Money Diary: Typical-ish Week Back in the Office, Part One

Hoka One One Bondi 7 running shoes (affiliate link)

Approximately once a year, I get inspired to write a money diary post in the format used by the now-defunct Man Repeller, with some added resemblance to Luxe's weekend money diaries. Unlike in the Refinery29 money diaries, I do not provide extra commentary about my overall finances to these posts, which focus instead on daily spending for a week. To date, I've done a 2018 "atypical week" money diary (part one, part two); a 2019 "slightly more typical week" money diary (part one, part two); and a 2020 "COVID-era staycation" money diary (part one, part two). And now, here's the 2021 edition, depicting a fairly typical week from after I was required to return to the office full-time starting in mid-July this year. 

During this week, I wasn't very busy at work, so there won't be a lot of commentary about my time in the office. I'd arrive at my workplace around 9:15 A.M each morning; would step out briefly for a quick walk around the neighborhood to try and get my daily step count up before picking up a takeout lunch - mostly Sweetgreen, just like in my 2018 and 2019 money diaries - sometime around noon or 1:00 P.M.; and then head home around 5:30 P.M. or so. 

I wear my mask while I'm at work, except when I'm alone in my office with the door closed. Like I mentioned in my 2020 money diary, I typically wear a Happy Mask - I ordered mine before demand dramatically increased recently due to the start of the school year - though sometimes I wear a disposable KN95 instead. I find both types of masks equally comfortable because they're both cone or beak-shaped, preventing the fabric from resting directly against my nose and mouth.

This year's money diary starts on a Friday. I set my alarm for an unusually early wakeup call - 7:00 A.M. - because I plan to go running before work, as part of my recent new health and fitness goals. Since I set those goals for myself, I've been reliably running/jogging outside once a week, slowly increasing the distance I'm able to run each time. This particular outing was only my third jog since I started pursuing my new health and fitness goals. 

Within a minute of starting to jog, however, I stop abruptly because my feet and ankles just don't feel right. I'm pretty familiar with this type of feeling, the old pair of running shoes I'm currently wearing have had it, they're completely worn out. I'm surprised by how suddenly this issue came on, however, as these shoes felt just fine during my previous run last week. Whenever past pairs of running shoes became too worn out and started causing pain or discomfort, it usually happened very quickly, but I don't think I've ever previously started feeling it in the very first minutes of a workout before! I usually only start feeling it that evening, or the next day. But it's also been years since I've run outside. (Since graduating law school, I only ever ran on a treadmill until this year.)

I decide I can still walk for a while before heading home to shower and change for work. While on my way to the office, I pick up a small iced latte with skim milk at a coffee shop that's part of a small local chain. It costs $5.75 including tip. 

Life Lately

Pulling out a long-ago personal photo because the weather's warming up and it's starting to feel like spring here in NYC! And with all New Yorkers aged 16+ becoming eligible to receive the vaccine on April 6, I think life will start looking better here very soon. 

Before I say anything else, a note about the events in Atlanta on March 16 and other recent examples of violent crimes with Asian American victims, including one very close to home: As you've probably noticed if you've been reading this blog for a while, I write somewhat regularly about my Asian American identity and about certain forms of discrimination against Asian Americans. It's an issue I think about often and one that is very real to me. But I've been unequal to the task of knowing what to say about the more recent spate of violent crimes against Asian Americans, particularly people who are elderly and vulnerable. 

I do not fear for myself, but I do feel some fear for my mom and for K's parents. And I do not know what an effective solution would be, cannot even begin to propose something intelligible. When I write about Asian American issues, it's important to me that I always be conscious of the position of considerable privilege I occupy - by virtue of my economic class, where I grew up, and all kinds of other criteria - and that I not take away from people more vulnerable than me, or usurp their pain or their stories. That makes it difficult to articulate a response to the events of March 16 and from the past year. 

- - - - -  

Whew, I've had an extremely busy few weeks at work, so I haven't been able to publish anything here on the blog since March 16. Things should be a little more quiet at the (virtual) office now, through at least the early part of April, so now I can get some rest. Here are two smaller, lighter things that have been on my mind since I last wrote.

1. // As of March 30, and as someone over the age of 30, I'm officially eligible to sign up for a COVID vaccine in the state of New York! (And on April 6, all ages currently FDA-approved for the vaccines will become eligible.) 

Unfortunately - but not too surprisingly, given that it's barely been 24 hours since we became eligible, and given how dramatic the expansion of eligibility was on that day - K and I have yet to have any luck actually signing up for a vaccine appointment. (A few of our fellow newly-eligible age 30+ friends have managed it, though.) There are lots of providers out there, including pharmacies, city government-run sites, state government-run sites, public hospitals, etc. etc., each with their own sign-up websites, so it might take a lot of madly refreshing several different websites to finally secure our appointments. 

Given that new appointment slots are always being released, I'm generally reasonably confident that K and I will have at least our first shots by the end of April, even if it might be a pain to find and book our appointments. I expect I'll be back in the office full-time almost as soon as I'm fully vaccinated. 

2. // That rather fancy Nespresso Aeroccino 4 (affiliate link) I bought earlier this month has turned out to be an excellent purchase for our household! Both K and I find ourselves using it for at least one tea or coffee "latte" a day, most days. It really does make our at-home caffeinated beverages feel quite a bit more special. As we've only had this Aeroccino milk frother for around two weeks, it's still far too soon to really vouch for its long-term durability or anything like that, but we've been finding it very functional and easy to use and clean. 

And that's it for now, just a very quick post for today. I hope that everyone has been well. I'm expecting to resume a more typical posting schedule next week, and I don't currently have anything else on my work schedule that I think would cause serious disruption to my typical blog-writing pace in the next few months. (But my work schedule as an attorney can be very unpredictable and big projects can come up on short notice, so it's hard to say for sure.) 

Busy at Work (Mostly From Home)

A black tea "latte" made with my new Aeroccino 4 milk frother (affiliate link).

Like I mentioned at the start of the month, work has been extremely stressful recently. It's also looking like my next two weeks will be especially busy. I expect I'll be billing a lot of hours through the end of the month, some of them at the office (but most of them from home). Work stress has been getting me down lately, making it hard for me to really feel optimistic about when we might start slowly returning to something resembling the pre-pandemic "normal" here in the US. 

But there are reasons to feel optimistic now: K's parents just got their first COVID vaccine doses in Connecticut. President Biden has also committed to the goal of making the vaccine available to all adults across the US by May 1, quite a bit sooner than the original late May to early June target in New York. I hear from friends who are already eligible that vaccine distribution here in NYC has been robust. (It can still take a lot of time to find and book an appointment, but my eligible friends have ultimately all been able to do so without extreme amounts of trouble.) Overall, I have no reason to doubt that all adults will become eligible for the vaccine in New York by May 1, and I'd expect that appointments will generally become at least a little easier to book over time, as capacity and supply ramp up. 

The one-year anniversary of when I suddenly rushed home from my business trip and when K and I started practicing fairly strict social distancing has just come and gone. I'd say more about that - about all the complicated feelings this brings up - except I'm too preoccupied with work right now. All I can really say at present is that, at this time last year, I had absolutely no idea what was coming. 

So far, it's looking like I might actually be able to stay completely away from fashion-related shopping this month. I simply don't have any ideas for anything I'm actively looking to buy right now when it comes to clothes, shoes, and accessories. I haven't even been browsing or window shopping online! 

I have, however, indulged in something new and quite fancy for my kitchen recently, namely an Aeroccino 4 milk frother by Nespresso (affiliate link). I haven't been to a coffee shop for my usual lattes and matcha lattes since we started social distancing last March, and I thought buying a milk frother was a good way to make my homemade coffees and teas feel a bit more special. I was partially inspired to get this specific model when I saw someone on YouTube using theirs in a "day in the life" vlog. It seemed like they used their Aeroccino 4 quite frequently, so I assumed it would be reasonably durable. I've only been using the Aeroccino for around a full week so far, so I can't really comment on its long-term durability and functionality yet, but it's been great and fun to use so far. 

It's probably a bit strange to wait an entire year in lockdown before getting the idea to finally buy a milk frother, especially since I expect to head back to the office full-time - or close to it - once I'm fully vaccinated within a few months (fingers crossed!). I had thought on and off about buying a milk frother throughout the past year, but it was one of those small appliance indulgences that was easy to keep putting off because of our limited kitchen storage. My decision to finally buy it this month did feel a bit impulsive. 

Recent Small Joys

Featuring the Slip Silk Pillowcase (affiliate link) in navy and the L.L. Bean Wicked Cozy blanket (affiliate link) in shade blue. 

Things have picked up a bit at the office, so I haven't been able to blog quite as much recently. Here are a few things that are bringing me some bits of joy and levity these days, as my household continues to observe fairly strict social distancing. 

1. // With the help of Hadilly's comment, I decided to go ahead and get the L.L. Bean Wicked Cozy blanket (affiliate link) I mentioned a few weeks ago. The twin size is suitable for use as a throw blanket.)The plush fleece texture (thicker on one side of the blanket than the other; the thicker fleece side is visible in the photo above) is delightfully cozy and the blanket is quite warm. I ended up choosing the medium blue "shade blue" color instead of the darker navy blue-gray "raven blue," which I think was the right choice to go with the rest of our bedding. 

I'm really enjoying this L.L. Bean blanket, I've basically taken every available opportunity to snuggle up under it since it arrived (after washing and drying it once before use, following the instructions on the label). I'm almost tempted to get these as a Christmas present for everyone on my gifting list! 

2. // Following up on my commitment to make a conscious effort to support Black-owned businesses, I recently bought some additional loose leaf teas from Blk & Bold Specialty Beverages. This time around, I got more of the passionfruit black tea and also tried out the chai green tea. Both are quite good.

Whenever I've wanted to buy a new book since June, I've purchased through The Lit Bar's (a Black woman-owned independent bookstore in the Bronx) Bookshop.org link. Most recently, I got a copy of Allie Brosh's new book, Solutions and Other Problems. Brosh's writing and art style are as great and charming as ever. She's also been posting plenty of supplemental content on the Hyperbole and a Half Facebook page. (There's also a preview chapter of Solutions and Other Problems on Brosh's Blogspot website, with some additional supplemental content for said chapter.) 

I also have some pieces from Black-owned businesses on my fashion-related shopping wish list: The Lingua Nigra "Shower of Faith" baby fringe earrings are beautiful, as are the longer and more dangly "Fringe Theory" earrings. I can't decide which one I would prefer, but because I'm not used to wearing long, dangly earrings, I should probably just stick with the shorter "Shower of Faith" design. I also really like the Olivia top or dress from Two Days Off, both of which are made of mid-weight linen. But because the season for wearing linen has now passed in NYC - it'll be too cold soon - the potential clothing purchase will probably need to wait until next spring or summer. 

3. // Here's a fun discussion topic that started on Twitter: "[W]hat's your cultural background, and what is the pinnacle of comfort food for you?" I'm a Taiwanese-American of Chinese descent, and I have... several comfort food items I'm quite attached to, it's very hard to pick just one. 

My top choice of comfort food is Chinese-style steamed eggs, which in my household were made more plainly and simply than in most recipes people write for this dish. This is the general idea, but I often don't use any toppings - just the eggs, water, and a bit of salt are enough - and I don't use any techniques for trying to get a smooth, silken texture on the eggs. But I also really like scrambled eggs with Kraft singles - basically this Pioneer Woman recipe, except that our household often used a microwave to make this dish when I was small - and find them almost as comforting as the Chinese-style steamed eggs. Both these egg dishes were common breakfasts for me throughout my childhood. 

And there are a number of other favorite comfort foods from my childhood as well, including char siu pork, pho, and - somewhat bizarrely - KFC mashed potatoes and gravy. You can probably guess that I was a child who really liked to eat! (And speaking of people who liked to eat when they were small, I enjoyed the anecdote about Taco Bell in New Yorker writer Jiayang Fan's Grubstreet profile, that when she was 11, she could eat eight or ten tacos at a time. I was able to eat almost as many at that age. And I would definitely still eat Taco Bell now. I didn't typically use the hot sauce packets though, I only gained my tolerance for spicy food as an adult!) 

This last food-related section of this post is turning out to be a bit of a grab bag, so I might as well throw in a link to this recent profile of Sohla El-Waylly in Vulture. She was very outspoken in calling out some of the pay disparity and other racial discrimination issues at Bon Appetit in relation to their YouTube channel (which is now completely dead to me due to Conde Nast's atrocious handling of the situation). In the interview. Sohla discloses that she was ultimately offered a fair contract with back pay for continued video work at Bon Appetit, but that she chose not to accept because other team members weren't offered the same. (I think that's a very brave, admirable decision.) Instead, Sohla is now working on videos with the Babish Culinary Universe and Food52's Youtube channels. 

Recent Small Joys

In no particular order, here are a few things that are bringing me some small amount of joy and levity these days, as my household looks ahead to the daunting prospect of continuing to observe fairly strict social distancing for the indefinite future. NYC's relatively favorable COVID-19 numbers are continuing to hold steady, so the mostly outdoors activities allowed to us do feel quite safe. (Though we should all continue to exercise caution by wearing masks while outside the home, of course.) But there remains a lot of uncertainty for everyone here about whether any significant new indoor activities - including in-person schooling - can safely resume in the foreseeable future.

1. // I've been working on a pro bono litigation project that's part of the larger fight against police violence and racially discriminatory policing in NYC. I'm very grateful to have the opportunity to contribute directly to these efforts. 

2. // I'm really enjoying the loose leaf tea I got from Blk & Bold. The passion fruit black tea is delicious, it smells lovely and the taste of passion fruit works perfectly with the black tea. Their jasmine green tea has a subtle jasmine fragrance and flavor that makes it a good "everyday" sort of green tea. (That's different from the dragon pearl jasmine and Yin Hao jasmine green teas I get from Harney & Sons, which have an extremely assertive jasmine taste that might be a bit more polarizing.) Sadly, both teas are currently sold out from Blk & Bold's website, so it may be a while before any new customers can try it.

3. // K and I binge-watched all four and a half currently available seasons of the Showtime show Billions in extremely short order in recent weeks. We really enjoy Billions, it's fast paced with highly creative storylines - to the extent where the legal and courtroom drama side of it is completely, absurdly unrealistic, which is typical for just about any legal drama on television, but Billions is just a bit wilder than most - and some really hilarious writing. While the various legal storylines are mostly quite absurd, there are occasionally some very on-point jokes about our experience of the legal profession in NYC that K and I really appreciate.

Though I should note that the main characters in Billions aren't very likable, and definitely aren't especially moral or ethical in their behavior. (Given that one of the main characters is a billionaire hedge-funder and the other is an increasingly corrupt prosecutor, this is not especially surprising.)

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4. // I'm still completely enamored with my new fountain pen hobby.  My current favorite inks are Pilot Iroshizuku Ku-Jaku (a gorgeous teal shade), Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo (a deep blue-gray color which looks particularly good on the pale blue paper contained in Smythson notebooks; this color is actually supposed to have a hint of teal, but not in my experience with any of the finer nibs I've tried with it), and Sailor Shikiori Oku-Yama (a nice, moody dark red with a surprising amount of complexity).

Keeping this post relatively light and brief today! Work has gotten a lot busier for me recently, which is a good thing - particularly as my pro bono work is a significant part of it - but I find that it's hard to feel like I have any work-life balance when there's so little separation between my "work" space and "home" space. 

Favorite Teas of the Moment

Zoysia mug from Anthropologie.

It's been a few months now since I stocked up on a set of new items to facilitate my tea-drinking habit at work, in large part so I'd stop using disposable cups at the office. Unsurprisingly, I've put my new purchases to good and frequent use. Since that time, my tastes in tea have shifted a bit from when I started (and I'd expect them to shift back and forth over time, from old favorites to new ones, and back again) and so my tea collection has multiplied. I thought I'd share some of the varieties I'm enjoying right now, because I think they're so delightful.

Please note that this post contains affiliate links that could result in a commission, typically a few cents, for me if you click. Thank you for your support!

A few months ago, when I first bought my new mugs and infusers, I was having a bit of a flavored green tea phase. I'd just bought some Palais des Thes The du Hammam (a strongly scented blend with fruit, rose petals, and what I think smells like vanilla, though the flavor is milder than the fragrance suggests) and also some Harney & Sons Chinese Flower (not as much scent, has a lot of citrus flavor). For less flavored, or unflavored teas, I was mostly drinking Chinese green teas, including loose leaf mao feng green and jasmine pearls from my local Fairway.

After a while though, I started wanting a slight change of pace. The flavored teas are nice, but not as suitable as a once a day (or more often) staple. I was also finding that, at the moment, the Chinese green teas felt a bit too mellow to me (including a sample of dragonwell, lovely but so mild, that I added to my order when I got that raspberry black tea from Adagio Teas), so I was interested in adding some more assertive green teas to my rotation. 

In my somewhat limited experience, of mostly just the last few months, many Japanese green teas tend to be more assertive. I'd gotten some Japanese sencha (similar from Barney's) earlier that felt like a revelation, it was so different from other green teas I was used to, with a lot of character and some notes I'd describe as vegetal or grassy (in a pleasant way). So I stuck to Japanese green teas for my next order, and ended up with two that I adore, and could drink all day, both from Harney & Sons this time.

Harney & Sons genmaicha is delicious. I've had a few other genmaichas in my time, mostly in tea bags, or even loose leaf from a supermarket, and I'd never been terribly fond of it before. With the less fancy versions, all the same elements are there, the taste of the the roasted rice and so on, but the flavors don't come together as well. It was something I liked okay, but would rarely reach for if I had other options. Getting this fancier loose leaf stuff was really something else, though. All the same elements, but it tastes so much better and there's less bitterness. I'd be perfectly happy to drink this all day long (which at my usual rate of tea consumption means four cups a day, brewed from two different servings of the loose leaf, sometimes more if we're busy and working through dinner). I do find that the contrast between the intensity of flavor I get from the first versus the second brew is more pronounced than with any of the other (many) teas I'm currently drinking. This one holds up noticeably less well to a second brewing. 

Harney & Sons roasted buckwheat matcha may have been partially responsible for my recent matcha latte phase, though, in actuality, I find the flavor profiles very different. While my matcha cappuccino from Cha Cha has that matcha bitterness, which I enjoy, there's really no bitterness at all to this roasted buckwheat matcha.  The buckwheat has a bit of natural, nutty flavor, almost a sweetness to it, which seems to balance the matcha well. I can also credit Archana's description of plain roasted buckwheat tea with opening my mind to this option. I got both the Harney & Sons roasted buckwheat matcha and the genmaicha with matcha, and while I love the plain genmaicha, the matcha combination with it just doesn't work as well for me. Maybe because the genmaicha doesn't have the same natural sweetness, it doesn't make as good a combination with the matcha? Also note that neither of these matcha-blended teas taste that much like what I'd expect pure matcha to taste like. Though I wouldn't necessarily know, because I've only had matcha lattes otherwise.

Anyone have more favorite teas to recommend? Should I open my mind to other varieties beyond green teas? For all that I own a slightly shocking number of different teas (my collection has multiplied considerably since I took this photo), I tend to stick to my comfort zones, mostly green tea and oolong, with the occasional sample of white tea. I think the raspberry black tea is the only black tea I've ever really liked. 

Things I Like Lately

(via Unsplash) ETA 6/3/2020: The image formerly included with this post was a personal photograph from Cha Cha Matcha. I have since learned that a founder of the company is an overt Trump supporter and that the company engages in discriminatory practices against Black employees, so I choose to no longer be a customer of that company and to remove my photographs of their shop, including from my Instagram account in order to avoid promoting them in any way. 

We're finally starting to see some warm weather, though only in fits and starts. This past Saturday was lovely, almost summer-like, but without the humidity. A few of my law school friends and I had a free day to walk around. We went to Nolita for brunch and hung out in Williamsburg. I expect things to be busy until the end of the month, but might have a bit of a lull after that, which will be nice. Here are a few of the smaller things that have been on my mind in recent weeks:

The (Matcha) Latte Factor

Because of the busy period at work, I started to develop a daily coffee habit, though that mostly just meant coffee from the communal pot at work, or from the office K-cups. (I get a  coffee shop latte maybe once or twice a week, and don't consider it a big deal.) More recently, though, I had a sudden craving for matcha lattes, and got one every day for an entire work week. I may anticipate continuing the habit in the near term. People who are trying to be more money-conscious are supposed to watch out for the "latte factor", but it seems like my problem is more the matcha latte factor, ha!

ETA 6/3/2020: It has come to my attention that one of the founders of Cha Cha Matcha is an overt Trump supporter and that the company engages in discriminatory practices against Black employeees, so I choose to no longer be a customer of that company and will no longer promote them in any way. I have removed photographs of the shop from this post and my Instagram. 

I started with one from Starbucks which I like, although I'm fully aware their green tea powder is slightly more sugar than matcha. Then I remembered that we had a very trendy shop near us, a branch of [redacted], and I figured I should try it. I actually didn't like their matcha latte, as the milk diluted the matcha so much there wasn't any flavor left. I added sugar just so it would have some taste. Their matcha "cappuccino", with at least a third less milk, maybe closer to half, tasted much better though, with some of the bitterness that matcha is supposed to have, and I don't add sugar then. At least there's a loyalty card, so I'll get a free drink once in a while? 

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In all seriousness I may not feel that bad about this expenditure, even if it's really, really indulgent. I think making matcha properly would be a significant investment because good matcha is expensive (i.e. here or here) and the need for at least a whisk (though I wouldn't expect to spend as much as on this set from Anthropologie, of course). Also, I think having all the accoutrements for matcha latte making at the office would be a bit conspicuously "too much" and weird, and er, take an awkwardly large chunk out of my billable time each day. 

Flat Shoes and Achey Feet

I've worn my new gold shimmer M.Gemi Felize maybe ten times, usually for a full day of work, including my commute, which I think is enough for me to give a fuller assessment. They've done great, were comfortable the first day for a full day at the office, and have held up well. I'd worried that the driving moccasin-style shoe, with rubber stoppers rather than a full sole, would get completely destroyed quickly, given all the walking one does in the city, but it's actually been fine. Only a tiny spot of the sole, right at the edge of the heel of each shoe, has rubbed against the ground and has any signs of wear. (The gold shimmer effect did rub off quick in those two small spots though.) I do walk more cautiously in these shoes than any others I own, and am extremely careful about checking the weather forecast before I wear them out. Still, the shoes are pretty impressive, to be comfortable for an entire day. Compare that to my Cole Haan Tali bow flats, which are great for a half-day of going to meetings or court, but leave my feet with noticeable aches if I try to wear them all day, including on my commute.  

I'm still not super sold on the M.Gemi business model, which relies entirely on frequent, limited-edition releases, because that's just not practical for me. I waited a year or more for leather Felizes to come back, and at the moment, they only really have suede ones again.  They don't release classic colors all that often either.

The Bullet Journal Experiment

I'm quite a few months into using a bullet journal-like system for keeping track of my weekly to-do lists and some longer-term things. By now, I've settled on a weekly layout that I like, after a bit of experimenting. I don't go to any effort to make it especially neat or pretty, and only use black ink, with an occasional thing in blue or red when I'm tracking something and want to visualize progress more easily. I'm happy with the Leuchtturm1917 medium dotted journal I picked, though the cover is starting to show some wear and tear with daily use. 

Now that I'm pretty sure that this is going to be a long term habit, I'm thinking of getting a more durable cover for my notebook, as I think I might start getting annoyed at seeing the increasing wear and tear on the cover over time. There's tons of choices on Etsy, including fun printed fabric ones, though that may be a little too cutesy for my needs. There are also quite a few shops selling leather covers, which should suit better. My favorites so far might be this one from a shop called Uncommon Elephant based in North Carolina, and I also like the purple or blue colors from Balabanoff, a shop based in Ukraine. Finally, I don't think this is the direction I'll go in, but Crazy Organized in Australia does some really cool paint effects on leather covers. 

Anyone else a matcha fiend? The vibe at [redacted] is a bit too painfully hip for me (store specifically designed to be Instagram-friendly, and the fancier drinks are expensive and sound fussy and odd), but the matcha cappuccino tastes really good. 

Friday Link List: Raspberry Tea and Other Things

Brewing Trader Joe's tea in a David's Tea perfect mug and infuser, first recommended by Cassie. This mug has about double the capacity of a standard mug.  

Around the holidays, Trader Joe's sells a tea sampler gift set. (They used to put it in glass test tubes, but switched to small tins last year, which is more practical.) Most of the varieties aren't too special, except for the raspberry flavored black tea, which I think is great. It smells delicious, has a strong raspberry scent that doesn't feel artificial, and brews a good mellow black tea with just the right amount of raspberry flavor.

In shopping for a replacement, I scoped out some of the bigger online tea shops. Out of all the ones offering some kind of raspberry black tea, I thought the Adagio raspberry tea sounded like the best fit. I was pleased to find that it was a good, though not exact substitute. The flavor's not quite the same, but it's similar enough to tide me over. 

1. // Somewhat related to my recommendation last week for Netflix's Dirty Money series, which included an episode about Scott Tucker's payday lending empire, one of his brothers was also involved in a related business, hounding people over phantom debts. One enterprising individual fought back. I generally have an easier time identifying with defense attorneys than prosecutors (there's a lot of jumping back and forth in the field, at least in NYC), but when I hear about payday lending practices, it really makes me want to take down bad guys. Our new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the "CFPB", oft-hailed as the agency you want to threaten a report to when one runs into a bank customer service problem) director may not be as gung-ho about consumer protection as I am, though.

2. // Speaking of MM. LaFleur, it came up on Corporette recently, and some of their readers had a similar view, that the materials didn't always feel worth the price and that there are fit issues. That discussion also directed me to a MM. LaFleur buy/sell/trade group on Facebook, where a lot of people share outfit photos. 

Alas, I'm realizing that Corporette is, more often than not, a rather mean place. The person who brought up the Facebook group wanted to make fun of the women there for not fitting some kind of model ideal, or for looking as good as official website photos. Yikes! As someone who has scrolled through a fewposts in the Facebook group, the unpleasant commenter is totally off base. Women of various shapes and sizes pull off MM. LaFleur better than I do.

3. // Some more fun things from around the web. Someone on reddit made some cool-looking fake "Criterion edition" covers for the best picture Oscar nominees. There's a cool daily outfit Instagram by @yellowgelato. Bitches get Riches did a post that tied a favorite classic movie from my childhood, The Little Princess, to a helpful explanation of privilege. I've been slowly exploring more personal finance-oriented blogs. It's a slow process, but recently, I'm enjoying the discussions at Grumpy Rumblings (of the formerly untenured). Oh and I recently made Half-Baked Harvest's creamy caprese quinoa bake, which Work From Home Wardrobe recommended, and it was easy and tasty, definitely the kind of thing I could make ahead and eat for a few days.

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4. // I recently shopped online at Brooks Brothers for the first time. It's a natural thing to try, as a woman in a conservative profession who is ready to move up from the Ann Taylor price point. I must say, Brooks Brothers e-commerce really lags behind that of any other "mall brand". Over the years, I've online window-shopped for suits, and they seem unable to keep a range of those in stock online in a full size range. With one item I ordered in a petite size, they only notified me it was out of stock a week later, except that exact size still shows up as available on their site (as one of three petite sizes allegedly in stock). How strange! Shopping in person is not much better, as the one time I went to a brick and mortar store there were barely any women's items, and no suits.

I ordered two dresses, a ponte shift dress (only one size/color remaining) from the more affordable "Red Fleece" line for younger customers, and a cotton jacquard dress (availability may be overstated) from their main line. Sizing runs roomier and taller than J.Crew and Ann Taylor, with longer skirts and wider shoulders. The designs accommodate curves pretty well. The Red Fleece ponte shift dress may have been an outlet item, as it started at $78 and was on sale for $58. I shouldn't have been surprised that it seemed flimsy, with no lining and thin fabric.

Do you have any favorite recipes for making ahead on the weekends to eat for the rest of the week? Are you also a fan of any seasonal Trader Joe's items that you miss during the rest of the year? 

Friday Link List

As you can see, I'm enjoying my recent tea-related purchases. The larger, cup-shaped infuser (exact) definitely works better than any other style I've tried before, and is also easier to clean. I'm very satisfied, but in hindsight, something with a sturdier lid-slash-drip tray, like the David's Tea Perfect Infuser that Cassie recommended, might be better, especially as prices are similar. Today's weekly link list is very money-centric. Here goes!

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1. // First up is a Racked article about Affirm, the company that offers financing on TheRealReal, among other places. I'm totally not the target audience for this product (seems equivalent to funding a purchase with a credit card and paying it off over several months, also something I'd never do - people at r/femalefashionadvice and r/personalfinance say their interest rates are similar), but it's fascinating to learn about. The article does a good job putting Affirm in the larger context of the credit card industry. It's a complicated thing, I don't know what to make of it!

2. // Most people outside of biglaw may not find this particularly charming, but I relate to Biglaw Investor's post about not sweating certain types of "minor" lifestyle inflation. If you're doing a good job "paying yourself first" by, say, maxing out your 401k and backdoor Roth IRA, as well as going above and beyond on student loan payments and/or additional savings, those grab and go lunches and Starbucks lattes may not be a problem. Or at least, that's what I tell myself. 

NYC-based office workers' tendency to rely on lunches out can seem extravagant, but I've done a lot of thinking and experimenting with making my own lunches. For now, eating out is the only way I can realistically do lunches. Biglaw Investor comes to the same conclusion for himself.

For context, I once analyzed how much a week of homemade kale caesar lunches costs (~$20.53/four servings, $5.13/serving). What isn't captured is how high-effort that was, to shred the greens (sounds silly, but took forever with the Trader Joe's curly kale) and chopping the tomatoes fresh each night. Luxe also did her own analysis of how much a month of lunches costs, using various combinations of cooking and eating out. Whatever the cost, one much also factor in the challenge of stretching produce from the weekend as far as Thursday, much less Friday. Baby spinach, my salad green of choice for most of my lunchtime salad orders, doesn't last that long.

3. // For a more broadly applicable discussion about bits of "lifestyle inflation" that some people find totally worth it, there's this thread on r/financialindependence. There's even someone who will defend a daily coffee shop latte habit, though theirs is significantly cheaper than it would be in NYC!

4. // Finally, and this was one downside of "old school" blogging, which tended to be much more personal (so people might sometimes complain about someone from offline on their blogs, thinking, foolishly, that it'd stay online), but this discussion on r/blogsnark about people's experiences with the intersection of online and offline drama really brought back memories! 

Back in high school, people often took offline drama onto their Xangas, and vice versa. Someone once went around behind my back accusing me of leaving an anonymous mean comment on theirs.  I've never done that anywhere, on any blog! Many of my previous blogs were anonymous-ish, though I'd share the URLs with some offline friends. I had one instance where, based on highly abnormal viewer stats for that post, something I wrote about a long-ago crush (didn't name names and was incredibly vague, I was a weird kid, but not a creepy stalker!) was discovered  and widely shared by someone. I took that post down right away because it weirded me out, and nothing more happened. Being a teenager is such a... terribly fun time, alas. I had a more foolish internet life than most. 

5. // One random thing - that J.Crew cocoon coat (or the shorter J.Crew Factory copy, or even the Ellen Tracy lookalike I have) is incredibly popular! I see at least five or six people wearing one each week. The most popular color by far is camel, all others are rare. I almost never see any in bright colors, like the red-orange one I have. If anyone is wondering, my Ellen Tracy coat is holding up well, with minimal pilling or other signs of wear. The material was always noticeably less nice than the J.Crew wool blend, but I've been happy with it as an affordable way to experiment with what still seems to me like a trendy shape that could become dated quickly. (In actual practice, the cocoon style is going strong with no signs of stopping.)

6. // Oh and some sale finds: Bloomingdales is having a sale on Longchamp that included the large totes in certain, mostly odd colors. Most of the sale colors aren't practical (including the pink I'm familiar with from my "Miaou" tote), but the peacock green large Le Pliage is nice. Some Wolford is on sale with a promo code, "FRIENDS", including some 50 denier tights, but not the variety I just bought. Also, this is a super weird specific thing, and it's not even a recommendation, because I don't think I can, in good conscience, actually recommend this, but this exact Joe Fresh (which I think is a Canadian fast fashion brand somewhere between an H&M, Gap or Old Navy, and Uniqlo) marled  shawl collar cardigan at Hautelook has been my "office sweater" of choice for years now. It's hardly the only moderately priced relaxed fit cardigan out there, nor is acrylic a material to write home about, but... I've gotten oddly attached to it over time. It runs large, which I personally think makes it feel cozy. 

Was I the only one who had some internet drama from back in the day intersect with their offline life? Are there any bits of "lifestyle inflation" that you embrace? Outside of buying my lunches at work and enjoying the occasional latte, my other big one is cabs to and from the airport when I travel, except in cities with an extremely convenient airport express train right to the city center with no transfers. (London, Rome, and Hong Kong, for instance - no such equivalent in NYC!)

A Cup of Tea

Thank you to everyone for your kind and thoughtful replies on my previous post. She was a wonderful mother and grandmother, always unfailingly kind. Things were difficult for a long time in the last few years, but everyone has so many good memories to hold on to. She was deeply loved. My family and I are doing well. 

Today's post is about a few items I bought recently for my desk at work, or that I plan to buy soon, all in service of my tea-drinking habit. I drink tea every day at work, usually going through three to four cups a day, enough that loose leaf is absolutely the only way, and the most cost-effective way, to go. It's an important part of my every workday, so it makes sense to treat myself to a few items to facilitate brewing and drinking tea at the office.

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This will show that I'm absolutely terrible sometimes when it comes to the sustainability and low or no waste-preferred components of minimalism, but at both of my private sector jobs so far, I've relied primarily on... disposable plastic or paper cups for water and tea or coffee. (I know, I know, it's awful of me, and I'm totally kicking myself!) In my partial defense, most of my time since graduation was spent as a government employee, where I used real mugs. The public sector doesn't provide constant, infinite refills of, well, either paper cups, or of coffee, unlike my private sector jobs. Anyway, I'll be better now, with the help of some of these recent purchases. None of this is too exciting, but it's all things that I know I'll be able to make good use of (that tea habit is definitely not going anywhere), and that will make my workday more enjoyable, even during my busiest periods:

• Mr. Coffee Mug Warmer: This is a new item for me, but I've had it for a few days, and so far so good. The nature of the job means that I often get distracted by a call or a new task that just came up, so quite a few servings of coffee or tea that I prepare for myself get forgotten long enough that they get cold. I don't think I've ever found, or read about, a solution more elegant than an electric mug warmer, so there it goes. Reading the Amazon reviews, it seems that these tend to be a fairly clunky and failure-prone gadget, but I haven't had any issues so far, though, well, it's been a very short time. I'm going to need to be extremely careful about shutting this off whenever it's not in use and not using it for excessive periods of time, as there's some risk of it overheating. 
• Silicone Drink Cover: These are not something that would normally be on my radar, as I spent more than a year at my last job without, but most of the reviews for the mug warmer suggest that a lid helps significantly with getting a hot drink to stay warm. I see a lot of similar silicon mug or cup covers at various stores, including when I'm traveling in Taiwan, so I figured they'd do the trick, and are generally useful. I picked one of these flower-looking Charles Viancin drink covers, specifically the sunflower ones. They're four inches across, which should be good for most mugs. These are also a new item for me, but are also good so far. 
• A Pretty Mug or Two: Whatever else one thinks of Anthropologie (I feel like the clothes aren't as nice-looking as they used to be), they stock some of the prettiest and most fun mugs. Out of the current selection, I'm particularly partial to the Liberty floral printed mugs and the pretty Mimira mugs pictured above. I'll be getting something at Anthropologie in person the next chance I have to stop by, but for now I've purchased a Pusheen mug for my desk. I tend to keep both a cold and hot drink at my desk and drink, so having two reusable mugs is the right number for me. 
• Metal Tea Infuser: I've used quite a few tea infusers or filters in my time, including the little mesh ball-shaped ones, paper tea filters (bad minimalist of me, again!), and even a silicone "manatea", which is absolutely adorable, but also not the most practical, as it's a little difficult to fully clean out and the really small holes seem to prevent some teas from brewing as well. From that set of experiences, I'm thinking that a larger cup-shaped metal filter, preferably one that comes with a little lid that also serves as a drip tray, is the way to go, something like this, though this one on Amazon is cheaper. 
• Electric Kettle? This is a little more unusual, but I may also be thinking about getting an electric kettle for my office. Like at my first firm, there's a hot water dispenser at my new workplace, but the water doesn't seem hot enough to brew oolong tea, one of my go-to kinds, though it's hot enough for green tea, so I've been holding out for now. I bought and donated this basic metal Hamilton Beach kettle to my previous workplace and it was great and still going strong, though 1.7 liters is a little big if it's just me using it for single servings.

Anyone else a habitual tea drinker? Any favorite kinds? I usually just pick out one of the green teas from the fairly broad selection of loose leaf tea at a nearby supermarket, and I have a range of different oolongs from my trips to Taiwan that will take me quite some time to use up.