Today is Moving Day Part I for me: I’m going to DC for a job and will be moving in with my fiance. I don’t do well with moving. It’s my least favorite thing and stresses me way the heck out. So, please excuse the lack of substantive posts while I freak out over here.
In the meantime, check out this great retro hair do-it-yourself guide from Jamie at From Me To You — she shares styling product recommendations as well. Would you rock this hairstyle at work?
(Isn’t her blouse fantastic?)
Update 9/5: A winner has been contacted but I’m waiting for the winner to respond before I announce (no response yet). Will hopefully have more info soon!
Here it is… the moment you’ve been waiting for…
The Tempur-Pedic® Giveaway!
I am incredibly excited to be able to offer the Tempur-Pedic that I absolutely adore to my readers. It’s the TEMPUR®-Contour Signature (the amazing mattress) with the TEMPUR Advanced Ergo System® (an adjustable base that will rock your world).
The winner gets to choose which size bed they would like. (And the winner will be very lucky indeed, as the Queen size retails for $4,099.)
Some fun facts about Tempur-Pedic beds:
Giveaway Details:
How to Enter:
Good luck!
This post was sponsored by Tempur-Pedic.
It’s my last day of work at my current job! It’s been a great experience here but I’m happy to move on to the next chapter. As I’ve mentioned before, in the next week I’m moving to a new city (and in with my fiance) and then departing on a month-long trip before starting my new job. I feel a tad overwhelmed by all the changes, but I’m mainly looking forward to the future.
Packing for the massive trip, on the other hand, is not a task I look forward to. Luckily I have all your recommendations for traveling light to fall back on.
I spotted these three tech accessories that are really snazzy, so I thought I’d share them with you. I still haven’t bought a case for my iPad. I’ve been taking my time surveying the options, but I should definitely do that before I leave.
This iPad case from Dooney & Burke is professional looking and practical. It's stain resistant, totally waterproof, and padded. Plus relatively inexpensive at $65.
Now THIS is an iPad case — and I'd also rock it as a clutch, it's so beautiful. Leather, embroidery, and magnetic snap closure. $300 from Lizzie Fortunato.
In my mind, I am literally jumping out of my seat with excitement over Club Monaco’s fall line. In reality, it’s my lunch break, and to actually be jumping out of my seat over clothes would be madness.
I’m a little confused by Club Monaco’s stated inspiration for the line; looks like they’re saying it’s 50s, 60s, and 70s… all wrapped up in one? It looks mainly 70s to me. Whatever it is, I want it all!
I loathe studies like this. They make life appear preordained, when I’d love to think we have more control over our emotions and attitudes.
Nevertheless, according to the Journal of Applied Psychology, hating your job runs in families.
From the Juggle:
Being born with certain genes sparks an inclination to be happier at work, while other genes are linked to lower job satisfaction, says the study by Zhaoli Song, Wendong Li and Richard Arvey at the National University of Singapore. This counters conventional thinking, that misery on the job can be blamed on lousy working conditions, low pay, mistreatment by the boss or a poor career fit.
The current thinking is that around 27% of our job satisfaction is based on inherited traits.
The genes linked to poor job satisfaction are also connected to higher rates of depression and lower self-esteem. I wonder if taking steps to mitigate the tendency toward depression and low self-esteem would also help with job satisfaction?
In any event, my dad has always seemed fairly satisfied with his job, while my mom has struggled to find work that makes her happy (or at least, not unhappy). Maybe that means, for me, it’s a wash. But I don’t know… is a “wash” a thing in genetics? Probably not.
I announced my new partnership with Tempur-Pedic® on Friday, and now I’m going to talk about the most wonderful bed I’ve ever slept in. At the outset, I should emphasize — yes, this series of posts is sponsored by Tempur-Pedic. They gave me a bed. But no, nothing I say here comes from the company. This review contains my honest, unbiased, disinterested assessment.
Now that that’s out of the way, I can say:
I love this bed.
The bed I’m talking about is the TEMPUR®-Contour Signature (the delightfully soft yet firm mattress) with the TEMPUR Advanced Ergo System® underneath. The latter piece is an adjustable bed with massage functions. Yep. I’ve got an adjustable bed that plugs into the wall. And it’s awesome.
Adjustability
You use a remote to raise the head of the bed, raise the foot of the bed, and control massaging at both the head and feet. The remote is very user-friendly. But the best part are the 4 memory settings, which store your ideal configurations. After a bit of experimenting, I found the perfect TV-watching position: head raised about 50 degrees; feet raised slightly. Then I held down a button on the remote for a few seconds, and voila — I saved it to Memory Position #1. Now I just hit #1 when I want to watch TV in bed. It’s so perfect.
In case you’re wondering, my ideal reading position is now #2. (The head of the bed is slightly higher up than #1.) It’s so darn comfy. Haven’t used positions #3 or #4 yet, but when I move in with my fiance next week, he’ll probably claim those.
Which brings me to…
Sleeping
While it’s wonderful to have the perfect TV-watching and reading haven in my bed, beds are mainly for sleeping. I’m a very, very light sleeper. I wake up when my fiance moves a muscle. When I move around, I think about how that might wake my fiance up, and then I stay up worrying about having just moved. Then I move some more. Anyway, this has been a problem for awhile.
I haven’t replicated the bowling ball and wine glass trick yet, but I can say that the bed is amazing for two sleepers as it doesn’t transfer energy from one side to the other. I don’t notice when my fiance turns in the middle of the night. And I don’t stress about moving myself. It’s a beautiful, beautiful thing.
Not to mention the bed feels soft as a cloud but still firm enough so that there are no aches or pains from misalignment.
Pillows
I’m something of a pillow diva. I need two, and they can’t be too soft — they have to prop up my head to the perfect level. But I actually wake up with headaches when I sleep on pillows that are too firm.
Once again, Tempur-Pedic has delivered. I also received two TEMPUR-Cloud® Pillows to test. I actually got these before the bed, and when I unwrapped them and squeezed them and hugged them and lay down on them, I knew I was in love. I also knew that if the bed was anything like these pillows, it would be freaking amazing. (And as you see above, it was.)
Bottom Line
There’s a reason that a large chunk of new Tempur-Pedic customers are referred by their friends. Tempur-Pedic has a 94% satisfication rate. The comfort of the TEMPUR®-Contour Signature mattress really can’t be overstated. It’s a dream. Paired with the versatility of the TEMPUR Advanced Ergo System® underneath, you may never want to leave your bed when you’re home. I feel very, very fortunate that I’ve been able to do this partnership with Tempur-Pedic, because my long-running sleep issues have disappeared. (Thanks guys!)
A Queen-sized TEMPUR®-Contour Signature and TEMPUR Advanced Ergo System® retail for around $4099. The TEMPUR-Cloud® Pillow is $129. If the bed’s within your budget, think about it. I realize it’s a large one-time expense, but the bed comes with a 20-year limited warranty. (Many people replace their mattresses every 4-6 years; 10 years is usually the upper limit.)
You can also enter the upcoming giveaway to win the bed I’ve reviewed here (not mine, a new one!). Stay tuned…
You know I’m a sucker for Vogue’s 5 Days, 5 Looks, 1 Girl series.
When I spotted a mini-trend appearing in the series — oversize clutches for work bags — I thought I’d present it to you guys for observation and comment.
From left, Esther Adams remarks:
I’m training myself to downsize from a large tote full of maybe-I’ll-need-them-maybe-I-won’t items to manageable handbags. This Surface to Air envelope clutch just about fits all of my essentials and although I constantly feel like I’m forgetting something, my back is thanking me!
And Jessica Sailer says:
Also, I’m addicted to this oversize clutch for day; I feel so much more put together when I carry a clutch as opposed to lugging a big bag around. And it’s a good exercise in editing: Only bring exactly what is needed.
Here’s a round up of some roomier clutch options:
So what do you think: Feel like an oversize clutch would be liberating, or restricting? I’d like to try it. I accumulate so much random junk in my large purse, that a clutch would be a good lesson in pruning. Plus, the new crop of clutches are just right for daytime.
*In other news, I’m having a minor freak out about all the things I need to get done. My job ends this week, so I’m working hard to tie up loose ends. Then I’m moving in with my fiance, then leaving for a month abroad! I’d like to keep up the level of posting while I’m traveling, and to that end — if any of you would like to contribute a guest post, let me know!
The irony of this post following on the heels of the inspirational startup quotes post is not lost on me. Just giving a dose of the bitter with the sweet.
In a depressing piece, the New York Times featured cautionary tales of professionals who gave up their steady, lucrative (though perhaps mind-numbing) jobs in law, banking, or marketing to pursue their dreams. Such dreams included starting wedding planning, chocolate-making, and pottery businesses.
In story after story, the Times showed that following your dreams isn’t a golden ticket to happiness and success.
As for a lawyer-turned-Greek foodie:
Six days a week, she wakes up at 5:30 a.m. (“before most lawyers”) to start baking. Instead of pushing paper, she hoists 20-pound bags of flour, gets burned and occasionally slices open a finger. On Mondays, when the shop is closed, she does bookkeeping and other administrative tasks.
And here’s the tale of another quickly disillusioned entrepreneur:
In January, after 12 years in software, [Charan Sachar] quit to devote himself full time to his online store, Creative With Clay, which sells stoneware he designs and makes. (Last May, he told his story on Etsy’s “Quit Your Day Job” blog.)
Now, instead of spending his free time absorbed in visions of clay, he spends as much as 70 percent of his day on administration. He is not only his own boss, he is his own accountant, sales director, marketing manager and shipping clerk. That leaves little time to enjoy the hobby he loves.
Charan’s tale reminds me of an early post I wrote on why loving your hobby doesn’t mean you should turn it into a career.
In perhaps its most insightful observation to date, the Times noted: “Former white-collar workers are also surprised by the demands of manual labor.”
Basically, the article tell us that going it alone is hard, especially when you’re used to leaning on coworkers and company support systems. But a wise entrepreneur knows this, and has already done extensive research on what the risks and obstacles are to becoming self-employed. If you needed to a dose of reality to shatter your dreams of instant entrepreneurial success, the Times has you covered!
From a great collection of quotations from startup founders:
Happy Monday.
P.S. Check out the Hanes giveaway post to see who won the Silk Reflections.
Exciting news. I’m partnering with Tempur-Pedic® to share information about their newest sweet-dreams-inducing sleep products (they happen to be the highest-rated bed makers in America).
Plus, the best give-away yet is coming up soon. It’s going to be huge. (Can you tell I’m incredibly freaking excited about it?) You don’t want to miss it — so add Jane Has A Job to your feed reader!
Stay tuned for more information in the coming week!
Have a great weekend!
