As planned, I had my virtual wardrobe update consultation yesterday (with Lani!) and based on recommendations ended up ordering a major refresh of my work wardrobe. Then I joked with Josh that with my luck our healthcare system is probably going to issue a directive for everyone to wear scrubs going forward.
That would be kind of funny (but also sad!). He replied that there wasn’t really evidence for that (and this 2014 analysis agrees, though my takeaway from it is that white coats are disgusting! Thankfully I haven’t worn one since 2008).
ANYWAY. I used funds that were previously budgeted for my 40th birthday trip (sad, but . . . at least it was nice to repurpose them for something specific). The plan is to unbox in one sitting with Lani on FaceTime for better decision making about what to keep/return.
I will definitely do a post on the experience once everything comes. It felt slightly crazy to buy so much at once, but I think it was time. Having an expert shopper do the curation for me was also really enjoyable. Time will tell if it actually results in smarter purchases!
Call Week Begins
Ana wrote yesterday about having trouble with our current situation because there is no defined countdown, and a commenter mentioned that prisoners fared better when they avoided putting an end date to their suffering.
Well, call is a defined period (and while it’s not “suffering” per se, I do find it more difficult than normal life). And I definitely do a countdown! In my planner, in my head, etc. I definitely “wish life away” during those weeks. It feels very natural to do so because there is a defined end date (call is a 168 hour period!). Like Ana, I did the same thing in residency during difficult rotations.
It’s hard not to do the same thing now, with lockdown. But admittedly in my current situation (as previously discussed, and largely due to having childcare) I am not finding this time to be all that bad (after the initial shock wore off, anyway). Given this, I have not really been tempted to fixate on the end; I’m counting up, not down. Last night, Josh was wondering about our August family trip again (to the Keys, no plane but supposed to stay at a resort villa) and I can honestly say that I have barely thought about it. If it happens, fine. If it can’t, fine.
Although it did kind of break my heart that G yesterday asked to go to ‘Mingo Gardens again. Someday, G.
Oh and I started Organize 365! The first day’s goal was to define various zones in the kitchen. I tried as best as I could to define them (cooking area, food prep / storage area, etc). Moving things around in space = not my strength, but hopefully having some guidance will help.
I have no on-theme picture for today, so enjoy this survey of our current chocolate collection:
chocolove xoxox – Strawberry Filled Dark (kid fave)
Theo coconut
Endangered Species Forest Mint
Hu Salty (my fave)
11 Comments
I rolled my eyes at the prison analogy, sorry commenter, I find this analogy obscene.
Ooh, can’t wait to see the haul. I’ll live vicariously through you for this, shopping for work clothes is not happening right now for obvious reasons.
And yeah, I have mixed feelings about the comment. I’ve read this before, and its hard to wrap my head around. Maybe I’d fare horribly as a war prisoner, oh well.
Oooooh, chocolate!
I can’t wait to hear the results of your wardrobe consult order!
I look forward to the details of your wardrobe refresh. And the survey of your current chocolate collection looks delicious!!
I am struggling with this too, not knowing “when” this will end. I just told my husband the other day, “if I could just have an end date for when everything will go back to normal (REAL normal), it would be so much better!”
But I guess I don’t know, scientifically speaking. I don’t know the prisoner story but maybe it’s based on research?
It kind of reminds me of the story Nir Eyal tells in his book Indistractible, which I think you also read…where he compares flight attendants on a 3 hour flight vs a 10 hour flight to see when they would have the strongest cravings to smoke. Apparently the study showed that despite what people might guess, the strongest cravings were reported on the shorter flight, not the longer flight, since those on the short flight knew they were getting close to landing sooner and would be able to smoke before long. I guess the attendants on the long 10 hour flight just knew they couldn’t smoke so their cravings dissipated.
Maybe it’s the same sort of thing here, in some ways…I feel slightly more antsy lately since I feel we are sort of on the verge of some things improving, but I don’t really know when or what it will look like.
I’m also looking forward to seeing what you ordered/keep. You’ll have to do a post about this. I look forward to doing this in a couple of years! My company keeps saying that we are not going to shift to more of a WFH policy. They had just ended a WFH program and laid off a bunch of people who didn’t work close to an office location so they seem to be very committed to sticking to that decision even though others in my industry (asset management) have said they will have a smaller footprint in terms of buildings/offices/etc. We’ll see if they hold firm on not having people WFH if many of their peers are and are recognizing cost savings! So all that is to say, I think I’ll need my usual work wardrobe in the future, but maybe I won’t. We’ll seel!
I’m still on the struggle bus with this whole staying at home thing. It’s tough to have a toddler with a short attention span and to not be able to go anywhere, like parks, pools, the beach at the local lake, etc. I ordered a slide for our backyard and ordered a splash pad that we can use this summer, but it’s just not the same as walking to our local park which also has a wading pool. Le sigh. But maybe in 1-2 summers we’ll be able to go back to our favorite places! It is SO not practical to have a pool here in Minnesota since our warm season is so short, but boy do I wish we had one!!!
I remember during week 7.5 of residency, my second in a row as a surgery intern, I was eagerly anticipating the next month’s easier rotation when I received a call from my program director that I had to do a third month in a row as a surgery intern because a colleague had injured himself. It felt freaking horrible when I found out! Obviously I survived, but yeesh!
*second MONTH in a row
I majorly need a wardrobe consult
Tell me more about this person Lani, the link isn’t working?
so weird – will try to fix it. it’s Real-Life-Style.com
She was a podcast guest a few episodes ago, too!
Have you tried the Theo salted dark chocolate? Amazing!