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– The WSJ says the power suit is dead, suggesting instead that we wear the looks pictured. Uh huh. Above the Law disagrees (thanks to ATL for quoting me!).
– The WSJ recently had a conference on women in the economy and there's lots of interesting articles, including the latest taskforce thoughts on what's holding us back, and the top ten women recruiters expect to be CEOs soon. You can read all of the articles here. The Juggle has a fun quiz to see what readers think is holding women back; The Careerist summarizes some of the advice given by one of the most controversial speakers, Jack Welch.
– Jezebel has an awesome piece that nicely rounds up the hubub over Hillary Clinton's recent appearance with very little makeup.
– Road Warriorette has some advice on traveling during your first trimester. (Congrats, RW!) (You can check out my own tips for working through your first trimester, too.) Meanwhile, FINS has four rules for maternity leave.
– SavvySugar suggests some friendly ways to tell friends and family what your last name is after you've married.
– Glamour reports on which brands are most loved by different age groups — sure to help you zero in on the best last-minute Mother's Day gift.
– Lifehacker names the five best fitness tracking devices. (Ladies, what do you have, and how do you like 'em?)
Did we miss anything? Add 'em here, or send them to news@corporette.com. Thank you!
Anony
The glaring issue with that WSJ article isn’t that those outfits aren’t work appropriate (which they aren’t really) its that they’re really not all that attractive. I mean, they’re so…weird looking. I guess that’s power dressing if the power you want to project is craziness.
Sharon
Seriously. There has to be a middle ground between the (allegedly) soul, self-expression, and creativity stifling power suit and looking like a cartoon.
D
I totally agree!
Lynnet
Quick Threadjack, hopefully someone will see this.
Sometimes I think that my Inn of Court exists solely to present fashion challenges. Tonight we’re having an “end of the year party” spouses and families are welcome, and it’s outdoors. The invite says to “dress for the weather”. It’s unseasonably cold today, and at best it will be in the low 50s, but probably more like high 40s for the event. Normal dress code for our events is suits or conservative business casual. I’m thinking a dark grey Calvin Klein sheath dress and then wear my black wool peacoat over it, since I know I’m not going to want to take it off (I wear a sweater any time it’s under 75 out, no light jacket or cardigan is going to cut it for 3 hours in 48 degree weather). Does this sound appropriate? Or does “families welcome” imply a more relaxed dress code?
Former MidLevel
That sounds perfectly appropriate. I don’t think that the mere fact that families are included means you need to dress down more than that.
Lurker
I think flat ironing my hair has caused it to lose its shine. Any product recommendations to bring out the shine without making my hair look a shade darker or wet.
lucy stone
I use a Phyto reconditioning mask a few times a week and it has helped considerably.
CPA to be
I use bumble & bumble’s tonic lotion. It is not actually a lotion, but a light-weight treatment you spray on your hair before you style it. I use it every day and my hair has never been shinier. It has tea tree oil and vitamins in it and smells really refreshing. That said, my hair is fairly coarse and wavy/curly, so I’m not sure how this product would work on fine hair.
Sydney Bristow
I just need to vent for a minute about a super annoying doctors appointment I had yesterday. I’ve had monthly appointments with a doctor for the past 6 months and every time I go, she writes me a new prescription. The first 4 visits were great. I never had to wait in the waiting room for more than 5-10 minutes and I really like the doctor and had come to trust her. Last month after waiting 45 minutes to be seen, I’m taken to the exam room and a different doctor comes in even though the one I’ve been seeing was in the office. I didn’t like the new doctor from the moment she came in the room, but there wasn’t really anything I could do. So I have to catch her up on everything since she hasn’t read my file at all and then she tried to push new approaches on me when I’m perfectly satisfied with the current approach. Then it turned out that she wasn’t actually an MD and had to go get my original doctor to write me the prescription. I was frustrated with the experience but figured it was a one off thing because they were so backed up that day.
I had this month’s appointment yesterday and had to wait 20 minutes to be seen. I understand the waiting, although it annoys me, so I was glad when the patient who was to be seen ahead of me got up and left and told the receptionist it was because she just didn’t have time to wait any longer. That is the only reason I was seen in 20 minutes. It would have been much longer if that hadn’t happened. So anyway, the nurse does her thing and goes to get the doctor. There is another patient in the room next to me who had been waiting longer, so she was supposed to be seen first, but she had a bunch of questions, so the nurse said the doctor should see me first since it would be quick. Well this was not my original doctor or the person I saw last month. So it wasn’t quick because she had to be brought up to speed. In the process, the nurse came back in to say the other patient was upset at having to wait so long and the new person I was seeing asked if she could go see the other patient and then come back to finish up with me. Since we were almost done, I told her that I had to get back to work so I’d like to just finish up first. We finished up and she apologized for the interruption saying that she was taking longer with me because I would be seeing her regularly from now on. That was a surprise, but I liked her so I was ok with it until I found out she couldn’t write prescriptions either. She went to go get my original doctor to write the prescription, but the doctor had gone to lunch. Then the nurse came in to explain what happened and said she would call my prescription in to the pharmacy once the doctor got back. I went to pick it up this morning and it hadn’t been called in.
So I call the doctors office this morning at 6:30 when I get to work intending to leave a voicemail but the voicemail is full. I called back at 8:30 and spoke to the receptionist who said they can’t call in my prescription because it is a controlled substance. I explained what the nurse said and the receptionist took my information, said she would speak to the nurse when she got in, and would call me back. I hadn’t heard anything by 11:15, so I called back and asked for an update. The receptionist said she had passed my message along to the manager (?) and they would get back to me. I asked when I could expect a call because if it can’t be called in then I’ll have to use my lunch break to come pick it up. She couldn’t tell me what time but said she would follow up. It’s nearly 1:15 and I still haven’t heard back. I’m planning to call back at 1:30 and demand to sit on hold until I can speak to someone who can help me since I take lunch at 2. I’m so mad about the entire situation and really upset that my 15 minute lunch break will now be 45 minutes so I can go do something I wouldn’t have had to do if I was properly dealt with yesterday. Any other suggestions on how to deal with this?
Sydney Bristow
Eh nevermind. I called again and got to momentarily speak with my original doctor. The prescription is there waiting for me. Still frustrated I have to go pick it up though.
TCFKAG
Yup. If you are on a controlled substance of any kind, never leave without them. You’ll probably have to go back for every refill as well, if you need any.
I understand why they do it, but its such a pain in the you know what.
TCFKAG
Get a new doctor? That’s insane, I go to a large practice and my doctor would never let me be treated this way (even when I see other practitioners because she isn’t available, she always makes sure to follow up with me.)
Fair warning though, if your prescription is a controlled substance, they probably can’t call it into the pharmacy. Half of the nurses/staff at doctor’s offices seem to forget this (god, sometimes my doctor forgets this) and you have to constantly remind them. You’re probably going to have to go over there and pick up a physical paper prescription (depends on the level of control, some allow fax…) I now know never to ever leave without a written prescription in my grubby little hands. (BTW, this was the bane of my existence when I was going through my chronic pain period.)
anon
No suggestions, but I feel your pain. A couple weeks ago I had an OB appointment one day, 15-20 min wait, but then between all the tests they do and consults, it took 2 hrs. I had to go back for a 10 min consult the next day, where I had to wait a full hour to be seen. And another consult the day after that, which took 15 minutes, but they made me wait over an hour to be seen. I missed a lot of work that week…
DC Jenny
I’m sorry, that sounds so frustrating. I *hate* going to the doctor and the pharmacy, and I have to do it frequently for various reasons. I recommend not settling for bad service and shopping around for a new doctor, if possible. I switched specialists a while back and found out that I didn’t need to do office visits as frequently as my previous doctor was requiring. (She was also having me do tons of labwork that was totally useless because she didn’t have me fast beforehand.) It’s a pain to try to find a new doctor, but I’m soooo glad I did.
CA Atty
Wow. I would definitely think about getting a new doctor. That’s ridiculous and if you have to go monthly it’s going to continue to be a PITA.
I also feel your pain, I went to the doctor Tuesday, had unfortunately left my wallet in my boyfriend’s car and therefore didn’t have my insurance card, my id, anything. It was also a new doctor, and I couldn’t 100% remember her name. I was pretty concerned about finding her at the large complex and got there about 30 minutes early. After looking for a directory, I went to the information desk and explained the problems. The lady there told me the doctor would not see or speak to me and I would just need to call for a new appointment. I asked where the office was so I could go explain the issue in person, she said they wouldn’t talk to me because they don’t do the scheduling at the office, I have to call the main number. She gave me a list of about 20 numbers for different things (new patient services, family health appointments, x-ray appointments) some of which I could easily discard but I ended up having to call two numbers because I guessed wrong the first time.
I walked out to my car while I was on hold and was told it would be a 5-10 minute wait, so I decided to just go ahead and start to work so I wouldn’t have to use as much personal time. When the operator finally came on, I explained the issue and she said basically everything the lady at information had said was wrong, gave me the doctor’s direct line (sort of, voice mail), suite number, building number and told me to just go.
So I did, rushing up to the counter 5 minutes after my appointment window and explaining the problem. The nurse said I wasn’t late, clicked a few buttons and I was taken back to an exam room about 5 minutes later. The doctor came in about 10 minutes after that and said “oh my goodness, you wanted a pap! We only have 20 minutes (seriously??? For a new patient/annual exam?? WTH?) and you were over TEN MINUTES late!!!” So she did a curtailed exam, the bare minimum, basically, and asked me to come back as soon as possible to “finish up.”
By the end of the whole thing I seriously wanted to go back and rip information lady’s head off. I understand that the whole wallet thing was my fault, but she should NOT be giving out 100% wrong information like that!! Also, my doctor’s office DOES make their own appointments and DID make another one for me way earlier than I could have gotten by going through their regular scheduling system.
I did end up going back to information lady and politely told her she was full of it.
Sydney Bristow
Thanks all. I’ll have to give some serious thought to switching. I did end up going to pick up my prescription and if I go back next month I’m going to remind them when I check in that I need a prescription written and they need to make sure the doctor doesn’t leave before I get it.
Sydney Bristow
Sorry, I hit reply to say that sucks CA Atty! I’m glad you got to tell the information person how it really works though.
KD
I really like the Nike Training Club App. It has lots of workouts you can do at home or in a hotel room because they don’t need weights or special equipment (some do require dumbells or a medicine ball though). The app is free and it rewards you with special workouts and recipes etc. after you hit certain milestones based on how many minutes you worked out with the app. It has some short workouts that are only 15 min long and others that are 30min or 45min long.
CA Atty
Boo! It’s not on droid! I did pick up an interval training app too, as I need to start those and hadn’t yet figured out how to do my timing! :-)
KD
Oh and if I could rant about something too: Why is it considered “trying to have it all” if you’re a woman who wants kids and a career? I’m sick of hearing people say that…especially my MIL. If she’s going to make a big deal about me not putting my career on the shelf to stay at home for 18 years then maybe I should just adopt an 18 year old for her. She can’t stop talking about how much “she can’t wait to be a grandma” and how badly “she” wants her first grandkid, that I feel she doesn’t understand how big an impact it will be on my life and her son’s.
I also think she has it in her head that the kid will be a cute baby forever, and doesn’t really talk about how much she’s looking forward to an 8 year-old asking where babies come from, or an awkward, angry teenager, or paying half a million for schooling. I suppose that’s because after a couple of months she’ll be pestering me to “pop” out the second one.
I still DO want to have kids someday (I’m 30 btw)… but her comments and frequent pressure make me want to wait until I’m 40.
anon
So true. For most women, kids and a job are just the way it is.
Anonymous
Anyone who has kids and works is having it all. Sorry. It just is. I have it all with one child and hubby works at home. Still hard.
Anonymous Poser
So long as your hubby also “has it all”, that’s fine. But if the term applies to only women who have a child(ren) and work, then I think a stronger argument about why the situation is “wanting it all” for women, but not for men who want the same thing, is needed.
Historically speaking as well as now, yes, Anon is correct. Look outside of those with enough money, and look outside of the US. Surely both parents do some work for money in most cases, in addition to child-rearing.
OP–Before I get too off-track, I believe that it is selfish of your mother-in-law (and yes, I know I’m being hypocritical here and imposing my middle-class and cultural values onto the situation) to presume that it is your responsibility to make her a grandmother. If you never wanted to have kids at all, rather than simply wanting to have them later, that would also be your choice.
I will note that it’s interesting to me, and I think this may be where the pushback against women lies, that the OP mentions a career, while Anon may mean the same thing, but says “work”. I think maybe it’s still okay for a woman with kid(s) who works, you know, “if she has to”, but to some it’s still not acceptable at some level for a woman/wife/mother to desire a fulfilling professional life, as well. Though of course a man who wants children and a career is called…”good husband material”.