Weekend Open Thread

384 Comments

1. Question: I’ve done a search on the blog for this topic, but it didn’t return too many threads. I’ve recently been accepted to law school & the admitted students day is in CA (where the school is) & there is an alumni sponsored event will be held near where I live, in DC. What do I wear to these types of events? The day event is an all-day thing & the other DC thing is just a get together in the evening. I’m thinking maybe a nice sweater, skirt, & pumps for DC, but I know nothing about CA. If anyone has any productive feedback on this topic I would appreciate it:)

   1. You’ve already been admitted. I think to my ASD (also in California) I wore tailored jeans, boots, and a bright shrunken blazer. Most people were wearing jeans and some sort of nicer non-tshirt top. I think only one girl wore a suit (but she also brought her father and boyfriend). Don’t dress like you’re going out (but definitely make it a day when you put in a little more effort) but there’s also no need to be biz casual or anything, unless that is how you usually dress.

      1. Thanks!

   2. I agree. Dark jeans and a blazer is a very good compromise. Can totally be casual if you have a smart sense of style but also will almost pass for biz casual, at least in CA.

   3. Don’t wear a suit or biz cas for the admitted students day. I think it’s really more about meeting other students – a nice jeans outfit, as others have said will be good.

2. Hi ladies! I’m a 3L and recently accepted a position at a firm that does a significant amount of management-side labor and employment work. I’m very excited, but I know almost nothing about that practice area. Do any of you work in L&E? What do you like about it? Dislike? Any recommendations on books to read? Thanks in advance!

   1. This may sound obvious, but can you take an employment law class in your last semester?

      Other than that, I have some advice that may be controversial. Just enjoy your last semester and don’t worry about reading ahead for your practice area. Seriously. I did nothing beyond my classes (none of which were related to anything I do) and law review in my last semester and just took it as easy as possible. Starting your first year can be overwhelming, and it’s nice to have as much of a break as possible to prepare.

      You will learn lots in your first year or two, and you should be able to learn some basics during your first couple of projects that you can build on.

      I also do management-side employment work as a large portion of my practice, and I had no classes or background in it at all. Once I got a handle on all the terminology with my first couple of projects, it hasn’t been so difficult to pick it up.

      Things I like — Interesting facts; it’s possible to master the subject

      Things I don’t like — There are lots of the same issues. Is this person exempt from overtime? Is this person properly classified as an independent contractor? Will you review our new handbook? Once you get the framework down, the cases get a little repetitive. Some people like that. Some disagree with me and love it because the law isn’t settled, so the landscape is changing. The degree to which you handle novel issues might also depend more on your firm and client base. I’ve found a lot of the same stuff over and over in my short career.

      Most importantly — Congrats on finding a job already!!!

   2. Maybe read “That’s What She Said” blog. It is a blog that breaks down employment-law violations at Dunder Mifflin. If you are fan of “The Office” TV show, the blog will probably be entertaining and give you some general insights on L&E.

      Other than that, I agree with AnonInfinity. Just enjoy yourself during your last semester and congratulations on the job!

      1. Blog link: http://blogs.hrhero.com/thatswhatshesaid/

         1. I had never seen this before. Hilarious!

   3. I recently read Swimming Lessons For Baby Sharks (very quick read) and would recommend it for preparing for life at a firm. Congrats!

      1. Just looked it up on Amazon–the “customers also bought” list includes Pepto Bismal!

3. So, long awaited Downton Season 3 comes back tomorrow! Does anyone know how quickly episodes are posted for viewing online?

   1. I think the same day they air or the day after. It’s not long, if I recall.

   2. They’re available on iTunes/AppleTV the next day. Woohoo for Downton Abbey!!!

4. Hey runners, does anyone use the barefoot running or vibram style shoes? Thoughts on transitioning into them without losing too much mileage? I’m leaning toward trying a pair and rotating them in on my shortest runs but don’t want to limit my mileage or have to take too many rest days to do so.

   Also, how do you like them? I’ve got a few friends who seem to love them, and I’d like to think that I could speed up my miles if all the hype is true.

   1. I love running in minimalist shoes! The transition time can vary greatly, depending on your current running form. If you are already a midfoot striker, the transition will be easier. If not, you could try a midfoot strike with your current shoes to see how your calves and Achilles feel. It took me about 2 Weeks to get over the calf soreness, running every other day with minimalist shoes.

      I considered getting the fancy minimalist shoes, then convinced myself not to pay upwards of $100 for intentionally unsupportive footwear. So I got cheap “water shoes” (Speedo beach runner). Those wore out fairly quickly, but were so cheap that I didn’t care. I was also in a warmer climate and prefer a well ventilated shoe, so the mesh uppers are perfect for me. Now that I live in a place with a real winter, I wear saucony bullet mesh. These are still very lightweight and flexible (even more so than the Merrill and new balance “barefoot”shoes), at a fraction of the price.

   2. I tried a barefoot-type shoe and had to go back to a minimalist trainer (Saucony Kinvara). Even starting with very short runs (2 miles, when my shortest run in a week is typically 5 and my longest is 15-20, to give you some perspective), I ended up with really, really terrible plantar fascitis and arch pain. The Kinvara is a light, neutral shoe, and I love it.

      A couple of things to be aware of: if you’re not a mid/forefoot striker now, be very, VERY careful trying to change your stride. It’s easy to hurt yourself trying to alter your stride, even if you’re a professional (Dathan Ritzenheim was sidelined by a serious injury doing exactly that), and I’m guessing that you’re probably not monitored daily by a coach, a PT, and a massage therapist like a professional runner would be.

      I understand the desire not to lose mileage, but despite the vogue for barefoot/minimalist running, it’s not actually just a simple thing to change stride or switch to a radically different shoe, and I would strongly encourage you to err on the side of caution.

      1. Late to the party but WERD sister. Especially the part about watching out if you’re not already a mid/forefoot striker. Even if you are, you need to take it slow, slow, slow. I think losing a certain amount of mileage is going to be inevitable, because your body is going to need time and rest to adapt to the new stresses you’re putting on it.

         Honestly, and I know this isn’t necessarily what you were looking for, OP, but I don’t really get the barefoot craze. I think it’s a good thing to try for people who have maybe had chronic issues with their knees, or other body parts that tend to get injured due to a heel-strike, maybe, but honestly, if your conventional trainers are working for you, and you are running the miles you want to run without injury–why reinvent the mother-f***ing wheel? If your only concern is being able to run faster (which I will take as “race” and “work out” faster, because honestly…no one cares what pace you run your recovery miles), then buy some racing flats or something like cbackson’s Kinvaras and run in them for your workouts and races. Stick to your trainers for the bulk of your mileage, if they work for you.

         1. Thanks for the input. I’m not wedded to the idea but want to try it – the few times I’ve been “forced” to run barefoot (whether due to terrible blisters mid-run or some of my other sports interests that require barefoot running), I find myself to be around running 1 min/mile faster than my normal pace at what feels like the same effort level.

      2. +1. Many people transition easily. I didn’t. I was stupid and listened to people trying to “correct my form”. My form “looked great.” I stopped running 10k races and could barely run 100 meters within 6 months of trying barefoot running. Still bitter and recovering from that 2 years later…

5. Anybody else playing pick’em on NFL dot com? I joined my nephews’ pick’em league and my older nephew (16 yo) and I are both obsessing over our picks for tomorrow and the analysts are all over the place. He changes his picks daily but I’ve stayed put and obsess.

6. What do you guys think about wearing a suit jacket/blazer as a separate, with say polished denim or black skinny pants? I’m thinking about my banana republic black blazer (http://bananarepublic.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=41699&vid=1&pid=423456002), or the J Crew 1035 blazer. I have matching banana pants to make it a suit, but I also was thinking about wearing it with some black jeans and a top for a casual yet polished look. I think it’s fine but some people seem to think it’s weird?

   also, side note, although J crew fits my style better, I love the banana suits way more than the j crew ones- that added bit of spandex makes such a difference! so much more comfy!

   1. I love that look, especially with denim. I w0uldn’t wear a suit jacket with a material other than denim for fear that it would look like I got dressed in the dark.

   2. My only concern would be wearing the jacket out further than the rest of the suit. Also, since it is more casual, I prefer to wear my cheaper blazers than a suit piece. That might just be me, though. I do wear blazers (separates or from old suits) with jeans and think it is a pretty common and classy look.

      1. Agreed. I wear jackets as seperates all the time with dark denim, cigar e t t e pants, or dress pants, but I wear jackets I bought as seperates rather than the jacket from a suit.

   3. I wear my J. Crew blazer with casual outfits all the time…especially dark denim. I think it looks great!

7. So excited! Late last year, I bought three pairs of pants that I love, but felt were a bit expensive for my budget (though worth the price in quality). As a result, I left them in the bag in case I wanted to return them. Today, I found them on additional sale. I opened a store credit card and got an additional discount. On top of that, and as a surprise, I also got a discount because it is my birthday. I also had rewards points to cash in. Bottom line — I just got my three pairs of pants, plus three shirts I had been coveting, and still saved nearly $100 from the price I originally paid for the three pairs of pants. LOVE end-of-season sales. Off to make the return tomorrow.

8. Looking for advice about things to do in Austin, TX. I will be there for a few days this month for work, but will have one whole day free, as well as one afternoon. I will be staying downtown near the Appeals Court on San Jacinto Blvd. Any advice for fun things to see like museums or places to eat? TIA.

9. I’ve been in Austin for a conference the past two years, and have some advice, but I’m no expert. The South Congress neighborhood is fun for walking/shopping/eating/drinking. Perla’s Oyster Bar is great, and Uncommon Objects is fun to poke through for vintage finds.

   There are great restaurants in the East Side neighborhood, especially Takoba and Buenos Aires Cafe. There’s also tons of food trucks, which can be fun depending on the weather.

   One important note about Austin: It’s much easier to get around by car. There are walkable neighborhoods, but they’re spread out from each other. And taxis are only moderately reliable. You have to call a cab company, and they send one in a window that could be 10 minutes and could be 45 minutes. You just don’t know ahead of time how long it will be.

   I’m sure there are locals with much deeper info. You may want to repost tomorrow, since it’s late in the weekend thread.

   1. Thanks for the response. I figured it might be a little late in the weekend, so I’ll probably re-post tomorrow. Thanks.

10. I wanted to say HI to the HIVE today, b/c I will be in COURT all morning, and do NOT think I can update the HIVE in court b/c the judge does NOT like me fooling with my iphone even if my cases are NOT being heard.

    Myrna and I went to Rosevelt’s Island and I got over 8,000 FITBIT step’s that I am going to enter onto the INTERNET. My dad can see it as soon as I post my result’s on the INTERNET, b/c the FITBIT does it for me. All I have to do is sit NEAR the MacBook Air and it suck’s in the information without me even knoweing it! Unbeleiveable!

    I managed to get thru this OK; we took the TRAMM over to the Island. It was like Majic Kingdom going UP UP UP, then down down down!!! Yay! But the ride was over VERY quickely. FOOEY!

    We saw some spooky old buildeings there–Myrna say’s it was a hospital for luneatic’s back in the 1800’s but it is EMPTY now. I wonder what hapened to all those hospital peeople? Myrna say’s they made another hospital on Manahattan so they did NOT need to use Rosevelt’s Island any more.

    Myrna and I stopped at Garnet’s liquor store to get her some Polish Vodka. Fooey! I do NOT like alchohol b/c of my ex, Alan, but Myrna say’s it works thru her system so she does NOT get drunk.

    I sent in all 6 breif’s yesterday electroniceally, so the court will have them b/f I do my oral arguement’s. The case’s are all Roberta’s and now I have some new one’s from the Supermarkit guy, Robert, who’s the older brother. Robert own’s and manage’s a big store uptown and is thinkeing of expanding. They do have alot of maligerer’s, so I am goieing to make alot of money manageing those cases for him. I have to talk to the manageing partner about the other brother, Phil, who has even more supermarkit’s, but he is very crafty and likes to stare at my leg’s. He think’s that I will lower my billeings for him? No way Hose, I want to make sure he gets good work from me and that mean’s I have to do the work w/o cutteing corner’s. I hope the manageing partner agree’s b/c there is alot of work for us. I will need to hire an associate to help me on these case’s if we get the buseiness! Yay!

11. So, DH went on a 40 mile hilly bike ride six hours ago (the location is an hour drive away). I’ve done the dishes, done laundry, cleaned the bathrooms, had lunch, drank 2 glasses of wine, and watched two episodes of The Office. I’m bored now. P90X next?? =/

    1. When did DH get back? I hope all is ok!

       1. aww thanks! haha he was fine. I knew he would be gone for at least six hours. Turns out he got a flat halfway up a hill, so getting going after changing the tube was rough! :)

          1. PHEW! I was thinking 6 hours seemed like a long time, even with a hilly route, so I wanted to make sure no one got seriously injured or anything.

             Having to stop part way up a hill is the worst.

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