The Low-Down on Prescription Sunglasses

Hey all! I’ve been squirreling away every extra dollar I could get from work since December and finally got a pair of prescription sunglasses from Warby Parker! (Doug got some, too, a pair of Ray-Bans, since he has health insurance now). My life has changed forever! Instead of a gratuitous post featuring only photos of my mug, I asked my friend Libby, an optician, to write a little something to answer any question you’ve had about Rx sunglasses. 

Warby Parker Sunglasses

Okay sure, and  few gratuitous photos of Doug and I with our new sunnies slipped in for good measure. Take it away Libby… 

Because I work in the optometric field, I get friends asking me about glasses and vision problems all of the time. Now, I’m not a doctor, but I do know a lot more than I did before I got into this line of work. Let’s talk real talk, like I do with all of my friends. Feel free to Google any terms here, but not everything might be Google Image friendly, if you know what I’m saying.

Hey, you’re thinking about getting sunglasses! I am genuinely (in such a nerd way) thrilled for you about that! Because protecting your eyes from the sun is crucial. In the long term, you’re staving off threats like cataracts and macular degeneration. But in the short term, you’re doing what you can to keep yourself safe from things like skin cancer or irregular growths that can show up on the surface of your eye, and something called Photokeratitis. Photokeratitis is, essentially, a sunburn on the eye. It’s temporary, only lasts a couple of days, but it can be super uncomfortable and feel like there’s sand in your eye.

So what do you need to look for in your sunglasses? Two things really are key, here: broad spectrum protection and fit.
A really good fitting pair of glasses is going to protect the skin around your eyes as well as the eye itself. We know that the skin around our eyes is super thin—that’s why they’re the first things to go in the battle against those pesky fine lines and wrinkles. The big, mega-coverage sunnies are not only on-trend, they’re also safe.

Ray-Ban Sunglasses

Most importantly, it’s crucial that your lenses block out both UVA and UVB rays. We all know about the harmful effects of those guys, right? You wouldn’t go out without sunscreen on the rest of you, So make sure that your eyes are covered. Your very best bet is going with a polarized lens. Polarized lenses are going to block out the harmful rays and they’re also going to eliminate glare and reflection. That just sounds like a sales pitch, I know it does but sometimes the things you’re most passionate about sometimes come out sounding pitch-y. Picture yourself driving into the setting sun. There’s the frustration from the sun, alone, and then everything on your dashboard is being reflected into your windshield and, let’s face it, you’re driving blind!  A polarized lens is going to shade your eyes and completely erase that glare from your field of vision. You, your passengers, and everyone else on the road is in a safer position because you’re wearing polarized lenses. . I could go on about how it does that but the short answer is “science”.

Also, I know you don’t want me to say this, but stay away from the $5 sunglasses bin. A lot of times, those lenses are nothing more than a tinted plastic. That sounds harmless, I know, but it really isn’t. Think about it, what happens to your eyes when they’re shaded? Your pupils open up really wide, right? Your eyes are opening up to take in more light and with that light, even more harmful rays that aren’t being filtered out through the lens. You really are better off to not wear any sunglasses in that case.

Prescription Sunglasses

I wear glasses 100% of the time, which makes finding and wearing sunglasses kind of a huge pain. This just in, glasses wearers: you have options! In my office, it’s really popular for someone to order a “clip-on” when they order a new pair of glasses. That is a pair of polarized lenses that are matched to fit your frame and just clip onto the front. Snap them on when you get in the car, take them off when you go inside. I used these for about a year before I changed frame styles and my old ones no longer fit. There’s also the fit-over option. Admittedly this is not super popular with the pre-retirement age crowd. I think that’s because designers have yet to come up with a really stylish looking fit-over. They block almost all of the possible sunlight and are built as a pair of glasses to wear over your existing glasses.

Honestly, though, the best idea is just to go with a whole separate pair of prescription sunglasses. I just got my very first pair and they have changed my life. I’ll never go without them. I feel oddly free and I know that I am taking care of these eyes—the only ones I’ve got! I know rx sunglasses can be on the spendy side and seems a little extravagant. But in the long run (and the short run) it’s completely worth the price. Think of it as the ultimate treat-yo-self. Research your health insurance. A lot of people come into my office and don’t even know that their insurance will cover their glasses. A lot of offices and boutiques will also offer a discount on your second pair of glasses. It doesn’t hurt to ask. People ask me for discounts all of the time and, you know what? I can usually work something out for them.

Ray-Ban Sunglasses

I hope this helps you when it comes to shopping for your sun coverage. Hopefully you’ll know what to look for and it’ll be easier for you to justify the price of quality eyewear. If you have any questions for me, I’m more than happy to use my resources to come up with an answer for you!

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The State of the Home

If you were one of my very first followers, you might remember that as soon as I moved to Kansas in 2010 I shared a few photos at the very beginning — but they seem to have disappeared in the vortex when I moved some blog posts around. The posts are there, but not the pictures. Oh well. In the spirit of keeping anyone who’s interested up to date with my life and showing how to take a very standard apartment and infuse it with personality, it’s only fair to show you the crazy mess that is our place right now! Here’s the view from the entry…

When we moved in back on the 14th, it was box-a-palooza in here. I was up to my eyeballs in boxes, however I was attempting to open up a few of them and store key items, even as more boxes were being brought up… I felt like I was treading water but it kept me super motivated. To be honest, within the first four days most of our boxes were unpacked, save for the pile of about ten (seen below) that cannot be unloaded due to the fact that the boxes contain mostly books and we sold our bookshelf before moving.

(Spoiler alert–you’ll get a Bookshelf Shopping post before the next month or so is over.)

The kitchen is technically galley-style, but the pass-through (seen above) keeps it from feeling cramped. Also, the fact that the counter extends out to create a bar means that I have counter space galore!! In theory, I could put stools there for dining, but the silver ones we have are laughably too tall to work. They just barely tuck under the overhang and sitting on them to use the counter is just not possible.

I am in love with this counter space. In fact, I’ll be even more in love with it once I get those piles of random stuff under control and I can use it.

Here’s a shot of the kitchen:

The bedroom is kind of a wreck due to the fact that I can’t fit into most of my clothes so hanging them up at all seems like a futile project. Just keeping it real. The black dresser is mine from my parents’ house. They couldn’t wait to get it out of their place and into mine… and I was happy to accept. Those ridiculous drawer handles have got to be updated, though. As for our other dresser, We will be using the white TRONDHEIM from IKEA in the main living space as a sideboard/additional kitchen and office storage.

Ah, yes. The dog kennel. In our last place it fit neatly into the guest room closet. In our new place, there isn’t really anywhere to tuck the eyesore yet keep it accessible for when we need to crate Mosey. So, some kind of beautification project will be underway sometime.

Another thing to file under “keeping it real,” I am beginning to loathe that ENGAN wardrobe (you can see it in the first picture) with every inch of my heart. It was perfect for our old place but our new home has plenty of closet space in the bedroom. I tried to sell it to the homebuyers but they passed on it, so we had to move it out here to CA. It got damaged in the process (I knew it would) and we’re stuck with this monolithic wardrobe that is totally not jiving with my inspiration for our new place. Whew; rant over for now.

All in all, I am optimistic in regards to the direction the apartment is going! I took these photos a few days ago (last Friday maybe?) and things have already changed, big time. I’ve got a long list of topics to blog about and now that we have wi-fi, I can’t wait to share everything about making this place awesome!

Anything specific you’d like to see a post about in the near future? 

Moving in.

Oh man. Here it is Thursday, and I’m getting out my first post of the week! Is it really Thursday? I don’t even know what day of the week it is. I know you guys will go easy on me, though, because other things have been more pressing… you know, like moving in, job interviews, grocery shopping, etc. I hope you really enjoyed the guest posts last week! If you ever make it out to CA, I hope you look us up or at least take some of their tips under consideration!

We should have wi-fi at our place early next week because it makes more sense to get signed up now (even though we remain jobless) than pay the same price in 3G overages on our iPhones. Yikes. The thought of it gives me cold sweats.

The drive was long and boring as I knew it would be, since I was alone (well, with Mosey) in the small car while Doug and his dad tag-teamed the big moving truck and trailer operation. Due to the trailer we made the whole trip (approx. 1500 miles) under 65 mph. That added on some time but I admit it helped my peace of mind knowing that our earthly belongings weren’t careening around the country at break neck speed–also we totally killed it on MPG. Here’s my protip for the day–if you really, really wanna save money on a cross-country trip, drive 60pm the whole time.

Here, some first glimpses of our apartment:

20120919-090338.jpg

Yes! It is seriously basic! Light brown carpet and white walls. All 824 sq feet of it. You know what? I am seeing this as a real opportunity to be taken. Let’s be honest: not a lot of design blogs have to deal with apartment-complex imposed restrictions. They either own their place and can do whatever they want, or have a really laissez-faire landlord (like I used to, especially when we lived in our loft) and pretty much get free reign.

I’m going to embrace these limitations! White walls and light brown carpet? Bring it on! Know what? The vast majority of people like me (early twenties, living in larger apt. complexes) have the same parameters we have now. And as my tagline says, I want to prove that any home can be made fabulous.

Here’s to the new phase!