that I enjoyed.

      • Jules

        Great minds thinking alike! And the casual/semi-healthy place (which does have beer and wine, maybe cocktails too) is called North Star, at the order of North High & Second Street. It’s actually one of my favorite places but is not a going-out-to-dinner place but more semi-fast casual (you order at the counter and they bring you the food).

    • Jules

      Columbus is my home town! I live about an hour from there now.

      What part of Columbus will be in? The Short North area is fun (although most of the shops and galleries will be closed by dinner time on a weeknight). Table is a charming, small menu farm-to-table place on a side street (can’t remember the address) and I’ve heard good things about Copious but haven’t been. There are four great restaurants all in the Cameron Mitchell Restaurants group in the short north. Marcella’s, The Pearl and the Guild House are all in the same block on North High Street; another sister restaurant, Martini’s, is farther south on High Street, across from the convention center. Disclaimer: a close family member is an executive at CMR but the restaurants really are very good; they are packed for a reason.

      If you go to the Short North or Grandview Heights, don’t order dessert but go to Jeni’s for ice cream

      In Grandview Heights, Spagio is really good and there’s another CMR restaurant there, a steakhouse called The Avenue (which I think is pricey). In Olde Town East, try Black Creek Bistro.

      German Village has a lot of good restaurants, but the only one I’ve been to recently is an old standby, Lindey’s, it’s very good.

      Have fun!

  11. Worrywort

    Reposting from the morning thread: Can someone share a happy story of how they made a two-career family work? My lovely, long-term bf is about to move 12 hours away to start grad school. I am happy for him, but sad about the distance and so, so worried. My career is not exactly geographically transferable. All I’ve seen are horror stories about how LDRs fall apart in grad school, and I’d love to hear some success stories?

    • Anonymous

      Here are my questions: why aren’t you married yet? Why did he even apply to grad school so far away from you? How open are you to changing tracks to get flexibility? To what extent are both of you interested in putting togetherness first, or on the same page about togetherness not being a top priority.

      If you are on the same page and want the same things you’ll probably be fine. If you aren’t, or you aren’t communicating about it, not so much.

      • Anonymous

        “Why aren’t you married yet?” What is this, the 1800s?! If he’s heading off to grad school they’re presumably pretty young. Just because they haven’t made it legal yet doesn’t mean they aren’t on the same page about their future.

        • Cc

          I don’t know why that elicits so much defensiveness- I agree with the anon- it’s a question that needs to be answered in order to give good advice. Are you not married because you are young, because you both don’t want to be married, because one of you has been ready for years but the other isn’t on the same page?

          I don’t think long distance relationships are doomed at all but it does sound like neither of you talked to each other about what would happen and that is crucial- is the plan long distance for 2 years? 10 years? Or does he want to just figure it out as it comes (which is usually what spells disaster)

      • Jules

        And her earlier post said he is going to grad school at Harvard. Seriously, if one partner has an opportunity to go there for grad school — law, business, public policy and government, it’s about the best there is — then that person should go. It doesn’t necessarily mean he or she does not value the relationship.

        • Anonymous

          A- I didn’t see her earlier post and it doesn’t say that here.

          B- you’re completely missing the point. I don’t think there is a right answer to these questions. I just think for the relationship to last they need to be on the same page.

          • Jules

            You’re right, this version didn’t mention Harvard. But your question was kind of loaded — why did he “even” apply to a school so far away? Seemed to have a judgment built in that he should not have done this.

            But, yes, these are questions OP should consider and of course both partners should be on the same page.

      • Anonymous

        We aren’t married because we didn’t want to spend the money on a wedding quite yet – We’re also not sure about what being married does to student loan repayment if my income is in the mix and we still need some time to work all those things out. Yes, there’s been lots of talking and planning, and the plan is to reunite in 2 to 3 years and get married around then. I’m willing to transition my career but that will take some time and effort, which is worked into the plan. But it’d be great to hear some happy stories, instead of the usual gasp of horror when I say we’re planning to LDR for a period of time.

        He even applied to school far away was because, well, yes it’s Harvard, and it’s a huge dream of his.

        I appreciate the insight though!

        • Anonymous

          Oh, I mean I think you need to discuss the big questions but I don’t think this is gasp of horror worthy at all!! I think it’s pretty common to do and as long as you are on the same page tends to work out just fine!

    • Jules

      I started dating my now ex-H during the summer before my third year in law school. (We had known each other for years as casual friends and started talking/flirting over the phone during the spring semester, after we met up at a holiday party.) It was serious from the start, even though we lived about 400 miles and one place ride or an 8-hour drive apart. We made it work — pre-cell phones and Skype and when we both were too broke to travel much — with visits when we cold, occasional mild splurges meeting halfway between our cities, lots of phone calls.

      It did help that there was more or less and end date in sight, when I graduated after a year. I asked him to move with me for my clerkship year, and it worked out. We are divorced now, but we were married for 25 years, so the initial LD thing was not a factor. My two best friends in law school became a couple in our third year and they were separated for a year, or maybe two, when she clerked in California and he was in DC, and they’re still married.

      Yes, it can be done, and it’s easier now with technology making it easy and cheap to stay in touch.

    • Gail the Goldfish

      BF and I have been long-distance at various points in our lengthy relationship, including first year of law school. It can be done. Skype/phone calls, visit when you can. Having a definite end date of long distance helps (what’s his plan after grad school? Grad school to me would count as “definite end point”), though we’ve done long distance with no definite end point before (though it ended up only being about 6 months). We’re currently pseudo-long distance again (BF lives in another town for work during the week, home on weekends) and just got engaged, so it can work. I used to work for a congressman who I don’t think saw his wife more than a few times a month for years on end because she had a successful law practice back in the home district, and yet their relationship seemed totally fine. Just depends on the couple.

    • anon

      Eh, I didn’t think it was that bad and had lots of friends that did it. I did law school, husband (then boyfriend) did business school – both on different time frames and both in different cities.

      How good is the school? We made a deal we’d go to the best grad school we got into but then move to the same place after.

      I REALLY don’t think this is the thing to freak out about. I think 75% of the people I went to grad school with were long distancing. If they didn’t make it, it’s because they weren’t supposed to make it. Those years by plane/train were a minor stress compared to wedding planning, having a newborn…

      • Anonymous

        I agree with this completely. I was in a LDR in law school, as were several of my girlfriends (and guy friends, too). Of the girls, the ones that ended up with their long distance partner were exactly the ones you expected. The relationships were generally solid, both parts of the couple had independent lives during the week, but valued the other person. The ones that didn’t work were the ones you’d expect – those that had differences of opinion about future plans and couples that were a clear mismatch. IME, a long distance relationship might make a not-so-good relationship last a bit longer, as they can be harder to break off in some instances. But for an otherwise solid relationship, I think it can be just fine. Obviously not always fun, but fine in the end.

    • Sarabeth

      Three years on different continents while I started grad school! Now married 7 years, 2 kids, house in the suburbs, the works.

      My biggest tips: Skype every day if at all possible, and try not to end one visit before planning the next one. Distance sucks, but it won’t break your relationship if it’s otherwise strong. And when it finally ends, the gratitude of being able to live together will be a daily joy.

      • lawsuited

        +1 to all this, especially the daily joy of being able to live together bit. My husband and I were apart the year before we got married and during our second year of marriage due to law school/grad school. We talked on the phone every day, even if just for 5 minutes because we were tired, and we planned regular visits (our frequency was once per month) into our calendar 3 or 4 months at a time. Our LDR experience definitely changed us for the better and made us more grateful and appreciative of sharing physical space with each other.

    • Cat

      Worrywort, I saw your response on the earlier thread regarding the timing of marriage vs. student loan issues. We got married while I was in law school (I was a year behind husband) — husband had about 40K of debt thanks to attending an in-state school, while I was on my way to about 170-180K (thankfully I am now in a position to not remember the total!).

      If paying for a fancy wedding is the thing holding you back, I’d urge you to reconsider the need for a fancy wedding! I was fortunate that my parents were prepared to pay for a beautiful big wedding for me, but if we’d needed to pay for our wedding ourselves, it would’ve been City Hall and a nice dinner out for our parents, grandparents, siblings, and perhaps a few very very good friends.

  13. Grand Jury Spouse

    Husband received a summons for grand jury duty today. We live in Cook County (Chicago) and he needs to go in next month. Anyone have experience of what he can look forward to? This is new to both of us.

    • Anonymous

      Watch The Good Wife (sorry, only joking, no real experience or help here)

    • ace

      Husband got a Cook County grand jury summons a couple years ago. He went in ready to explain why it would be a major hardship (at the time he was working at a small firm and a several-weeks-long grand jury assignment would have required him to not be at work but continue to do work in the evenings). The impression i got is that the court officials were very understanding and there wasn’t pressure to serve — and that some people actually want the assignment. Hope your husband is able to work it out!

      • Grand Jury Spouse

        Thanks for the feedback. Husband is self-employed so on the one hand he has a very flexible schedule, but on the other he can’t rely on anyone else to do his work. I guess he’ll show up and see what happens.

  14. SC

    If you had one week and $4000 to take a trip in January or February with your SO and a 20-month-old, where would you go? I am fantasizing about how to spend our tax refund, but DH has already planned how he’s going to use his vacation time this year.

    • Anonymous

      Depending on where you are located, either the Caribbean or Hawaii. But I live in a cold climate and I’m all about warm weather escapes that time of year.

    • Cornellian

      Puerto Rico/Caribbean if you’re on the eastern sea board.

      I laughed at your phrasing “my SO and a 20-month old” and pictured myself with someone else’s child, haha.

    • Lorelai Gilmore

      I’d go to a tropical beach destination that is (and this is key) easily accessible by plane. I think the 14-24 month window is hands down the hardest time to fly with kids, so I’d prioritize direct, convenient flights above almost everything else!

    • shopping challenged

      That depends on where you’re departing from, budgetwise.

      My little one was a great traveler at that age. We usually lucked out and had an extra seat for him, but even if that doesn’t happen, you’ve got your SO, so could take turns with the still-free lap baby. Mine has never been a problem on planes, but that might have something to do with the fact that we approached it as an adventure in and of itself. We watched all the happenings on the runways, he got into the drinks and food carts so much that when his toy planes crashed, he’d usually describe the carts tipping over, and when there was something he could push, it usually became a catering cart in his imagination. We took toys and games that fit on the tray table, food for on the plane and for right when we arrived (so I could collapse in the hotel room, right after setting an endtable up as a toychest for the week.) We also took a couple more active things (like those Q balls) to get the wiggles out in airports, and did lots of nursing on the plane so he slept. (We nursed forever, because it was so convenient). By then you will know what kind of a traveler you’ve got.

      I’ve always wanted to spend time in Paris. A little one would love the carousel and puppet shows in Luxembourg Garden, I’ve heard, and shopping at an outdoor market and then picnicking outside would be bliss (But probably not that time of year). A boat ride down the Seine would be fun for everyone too. You’d have to figure out how not to wait in line too long for the Eiffel Tower, but at that age, she might get into the view, and she’ll still be able to nap in a stroller while you peruse flea markets. Where ever you go, start reading local blogs for parents ahead of time–like Messy Nessy Chic or Boston Mamas or Mommy Poppins–to get ideas of smaller, gentler things to do together. My point is that soon enough your vacations will be devoted to your child’s tastes–not a bad thing, but as long as she can be folded in on more grown-up adventures, do it! You will have all the beach vacations you can handle soon enough.

      If you choose a longhaul, the flight crew is probably prepared for kids. When he was 3, we flew to Tahiti and Australia, from the East Coast. They had activity packs for kids, but even better was that when it was time to hand out mints, they recruited him to help. The flight attendants were generally very in tune with the needs of kids, and we had great flights.

      Bon voyage!

    • Anonymous

      Skiing??

      Or lazing in the Maldives. If you’re in the US, maybe the Caribbean..

    • Honest question

      I meant the red version. Sorry the link didn’t go where I expected.

    • I'm Just Me ....

      It’s a know your office kind of question, but that dress would be totally fine in my business casual government office. I’d put a blazer, short jacket or cardigan over it, and wear it with actual shoes, not sandals.

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