Weekend Open Thread
Something on your mind? Chat about it here.
I am suddenly having massive technical problems with both my desktop and laptop, so this will be short and sweet: A few weeks ago, I saw some random commentary where a random blogger was extolling the formula itself for Glass Shine, saying it was their perfect blend of balm/lip gloss/color payoff. Based on that alone I decided to try a color, and really did like the formula — it's smooth and comfortable, with the staying power of a typical lipstick.
The color I chose is a bit odd though — I got “Glistening Grape,” which I do like, but it feels a bit far from an everyday color.
I noticed readers saying how much they loved this particular color of Revlon's Glass Shine the other day (I think in Wednesday's Suit of the Week comment section) and decided to order it based on their recommendations alone. It hasn't arrived yet, but part of the commentary from the readers was that they aren't making more of the color… so if you're among the fans, you should stock up! (And if you're looking for a pinky peach lipstick with a bit of color, now might be the time to try this one.)
The lipstick is around $7 at Amazon or your local drugstore.
Sales of note for 12.5
- Nordstrom – Cyber Monday Deals Extended, up to 60% off thousands of new markdowns — great deals on Natori, Vince, Theory, Boss, Cole Haan, Tory Burch, Rothy's, and Weitzman, as well as gift ideas like Barefoot Dreams and Parachute — Dyson is new to sale, 16-23% off, and 3x points on beauty purchases.
- Ann Taylor – up to 50% off everything
- Banana Republic Factory – up to 50% off everything + extra 25% off
- Design Within Reach – 25% off sitewide (including reader-favorite office chairs Herman Miller Aeron and Sayl!) (sale extended)
- Eloquii – up to 60% off select styles
- J.Crew – 1200 styles from $20
- J.Crew Factory – 50-70% off everything + extra 20% off $100+
- Macy's – Extra 30% off the best brands and 15% off beauty
- Spanx – Lots of workwear on sale, some up to 70% off, plus free shipping on everything (and 20% off your first order)
- Steelcase – 25% off sitewide, including reader-favorite office chairs Leap and Gesture (sale extended)
- Talbots – 40% off your entire purchase and free shipping $125+
Wow — Revlon is still making Cherries in the Snow (WTF with Glaring Coral as a color name — it seems angry). It always seemed too blue for me (but IIRC, I was a blue/red at the Prescriptives counter). Good times.
I bought the cherries in the snow full lipstick (not this gloss one, though the gloss one is my ride or die) and it’s BRIGHT, at least on my cool-toned fair skin – I save it for going out with friends.
Cherries in the Snow is one of their oldest colors – it was introduced in 1953. Fire and Ice is from 1952. As long as there’s a Revlon, those two colors will be around! My aunt has the perfect coloring for Cherries in the Snow, and it’s her signature color.
Didn’t they used to do a Fire and Ice Ball?
I thought the same thing when I saw Toast of New York the other day. That was the perfect brownish lip for me and all my friends in the early 90s.
I remember buying it after a recommendation in Sassy magazine
My mum used to wear Cherries in the Snow!
Is anybody else watching Jury Duty on Freevee (on Amazon)? The conceit is that it’s a reality show about a jury trial, but everybody except for one juror is an actor — like The Truman Show come to life. I am absolutely hooked. I’ve participated in a lot of jury trials and although they get a lot of the details wrong (the whole thing relies on the hapless juror not being very educated about how any of this works), I promise you that the characters are not one bit crazier than jurors and witnesses and lawyers and judges are in real life!! Highly recommend!
Is the normal guy the butt of all the jokes? I heard about it and it sounded kind of mean :/
This has been my concern with the show!
No, that’s what I love about it. He’s a charming, normal guy and a lot of the craziness is seen through his eyes — like, they’ll show something nutty and then cut to him shaking his head and rolling his eyes. He’s kind of the hero of the whole thing.
Oh ok that sounds much better then. Thanks for the clarification!
We’re watching it! One episode per night so tonight will be #3. It’s been great so far- my husband and I have both laughed out loud several times.
The regular guy is definitely not the butt of the jokes. He’s the Jim Halpert, for sure.
There is something very weird about this concept to me. How is it legally OK to put the regular guy in this position and film this, I am curious? (I think ethically it’s not OK but that’s a whole different question).
My understanding is that he auditioned to be on a “documentary”. He was definitely aware of the cameras and gave interviews to the producers etc.
Also, I’m not sure about how I feel about it ethically, but the guy is clearly okay with it. He’s given a bunch of interviews and apparently he now regularly hangs out with the actors and their families.
Yeah, if you watch it, it’s quite clear it’s being filmed and he knows he’s on TV. He just doesn’t know is that the trial is fake.
Does anyone think the guy was really clueless? That seems impossible to pull off. Perhaps he is just a good actor.
The brand ambassador’s testimony was hilarious. I really loved the courtroom scenes!
Low key linguistic debate: Are hoodies (e.g. a garment made of sweatshirt material with a hood and front “kangaroo” pocket) “sweaters”? If someone said “Put my sweater in the wash” would you ever think they are talking about a hoodie?
My Canadian partner insists that hoodies are “sweaters” and commonly refers to them by this name. I’m midwest American by birth and am confused by this constantly. What is the consensus?
Sweaters is such a weird word, if you are getting sweaty, surely you’d take that item off!
I wouldn’t have washed it, I’d have been looking for a non-hoodie.
No, hoodies are a subset of sweatshirts, not sweaters. (If we were talking about a fancy cashmere hoodie I might be persuaded, though.)
Agree unless the hoodie is knitted and is a sweater with a hood.
I suspect Canadians, like Brits, refer to sweaters as “jumpers” and so don’t really know what to do with the word “sweater.” Perhaps your partner means “sweats.”
No, we don’t call them jumpers, we call them sweaters. and It’s an umbrella term for a variety of types.
Hoodies are sweaters.
hold on, I thought sweater is just short for sweatshirt! Are you saying they are different things?
In American English yes lol. A sweatshirt is the thing that originated with athletic apparel, woven cotton, terry type interior, etc. Sweaters can be many shapes (cardigan, pullover, turtleneck, etc) but are a totally different garment :)
A hoodie has a hood. A sweater is made of pieces that are knitted to shape, not cut out of a larger piece of fabric. Not all hoodies are sweaters and only a few sweaters are hoodies.
Some people call sweatshirts, which are cut and sewn garments made out of heavy knitted fabric, “sweaters.” Those people are wrong.
Ah, but there are sweaters with hoods (a very popular pattern a few years ago in the knitting world) and there are mass produced sweaters that are cut and sewn – even one of the Aran sweaters I bought in Ireland.
For me a sweatshirt is made of some sort of fleece or other jersey fabric where the threads used are very fine, and a sweater is a garment made of a knit fabric where the thread is a heavier weight and you can see the individual stitches. But I’m sure there are things that live in a gray area between these two.
I’m with you but also from the Midwestern US.
Hoodies are sweaters – also Canadian
Ah ha! Well, then. #culturaldifferences #dividedbyacommontongue
Also Canadian – hoodies always have a hood and are generally sweatshirt material. Wonder if this is a regional difference.
No, hoodies are sweatshirts to me. And sweatshirts are different from sweaters.
No.
My BF constantly uses words at odds with their actual meaning. He is a native English speaker (as am I). I do not get it. E.g., mixing up “trough” and “trowel”.
This makes me think he has two girlfriends.
Like, trough = the livestock feeding container? And trowel = small shovel? They aren’t even pronounced the same!
Yes, but sometimes he says “trought” or “troft”. I give up.
Oh god, he’s going to throw trout in there one day, isn’t he.
My husband pronounces phantom as “fanthom” – it’s like his brain puts the h in the wrong place. He’s been saying it that way his whole life, so maybe his other girlfriend doesn’t correct him, I don’t know.
I just can’t fanthom that.
In our house, sweater has come to mean almost any layer you put on over other clothes that isn’t an outside jacket type. So all hoodies, sweatshirts, zipped sweatshirts etc. If we don’t typically wear a shirt under it, its not a sweater, its just a top, even if the rest of the world calls it a sweater. I am aware this is ‘wrong’ but its how we seem to use it.
My midwest american partner says “hoodies” for sweatshirts with hoods and “sweater” for sweatshirts without hoods. To be fair he doesn’t really wear traditional knit sweaters so it’s less confusing than it would otherwise be.
In my mind, nothing made of sweatshirt material or polar fleece is ever a sweater.
A hoodie could be a sweater if it were made of actual sweater material, but that material kind of sucks for a hoodie because it gets all stretched out of shape. The best hoodies have a kangaroo pocket (or nice big pockets on each side if there is a full zipper) and can be a pullover or might be a full, half, or quarter zip.
I think it’s a british english thing, where sweatshirts are sweaters and sweaters are jumpers.
This. Canadians use some British terms.
European with UK English as default:
Yes, a hoodie is a sweater. A knitted cardigan, however, is not.
How does ethics come into financial decisions you make? Just changing over my superannuation to an ethical one (which also performs better) and I always do it with clothes using the Good On You app; choose tradespeople who pay taxes and don’t buy Nestle products. Anything else?
I will not abide talking ill of Nestle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGjDjKJWwvs
IDK, but I don’t belief half of what those people in sell-mode say or that they are vetting things as they say they are. I mean, green energy really isn’t candid about how green it still isn’t (it may be greener, but frequently there is an unmentioned still greener alternative not discussed (e.g., keep your existing non-EV car b/c even buying a new Prius or EV had an environmental cost to it that didn’t need to be, but how s*xy is just doing maintenance to extend the useful life of the car you have?).
You are right, it take take some time and effort to verify claims but the info isn’t hard to find. Greenwashing is a real thing.
You are right, there’s so much green washing but it does t take much time to verify or disprove claims.
+ 1 to keeping my old car.
A lot these boycotts don’t make a lot of sense to me. Nestle isn’t the only company that uses palm oil. Chik Fil A isn’t the only company that gives to anti-gay organizations. Adidas isn’t the only company founded by Nazis. Etc.
I live in a red state so there’s basically no way I could ensure all my service providers share my views. For things like nannies and home cleaning, I use a service and/or report individual taxes to the IRS but that’s more for my own protection than the employees. My understanding is most household employees would prefer to work off the books.
Nestle is about what they are doing to America’s aquifers and child labor, rather than palm oil.
Oh. I know people who boycott them over palm oil.
I just read ingredients and don’t buy anything with palm oil. Seems more efficient.
Agreed AIMS, that makes more sense to me than boycotting specific companies.
Oh, what Nestle is truly about is even more evil and goes back decades.
Read about all the baby formula nightmare…. so many babies dead.
https://www.businessinsider.com/nestles-infant-formula-scandal-2012-6#millions-of-babies-died-from-malnutrition-9
They should never be forgiven.
I used to Love Nestle’s Crunch, but now that I am learning about them, I think that I will stick with Hershey’s Dark Chocolate with Almonds, which I totally love, and hopefully will be able to keep my tuchus in check.
That’s horrifying.
Stock investments. Sold all that Tesla.
Taxes. It’s amazing how many people I know who cheat. And brag about it.
I don’t vote based on what is in my best financial interest. There are more important things than retiring with a larger IRA.
I try to pay people what they are worth. More. Pay the people who take care of your family and clean your home better.
You know people who cheat on their taxes and brag about it!?! That’s just wild to me.
Not that person but I know someone who threw a big wedding, calls her spouse her husband, etc but brags about how they didn’t sign the marriage license to avoid paying the marriage tax penalty. They are both high earners so it’s apparently a pretty significant amount of money each year. I thought it was crappy that she did but also crazy irresponsible to tell everyone about it, because it’s definitely tax fraud. I remember learning in tax law that if you have a wedding ceremony and hold yourselves out as married the IRS considers you married even if you didn’t sign the paperwork.
OMG that’s just gross.
That makes sense to me. Those taxes were rough and unfair. Not cheating but then you also lose a lot like bring a surviving spouse.
This isn’t tax cheating if you aren’t actually married (and in. J you aren’t because they don’t allow for common law marriage). In other states, if you hold yourself out as married, the. Common law says you are married even without paperwork.
Cheating is claiming 6 kids when you have 5.
I wonder if we know the same person. I ended the friendship after learning that.
I swear in tax we read a case about a couple who did exactly this and got trouble with the IRS, although it was just paying penalties and back taxes, not jail time or anything. That was 15 years ago though and I don’t practice tax so maybe no longer true.
I don’t understand why this is objectionable. Why are you angry at her for not paying a marriage penalty? For two even medium-high earners, the marriage penalty is very real. There are very few advantages to being married that can’t be contractually secured-mutual wills, etc. Unless your friend is in a state that recognizes new common law marriages, I don’t see how this is tax fraud.
I’m not the IRS so I don’t really care what she pays in taxes, although I think it’s dumb to talk about it if there’s anything about it that’s even borderline illegal. But I think it’s deceitful to your friends and family to pretend to be getting married if you’re not. It should be framed as a commitment ceremony or something like that if you’re not getting married.
You don’t need to get married in some states to be considered married; particularly in a community property state. All you need to do is have s-x more then once with the same man in a community property state to be considered married and have to share 50% in the event of a divorce. The IRS will consider you married if they find out you have had s-x and joint bank accounts in a community property state. If you live in NY, you can have a joint bank account with someone you have s-x with, but without more, the IRS will not be able to collect more taxes from you as “married”.
I don’t think it should be considered tax fraud if two people decide to be lifelong partners but not get legally married for tax purposes. What I do think is wrong is that they had a wedding without informing guests they weren’t getting legally married. I’d be annoyed at the time and money spend without full information,
That’s kinda funny to me bc DH always gives me a hard time for having actually legalized our marriage instead of just doing a ceremony and this paying more taxes. I ignore him bc I find value and security in the legal marriage that is worth the tax penalty.
As a single person, the benefits of inheriting a spouse’s pension/social security/retirement plan benefits specifically for spouses and being eligible for health benefits…. the value of this is astronomical. Never mind the savings in time/money living as a couple. When people talk about the marriage tax penalty, they neglect to mention all of the perks. You can’t just hire a lawyer, make a contract, sign a form, and now be eligible for many of these financial benefits.
I am starting to think that rather than hoping to live as a “Golden girl” for some security in my retirement…. I wonder if the secret is marrying your best girl/boyfriend (NOT sexual partner unless you want that too!) so that each of you can have those additional financial benefits. Or maybe even do that sooner than retirement!…
One of my long term married, older relatives, that has several children that stayed unmarried as adults actually said he thought it wasn’t fair to singles that this wasn’t an option. Anything that promotes communal living and/or supporting each other is a good thing for society. It also helps keep folks out of nursing homes, improves quality of life etc..
There are certainly huge financial benefits to sharing a household and living expenses with a partner, but those benefits don’t require legal marriage. And I thought a non-spousal beneficiary could inherit a 401k the same way a spouse can, and only pay taxes when the money is withdrawn. The pension is the only thing you listed that seems like it’s spouse specific and so few people get pensions today it’s not an issue for most people. I definitely think a lot of married couples are financially worse off than they’d be if they were just domestic partners, though I agree any dual-earning couple is ahead of where they’d be if they were both single.
I try to talk to them about it. Some people have no shame, and delight on gaming the system.
I am brutally honest on my taxes. Was the way I was raised.
When my elderly disabled father’s accountant started talking to him about how to try to hide his assets in anticipation of staggeringly high expenses/medical care late in life, so as not to deplete his funds (all using “legal” schemes), my father refused. “Someone needs to pay for this. Shouldn’t it be me?” Absolutely. But most people don’t feel that way.
There is a Medicaid divorce where let’s say one spouse has early onset dementia and all of their savings would have to go towards the sick spouses care leaving the healthy spouse with literally nothing. If you are expected to live another 15 years on nothing or get legally divorced and take half, it’s really their only option.
ditto but for me it’s FB – i’m getting out slowly because i do that with everything.
You do move pretty slowly, considering…..!
Oh god, I’ve got to wean myself of Instagram now it’s owned by Meta too.
I moved one of my 401k accounts to an IRA with an advisor (the advisory was free for the first year or so, I don’t do it anymore) and he talked me into putting some of my money into a forward looking managed stock fund that invests in green energy, among other things. It tanked more than the rest of the market this past year, largely because of Tesla stock. (And I’m not sure green is necessarily the same thing as ethical when you consider Elon Musk.) Anyway, I’m holding hoping the fund as a whole comes back up, but I would like to find this ethical fund that out-performed, because it’s certainly not mine!
Even without Elon, green energy has a lot of ethical issues that need consideration, just because it’s green doesn’t make it right.
Ethics comes into play in every penny I spend (or don’t spend). I don’t harm animals, the planet, or workers, which means a lot of second hand goods, small producers, and plant based foods.
Love this. I try too, it takes patience especially with furniture but you also end up with good quality things that last and last.
+1, buy secondhand everything. the world already has plenty of sh1t!
I believe really strongly in the importance of small and local agriculture, so I put some money into Steward farm loans.
That’s really interesting! I don’t do any more than buy from local primary producers but agriculture is incredibly important.
I work in a role that regulates cruises, I try to make them less of an environmental disaster, but morally am very opposed to them. For some reason every friend I have that goes on a cruise wants to tell me all about it. It’s like they don’t even listen to me talk about my work? Why would they think I would have a positive reaction to them funding something I’m so against? I try and stall the conversation by saying neutral things like ‘I’m glad you enjoyed yourself’ and not asking follow up questions but they don’t get the hint. Is there a polite way to stop this?
Be explicit about not wanting to talk about cruises.
“Dude, this is a real hot button for me because I’m morally against cruises. Let’s talk about something else so I don’t have to tell you all the reasons why…”
I’m in Australia and cruises are always in the news for deaths. One yesterday fell overboard. Diane Brimble was drugged, raped and murdered while the cruise line let the murderers roam while they cleaned up the room, which should have been left as a crime scene.
And cruise ship’s disembarking spread covid in Australia at a time we didn’t really have Covid here, it was the Ruby Princess and there was a class action lawsuit.
The whole industry sucks.
I would not got agree to take an ocean cruise for all of the above reasons, tho I would mind taking a ride on Tom Cruise, or someone a little younger, who would be nice to me in exchange for mutual benefits.
TBH, you should find another job. It’s not fair to have a regulator really gunning for you. If you can’t be impartial and fair, you should step aside so you can fairly lobby and crusade against them.
That’s a real bad take
??? I disagree. I would expect regulators to have moral and ethical motivations to address a whole host of problems like food additives and smoking and car exhaust.
+ 1
This. If you don’t like cruises, fine, but don’t have a person animus towards the industry you regulate.
Did you stop and think that the information she found out while doing her job gave her this informed opinion? She didn’t go into the job with some personal vendetta.
I’m not sure that these facts are in the record before us.
Eh, I don’t have a problem with regulators being against something that does a lot of harm. The regulators don’t exist to serve industry, though it often works that way when there’s a revolving door between an industry and its regulator.
For example, I’d much rather have someone who is against smoking regulating tobacco than someone who is planning on getting a job as a lobbyist for a tobacco company/previously worked in the industry as a regulator.
TBH I don’t remember the details of what my friends’ jobs entail. If it bothers you then stop hinting and tell them directly. Keep in mind most people don’t enjoy feeling judged, especially if they just dropped thousands of dollars.
+1 to all this. Also cruising isn’t really my thing, but it’s a pretty broad term that covers many types of boats. I’m skeptical every company is exactly the same. There must be a difference between small ship sailing yachts and the 6,000+ person megaboats, at least when it comes to the environment.
No one calls chartering a small sailing yacht a cruise.
Viking River Cruises
I’m not talking about chartering a yacht for your family/friends. There are cruise lines like Windstar Cruises that operate <300 person small ships, and some of them are at least partially sail-powered. Celebrity Cruise Lines operates cruise ships with <100 people in the Galapagos Islands. There are other luxury lines that do small ship cruises too. It would be really pretentious and inaccurate to call one of these cruises a 'yacht charter' IMO (although I'm sure there are people who do). You're sharing the boat with hundreds of strangers and what you're buying is sold as a "cruise" not a yacht charter.
Everyone I know who’s cruised to the Galapagos or Antarctica went on a really small boat. They’re expensive as h3ll and very different than a Carnival party boat but they’re still cruises.
Star Clippers has tall ship sailing cruises. A friend went on one and loved it.
out of curiosity can you share why cruises suck? i’m against them atm for covid reasons but i have a 10 and 8 yr old so it seems to come up in recommendations a lot.
They dump sewage and other pollutants into the water through grey & black water systems, and exhaust scrubbers, they transport invasive species around the world, they burn tonnes of fuel (literally cruises measure fuel in tonnes) which release an insane amount of GHG emissions, they radiate underwater noise which harms marine mammals in addition to hitting and killing them. Those things are just the tip of the iceberg, and purely environmental, never mind the labor and safety concerns.
You’d prefer that we all fly?
This is disingenuous, most people fly to then get on a cruise ship.
Not sure about that. I know a lot of people who like cruising specifically because they can drive to the port (they’re doing it for budget reasons, not because they’re worried about the environment, but the end result is the same).
Exactly. Show me an environmentally friendly way for 4,000 people to travel.
Are they any different from commercial shipping?
Yes they are different. Aside from the fact shipping is essential and cruising is not, commercial shipping goes from A to B as efficiently as possible, which cruises do not, and there are only a small fraction of the amount of humans on board so much less trash and grey/black water thrown overboard. All that said commercial shipping is still not great.
They are huge. They will have proportionate output. It’s not like those people stop pooping if they don’t go in a cruise. Or use heat or electricity.
Do you also hate the navy and cargo ships? Cargo ships are the greenest way to ship things — faster is way less green.
She’s saying they suck for environmental and labor reasons, not that the experience of going on a cruise sucks. It’s a good low stress vacation with kids, but so is going to an all-inclusive resort with a kids club (but tbh I’m not convinced labor issues are any less of an issue at resorts in poor countries).
“Oof – I find thinking about cruises stressful because of work. [Subject changing statement]”
I don’t understand why someone with a mere tangential knowledge of your job (“oh Susie’s in the cruise regulatory business and tries to make them better for the environment”) would jump to “Susie thinks they’re morally reprehensible.”
She said she finds them morally reprehensible.
She did in her post here, yes, but I’m talking about IRL. I don’t talk about the details of my work with most of my casual circle, which is what it sounds like is happening here… people generally remember her work deals with the cruise industry and think she’ll find it amusing to hear about their trips as a result. Like I generally know my neighbor is a surgeon at Penn; if there’s some aspect of medicine she finds morally reprehensible, I’m kind of relieved she isn’t talking about it with people she knows as casually as she knows me…
Oh gotcha. We agree.
“So tell me, why do you hate the environment and want to leave the world in a worse way?”
“What did whales and dolphins do to you that you’d want to do this to them?”
I’m way meaner, I’d say something or start sending them articles about whatever aspect you think they’d care about the most: so many terrible things to choose from. Fossil fuels! Marine animals! Tax avoidance! Indentured labor!
Seriously? You think the person who hates cruises is Jesus Christ and that she doesn’t sin in some way? She could be pro-environment but fine with the death penalty. Or maybe she abuses her kids? I worked with a guy who vomited his PETA crap all the time at work. He is an awful person. And, no, I am not attacking OP. She is fine because she is obviously not being mean to the people who want to blab about their cruises.
What?! Abuses her kids? Are you on drugs?
You are off the rails.
lol. You don’t know what she does and neither do I. That is why your suggestion that OP act like a jerk with questions like “What did whales and dolphins do to you that you’d want to do this to them?” are awful. Stop being so sanctimoniuous.
Or even makes other choices that are good for the environment. I’ll admit I enjoy the occasional cruise and we fly a lot and do a lot of leisure travel in general, but I make other choices that are good for the environment: we drive our cars into the ground, we have a small family, we eat mostly plant-based. I think it’s weird to judge someone for this one hyper-specific thing when you have no idea what the rest of their life looks like.
And I would stop being your friend.
Seriously! I don’t even like cruises but I would have no interest in being friends with someone who talks this way other people.
Samesies
Or if you’d like to keep your friends: “A big part of my job is lobbying for tougher restrictions on the cruise industry. It’s stressful to talk about them outside of work so I hope you don’t mind if I change the subject. What are your Memorial Day plans?”
+1000, I am not sure how anyone suggesting the responses above maintains friendships. It feels honestly like there’s some weird new tr-ll given the prevalence of extreme cruise views the last few days.
I asked the question about Caribbean port excursions yesterday and I feel bad for kicking off this whole sh1tstorm! And thanks to you and the others who actually answered the question.
Honestly I’d never looked into it, I’m too young for cruises, but reading these threads has been eye opening.
I couldn’t enjoy myself knowing what I know now.
I’m willing to overlook some stuff for my own comfort and convenience but not this much.
The whole thing feels like snobbery to me, honestly. This entire website is devoted to consumerism. People constantly talk about intercontinental travel, buying trendy fashion, leasing new cars and building McMansions. Spoiler alert: none of that is good for the environment! But somehow if you even consider taking a cruise you’re a Very Bad Person, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the vast majority of people who cruise earn way less money than most here.
I think you move the conversation on.
‘Amazing cruise. Loved it. Best vacation ever!’
‘That’s great. Next weekend, as a treat I’m looking for theatre/something else tickets. Any ideas?’
You can’t win with these people. I hate cruises. The vessels are filthy, the food is awful, the people are limited for the most part and the staff are all so very vulnerable. The shops don’t open until you are in international water…for whose benefit is that? Not mine.
The shops not being open except in international waters is so the customer doesn’t have to pay sales tax, so yes it is for your benefit (“you” being the cruise ship passenger, not you specifically). It’s really no different than duty free shops at an international airport — do you object to that too?
Yes but those sales taxes pay for our government. I don’t buy much of anything in duty free beyond a meal, water and possibly something for the children.
Duty free shipping is rarely duty free and I prefer to buy from the same counters using the same sales associate.
A lot of places would have significant economic hardship without cruises, many ports in Alaska for example. People make their entire annual income in the 4 months of cruise season.
what kind of jobs are these though? Are they jobs you would want?
Retail, restaurants, tourism sector (tour guides/operators). I don’t think “are they jobs you would want?” is the right standard. Of course the upper middle class women with law and finance degrees reading here don’t want to work at a restaurant in Alaska. But the jobs are still important to the local economy and important to the people who hold them.
It’s the only Jon’s there are.
We might not want them because we live in an area where there are other options. In some locations these “undesirable” jobs are the only jobs.
This is my favorite lipstick! I stocked up the other day because I think Revlon discontinued the whole line. I would call this a cool pinky tone with no peach in it. I love it. The color is somewhat buildable, to a point. You can put on a tiny bit and it’s like a sheer balm, or you can go full lipstick with it and get quite a bit of color, but it’s always going to be sheerer and glossier than, say, a Mac matte lipstick.
While I can still get it, I’m going to try the strawberry shade too for something leaning more peachy.
Does it look glittery on your lips? I like shine, even shimmer, but glitter is hard for me to wear.
No glitter at all, I’m the same way. It looks like a glossy lipstick.
Thanks!
I love it too but I’m not wearing lipstick anymore as I’m still masking in public.
I mask with lipstick! I rarely get it on my kn-95
Mask as it’s duck-billed, and even if I do, you’re only supposed to wear masks for so long… they’re disposable.
I’m imagining you as much more glamorous than me! I’m lazy so if no one else sees it, I don’t bother for myself.
Haha maybe so- I’m addicted to having something on my lips, whether it’s lip balm or lipstick, and I mostly unmask outside. I’m pale with dark hair and light eyes so I feel like I “need” some lip color to look put together, which I why I like a sheer color like today’s pick because I can wear it without looking overly made-up.
Help! Client emailed me and Sr Partner. Wants a copy of a brief, due Monday, for review. I drafted the brief but have never worked with this partner and he hasn’t read it yet. And I think he’ll want to edit it, based on other associates’ experiences. I’m a sr associate so regularly talk to client without Sr Partner, but I don’t know whether to just ignore the email? Send it in 2 hours with a disclaimer that SrP may have changes? I hate leaving the client hanging.
“John, thanks for reaching out. I’ll get back to you shortly.”
Email partner, ask, then act.
This. Don’t ignore the email. Don’t send the brief to the client without the partner’s go ahead.
I would also consider clearing your weekend schedule if you will need to make the partners edits.
This. And as a client I would be furious if you failed to send to me for review before filing. It’s in all our engagement agreements that we review prior to filing. Call partner now and get it to the client asap.
moms of older kids: can you share any resources (or general tips) on my kid being bullied? 6th grade. he’s fat, which i’m guessing is why. (also gifted and brilliant and charming and so mature.) earlier this week kids one lunch table over threw juice, and today some asswipe (same table) tried to put celery down his pants.
No advice, but this comment broke my heart. You sound like a great mom and I’m so sorry you and he are going through this. Middle school is awful for a lot of kids and I hope he will find his people in high school, college and beyond.
Oh I’m so sorry middle school is the worst. The best advice I have heard is to make sure he has some other outlet or set of friends outside of school- like karate, music class, soccer, boy scouts, etc. Also, where are the teachers in this? What’s the supervision at lunch like? Totally understand if he doesn’t want you to escalate but at the very least it could be flagged so whoever is monitoring knows to keep an eye on those particular kids.
The giftedness could be another difference that the bullies are targeting. I second the suggestion to make sure he has opportunities to make friends outside of school, and I’d also consider sending him to a summer program for gifted kids so he has the chance to spend time with other kids like him.
1. This is terrible.
2. We are all old enough to know that later in life, the bullied kids’ lives are better and, often, the bullies’ lives are not. Cold comfort for your kid now, but I was bullied and this has turned out to be true for me and my bullies. (Feel free to tell him about me.)
3. I agree with the distraction for your kid, so he can have positive experiences in other contexts.
4. I assume this is not about antisemitism, but the ADL offers lots of bullying resources (for the family and for the school) unrelated to antisemitism. If there is an active chapter in your area, they may come do a session at your school. If not, many of the resources are on the ADL website, and they are pretty good.
Report, report, report, preferably in writing (or at least take notes of your phone calls). Go through the hierarchy (at our school, it’s counselor, asst. principal, principal, superintendent). Decline all offers of mediation and “restorative justice” or anything else where your kid (the victim) gets to benefit the bully (the perpetrator). My kids’ experiences in middle and high school suggest that the schools only take this kind of thing seriously when the parents step in and are really serious about stopping it and getting their kid away from the bully. Even if he doesn’t want you to, I’d escalate because trying to put something down another kid’s pants is a pretty big deal.
Actually, the “down the pants” part may be a TIX violation. Ask to report to the school’s TIX officer.
Yes, that’s a great point. In my experience, schools are actually pretty motivated to act if you use the stated procedures. At our big CA public schools, dealing with stuff like this informally basically means “no adult on school property does anything.”
Greetings – also a Seven Sisters alumna!
I agree with this. Report to the school with documentation. I think laws vary by state, but in my state if the school does not effectively handle the situation, you can make a complaint with the state. Schools do NOT want a state investigation.
Childhood obesity is a serious issue and you are setting him up for lifelong health issues. That should take priority.
Found the grown up version of the bully! What a mean response to a mom who is worried about her kid.
+1 ugh what a horrible comment
+1,000 go away, Anon at 5:03
No one thinks you are cool, anon at 5:03.
Horribly cruel comment, but that aside, I don’t agree with the implication that the mother is responsible for the bullying by “letting” him be fat. There are way more fat kids than gifted kids in the US. Kids are bullied because they’re different than other kids. It’s way more likely he’s being bullied because of the giftedness than him being overweight.
I’m a teacher and so many parents think their kids are brilliant and gifted. I love kids and they are amazing but parents are biased, let’s recognise that.
At least this parent recognises that obesity is contributing to the bullying problem, as does the CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/basics/consequences.html
Health consequences of both should be taken seriously.
Many people think their kids are smart but I assume someone referring to a child as ‘gifted’ has received some kind of labeling as such by the school system. US school districts typically identify 2-5% of children as gifted. I don’t know off the top of my head what percent of American kids are overweight, but I’m going to take a wild guess that it’s MUCH higher than 5%.
Not disagreeing that there are health consequences to being overweight, but I think that’s a separate issue from bullying and really depends on how overweight the child is. A BMI of 25 is very different than a BMI of 32 (and yes I know BMI isn’t a perfect measurement, but it’s a starting point).
I feel sorry for the kids you teach. I think you should consider a change of career; you don’t have enough empathy for kids or parents to be a teacher.
And now OP is being called a liar. Jeesh. No one cares if you think her kid really has an IQ over 130. She asked for help with bullying. Do you bully the heavier kids in your classroom?
+1000. If you mention on her that it’s objectively better to be thin than fat you will be, uh… bullied.
Does that make you feel good about yourself 5:03?
Goa away. Do not come back.
Thanks for the Czech. Iran back here but now I have Togo. I won’t Russia though.
WHAT EVEN. Have you ever met a 6th grader? Half are fat, Most are smart assess and everyone is miserable. I was so fat in 6th grade due to puberty. Teachers flagged me for an earring disorder in 7th grade because I was trim again. No eating disorder, just grew
4”.
Hope your earrings are in order now.
Did you just wake up and decide to be an asshole today?
I can’t believe you thought this was an appropriate comment.
I’m so sorry you’re going through this. My son dealt with some of this in middle school, and it was awful.
Some people may disagree with this advice, but it worked for us, so I’m sharing it. My husband and I had also been bullied in middle school, and we’d also both had the experience that when we stood up to the bullies, they left us alone. We told our son that the next time the kid tried to start up with him, he should stare him straight in the face, say
“(Bully’s name), just shut the h*ll up” and then walk away. If the bully then took a swing at him, etc., he should physically defend himself (but we told him, absolutely do not start a physical fight with anyone, ever) and we would back him up with the school. Yes, our school had a very strict no-violence policy; they also supposedly had a no-bullying policy that wasn’t working/wasn’t being enforced. We wanted to convey to our son, you are worth standing up for, so stand up for yourself. Sure enough, this played out at lunchtime one day – the bully started in on my kid, my son told the other kid to shut the f*ck up (not what we told him to say, but whatever), the kid was shocked and backed off, our son gotten written up for using bad language in the lunchroom, but the other kid apparently also got written up for trying to provoke an argument. Apparently that kid’s parents had a parent-teacher conference with our homeroom teacher, who told them their kid was being a sh*t to other kids (I found this out through talking to another parent, whose kid had also been targeted by the bully). I dunno what happened at the bully’s house, but that stopped the bullying.
Bullies know what they’re doing. I’ve dealt with adult bullies, and the mentality is exactly the same whether the bully is 12 or 42. The best way I have always found to handle bullies is to directly confront the situation and let the person know I’m not going to be intimidated, nor am I just going to let things go. When my son was being bullied, we spent a lot of time talking to him about self-esteem and self-worth, and reinforcing that he is a good person who deserves to be treated well. And that the bullying about the other kid’s lack of self-esteem and self-worth, and had nothing to do with our son. Your mileage may vary on all of this, but I would just keep reinforcing to your kiddo: you are worthy, you are worth it, and this too shall pass. As someone else said – middle school is the worst, and high school has been a completely different ball game for us. “This too shall pass” doesn’t really help in this current moment but it’s true.
I cannot recommend this approach. Bullies have bullies for parents. My daughter told off a bully and ended up in the principal’s office when the bully’s mom called to complain that she had hurt his feelings.
Is ending up in the principal’s office that big a deal? Most kids get in trouble at some point. I was the most goody two shoes kid ever and even I got detention at one point because a teacher thought I wasn’t listening. Unless your child is being suspended or something, it doesn’t seem like that big a consequence.
It taught my kid that bullies win and their victims get punished, so yeah it was a bad thing.
Hmm that doesn’t seem like the right lesson to take away though. If going to the principal’s office had no serious consequences and it got the bully off her back, the bully didn’t really “win”…right? I think this is an instance where it’s not only ok but necessary for the parent to tell their child that they don’t care about the child being sent to the principals office. And I’m a rule follower in general.
So? Did your kid get thrown out of school? Going to the principal’s office is not the end of the world. There’s such a thing as “good trouble” that sometimes has to happen to change a situation. I know that in this community of rigid rule-followers, the idea of a kid going to the principal’s office is anathema, but to me, there’s a huge difference between my kid going to the principal’s office because they stood up for themselves, and them going to the principal’s office because they did something dumb like throw a spitball during class, etc.
When we tell kids to just shut up and take the abuse, we teach them that they aren’t worth standing up for. And kids internalize that. Telling someone to use words to get a bully to back off is not the same as telling someone to go punch someone’s lights out in the playground – obviously, that’s not appropriate. But bullies absolutely understand what they’re doing – they’re doing it because they get psychological satisfaction out of tormenting other people. There’s nothing wrong with telling someone to knock it off.
There are some people on this board – heck, even some people in this thread – who would have greatly benefited from having someone stand up to them at some point in their lives and tell them to knock off their overly-aggressive, shaming, targeted meanness. They wouldn’t act the way they do as adults if that had happened, I bet. But hey, it’s not too late and I hope the bully above who decided to get snotty to the OP will listen to the people who told them to knock it off and get the heck out of here. Don’t ignore the message, Anon at 5:03! The bully is you. And I doubt you act better IRL than you’re acting here.
+1000 to all of this but I like the “good trouble” bit especially. I was lucky to have parents who didn’t take school-imposed consequences very seriously. They wanted me to follow our family’s values and morals and made it clear to me that there was a big difference between getting in trouble for standing up to a bully and getting in trouble for bullying or other disrespectful behavior. I didn’t have a perfect childhood, but that’s something they definitely got right and I want to do the same for my own kids. I would be proud of a kid who got sent to the principal for confronting a bully on behalf of themselves or a friend.
+ 1. Parents usually think their kids are the victims.
I think this is fantastic advice. You guys are great parents and I admire you so much for how you teach and care for your child.
Bravo.
Thank you so much for posting this. Just great.
100% agree. Bullies bully until you stand up to them.
+1
When my daughter was being bullied, we told her to do a modified version of this if the girl approached her and now the girl just stays away.
That’s awful. Poor kid. No answers but doesn’t he have any close friends ?
If people throw juice at him, can he walk over and pour something on their plate? If celery was stuffed down his pants, I would escalate. But I’d also pull the celery out of my pants and drop it back on bully’s plate.
Teach kiddo a few phrases also. My son was bullied for being nerdy and studious and someone said to him…”oh you’re mentally still in junior school” (he was in middle school).
He retorted – “ well, I only need junior school IQ to deal with you. “
He was never teased again.
Haha! Love it! He sounds smart.
Two of my 3 children are in middle school and are twice exceptional (ASD, ADD and high IQ). My son is a target for children and he reacts so they keep coming back for more.
The school are responsible for dealing with this. The staff have been great and separated the mean boys from my son. We also gave him some ideas on what to do. During recess he plays basketball on his own or with his sister. There are 2-3 staff supervising recess and they are on top of the bully kids. They also paired our son up with an 8th grader. They both love playing the drums and are allowed to go practice during recess.
Sadly public school was a disaster for my children. We are at a small Catholic school and it’s great for this sort of thing. Best move I made for our children.
To be very clear, my issue with what you have shared is the school are at fault for not providing adequate supervision. How the hell does a child put celery down another child’s pants or juice being thrown and no member of staff saw this to be able to intervene? So they wouldn’t notice a child choking on their lunch? Let’s call it what it is. The school is massively at fault here and need to step it up.
After my experience, I recommend sucking it up and going private. What you spend on school fees, you save on therapy.
If the people involed here were adults in an office lunch room that behavior would rightfully be called assault and dealt with accordingly.
Go to the school and ask that they start dealing with the fact your child is being assaulted. If nothing gets done, go to the board and speak to a lawyer about what your legal options are.
A friend ended up pulling their child out of school due to bullying and the school doing essentially nothing. The child was to the point of considering drastic measures…
Anyone have recommendations for a peachy-pink lipstick that is cruelty free?
Believe it or not, Wet n Wild is cruelty free! So is NYX. Some of both brands’ products are also vegan.
A couple of these look peachy: https://www.wetnwildbeauty.com/product/cloud-pout-marshmallow-lip-mousse/?wccp_component_selection%5B1665478638%5D=4152
Peachy n ude: https://www.wetnwildbeauty.com/product/megalast-liquid-catsuit-matte-lipstick/?wccp_component_selection%5B1665408509%5D=1484
This one in Zurich https://www.nyxcosmetics.com/lip/lipstick/soft-matte-lip-cream/NYX_007.html?dwvar_NYX__007_color=Zurich
Hi all. First post asking for advice from a group that always has such interesting perspectives. I have worked for the same division for a decade under the same boss, who leads the division. We have had headwinds for about a year including CEO and HR not supporting hiring enough admin/clerical workers to help us get the main part of our jobs done. We have been working extra and covering these missing roles the best we can, but our productivity is down because the phones literally aren’t answered some times. My boss has gone to the mat to argue for more support and resources and is fed up. Finally Boss got a tempting offer to move out of state to a greener pasture. An interim division boss has been named, and it will be a few months until a new Boss is hired. Several coworkers have asked me if I am going to put in to become the new boss. Frankly, I’ve been training and taking the leadership courses to prepare to step up, and if the climate were different, this would be easier to decide. The incoming boss will have the ability to negotiate for some resources to make changes, but that is very open-ended. I am concerned that the same issues that led to my current boss’s departure won’t be fixed enough to set up for success. I also don’t want to take the risk of being the scapegoat for continued productivity failures. I worry this might be a Glass Cliff. This might be my only chance to step into this boss role, as most folks stay in these positions for years and years if they are succeeding. I am happy in my current role and have other opportunities that are outside the division keeping me busy, so it’s not essential that I take this job. I know the division and think I could do a good job with the team we have to grow to a next level, as long as there is support from the CEO, HR etc. I could probably start applying and withdraw before a final decision on new boss is made if signals don’t look good. What do you think? What should a candidate watch out for? Be sure of before committing? Negotiate to have with the job?
Any possibility the company will want you enough to commit to the resources you need in exchange for you agreeing to step up, even on an interim basis? I have seen that happen. Once.
If management is not supporting your division and is setting it up for failure, I’d be looking at jobs outside the organization.
Could you message (LinkedIn?) your old boss and ask? She might have further insight into the politics at play.
Thank you for reading my question and for your suggestion. I’ve spoke to my old boss about things some. It’s a pretty negative viewpoint on hope for future improvements. I think that perspective on working with our division’s CEO and HR is colored by Boss’s burnout and getting out of here, so it’s only one of the many points of view I am collecting while trying to decide.
Thank you for reading my question and for your suggestion. I’ve spoke to my old boss about things some. It’s a pretty negative viewpoint on hope for future improvements. I think that perspective on working with our division’s CEO and HR is colored by Boss’s burnout and getting out of here, so it’s only one of the many points of view I am collecting while trying to decide.
I would go for it. Make the resource case if you get it and as you’re in consideration for the role. Make it clear success hinges on it or expectations need to adjust. If you still fail, then you’ve got a bigger job to move on from and go somewhere else at a higher level. My advice in a nutshell, always go for the promotion.
Seconded.
It’s possible the issues could continue and you’ll need to look for a new job anyway, whether you are in your current role or in the boss role.
Better to put in for the promotion now, then job search is always an option you may need to go to.
Why is “gloss up rose” $8 but “black cherry” $22 (both on Amazon)?
Discontinued craziness.
Colleague: You have a law degree, right? Can you just quickly review this summary of the law in a topic area where you have never worked to make sure we aren’t missing anything?
Me: Of course! All law school graduates are experts on every legal topic and can spout current case law off the top of their heads.
Fellow volunteers: You’re a lawyer, right? Can you 1) review this contract for us 2) be the legal expert on our COVID safety committee 3) go to the zoning board meeting and explain what is going on 4) give a presentation on identity theft to the senior citizens’ group?
Me: Of course! I am a social scientist who also has a law degree and has never actually practiced law, so I am happy to commit UPL and to advise on subjects about which I know absolutely nothing.
Sigh.
I’ve found that people get it when you tell them, “Having me look at that would be like having your podiatrist do your heart surgery!” People don’t think about lawyers having specialties that really matter, aside from criminal matters.
+1 yeah just make a light-hearted quip like that.
Yep, happens to all of us. I also have handy things like conflicts, firm rules, can’t because reasons at the ready along with referrals to people who do the kind of work being sought.
You say that, but i’m a criminal lawyer who regularly gets questions about contracts, civil and family matters….
I sympathise with you. I used to think I knew alot more then I did, but now that I am a seasoned attorney, I realize that I did not know as much as I thought. That is the value of experience that I have as a 40+ year old attorney at law. I hope to be able to work as an attorney for another 25 years, hopefully as a manageing partner or a law professor. I no longer want to be a general council for a company b/c I would have to work more hours then I care to.
I am looking for a travel agent who can help us plan a specific Italy trip in a pretty short timeframe. We want to go to the Palio race in Siena over July 2, and are looking for a travel agent who can help us get tickets/advise us on the experience at the Palio and also help us create an itinerary for other spots in Italy on the trip. Any suggestions?
There aren’t tickets to the Palio unless you’re hoping to find a balcony to watch from above. I’ve been twice and both times I crowded into the Piazza del Campo which was just lovely.
I’m interested in buying myself diamond stud earrings in about 1 carat total weight. I’d like opinions on three prong versus four prong and platinum versus 14k white gold. Also, I found rarecarat dot com, which seems reputable with good prices. Does anyone have personal experience with this company?
I like three prong because they allow more light into the stone and are visually lighter too. Platinum over white gold since you never have to re-plate them. Assuming you want a pair for fairly regular wear.
Which cut? I have 1.5 carat TW princess cut (square) diamonds in white gold from Blue Nile. Four prongs (one at each corner). I’ve been really happy with them. I’ve had them since 2016 and no need for re-plating so far. I’m not sure that earrings get the same wear and tear as a white gold ring.
One of my business partners has nearly 240k emails in his inbox. This is probably 7-10 years of emails. He never deleted anything because he’s nervous he will need it in the future, but he knows there is a lot of junk in there (newsletters, ads, etc.). He did me a huge favor last month and I offered to return the favor by spending an afternoon helping him with e-mail next month. I am thinking about: 1) sorting everything in alpha order, and then deleting all but the most recent email from listservs/ads, 2) creating a rule for listservs/ads to either go to trash or a folder (or forward to IT to unsubscribe him), and then 3) either creating client folders and dragging large numbers of emails to folders, or creating an archive and dragging old/stale emails there.
Any thoughts or suggestions? We’re in accounting, he’s 65, I believe he truly wants to better manage email but never knew how. We recently got better IT help and IT will meet with his assistant to train her on email options, but I would love to cut his inbox in half in a few hours if we could. After that I’ll hand him to IT. If I’m missing a low hanging fruit I’m all ears!
For number 1, this might be what you mean but I would sort by sender name (not subject). You will be better able to mass delete a lot of the junk that way.
yes!! Thank you. That’s what I meant but I will make sure to hit the correct sort function. We’re in Outlook if that matters.
If you use outlook, turn on the focus feature which sorts out most junk. Personally, I’d take everything older than month and move it into a folder called “old.” Then I’d set up a couple of folders for him to easily sort going forward. I use “might need” and “important”. I delete nearly everything in the pre-sorted box that’s not “focused” weekly, that’s all the newsletters and stuff. And sort as I go with everything else. About 98% are “might need” and very few are “important.” Then just use search to find what you’re looking for. I think the most simple system is the easiest to manage.
do you have any people knowledgeable in document storage and management at your firm? he might listen to them on the importance of organizing and deleting in a timely way
I read somewhere this week that the average American consumes 60% highly processed foods. And then I paid a little more attention to my diet and I think I’m closer to 80%! Any tips for eating more fresh/whole/less processed foods? I do packaged and highly processed out of convenience (unpredictable travel, I live alone so don’t cook big meals at home), etc. I know a big shift won’t happen immediately but maybe with farmers markets coming soon it’ll be a little easier!
1. Subscribe to a CSA box; it will force you to prepare and cook veggies and fruit.
2. At breakfast, place on the counter all the elements for a salad at lunch. Then at lunch, all you have to do is assemble.
3. Eat non-processed foods for breakfast and lunch to save the convenience of processed food for later in the day when you are tired.
I think a CSA box is a recipe for frustration in OP’s situation. It is a lot of work to figure out how to use up the weird random things you get in a CSA box. Better to focus on planning meals with prewashed and/or prechopped produce from the grocery store. Even a bagged salad is less processed than a lot of other options, and it is much more likely to actually get eaten than five pounds of kohlrabi from a CSA box.
If you have zero time to prep everything, how about meal kits for dinner instead of pre-prepared food? That might also help you figure out additional meals that you can make given your schedule. Breakfast is pretty easy, buy some rolled oats, etc. Lunch salads are also pretty quick and easy to prepare.
We just started eating more non-processed foods recently. We have to go shopping more often for perishables and we get precut veggies where possible. Then we buy meat and break the packages up to include enough for two. It isn’t hard to put a piece of meat and cut veggies in a pan with olive oil and an all-spice and roast. You will have leftovers for the next day. We stopped eating pasta and potatoes and now eat brown rice which, I admit, we do processed microwave package.
Another thing. I buy grapes, baby carrots and nuts for travel. Still end up eating crappy food when I am on the road but the healthy snacks are a start.
Baked frittata is my answer. Beaten eggs, roasted root vegetables and lots of green vegetables. Smoked salt is a lovely luxury. Make a big pan and you are set for a while as you can stick slices in the freezer.
Avocados with a squeeze of lemon.
Sweet potato cut into fingers and baked as chips.
Carrot, zucchini, celery sticks as snacks, along with nuts.
Overnight oats: oats, berries or other fruit, chia seeds, pepitas and yogurt.
Good on you. The standard American diet (SAD) is pretty awful by nutritional standards. You’ll feel amazing for avoiding it, hopefully, as I did after making the change.
Make good use of your freezer, pantry, and long lasting foods. I always have frozen berries, peas, corn, spinach, and broccoli, plus homemade bread, muffins, and single portions of meals or ingredients (like I make a batch of beans or quinoa and freeze half). Apples, potatoes, onions, cabbage, and bell peppers will last a few weeks, and then another week once you cook them. I cook anything that looks like it might go bad and freeze it if I won’t be able to eat it before the cooked thing goes bad. I eat a lot of veggie+some form of bean+an interesting sauce+a grain meals, which can take the form of a sandwich, salad, bowl, stew, or burrito. I either batch cook or have the ingredients prepped so that I can usually have meals ready with 5 minutes or so- I get hangry fast!
What are good options for a jacket or sweater with a sundress? White or blue denim looks cute on others but feel bulky on me and cardigans seem dated and boring.
Linen moto jacket.
I love a light anorak or chore jacket, as it gives me pockets and I don’t need a bag.
A soft, colourful blazer?
If you wear a crew neck sweater, it can look like a cute skirt and sweater.
Have you tried a cropped denim jacket? Or a denim or chambray shirt, if it’s not too cold?
Something like a classic trucker jacket, but in linen? https://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/product.do?pid=567380002&vid=1&tid=onpl000078&kwid=1&ap=7&gad=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwo7iiBhAEEiwAsIxQETdyXmImrsf8igdWLeEfUvas6l6VDKDf6fs0tPHoOs5191hXImFUNhoCXysQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds#pdp-page-content
https://www.tommybahama.com/en/Two-Palms-Linen-Raw-Edge-Jacket/p/TW510640-042?utm_medium=shopping&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=TB_PLA_GG_X_X_X_X_X_Women_PMax_18094363397__&utm_product_id=tw510640-042-m&utm_content=omnichannel&gclid=CjwKCAjwo7iiBhAEEiwAsIxQEQzFA4zFtwbJWHv2PwR-ivS__1tzR3kzNDHpKhx1p5br6HQC7rDydBoCPLYQAvD_BwE
or a utility jacket in a lightweight fabric: https://factory.jcrew.com/p/womens/categories/clothing/jackets/jackets/utility-drawcord-jacket/BG369?color_name=white&N=LARGE&noPopUp=true&srccode=Paid_Search%7cSmart_Shopping%7cGoogle%7cSS_ACQ_XPROD_OUTWEARxxxxxx_EVG_ROAS_XXX_COUSA_EN_EN_A_FACT_GO_SH_SSC_xxxxxxxxxx,shop_outwear_x_xxx,PRODUCT_GROUP,71700000074775318,58700006443835415,p58214506634&utm_source=google&utm_medium=paid_search&utm_campaign=SS_ACQ_XPROD_OUTWEARxxxxxx_EVG_ROAS_XXX_COUSA_EN_EN_A_FACT_GO_SH_SSC_xxxxxxxxxx,shop_outwear_x_xxx&utm_content=shopping&NoPopUp=True&gclid=CjwKCAjwo7iiBhAEEiwAsIxQETH2CJ_0h_nSdW4l1wtmbWkiLGB5nnXdQBvrrgjKW_QE7pxXlxAFIxoCPHAQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds