“I used to jog, but the ice cubes kept falling out of my glass.” — David Lee Roth
Fly Away. Is The Wing, an all-female clubhouse/co-working space, too Manhattan for D.C.?
Simple. I need this navy shirtdress for casual Fridays. Â Just add a belt.
Changes. “I got plastic surgery to get ahead in my career.”
Dress Down. This button-up tunic can be worn over jeans or over a swimsuit. Now, that’s versatility.
Misnomers. Some animal shelters are buying dogs from breeders at astronomical prices, bolstering the very market they’re trying to put out of business.
Deals. Affordable Outnet arrivals include these stylish rose-gold hoops, this printed Equipment blouse, and this flirty red dress.
Lifted. How to ask for a raise. Because it’s still hard.
Best Friends. This drop-dead gorgeous pave diamond ring is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Â They also make a smaller, “affordable” version for $2,800.
Blurry. This dating app only shows you your match’s face after you talk. What could possibly go wrong?
Florals. A yellow and black floral doesn’t sound great, but it’s totally dreamy. Â Also, this sweet watercolor floral from Donna Morgan for church or fun dates.
Article Club. Some non-Facebookers asked me to post links to this week’s Article Club reading material. Â This article details Emily Weiss’s wedding beauty regimen. Â This one discusses the writer’s thoughts about it. Â Both will be discussed on the Group page as soon as I get off this plane.
Layering multiple thin bands was so hot five (?) years ago, but this photo has me right back in it.  I love how the simplicity of the look morphs into the dramatic and edgy.  There aren’t many sets on the market, but I found this set at Ssense that has really cool details.  But, of course, the best options are $4 at Forever21 and $6 at Forever21.
{image found here; this post contains affiliate links}
Anyone else think it’s pretty likely they’d accidentally wind up getting matched with an ex if they did that dating app? That was my first thought.
Then again, back in my OKCupid days my three matches were two friends and a guy who wanted to start a polyamorous commune in Waldorf. So I might just be gunshy.
I will start avoiding Waldorf. 😉
Yes, the Wing is way too Manhattan for DC. I’m a Grade A Liberal Hillary Clinton Sheryl Sandberg Lean Inette and I am genuinely confused as to the target demographic of this “social club”? I don’t even know where to begin.
1. Why Georgetown? Why? I feel like you really give yourself away as not understanding DC if that’s the location that you pick.
2. The inspiration story is bizarre. So presumably the founder needed a place to do her makeup on the Acela. So she created a place in…Georgetown? So she can take an Uber from Union Station to Georgetown and then an Uber back to wherever she’s having her meeting? She’s got time for all that? How is that a solution? What’s wrong with doing your makeup in your chair or in the bathroom at the train station? How is doing your makeup that critical to your life?
3. It sounds crazy expensive. So unless you’re basically Tory Burch when she was starting her brand with her husband’s money, you couldn’t afford this. Why would you need a work space unless you were either self-employed or an entrepreneur? So it just doesn’t sound like there’s much of an overlap between the people that this would benefit and the people that could afford it.
4. This isn’t the first luxury work place/women’s club I’ve seen written up in the past week in the name of feminism (June Diane Raphael just opened a Hollywood-angled one, too), and I’m just having a really hard time understanding how this benefits anyone except independently wealthy women. How is this feminism? Of course businesses have been all over co-opting political activism to make a profit, but this is getting old.
5. If places like this had childcare built in, I think they’d have a fighting chance to work out (or at least being arguably useful/helpful). That seems really obvious to me? I could see how having a social club where you could bring your child and also get work done would be appealing to a lot of women.
6. But seriously the men that are freaking out at the all women aspect of it is equally mind-boggling to me.
I’m hoping someone else has an idea here and can explain to me how I’m just missing the point or something. These ventures almost seem like a joke – I’m half expecting these founders to rip masks off and reveal that they are all Gwenyth Paltrow giving us Goop 2.0.
I bought a membership. Mostly I did so because after two jobs fell through (thank you GOP retirement exodus) Kyle and I had to put the DC relo on hold, and I need a place to go when I travel to DC. I can just as easy stay at a hotel near G-town. But I agree, anyone who has ever tried to cross from the Hill to Georgetown at 4pm can tell you this is silly.
While the use of words like “coven” and the grating commodification of feminism bother me, I have enough friends who highly recommended the NYC location to look past it.
Does The Wing offer overnight accommodations included in the membership? If so, it could be cost-effective for those who need a place to stay in D.C. I’m looking for a job and could use a quiet place to work between appointments downtown. The music at Starbucks can be loud and grating. Also not a place for phone interviews. Still, The Wing is not in reach for the under-employed.
There are several WeWork’s around DC, I think they offer day passes. There is one in Chinatown that could work for you.
I’m pretty baffled by this as well, and that’s a great summary of points above. The location is so out of the way for most offices / residences. Most of my friends (who largely fall into what I think is the target demographic of young-ish, high-income, ambitious women) rarely visit Georgetown.
I will say, though, that I’ve tried to use the bathrooms at Union Station to freshen up, and they are always filthy and crowded, so I can at least see where her initial frustration could have started. Just not how that frustration inspired this!
The closest equivalent I’ve visited in DC is the University Club (where you do get reciprocal club access, fitness facilities, and access to overnight options), and I have thought that a different take on that could be neat. Maybe my skepticism here is misplaced – I’m very curious to see how it goes, especially if they open another location that’s more accessible. As is, though, there is zero chance I’d join – and realistically, given the expense and the fact that I work a full-time job in a fixed office, this just isn’t for me.
I’ve seen a few cowering spaces pop up with childcare or at least with kids activities so the little ones can be entertained while the parents try to get something done, but they don’t have the same glam factor that this does.
coworking* damn autocorrect.
The issue of who is served by the Wing came up a good bit on twitter last week when it was announced that the NYC Human Rights Commission was investigating its exclusionary (of men) practices. (I think there can be a place for single sex clubs, and I think there are exceptions to the NYC human rights laws, I wonder why they didn’t go through the process?) I was engaged in a conversation about the fact that the Wing seems mostly like a place for women who are already successful to network with women who are already successful–while this is great, it seems like it leaves women behind. But in reality, and I could be wrong, what I really think the Wing is about is the bottom line for its owners and investors. That’s fine and it offers a great service for those who can afford it. But it should stop trying to pretend its some great equalizer or place of advancement for women kind. I
I don’t think the prohibitively expensive price is an issue for DC, but I thought The Wing seemed kind of oddly placed in Georgetown. Not a lot of residential density (for the work from home crowd) and not really near a lot of offices and such. Plus Georgetown isn’t as trendy as it used to be. In one article I read (may have been the one you linked), one of the founders mentioned coming up for the idea while getting ready on a train. So why not put it downtown or in Capitol Hill, where lobbyists can go between meetings to freshen up, kill time, and get some work done without having to crowd into Starbucks or the Longworth Caf.? It could even be a cool, bipartisan alternative to the Capitol Hill or Dem Clubs. Plus then there’s the whole fundraiser venue opportunity.
They lost me at G’town 🙂 Maximally inconvenient location from my normal center of activity.
Totally! Shaw and H Street, like they mentioned in the article, would have been a much better fit. I can also picture this doing well in Logan Circle.
Although I haven’t gotten plastic surgery or any types of fillers, I did do two things that are cosmetically-oriented that I justified in part with, “but my career,” sentiments.
1) I had two facial moles removed. I hated them. A lot. One was positioned in such a way that I feel as though it drew too much attention. I want to be seen as the woman whose work kicks ass, not the woman who happens to have a poorly positioned facial mole.
2) I got Invisalign last year because my teeth were way out of whack or, as I bitterly/charitably call them, ‘creatively arranged’. I was extremely self-conscious about them; I’d smile close-lipped and cover my mouth when I laughed. I’m still in treatment but the difference is AMAZING. I feel like a new person. Although I never had illusions about this being vain and totally, “for me,” I happened to find additional justification in that-like it or not-our appearances are judged. Society might look at something like misaligned teeth and make snap judgments about your intelligence and who-knows-what-else. I’m not willing to risk lost opportunities because of ridiculous things like that.
Jenn, I also did the corrective teeth route – with adult braces (which was quite the experience). I completely agree that feeling more confident in your smile makes a huge difference and the stigma around having “creatively arranged” (LOVE that statement) teeth.
My next step is getting them whitened, but I’ve had ALOT of sensitivity after the ortho work, so I’m scared to make them even more sensitive. If you have any thoughts, I’d welcome them!
I could definitely benefit from whitening, but the sensitivity scares me. Ortho treatment is leaving mine more sensitive than they once were. For now, I use Plus White gel (it’s cheap, OTC, and not as much of a pain as whitestrips) but I’m researching professional options.
I’m more concerned about straight than blinding white, though, honestly.
I was pretty angry when I read the dog auction article on WaPo yesterday. I am a 100% adopt don’t shop person and I foster animals for various rescue groups. I also take on hospice fosters.
This is my takeaway from that article . . .
First, the rescues who buy dogs from auctions need to tell all of their adopters that this is their practice.
Second, those of us who do not support this practice need to educate the rest of the rescue and adoption community. I also want to do to more research into the auctions and evaluate what the consequences to the animals would be of getting them shut down.
Third, those of us who do not support this need to work to stop it. It’s gross. IMO, part of this is educating people about non-breed specific dogs and how awesome they can be! Yes, I know there are some who need specific breeds due to allergies, but other than that, the best dog for your house is the one whose personality, energy needs, and behaviors fit your lifestyle and home life. NOT the one who is the right color or looks right. This has to be a shift in the way dog owners think and it is a LONG and somewhat impossible haul, but I will keep chipping away at it.
I know this is in the internet and I am sure there will be people who think I am an idiot and who cares about dogs, but whatevs!
I love all dogs but I have two rescued pitbulls. I am drawn to them because so many people shun them and they are subject to breed specific legislation. Buying dogs when there are SOOOOOOO many available just baffles me. Do I think the cute grey pure bred frenchy is adorable. YES! Will I buy one? Never.
So i guess +1 I am the idiot who cares about dogs too.
It doesn’t even matter if you care about dogs; this is a completely disingenuous practice that’s basically lying to consumers. When someone sees that a dog has been “rescued” from a puppy mill, they picture this horrible place and the rescue group sweeping in to save this puppy and help shut down the mill, when in reality, the dog was sold specifically to that group just as it would be to any customer looking to buy a breed specific dog. These aren’t rescuers, they’re middle men.
I completely agree, Anna!
And thank you Rhi, for adopting Pitties!
The part that irked me was think about it from a donor’s point of view. You give thousands to the shelter, they use those thousands to pay market rate to a breeder for a top-shelf breed like a golden doodle or franchie, then they adopt them out for pennies on the dollar. So now, every person the adopter knows who wants a class-A breed shows up at that shelter, not looking for a shelter dog, looking for a dog like their friend got.
There’s a shelter in Seattle that I suspect does this. Multiple friends from college have gotten purebred dogs at the shelter and have encouraged others to go there as well. At what point does that become just a pet store with a different name?
I bought Avery from a breeder after trying to find a shed-free dog for two years. I felt conflicted about it, but I was on every wait list at every shelter within 200 miles and my number just never came up. So I just made a donation to our local ASPCA to get some other dogs adopted out. But if I thought that money was going to buy dogs at auction, I’d be ticked.
Oh, also irritated by the coven language. Seems pointlessly retrograde.