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1) How to avoid being pulled into drama when someone is fired. (Ask a Manager)
2) This black-and-white bag from Cole Haan is versatile and on sale.
3) Conversation starters for your next first date. (Refinery29)
4) Want a white suit? I’m deciding between this tweed one and this bow-collar one.
5) How to respond to a passive-aggressive co-worker. (Washington Post)
6) LOFT Musts: this pink sheath, this striped open cardigan, this floral henley dress.
7) How to hack your bar order to make it healthier. (Well + Good)
8) I love this pom-pom top from BR. Also, these fierce, burgundy double-buckle sandals.
9) The Lawyer, The Addict. A look at drug abuse in the legal profession. (NYTimes)
10) This casual Athleta Downtown Dress is amazingly slimming.
11) 6 Things to Do on Your Commute to Feel Better About Work. (The Muse)
12) Love ladylike dresses? This ivory sheath and ruffle-trim shift from Goat are awesome.
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What I’m Watching. This 60 Minutes interview with Ai Wei Wei.
Best Trick I Learned. Replace the pricey brush cleaning pad with a LEGO base.
What I’m Loving. This amazing gold and misty-grey artwork.
What I’m Listening To. True-crime podcasts.
[image found here]
A vote for a white tweed suit. I have one from AT last year and it is surprisingly versatile. I bought the jacket, skirt, and sheath (skipped the suit shorts…no thanks AT!) and have gotten a ton of wear out of them. They feel like great show pieces if I have a presentation, but are basic enough for everyday, too.
Thanks for the link to the podcast round-up! I am a big fan of two pods featured on that list: “Someone Knows Something” and “Missing and Murdered: Who Killed Alberta Williams?”. If any other Canuck readers are looking for more Can Con in their podcast playlists (or anyone else interested in more Canadian true crime), I’d also recommend checking out the aptly named “Canadian True Crime” podcast, which is very well researched and covers a few more recent events.
What a heartbreaking story on the addicted lawyer. I’ve been really surprised by the amount of drug use in the professional world. I’m not a lawyer, but have seen it while working in consulting and finance. I completely agree that people don’t address it, admittedly when I’ve seen it I’ve just immediately removed myself from that person as much as possible for professional self-preservation, and I didn’t do anything productive to help them. Ashamed to admit that, now realizing that it’s another kind of enabling.
i got so excited – i thought “bar food hacks” referred to hacking the ridiculous restrictions/stress around food for bar exam days. :'(((( Any suggestions would be great!
Do you mean what you can take with you to the bar? Or what to eat when you go to the bar exam? Any other bar tips people are looking for? I could crowdsource a post for some lawyer friends.
Both sort of. Snacks in the exam room that will keep you fueled but not lead to sugar crash, and also what’s good to pack for a lunch depending on your situation. I’ll be too stressed to wait in long lines at restaurants, so I’m thinking of packing something that can keep the 3-4 hours of the morning in an insulated lunch bag, or using my nearby hotel fridge.
Anything else to keep motivation, focus, destress, etc would be soo appreciated!
Depending on your state, you bring nothing in with you. Water is controversial in some states!
Don’t plan on noshing during the actual exam. Your desk neighbors will kill you.
Okay, so we couldn’t have any food in the exam room with a doctor’s note. So I didn’t bring any. As for lunches, the first day we really screwed up and ordered Jimmy John’s. And wouldn’t you know it, this was the one time the delivery was not freaky fast. The second day we walked into the hotel restaurant, asked the server what would take less than 15 mins to deliver to the table (grilled cheese and soup), and ate that.
Some of my cohort brought food. They packed yogurt (protein for sustained energy) and PBJ or some other sandwich. The thing you don’t want is to eat anything that will move through your system quickly. So, you don’t want to eat anything high in fiber or spicy or with ingredients that could spoil. The other thing is, do not eat anything for the first time on exam day. I had a classmate last year who went to sushi the night before, and had never eaten sushi before. He had stomach upset all night and couldn’t sleep or eat the next morning. He passed, but he did’t need the stress.
The other thing I would tell you is DO NOT DRIVE OVER the night before. I flew in the Monday before the Wednesday exam. On Tuesday, I went to the convention site, checked out the temperature, room location, restroom location, etc. I also walked to a pharmacy got water, snacks, meds, etc. to have in my room. And just knowing that I had everything I could possibly need and there would be no ancillary “emergencies” was huge. I also timed how long it took to get from my room to the convention center. I checked out nearby restaurants and looked at menus. I just got adjusted to the area. Even going over the morning before is great. But we had a classmate fly the night before, flight was delayed, he got in at 1:00am. Not ideal.
I would pay a lot of attention to what you wear. I did not wear any makeup either day. I did not want to spend the time on it, and I did not want some errant mascara ruining a contact and forcing me into a glasses situation. I wore leggings both days. I wore a long tunic sweater with a tee under it both days. I wore a long cardigan or jacket both days that had pockets that would hold my bag of ID, keys, pencils, eraser, etc. because there were no purses and no bags allowed. My room was just across the street, so I could run back if necessary. I also packed four bobby pins and an extra hair tie in case my updo fell out. Yes, I wore my hair up both days, because I had messed that up at the LSAT and spent the whole first half hour of the test wishing I could get my damn bangs out of my face. I wore a necklace and earrings, but no rings, because I knew I would take them off and got scared I would lose them.
Also, I would read the list of testing center prohibited items and behaviors like 10x. You may think they won’t care about the chapstick you don’t have a doctor’s note for, and 99/100 your right, but if you get the one petty tyrant, you do not need that stress. Oh, and if you have the Mac with the touch bar, they are not offing around about that. I watched them electrical tape over a guy’s touch bar and browbeat him for 10 mins for not letting them know in advance he had the computer. It was brutal.
Last piece of advice before I write a real post on this, DO NOT get distracted by the shit happening in the testing room. People will storm out 20 mins in, do not let that throw you. A guy will get up after an hour and a half and be done with the exam. That guy is either a moron or a freak of nature, but that has no impact on your test score. People will cough, they will sneeze, if you need ear plugs use them when you study to get used to wearing them for 6 hours straight. If you have never worn them do not start on test day. And know where the bathroom is so if you have to leave the test room you can get in and out quickly. A girl got lost looking for a bathroom when it was 10ft from the door and missed 25 mins of the exam. How do I know? Because her friend was consoling her in the bar when I went for a snack after the exam.
I ate breakfast before and went to a panera-type deli in between, where I sat outside and reviewed my notes (a big no-no, but I couldn’t just do NOTHING). The bar rules re: food/water are annoying, but, like the entire bar studying period in general, it’s just something you get through. I had no issues with attire, jewelry or makeup. I don’t remember, but I assume I wore leggings of some sort and that my hair was up. I second reading the testing center rules over and over and over, and not doing anything for the first time at the bar exam..
The article about drug abuse in the legal profession was haunting. I can vividly remember the stress of working in a big law firm after law school. I was saddled with student loan debt and had no other choice. There were casual conversations about drug use and massive heavy drinking. One of the partners used to regularly smoke pot in his car in the parking garage. Another lawyer at the firm drank so heavily that she eventually she couldn’t make it in to work until after 2pm, and she was eventually fired. I can remember being near tears as I watched the secretaries leaving at 5pm, knowing I had several more hours of work ahead of me. One day a lawyer friend offered something for me to take. “You won’t feel a thing”, she promised. I didn’t take it. After a few years I had paid down my loans enough to take a government job at half the pay. It was the best move I ever made.
That’s a scary story, glad you found a better environment for yourself.
In terms of white suits, I am obsessed with this: https://www.reiss.com/eu/p/double-breasted-blazer-womens-angie-in-off-white/?category_id=1124
And it’s on sale!