One of President Donald Trump’s Joint Chiefs of Staff nominees, Gen. John E. Hyten, has been accused of sexual assault. In April, Col. Kathryn A. Spletstoser said Hyten entered her hotel room on December 2, 2017, where he forcibly kissed her and ejaculated on her pants, among other sexual misconduct, according to The New York Times.

Both Hyten and Splestoser testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this week, where Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, who is also a veteran and represents Spletstoser as a constituent, spoke to reporters after closed-door hearings.

“I found her very believable. I do think it becomes a he-said, she-said kind of a situation, but I have some questions after listening to her testimony where I’m going to try to follow up and seek some clarification,” Duckworth said, Roll Call reports.

Trump nominated Hyten for to be the next vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in April. If confirmed, he would become the country’s No. 2 military officer and oversee over 1.2 million active-duty troops in the U.S. military.

The accusation highlights the continued struggle of sexual assault victims in the military to seek justice against their attackers. Col. Don Christensen, president of Protect Our Defenders, an organization dedicated to advocacy for sexual assault victims in the armed forces, explained that the Defense Department still has much work to do for victims based on how the Hyten case is being handled.

“She has received no apology. Instead, the Pentagon praised the man she says sexually assaulted her,” he said to The New York Times. “If this were Staff Sgt. Hyten, he’d be getting charged. The only reason he wasn’t charged is because he’s Gen. Hyten.”

Despite the lack of official charges against Hyten, Spletstoser said she felt a moral responsibility to come forward.“I could not live with myself if this happens to someone else and I didn’t do anything to stop it.”

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

Alabama Governor Says She Won't Resign After College Blackface Skit Surfaces

We'll Be Talking About Kirsten Gillibrand's Campaign For Years To Come

What I'll Tell My 4-Month-Old Daughter About Jeffrey Epstein When She's Older

Welcome toMoney Diaries , where we're tackling what might be the last taboo facing modern working women: money. We're asking millennials how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we're tracking every last dollar.

Today: a marketing coordinator in Missouri who makes $34,500 per year and spends some of her money this week on a hazelnut latte.

Occupation: Marketing Coordinator/Server
Industry: Nonprofit
Age: 26
Location: Missouri
Salary: $29,900 + $4,600 stipend
Paycheck Amount (Biweekly): $937
Gender Identity: Woman

Monthly Expenses
Rent: $675
Student Loans: $124 for Sallie Mae (My federal loans are still deferred, since I just finished my master's degree.)
Personal Loan: $272
Car Insurance: $65
AT&T: $156
Wi-Fi: $50
Credit Cards: $500 (I was about $10,000 in credit card debt when I left a bad relationship two years ago, where I financially supported us and am now getting on track to pay everything off. It's slow but steady. I try to pay extra when I can.)
Health Insurance: $224 (pre-tax)
Planet Fitness: $25
Spotify: $10
Hulu/HBO: $22.52
Netflix: $12
Savings: $50 (I'm more focused on paying off my credit card debt than saving right now.)
Yoga Teacher Training: $200 (I'm starting the class in a few months, but am trying to pay as much as I can up front. They are luckily pretty flexible on payment plans.)

Day One

9 a.m. — I wake up super late for the day. I stayed at the apartment of the guy I'm seeing, C. It is very new but also awesome so far. He drives me to pick up my car at the restaurant where we both work. He picked me up after work, and I didn't feel like trying to take my car home last night.

9:45 a.m. — I get home, shower, and get ready for work. I have to go straight to the restaurant after work tonight, so I wear black jeans, a black top, and a cardigan. I throw my hair up into a messy bun, throw on a velvet wrap headband, and run out the door.

2 p.m. — I'm getting hungry. I go to the wrap place around the corner and get a chicken salsa wrap with chips and a small soda. $9.87

5 p.m. — I leave the office and head home because I forgot to bring a change of shoes that are appropriate for the restaurant. Luckily, everything is like a 2-5 minute drive. I clock in for the night. I made hardly any money over the weekend during the opening/lunch shift, so I'm hoping I do tonight. We have two big parties coming in, so I should do well.

10 p.m. — I finally clock out. I should've made at least $120 tonight, but the parties all tipped less than 15%, and one guy didn't leave anything after I busted my ass on them for three hours. I ended up making $89. I'm exhausted and starving, so I get Taco Bell because it's the only thing open after 10. After waiting on people all night, I don't feel like cooking dinner for myself. I go home to watch last night's Big Little Lies and then call it a night. $6.56

Daily Total: $16.43

Day Two

8 a.m. — I was supposed to wake up way earlier to hit the gym and take my car in for an oil change, but that's not happening. I get up, shower, and get ready for work. I have leftover chicken and veggies that I put in my lunch bag along with sriracha and a Diet Coke.

8:45 a.m. — I get into the office, turn everything on, and start going through emails. I start looking up some InDesign inspiration for this newsletter I'm putting together.

9 a.m. — I drop in next door to get an iced coffee. I've gotten somewhat close with the owner, R. We're around the same age, and she gets my frustrations about work. She tells me about a position someone has open that I may like. It doesn't really have to do with my degree, but if it pays well, I'd be open to it. $2.63

12 p.m. — I heat up the chicken and veggies for lunch. It's not as much food as I thought, but it'll work. I also end up getting frustrated with the micromanagement at work and apply for a few jobs on Indeed on my phone. I've already felt on edge about being here the past two weeks. There was a fuck-up on payroll's side, and they were paying me too much the past three months since I started, so now they are correcting that amount to what I should be paid and additionally docking money each check because I have to pay back what they overpaid. Super chill. I haven't been here long, so I know it won't look great if I leave so quick, but I don't think I can deal with the pay being so little. I knew I was taking a pay cut by taking the job, but I'm already working a second job, adding up to 60-80 hours a week. I don't think I can do much more.

3:30 p.m. — The chicken and veggies are not cutting it. I think about going over to the coffee shop again for a treat, but I stop myself. I think I have plans to go into the city tonight with C., but I'm not sure because we made the plans when we were day drinking so, like, who knows. But we had made plans to go to dinner and see a movie, and I don't want to overindulge if we're going out.

6 p.m. — C. picks me up and we head into the city to see Midsommar. It's almost an hour's drive to get there. He get the tickets, our popcorn, and drinks.

10 p.m. — Midsommar is not at all what I thought it would be, but I still sort of enjoyed it. We also didn't realize the movie was like three hours long. We go to a little steak place that's just serving appetizers at this point, so we each get a beer and some food. I offer to split the bill with him and he says no, which is really nice.

12:15 a.m. — We get back to town and everything is closed. We go to the bar we work at where you can buy beers to go as long as they leave unopened. We each get two Budweisers and then go to my place to watch Insidious. The beers go onto my tab, which I've already figured into my paycheck, but they're probably about $5 total.

2:50 a.m. — We go to bed. I'm a sleepy girl at this point. If there wasn't the shock factor of the movies, I would've easily fallen asleep sooner.

Daily Total: $2.63

Day Three

8 a.m. — I quietly get up so I don't wake up C. I shower, brush my teeth, do a minimal makeup routine, and throw on a dress and some sandals.

8:30 a.m. — I take my car to the garage that's behind my apartment building for an oil change. I like this place. It's local, and they are up front about prices. I know enough about cars to get by, but not quite everything, and I feel like the people at this shop are always cool about explaining things. I also prefer to go to auto shops where they hire women. I drop it off for the day, and then C. drives me to my office. I slip into the coffee shop next door to get an iced caramel macchiato because I am tired. $5

12:45 p.m. — I am forcing myself to drink more water. I'm hungry, but I don't want to eat early and then be hungry again when I get home from work. I've forced myself to drink two bottles of water just to make sure I actually am. I go to the wrap place and get their spicy crab wrap with chips and a drink. $10.27

4:40 p.m. — I leave work to get my car. They have my car parked in the street next to my apartment building. After, I try to go out to find this spot where we commissioned a mural to be done for work so I can get some photos, but I get lost in the industrial district, so I give up. I turn around and head to Target to pick up my new bedding that I had delivered to the store instead of my apartment. $46.97

6 p.m. — I get home and make dinner. I have a bunch of veggies I want to cook up before they go bad, so I sauté some asparagus, mushrooms, and broccoli, and then throw in some whole-wheat rotini. I make a ton, so I have plenty of leftovers.

7 p.m. — I head to the gym for a bit. I do 20 minutes on the elliptical and then 30 minutes on legs. My body feels tired, and I don't go as intensely as I want to. I get 25 PF points for checking in today. I don't know what I'm saving my points up to get, but I'm saving them. When I finish, I stop by the restaurant to pick up my check. My rate as a server has gone up, since I'm not in the “training” stage anymore. I also look through receipts from my tabs. Not as bad as I thought it would be. I know a lot of the bartenders don't add all of the drinks we have to our tabs, especially if we're drinking cheap stuff. My check this time is $91.70. I snapshot deposit it into my account.

8:45 p.m. — I get home, put my new bedding on my bed, wash my face, and watch a few episodes of Veronica Mars before crashing.

Daily Total: $62.24

Day Four

6:55 a.m. — I wake up and feel like I really need to pee. I get up. I can sense a UTI. Yep. I definitely have a UTI. I go ahead and shower and get ready for the day. I put on black jeans and a burgundy tank. It's alarmingly hot this week, and my boss said we could wear shorts, but I don't have any appropriate for work, and I have tattoos on my legs that I don't think she appreciates.

7:45 a.m. — I go to Walgreens and get something for the UTI pain. I know you should go to a doctor and get an antibiotic, but going to urgent care is extremely expensive, and my insurance isn't that great. I've always treated UTIs on my own, and it's been fine. $18.75

8:10 a.m. — I head to take photos of the mural, and the lighting is perfect. Afterwardm I head back to my apartment to pee. Then I go to Starbucks for a hazelnut latte. $5.60

12:15 p.m. — I go grab a sandwich from the coffee shop. $9.63

2:15 p.m. — I leave work and go home, since we have an event tonight. I take a 30-minute nap before I head to the work banquet.

7:45 p.m. — I finally leave the banquet. I stop by the store and pick up a case of beer. I get a call from my boss at the restaurant. She asks me if I can come in tomorrow during the dinner shift and essentially host and make sure the guys run things smoothly. I say of course. $17.85

9 p.m. — I leave my apartment and head to C.'s place. We go to the bar where we work and have a couple of drinks. I literally don't hang out anywhere else.

12 a.m. — We leave the bar and head back to C.'s place. We watch Big Mouth until I fall asleep.

Daily Total: $51.83

Day Five

8:30 a.m. — I finally wake up to an alarm. I'm really pushing it today. I drive home and then I text my boss that I'll be a little late. I complain to C. that I had plans to get Starbucks this morning since it's right next to his place but now I won't have time. He says he'll bring me an iced coffee later, but I tell him he absolutely does not have to do that.

9:15 a.m. — I get into work and it's pretty quiet. My coworkers are in the other office. I upload pictures from the banquet and post them. A few minutes later C. brings me an iced coffee and breakfast sandwich from Starbucks. He even ordered a venti without me asking. I think this guy is here to stay.

11:30 a.m. — The director of one of our sister agencies is leaving after next week so we have a going away lunch for her at a restaurant around the corner. I get a buffalo chicken cobb salad. I'm not that hungry since I just ate the breakfast sandwich, but it's so good. $11

2:45 p.m. — I go next door to the coffee shop. They also have 16 oz. iced coffee for a dollar today and I get a shot of hazelnut with it. The owner asks if I'm working at the restaurant tonight. She wants to come to the show in the connected concert hall, but can't decide. I tell her she should do it because I'll be getting off work then and we can actually hang out outside of our work day. $2

4:45 p.m. — I leave work and go home to take a shower before I have to be at work again. I'm the queen of getting ready fast and it helps that my hair dries quickly, especially in the Midwestern heat. I've mastered my makeup routine so that it only takes me five minutes, if that. Once I get to work, it seems a little busy, but nothing unmanageable. I put in my order for food and just hang out because the guys don't really need me yet.

9:30 p.m. — Damn. Tonight got insane and I'm honestly pissed I didn't get to clock in as a server tonight because I would've made bank. I get a few tips from bartending here and there throughout the night and then two of the guys that I helped out tip me out. I walk away with $30. R. texts me to see if I'm still at the bar — she's coming in for the concert.

12 a.m. — The show is pretty fun. I'm a little drunk, so C. offers to drive me home since he was bartending the concert. When he drops me off, we make plans to get breakfast before I have to open the bar in the morning.

12:30 a.m. — I drunkenly order a pizza because I am dumb. When it gets here I eat two slices and pass tf out. $20

Daily Total: $33

Day Six

7:30 a.m. — I wake up to my alarm. I honestly can't remember if C. and I actually made plans to get breakfast or if I dreamed it. I figure he'll call when he wakes up, so I'll just go back to sleep.

9 a.m. — I wake up to my alarm and force myself out of bed. I shower and get ready for work. C. calls while I'm getting ready apologizing for missing his alarm to take me to breakfast. I laugh and tell him it's fine. When he closes he doesn't leave work until 3 a.m. or later so I get it.

9:45 a.m. — C. picks me up and takes me to work since my car is there. It's not that far from my apartment, but it's a 30 minute walk and it's hot as balls outside. He also has the key so he lets me in.

11 a.m. — I'm training a new server today. She's a high schooler and the cutest thing ever. While I'm opening the doors, C. comes in and brings me breakfast from the place we were supposed to go this morning. I might marry this dude. JK. Kind of. I eat it during the first hour of work while we're super slow and the new girl is rolling silverware.

3 p.m. — Holy shit today was busy. I make $105, which is a lot for a lunch shift. I stay after my shift to have a drink and get some ham and cheese sliders. We always get a free drink after our shift and then 50% off food, which goes onto my tab.

4 p.m. — I go by the mall, which is my least favorite place to be. I have my parents' anniversary dinner tonight and I don't really like anything I own these days. I get two dresses. I also look for a top since I'm going with C. to his family's place tomorrow and I'm not sure what I have clean. I clearly need to do laundry. $40.33

5 p.m. — I get back to my apartment and shower. I take my time doing my makeup and then attempt to dry my hair a little. My parents get to my place and I help them bring up the dresser they got me. My mom found it for $10. It's mid-century and a dark brown wood — I love older, vintage furniture. The dresser comes with a mirror, but I don't want it on the dresser so I leave it off and decide to turn it into a DIY project for later.

6:25 p.m. — We head to a restaurant where we meet my aunt and uncle for dinner. It's good food and none of us had ever been to this place before. After dinner we head to Baskin Robbins for ice cream. I'm not a huge fan of sweets, but I get a scoop of cookies n' cream. My parents pay for everything.

8 p.m. — We stop by Target so I can get toilet paper and some skinny belts for one of the dresses I bought today. $20.75

9 p.m. — My parents drop me off at my apartment and I do laundry, add clothes to my new dresser, and binge watch Queer Eye. It feels so nice to have a night of nothing.

12:30 a.m. — I text C. one last time before falling asleep. He's bartending tonight and I guess it's chaotic over there.

Daily Total: $61.08

Day Seven

9 a.m. — I wake up and go downstairs to make coffee. I lounge around and watch more Queer Eye. I also heat up leftover pizza for breakfast.

10:30 a.m. — I do a short yoga sequence to feel like I did something today. Afterwards I shower and throw on some jeans and a tee. C. texts me to let me know what the plan is for the day.

11 a.m. — I run to Target again to get new sunglasses and look for a cute top. I get a light pink tank and some black and white sunglasses. $34.08

12 p.m. — I get home and do my makeup before sitting back down to watch more Queer Eye. C. picks me up and we stop by Starbucks before heading to his family's place. I get a grande iced coffee. He treats.

7:30 p.m. — We leave his family's and head back since it's about to start storming. We decide to head to the bar when we get back. There's a usual Sunday crowd that goes to the bar and it's always fun.

8:30 p.m. — No one from the usual crowd is at the bar so we head to a different one. Our friend is leaving as we're going in. We stay for a beer and C. pays even though I try to before he can.

9 p.m. — We go back to our bar and hang out with everybody. The group that's there just shares pitchers of Michelob Ultra. It's all men minus me and they all take turns covering a pitcher. I don't think any of them go onto either of our tabs.

12:30 a.m. — I am feeling it by the end of the night. C. and I go back to his place so I can go to sleep since I have work in the morning. I set three alarms to make sure I'll get up. C. and I have had a really good day and night together so I go to bed happy.

Daily Total: $34.08

Money Diaries are meant to reflect individual women's experiences and do not necessarily reflect Refinery29's point of view. Refinery29 in no way encourages illegal activity or harmful behavior.

Attention, college students! What gadgets and apps got you through freshman year? Refinery29 is looking for real college students to share the tech items that they couldn't have made it through the school year without. Fill out our form here, and your pick could be included in our upcoming story!

The first step to getting your financial life in order is tracking what you spend — to try on your own, check out our guide to managing your money every day. For more money diaries, click here.

Do you have a Money Diary you'd like to share? Submit it with us here.

Have questions about how to submit or our publishing process? Read our Money Diaries FAQ doc here: r29.co/mdfaqs

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

Is It Worth It To Get Wedding Insurance?

A Week In Ottawa, ON, On A $50,434 Salary

A Week In Chicago, IL, On A $87,000 Salary

Things have looked grim for women in television, both in front of and behind the camera. Amazon, however, is stepping up to the plate and striking development deals with several powerful women in Hollywood.

Amazon has inked a first-look deal with Blake Lively and announced two other high-profile development deals with Dirty John star Connie Britton and powerhouse writer/creator Lena Waithe.

Amazon will be developing a New York-set series with a fashion component with Lively, as well as a few other projects, according to Deadline. The online giant will also develop a horror TV series entitled Them with Waithe. Additionally, Amazon will work to develop a series with Britton, though there are no details yet as to what the series might entail.

Amazon Studios’ head, Jennifer Salke, sung the praises of all three women during Amazon’s Television Critics Association summer press tour, specifically highlighting Waithe’s “gift for identifying exciting and authentic voices,” and Britton’s “ability to create memorable characters and identify compelling stories.” Salke also mentioned that Lively is developing another series that’s based “around a specific piece of IP,” but did not elaborate further on what it might be.

Salke seems to be on the hunt to uplift more female voices after the wild success and critical acclaim of Fleabag. The series’ creator, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, is not planning on making a third season anytime soon, but Salke remains optimistic about the chances of either a new season or a new project from Waller-Bridge.

“Anything Phoebe wants to do, nothing would make us happier to bring another season of her show. Anything she wants to do. I’m forever the optimist,” Salke told Deadline.

While no release dates have been offered for any of the projects, we’d advise getting an Amazon Prime subscription now, lest you miss any of the action.

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

Season 2 Of The Haunting Of Hill House Is Going Full-On American Horror Story

Wondering What's Going On With Amber On Netflix's The A List? Read This

Netflix's The A-List Is Like The Society With British Accents, So Obv It's A Must-Watch

Charming Venus entered charismatic Leo last Saturday, bringing us into the week with a brand new attitude. We’re feeling just a little more sparkly than the previous week, so enjoy this new-found sense of charisma. We start Sunday bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as the Moon wanes in witty Gemini until 11:23 a.m. EST. Take it easy for the rest of the day when the Moon goes void-of-course for the rest of the day. VOC Moons are opportune times to go slow and get rested. Watch out for your reactions to cause significant changes on Monday, when the Sun squares unpredictable Uranus. It’s time to work on our flexibility and ability to be humble. Take a moment before you react to others while the Moon wanes in sensitive Cancer at 7:30 a.m. EST on Monday. The Moon will remain in this intuitive sign until 9:18 a.m. EST on Wednesday. We’re ready to get back into the swing of things on Wednesday when communication ruler Mercury moves direct. Life runs just a little smoother, as the messenger planet helps us overcome misunderstandings and think on our feet. A New Moon in Leo arrives at 11:11 p.m. EST on Wednesday evening, bringing along the inspiration to consider leadership roles and encouragement to put ourselves out into the world. The vibe of this New Moon will relate to how you are seen by others. Make sure that you’re making yourself happy first as you create your image. Sparks fly on Friday when sensual Venus squares unpredictable Uranus. If you’re in a relationship, you could clash with your partner — try to keep a cool head during this transit. If you’re single, you could find yourself attracted to people with chaotic energy. Hold on to your receipts if you go shopping, as we are more susceptible to spending money on things that we don’t need this week.

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

The Ultimate Gift Guide For The Virgo In Your Life

Your Horoscope This Week

Mars Is In Virgo, So It’s Time To Get Logical

When you live a Moët lifestyle on a Coors Light budget, you tend to become a savvy shopper. Sniffing out high-quality formulas for prices that won't break your weekly budget is your speciality, which means Nordstrom's Anniversary Sale is your Olympics.

Once a year, Nordstrom marks down everything in its store with Black Friday-level deals for a full three weeks. While a lot of the discounts still include hefty price tags common at department stores, we've found a few hidden gems worth hunting down. Think: A jumbo-sized bottle of Urban Decay's All Nighter Setting Spray and a MAC lip kit for half off. Even better, every last pick on our list is under $50.

Starting July 19, the sale is officially open to everyone — Nordstrom cardmembers and non-cardholders alike — and will run until August 4, meaning you have about two weeks to add every last deal to your cart.

Ahead, the cheapest beauty sets to shop at Nordstrom's Anniversary Sale.

At Refinery29, we’re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. If you buy something we link to on our site, Refinery29 may earn commission.

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

Every Kylie Lip Kit Is Buy One, Get One Free This Weekend

These Foundations Were Made For Oily Skin

Don't Make This Mistake While Removing Waterproof Mascara

Anne Hathaway wants to get real about fertility.

Hathaway, who earlier this week revealed that she is expecting her second child, knows it’s anything but simple. Hathaway announced her pregnancy with a black-and-white mirror selfie on Instagram, but also took care to note that “for everyone going through infertility and conception hell, please know it was not a straight line to either of my pregnancies.”

Hathaway has one child, three-year-old Jonathan, with her husband, Adam Shulman. While promoting her upcoming Amazon series Modern Love this weekend, she told Entertainment Tonight that she couldn’t be more thrilled for baby No. 2 — but she also empathizes with people who are struggling with fertility, and knows how happy pregnancy announcements can feel isolating at times.

View this post on Instagram

It’s not for a movie...⁣⁣ #2⁣ ⁣All kidding aside, for everyone going through infertility and conception hell, please know it was not a straight line to either of my pregnancies. Sending you extra love 💕

A post shared by Anne Hathaway (@annehathaway) on Jul 24, 2019 at 11:34am PDT

“There is a one-sided narrative to this, and of course it's wonderful that we celebrate the happy moment when it's ready to share,” Hathaway said. “I think there is a silence around the moments before that and they are not all happy, and in fact, a lot of them are quite painful.

“I just knew that somewhere my announcement was going to make somebody feel worse about themselves because — and it wouldn’t be their fault that that happened — you just can't help it when you want something so bad and it feels like it's happening to everyone else but you,” she added. “I just wanted that person to know that they're included in my story, too, and that my story didn't just have happy moments, too.”

Along with the social stigmas surrounding pregnancy and children — especially for women, who are regularly expected to enter and embrace motherhood without issue — fertility is a widely misunderstood concept. A person’s journey to pregnancy hinges on a multitude of health factors, often extremely unique to them, and it can be a stressful process with negative mental health effects. It’s also worth noting that there are many ways besides pregnancy to become a parent — as Hathaway said, it’s never a straight line.

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

These Photos Celebrate The Beauty Of Postpartum Bodies

What You Need To Know About Ragweed Allergies

I'm 40, Have Little Savings, & Just Spent $26K On IVF. This Is My Fertility Diary

Welcome toMoney Diaries , where we're tackling what might be the last taboo facing modern working women: money. We're asking millennials how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we're tracking every last dollar.

Today: a senior data analyst working in technology who makes $125,000 per year ($225,000 including equity) and spends some of her money this week on Daring Greatly by Brené Brown.

Occupation: Senior Data Analyst
Industry: Technology
Age: 28
Location: New York, NY
Salary: $125,000 + $100,000 equity
Paycheck Amount (2x/month): $2,800
Gender Identity: Woman

Monthly Expenses
Rent: $2,600 (I live in a studio apartment by myself.)
Student Loans: $0 (I paid off my $18,000 student loans within three years post-graduation.)
Transit: $127 (pre-tax)
Utilities: $35-80, depending on time of the year
Internet: $75
Gym: $0 (My apartment has a gym.)
Phone: $0 (I'm on my parents' plan.)
Health/Dental/Vision Insurance: $5 (My company pays for health insurance, and I pay a little bit for the latter two.)
Netflix: $12.99
Spotify: $9.99 (with Hulu!)
401(k): $416.67 (8% of my pre-tax income, and my company matches 4%) and $364.58 (7% of my post-tax income). I maxed out my Roth IRA this year.
Investments: $1,000 (I use Ellevest to invest. I have about $35,000 in my emergency/savings account, $60,000 in my 401(k), and $30,000 in my investment account.)

Day One

7:45 a.m. — I get out of bed and start getting ready for the day. I wash my face with a honey balm and put on some vitamin C serum, azelaic acid cream, moisturizer, and sunscreen. The dermatologist I follow on Instagram said that serums should be the first thing to touch your face, which is news to me. I put on some lightweight concealer, mineral powder, blush, and mascara.

8:40 a.m. — I make myself some breakfast at work. I grab oatmeal and throw on bananas, cinnamon, and peanut butter. I pour myself a giant cup of coffee, since I'm feeling more tired than usual. I browse the Nordstrom anniversary sale. Everything I want is already sold out, which is crazy because it's the early access for cardmembers. Maybe this is a sign that I shouldn't be shopping.

12 p.m. — I decide to work from home for the rest of the day, because my boss is out of the office. I head to Trader Joe's before heading home. I am trying to be better about bringing lunch to work every day. I grab tomatoes, avocado, lemon, cucumber, cilantro, peppers, shrimp, basil, arugula, corn, and chips. $42.04

12:45 p.m. — There's this inside-out gnocchi from Trader Joe's that I got last week that has sauce and cheese in the gnocchi. So innovative! I heat up some turkey meatballs, cook the gnocchi, and top it with basil. I love working from home, because it allows me to make lunch and eat comfortably on my couch.

2 p.m. — I receive an email from a recruiter saying that I made it to the next round of interviews. They want me to do a short assignment, which is pretty normal in my field. It's hard to get excited because I am only casually looking, and this is going to take a few hours to complete.

3 p.m. — My strawberries look a little sad, so I decide to make some strawberry frescas. I forgot to pick up some limes when I was at Trader Joe's, so I make a quick run to my local grocery store. I also grab my favorite jalapeño chips. $4.18

3:30 p.m. — I make my strawberry frescas and realize I don't really have a good place to store them. I browse for mason jars on Target's website. I also realize I need to get some shampoo and conditioner. I love my Love Beauty and Planet lavender ones, but I decide to try out the Coconut Oil & Ylang Ylang ones instead. Since there is $25 minimum for shipping, I browse for some books. I'm not a huge reader, but I've been doing it more on my commute to work. I pick up Wishtree by Katherine Applegate, Daring Greatly by Brené Brown, and Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. $43.34

5:30 p.m. — I snack on chips and drink my strawberry frescas. It's not too sweet! I organize my cabinets and realize that I already have shampoo and conditioner. Ugh! I always forget what I have and end up buying more of it.

7:30 p.m. — It is getting cooler outside, so I go for a run. I canceled all of my fitness subscriptions (e.g., ClassPass and yoga) when I was reviewing my finances. I have a gym in my apartment building, and I love running outside. It's free! I pause and watch the sunset.

8:30 p.m. — I get home, shower, and make myself some pasta salad with shrimp.

11:45 p.m. — A. texts me that he's still at work and getting ready to leave soon. I have been dating him for about a month, but we haven't yet had the talk. We had a communication dark period last week. He said he would try to be better about keeping in touch during the week moving forward. We keep the conversation pretty short because it's past my bedtime.

Daily Total: $89.56

Day Two

7 a.m. — I fell asleep while chatting with A. I respond to his text and ask him how his week is looking. We tentatively made plans to see each other during the week, since he and I will be out of town (separately) for the next few weekends. He lets me know that his week is looking pretty busy, but wants to get breakfast with me on Saturday before he has to catch his train.

8:30 a.m. — I make myself some breakfast at home — oatmeal, cinnamon, bananas, and peanut butter. I have calls with two recruiters today, so I work from home in the morning.

11:10 a.m. — The recruiter is late, and I shoot her an email. She calls me immediately and apologizes. The call goes well!

12:30 p.m. — The second recruiter calls me right on time. The call goes well, and we talk through the next steps. It seems like their overall interview process is fairly short and fast, so I am feeling anxious about my own timeline.

1 p.m. — I grab the pasta salad from the fridge and head into work. It's crazy how much faster it is for me to commute post–rush hour.

1:35 p.m. — I eat my pasta salad from my desk and grab a cup of coffee. I didn't have to come in today, but I have my one-on-one with my boss at the end of the day (ugh).

5:15 p.m. — I am antsy to go home. There are still 15 minutes left of this meeting, and I have to send a deck out before leaving for the day.

6 p.m. — I wrap up a few things before heading out. My best friend, C., texts me that she had a rough day, and I suggest we go on my rooftop for a wine night. I pick up some bougie canned wine — rosé for her and Sauvignon blanc for me. $23.93

9 p.m. — We hang out for a couple of hours. I love being outside when the sun goes down. It has been so hot in New York during the day. I tell her about A. and how things are going at work. She tells me about some work drama. We head downstairs when the sun goes down.

9:30 p.m. — I grab the leftover pasta salad from my fridge. I made enough to serve an entire family of six. I am pretty tipsy from the wine. I sit on my couch and stuff my face while watching Chef's Table on Netflix.

10:15 p.m. — I shower, do my nighttime routine (vitamin C serum, retinoid, and moisturizer), and get in bed. I pass out pretty quickly.

Daily Total: $23.93

Day Three

7 a.m. — I snooze without any hesitation. I am exhausted today. I check my phone and see that A. texted me after he got off work last night, but I was dead asleep by then.

7:45 a.m. — I finally get out of bed. I don't even bother doing my hair. I throw it up in a bun and quickly do my morning routine. I have pottery class tonight, so I wear a plain T-shirt and jeans. I pack up some workout shorts to change into before class.

8:30 a.m. — Free bagels today!

11 a.m. — The second recruiter from yesterday emails me. He forwarded my résumé to the team after our conversation, and the team wants me to come in for an on-site. I am a bit overwhelmed because things are moving very quickly. I make a mental note to respond this afternoon.

12 p.m. — My work friend and I decide to get poke for lunch. $13.52

5 p.m. — I head out for my pottery class! I have been wanting to do this for a while but have pushed it off because of work and life. My 2019 goal is to finally do things I have always wanted to do. Pottery has been very therapeutic and always puts me in a better mood.

9 p.m. — It is pouring outside, so I stay at the pottery studio for a little bit to finish up my other projects.

9:30 p.m. — I grab packages from Target (yay for two-day shipping) and Mango. I love unboxing packages. I eat more pasta salad. This is what happens when you cook and live by yourself. You eat the same thing for an entire week.

11:30 p.m. — I check my phone to see if A. has texted me. Nothing. I head to bed.

Daily Total: $13.52

Day Four

7:30 a.m. — It is a dreary day out. Perfect weather to stay in bed, but I have an appointment with my gynecologist in a couple of hours. A. texts me this morning to ask me how my pottery class was.

9:15 a.m. — I have been thinking about going back on birth control. I was on Mirena, and it was absolutely horrible. I broke out like crazy and had spotting for eight months. I got it out after ten months. My gynecologist tells me that I should try the pill that has lower estrogen and progesterone. I was on the pill back in college, and it made me so moody. Maybe it'll be different this time. I pay the co-pay (ugh) and head to the office. $25

10:30 a.m. — I am sweating from the commute. Why does the train station feel like a sauna? I grab some cereal at work.

12 p.m. — Free lunch at the office!

1 p.m. — I have an in-person interview next week. Eek, I'm nervous. The role is more senior than my current position, so I don't know what to expect. I will do some research and prep over the weekend.

4:30 p.m. — I am done with meetings, so I pack up for the day. I have to work on a take-home assignment for another job interview.

6:45 p.m. — Ugh, I fell asleep on my couch. I've been so tired lately, and I can't tell if it's because of the weather. I force myself to get up.

7:30 p.m. — I grab a quick bite to eat. Yup, you got it — another bowl of pasta salad!

11:30 p.m. — I finally finish up the take-home assignment. I am extremely nitpicky, so it takes me longer than the recommended allotted time. A. and I text for a while about something super random, and I head to bed.

Daily Total: $25

Day Five

7:15 a.m. — I wake up and check the weather. There is going to be a massive heat wave this weekend, and I am not looking forward to it.

7:40 a.m. — I check Instagram and read my daily WSJ email. It's going to be another hot day, so I throw my hair in a bun and put on a dress. I cannot be bothered with pants today.

8:37 a.m. — I make myself some oatmeal and a big cup of coffee before getting some work done.

11:50 a.m. — I order Sweetgreen online, because I really don't want more pasta salad for lunch. $13.61

12:45 p.m. — I FINALLY get my salad and walk back to the office.

5 p.m. — I am done with work for the week! I need to pick up a face cleanser. I get mine from Naturopathica in Chelsea. The cleansing balm does take a bit of getting used to, because it doesn't foam, but it takes all of my makeup off. It's not cheap either. $67.50

6:30 p.m. — I take another nap. Then I get up and treat myself to some Indian food. $17.94

9:30 p.m. — A. texts me to see what time we want to meet tomorrow. This restaurant is in a very inconvenient area, so I'll have to get up extra early to get there.

11:59 p.m. — I read for a bit and head to bed. What a wild Friday night!

Daily Total: $99.05

Day Six

7:30 a.m. — I wake up before my alarm goes off. I miss being able to sleep in on weekends.

8:30 a.m. — I wear the same dress from yesterday (no shame) and get ready to head out. I stop at the ATM to grab some cash, because I am pretty sure the restaurant is cash only. Manhattan is quiet this morning, probably because everyone is hiding from this heat wave.

9:15 a.m. — A. and I get to our breakfast location right on time. He updates me on some work drama that I didn't know about, so it makes sense why he is so stressed out.

10:30 a.m. — We have to head out soon, and I casually ask if he's dating other people. He says no, but that he needs to reprioritize his life (mostly work) so he can start making time for important things. He asks if I am dating other people, and I say no. He has limited cash, so I pay for most of it. $35

11 a.m. — I drop A. off at Penn Station so he can catch the train. He promises to text me later.

2 p.m. — I spend a few hours watching Netflix. It's too hot to go anywhere, but it's never too hot for ice cream. I grab a double scoop of Vietnamese coffee with doughnut truffles in a chocolate chai cone. I have zero regrets. $10

5 p.m. — I pass out shortly after the ice cream. Then I get a notification that my birth-control pills are ready to be picked up. The nearest CVS is a 15-minute walk, so I brave the humidity. The pills are $25, but it's actually $200 without the special promotion and $500 if you don't have health insurance! It's a brand-name medication, which is more expensive than the generic brand, but c'mon! I hate that women have to be the fiscally responsible ones in order to prevent pregnancy. It takes two to tango! The pharmacist gives me an empathetic nod as I rant to him for a few minutes. $25

7 p.m. — I eat some pasta salad and watch the new season of Queer Eye on Netflix.

11 p.m. — A. texts to see how my day was. We catch up for a little bit before he heads to bed. It's been a very quiet weekend. Even though I am an extrovert, I prefer to hang out by myself and binge-watch TV from time to time.

Daily Total: $70

Day Seven

7 a.m. — My body naturally wakes me up, but I refuse to give in. I put on my sleeping mask and fall back asleep.

10 a.m. — This is more like it! I get out of bed and call my parents. I am going home for a while this week, and they are excited to see me. My dad and I make plans to go running. He is dreading it.

10:45 a.m. — I heat up some leftover Indian food from a couple of nights ago. I watch a few episodes of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. I clean my apartment because I have a few friends coming over later. I am blessed to have a pool in my building, which is rare in New York.

11:45 a.m. — I do my morning skin-care routine and get ready for the day. I head to my local coffee shop to plan for my solo trip. I've always wanted to go to Italy and have never traveled alone, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity for me to kill two birds with one stone. I've already booked my flights using points and booked my Airbnb a couple of weeks ago. Today I am booking tours and fun day trips — a day trip in Florence, a cooking class in Rome, and a tour of the Vatican. I also buy my train tickets to different cities. The expenses are adding up, but I have been saving $100 each month, so that lessens the blow. $577.77

3 p.m. — Free ice cream in my apartment lobby! My friend and I grab a scoop while I wait for my two friends to come over.

6:30 p.m. — We chill in the pool for a while. It's so nice in this humidity. The three of us talk about dating in New York and how people prioritize work above all because they feel the need to — not necessarily because they want to. After a few hours, we quickly change out of our bathing suits and head down the street for some pizza. $23

8:30 p.m. — I say goodbye to my friends and head home. I hop in the shower to get all of the swimming pool grime off, do a load of laundry, and watch a documentary on Netflix.

10:30 p.m. — I am exhausted. I browse through Instagram for a little bit and head to bed.

Daily Total: $600.77

Attention, college students! Refinery29 wants you to share the dorm organization items that you couldn't have made it through the school year without. Fill out this form and you could be included in our story!

Money Diaries are meant to reflect individual women's experiences and do not necessarily reflect Refinery29's point of view. Refinery29 in no way encourages illegal activity or harmful behavior.

The first step to getting your financial life in order is tracking what you spend — to try on your own, check out our guide to managing your money every day. For more money diaries, click here.

Do you have a Money Diary you'd like to share? Submit it with us here.

Have questions about how to submit or our publishing process? Read our Money Diaries FAQ doc here: r29.co/mdfaqs

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

Is It Worth It To Get Wedding Insurance?

A Week In Ottawa, ON, On A $50,434 Salary

A Week In Chicago, IL, On A $87,000 Salary

Kim Kardashian West is known for being one of the most recognizable faces on television. More recently, she has made a name for herself as an advocate for criminal justice and prison reform. Now, she is combining the two in a new documentary for Oxygen.

Kardashian West announced her forthcoming documentary, Kim Kardashian West: The Justice Project, with the network on Twitter, saying she hopes people who watch it will learn about the justice system the way she has. In the documentary, Kardashian West visits a correctional treatment facility in Washington, D.C. to learn about the Georgetown Prison Scholars program, which offers higher education courses to people who are incarcerated, says Oxygen.

We filmed a documentary I am working on that will be out on @oxygen and I hope you will learn about the justice system the way I have.

— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) July 27, 2019

This is one of many steps Kardashian West is taking to secure freedom for Americans she believes have been wronged by the justice system. She has met with President Donald Trump multiple times over the past year to speak on behalf of inmates in the hopes of them being granted clemency. One such case was Alice Marie Johnson, a grandmother who was released last year after receiving a life sentence for a first-time, nonviolent drug offense. In addition to Johnson’s case, she has financed campaigns to release 16 other people from life sentences for low-level drug crimes.

Kardashian West tweeted a series of photos with inmates at the D.C. correctional treatment facility, saying how excited she was to be able to share their stories to a larger audience.

Last week I was so moved by Dr. Marc Howard, a Georgetown professor who teaches a course inside of a DC prison where men & women can get Georgetown credits. I met so many amazing people that can’t wait to share their stories with you. pic.twitter.com/xxmnIPFy7j

— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) July 27, 2019

An official release date has yet to be announced, but the two-hour documentary promises “an exclusive, never-before-seen look inside her mission to tackle one of America's most controversial subjects.”

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

Official Secrets Is The Bold, True Story Of Katharine Gun

This Horror Movie Is Midsommar Meets The Handmaid's Tale

It’s A Crucial Time To Hear From Harvey Weinstein’s Survivors — Untouchable Gives Them A Voice

We are living in divisive times. Bring up Olivia Jade 's chances of redemption, the Big Little Lies finale, or who should really run in 2020 at any dinner party and be ready for differing opinions to fly.

But even in an era of near-constant debate, we found one thing that absolutely everyone agrees on: Maybelline SuperStay Matte Ink Liquid Lipstick. While plenty of other brands brag about their lipsticks lasting 12 hours, we can confirm that this lipstick honestly just... doesn't come off. We've eaten fried-chicken dinners, guzzled all the drinks, showered, and literally slept with it on (don't @ us) and it hasn't budged. It's so powerfully glued onto your lips that Maybelline had to create a special SuperStay remover.

And it's not just beauty editors who are obsessed. Porn stars gush about it. Brides swear by it. Teachers say it's their lifesaver. New moms preach about it. It is a product that is beloved by so many different types of people that we decided the best way to spread the word of its greatness is to let fans speak for themselves. Check out their reviews and favorite shades, ahead.

At Refinery29, we’re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. If you buy something we link to on our site, Refinery29 may earn commission.

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

Every Kylie Lip Kit Is Buy One, Get One Free This Weekend

These Foundations Were Made For Oily Skin

Don't Make This Mistake While Removing Waterproof Mascara

If you don't have every random national holiday synched to your iCloud, you may not know that today, July 29th, is National Lipstick Day in America. Like National Nail Polish Day or National Ice Cream Day, the holiday may sound a little gimmicky, but it's still a handy excuse to justify a mani/pedi or a soft-serve with rainbow sprinkles — or, in today's case, loading up on lipstick.

To celebrate National Lipstick Day with the same gusto as June's National Nail Polish Day, Target is running a huge sale, offering any shopper who buys any lip color 25% off every tube in their cart.

It's easy to save, whether you're making plans to swing by your local Target store to swatch your options or just shopping online: In stores, the discount will be applied to your cart at checkout, and online, you'll need to enter the promo code 'LIPSTICKDAY' to chop 25% off your order.

The options are endless, with over 210 Target lip products up for grabs during the sale — essentially any brand, color, or finish you're looking for. You can't go wrong with the fan favorites, like the Neutrogena Moisture Smooth Color Stick, which comes in nine shades from berry to pink grapefruit and boasts over 500 five-star reviews for its buttery, hydrating formula. Or, for those shopping the newly-revamped Target Clean Beauty selection, there are plenty of natural options, like Honest Beauty's vegan matte liquid formula and W3ll People's certified-organic satin lipstick.

However you choose to shop, we recommend running to a Target near you during your lunch break — or placing an order right now — because, like most semi-random national holidays, National Lipstick Day is a one-day-only affair.

At Refinery29, we’re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. If you buy something we link to on our site, Refinery29 may earn commission.

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

Every Kylie Lip Kit Is Buy One, Get One Free This Weekend

These Foundations Were Made For Oily Skin

Don't Make This Mistake While Removing Waterproof Mascara

You know that game where you scream "penis" at the top of your lungs? When’s the last time you shouted the word "vagina" sans inhibitions?

Yeah, that's what we thought.

In this episode of Taboo, Serena Kerrigan taps four Refinery29 employees to open up about vaginal health, and all of their questions, discomforts, and admissions that come with it. For one writer with a devout Catholic upbringing, candid conversation about vaginas is a recent development. For another, bacterial vaginosis is a recurring issue. For one more, open discussion about sexuality is still awkward and difficult, even as vaginal health becomes less stigmatized.

Fortunately, Serena has certified Ob/Gyn Mary Jane Minkin, MD on set to clear up some questions. She explains that vaginal pH is important — and that vaginas are actually acidic rather than basic. She says that odor isn't a bad thing, it's just a thing, and that if it's something we feel compelled to manage, we should lean on pH-friendly, hypoallergenic products like Vagisil's Scentsitive Scents products. And most importantly, she explains that the best thing we can do for ourselves and our vaginas is find health care providers we're comfortable speaking openly about our bodies with.

Watch above to hear more of these women's vaginal concerns — and Dr. Minkin's expert advice.

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

These Photos Celebrate The Beauty Of Postpartum Bodies

What You Need To Know About Ragweed Allergies

I'm 40, Have Little Savings, & Just Spent $26K On IVF. This Is My Fertility Diary

Dreams do come true — at least if you're Edward Enninful. Earlier this year, British Vogue's editor-in-chief was not shy about wanting to work with the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle. “Meghan is an example of how far we’ve all come,” the EIC told the Evening Standard in January. Enninful went on to say that he wanted the royal (or her sister-in-law Kate Middleton) on the cover of Vogue. Well, Markle is guest-editing the September issue of British Vogue and we have our first look at it.

View this post on Instagram

I am thrilled to reveal the cover of the September 2019 issue of @BritishVogue – and to introduce you to the bold, brilliant and inspirational woman who has guest edited it with me: HRH The Duchess of Sussex @SussexRoyal. For the past few months, the Duchess and I have been working together on this shared passion project: to dedicate British Vogue’s biggest issue of the year to all the remarkable women who are redefining our world for the better. We have called it – and them – our #ForcesForChange. The story begins with this cover, starring 15 changemakers, all titans in their respective fields, who have been personally selected by the Duchess and myself for the powerful and positive differences they are making in our world. The 16th slot will appear as a mirror on the printed cover, and was included at the special request of the Duchess to show that you – that all of us, in fact – are part of this moment too. It’s been a real labour of love and I feel very humbled today to be able to finally unveil it to the world. Read about how the Duchess became the first guest editor of the September issue in the magazine’s 103-year history at Vogue.co.uk now, and discover the full cover story in the new issue, on newsstands Friday 2 August. Photographed by @TheRealPeterLindbergh, with fashion editors @Edward_Enninful and @TheRealGraceCoddington, hair by @BartPumpkin and @SergeNormant, make-up by @TheValGarland and @Diane.Kendal, nails by @LorraineVGriffin and @YukoTsuchihashi. Starring: @AdwoaAboah @AdutAkech @SomaliBoxer @JacindaArdern @TheSineadBurke @Gemma_Chan @LaverneCox @JaneFonda @SalmaHayek @FrankieGoesToHayward @JameelaJamilOfficial @Chimamanda_Adichie @YaraShahidi @GretaThunberg @CTurlington

A post shared by Edward Enninful, OBE (@edward_enninful) on Jul 28, 2019 at 2:27pm PDT

On Sunday, Enninful took to Instagram to share the first look at the cover. “For the past few months, the Duchess and I have been working together on this shared passion project: to dedicate British Vogue’s biggest issue of the year to all the remarkable women who are redefining our world for the better. We have called it – and them – our #ForcesForChange,” he wrote to caption the cover. The EIC says that he and Markle personally selected every cover star for their positive contributions to the world. “The 16th slot will appear as a mirror on the printed cover, and was included at the special request of the Duchess to show that you – that all of us, in fact – are part of this moment too,” Enninful wrote.

View this post on Instagram

Limited pre-launch Christmas copies shipping tomorrow ... link in bio 💕#thegamechangersbook #girlboss #successquotes #ariannahuffington #rachelzoe #meghanmarkle #ellemacpherson

A post shared by S A M A N T H A • B R E T T (@samantha_brett) on Dec 21, 2016 at 12:13am PST

The problem: the British Vogue cover looks an awful lot like The Game Changers: Success Secrets from 40 Women at the Top, Samantha Brett and Steph Adams' 2017 book; Markle helped produce the tome and appears on the familiar black-and-white grid cover. Brett told the Daily Mail she was stunned when she first saw Meghan's Vogue issue. “It's obviously very flattering, she obviously likes our concept!” she said. “I love Meghan and am a huge fan, but if what people are alerting us to is true, then it's extremely disappointing.”

On Instagram, the official account for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Sussex Royal, shared the news, writing: “The sixteenth space on the cover, a mirror, was included so that when you hold the issue in your hands, you see yourself as part of this collective.”

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

VMAs After Party Fashion Was All Corsets & Crop Tops

This May Be The Best VMAs Red Carpet That We've Seen To Date

Designer Bryan Hearns Shares The Inspiration Behind Normani’s VMAs Look

Welcome toMoney Diaries , where we're tackling what might be the last taboo facing modern working women: money. We're asking millennials how they spend their hard-earned money during a seven-day period — and we're tracking every last dollar.

This week: an attorney who makes $225,000 per year and spends some of her money this week on a Tory Burch crossbody bag.

Occupation: Attorney
Industry: Law
Age: 27
Location: Washington, D.C.
Salary: $225,000 ($200,000 base + $25,000 bonus)
Paycheck Amount (1x/month): $10,367
Gender Identity: Woman

Monthly Expenses
Rent: $1,500 (about 2/3 of the rent for a one-bedroom I share with my fiancé)
Student Loans: $5,500 (law school debt that I am aggressively paying off — I'm down to just $163,315 at this point!)
Wedding Savings: $1,000 (My fiancé contributes $500, and we put this in a high-interest savings account.)
Health/Dental Insurance: $225 (pre-tax)
Electricity: $50-60 for my half
Personal Phone: $56, paid directly to my parents
Work Phone: $0 (paid for by work)
Internet/Basic Cable: $35 for my half
Gym: $118.54
Wine Club: $37.50 (three bottles a month, split with my fiancé)
Hulu: $6.35 (no-commercial plan split with my fiancé)
Netflix: $0 (We use his mom's account.)
HBO Now: $7.50 (split with my fiancé)
401(k): $333.34 (2% of my pre-tax paycheck)
Savings: $200 (I have an emergency savings account built up already, so I just transfer a tiny bit of my paycheck every month and will start saving more aggressively after the wedding.)
Amazon Prime (annual): $119.95 (My family uses my account.)

Day One

7 a.m. — My first alarm goes off, and I'm absolutely exhausted after working past midnight last night. I snooze through five more alarms, accidentally sleep a bit more, and finally get up at 8. My fiancé, M., is making his breakfast in the kitchen, and I weave around him as I make my typical morning breakfast — low-sugar instant oatmeal and a cup of coffee. I have a lot to do this morning and want to get to the office earlier than normal, so I scarf it down and get in the shower. I put some of last night's leftovers in some Tupperware (MorningStar chicken strips, curry, and cauliflower rice) for my lunch. I'm out the door at 8:55 and decide to catch a bus because it's miserably hot (using my preloaded Metro card). Thanks to the rush-hour traffic, the bus takes longer than it would have taken me to walk! I get in at 9:15 and immediately sit down to start working.

10:30 a.m. — My butt has been glued to my chair this morning, since we're up against some major deadlines in one of my cases, but I take a break to grab a glass of water and chat with one of my coworkers. I'm hungry again, so I eat the banana I packed with my lunch.

12 p.m. — I take another break and check on some flights I'm tracking. I have a wedding in Los Angeles coming up in a few months, and I want to fly out a couple of days early to visit my family in the Bay Area. I missed an Alaska Airlines sale a couple of days ago, but I decide to at least buy my flight to SFO today because there's a decent fare out of Reagan (which is normally prohibitively expensive for cross-country flights). $228.30

2 p.m. — After a couple of hours of research and production prep, I grab my lunch out of the communal fridge and heat up the curry, MorningStar strips, and cauliflower rice. I eat at my desk (like always) and start looking into how to respond to a new motion that opposing counsel filed this week.

5:30 p.m. — Just when I think I can start winding things down at the office, I get an email asking me to do some research for a deposition we're preparing for. I do another couple of hours of work and finally head out at 7:30. I get home a little before 8, change into PJs, and pull my laptop out to get some more work done. I snack on leftovers while I answer emails. I make myself a cocktail with añejo tequila and Trader Joe's low-calorie lemonade. M. is at the gym tonight (which is where I'd honestly rather be!), so I have the apartment to myself for a bit longer. I check Facebook and see that a friend posted a link asking people to donate to an organization that helps families who are detained at the border. I've been meaning to contribute this month! $50

8:45 p.m. —M. finally gets home. We watch the latest episode of MasterChef and the last few minutes of an episode of Big Little Lies we didn't finish earlier in the week. M. goes to bed at 10:30, and I stay up to decompress a bit more. I finish reading a book that I started earlier this week and figure out my game plan for revisions to a document that a partner just got back to me on. I crash at 11:30. My nightly routine consists of simply taking off my makeup, brushing my teeth, and putting on some moisturizer, but it's always a struggle to get myself off the couch to actually start getting ready for bed!

Daily Total: $278.30

Day Two

8 a.m. — I sleep in until 8 because I'm working from home today. My office is pretty lax about letting people work remotely, so I work from home at least a few Fridays a month (which plays a huge role in me avoiding burnout). I lie in bed scrolling social media for a bit and then head into the kitchen at 8:30. I make my coffee and oatmeal, plop on the couch, and open up my laptop to start work.

11:30 a.m. — I've been working nonstop this morning on revisions to a document that's going out to the client today — finally time to pull myself away from work and shower! I have lofty goals of taking a “lunch break” and going to the gym sometime this afternoon, but it's not looking like it's going to happen.

12:28 p.m. — My alarm reminding me to get ready to shop the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale goes off. Once 12:30 hits, I move my wish-listed items into my cart. I usually end up getting a couple of fall staple items every year, but this year there are quite a few things on sale that I've been wanting to add to my wardrobe for a while. I order a Tory Burch crossbody, Blondo waterproof booties, Zella leggings, a faux leather moto jacket, a burgundy pencil skirt, and a new pair of cubic zirconia studs. Knowing myself, I'll end up returning at least half of it, but we'll see how it goes ($466.82). I email M. the links to a few things I think he might like, and he settles on a North Face fleece jacket. I chip in $40, and he Venmos me for the remaining $34.09. I put a bag of Trader Joe's cauliflower gnocchi in the oven for lunch and get back to work. $506.82

3 p.m. — I'm waiting for additional edits on the document that's going out to the client, but at this point I can definitely tell the gym isn't happening for me this afternoon. I eat a banana and message M. asking if he wants to head out for happy hour at 5:15 (hopefully, I'll be done with work by then)!

5 p.m. — It's a miracle — I send my last email out, and I'm done for the day! Or at least for now. I walk over to the bar and meet M. We each order two drinks (a cocktail and a glass of rosé for me, a glass of red wine and a beer for him) and split a ricotta-honey montadito, fried chickpeas, and spinach chickpea cazuela. We split the check in half. $24.15

6:45 p.m. — We head out and stop in at a neighborhood wine shop. We just joined their wine club recently, which comes with free weekend tastings! The vendor who was supposed to be hosting the tasting wasn't able to make it, so the shop's owner is pouring some wines from an event he hosted the night before. We taste a couple of Tempranillos, a Cabernet Sauvignon, and a Petite Sirah. They're amazing but way out of our price range, so we don't end up buying anything. The owner tells us to come by again tomorrow to taste a great selection of French wines, and we tell him we'll definitely be back.

7:15 p.m. — We stop by Whole Foods on the way home so M. can get breakfast food for tomorrow, but end up getting things that aren't on our list. Don't grocery shop after a few drinks! We get a six-pack of Hefeweizen, frozen breakfast potatoes, Fage Greek yogurt, vegan cookie dough, chips and hummus, and two pints of Halo Top that are on sale. M. pays, and I'll settle out with him at the end of the month — we each contribute a certain amount to groceries each month, and because he typically does most of the grocery shopping, usually this means I'll Venmo him for my remaining share of our groceries.

7:45 p.m. — We get home and M. makes us some Boca “turkey” burgers and roasted Brussels sprouts. I open up a bottle of rosé I bought earlier this month and pour myself a glass. M. cracks open one of the beers he just bought. We catch up on the next episode of MasterChef while the food cooks. I'm not very hungry after our earlier outing, so I just have a plate of Brussels sprouts. Next, we move to HBO Now and look for a movie to watch. We settle on The Hate U Give and both end up crying through most of it. One of my brother's friends was killed by the police, and this hits way too close to home.

10:30 p.m. — M. goes to bed, and I read a bit on my phone. I have yet another email asking me to donate to my top-choice primary candidate — I've already donated to her this month, but I give another small donation, since I have my information saved in ActBlue. I do my nightly routine and then take an Advil with half a glass of water to stave off any potential hangover. $5

Daily Total: $535.97

Day Three

9 a.m. — I've gotten a full night's sleep for the first time all week, but I'm still super groggy. I scroll through social media on my phone and finally get up at 10. I make oatmeal and coffee and open up my laptop to start working. I have way too much due this month and will probably end up working most of the weekend. M. plays video games on the couch next to me.

2 p.m. — It's almost 100 degrees outside, but it's time to run errands. I have a bunch of clothes I ordered that need to be returned. With my busy work schedule, I typically end up ordering clothes online and then returning anything that doesn't fit in person. My latest order was mostly workout gear, and only two items fit. I take the free D.C. Circulator up to Old Navy, where the bulk of my order was from, then the Metro downtown to stop by Gap and Banana Republic to return one item each (using my preloaded Metro card). I get about $120 back in returns, which softens the blow of my big Nordstrom purchase a bit.

3:45 p.m. — I walk back home from downtown and am literally melting (or is that just my makeup?). Feels like 111 degrees? Seriously? I crank up the AC, grab a glass of water, and sit down to work. I'm hungry again, so I pull out some of the vegan cookie dough we bought yesterday…and end up eating way too much of it. Definitely have to go to the gym today! I check on my Nordstrom order, since an item has already shipped, and see that a Patagonia fleece vest that was on my wish list is back in stock. Let's see how it is in person! $62.43

5 p.m. — M. finally gets home from the gym (he's training for a competition, so his workouts are on the longer side), and he showers to get ready to go back out in the heat. We head to our neighborhood wine shop for another free tasting. Today they're pouring wines from a few different regions in France. I like some of them, but not enough to purchase any — I've learned at this point that my palate often leans more toward New World reds and whites and Old World rosés and sparkling. We browse around the shop and end up getting a bottle of sparkling rosé from Spain. I pay and M. Venmos me for half. $11.02

6:30 p.m. — I do a bit more work when I get home and then try to talk myself into going to the gym. I finally make it out the door at 7:30. I get a nice 45-minute workout in — legs, core work, and a good stretching session. I make it home by 9 and get in the shower. I peek in our fridge to see what I can prep for dinner and settle on the leftover Boca burgers I didn't eat last night. I top them with some goat cheese (best by a month ago, but at least the package is unopened) and Trader Joe's green dragon sauce. It looks like someone puked on a plate but somehow ends up tasting pretty good! M. and I each have a glass of rosé and watch the next two episodes of Big Little Lies while I answer emails and work on a draft of a filing for next week. He goes to bed at 10:45, and I read a book and scroll through social media until midnight.

Daily Total: $73.45

Day Four

9 a.m. — I'm up before my alarm goes off and am ready to start working again. I make my typical breakfast, pull out my laptop, and sit on the couch to start working. At 10:30 our door buzzes — I'd forgotten that we were getting our chimney cleaned today! We've literally never used our fireplace, but our landlord is having all of the chimneys in our building cleaned this week before fall starts. I head into the bedroom with my laptop since I have bedhead, a greasy face, and tiny little pajama shorts on. M. stays in the living room to help the chimney servicer out.

12 p.m. — After a work emergency, I finally get in the shower. I'm just relieved I didn't have any major plans today, because I'm going to be glued to my computer for a while. M. takes out the trash and cleans the kitchen while I continue working. He runs out to get groceries at Trader Joe's (he pays and I'll Venmo him at the end of the month) and comes back drenched in sweat. The heat wave shows no signs of dying down, but I ask if he wants to go out to happy hour later this afternoon, just to make sure I get some fresh air today.

3:15 p.m. — We head to an Italian restaurant nearby for drinks and a snack. I get a glass of Prosecco, he gets a beer, and we split their funghi pizza. I pay, and he Venmos me for half ($14.75). On the way home, we stop by Whole Foods again since Trader Joe's didn't have some of the items M. wanted to make for dinner tonight. We get Gardein sweet and sour porkless bites and some hummus (M.'s guilty pleasure). He puts it on his card. We also get paper towels from CVS, and he pays again. $14.75

4:30 p.m. — We get home, and I sit back down to start working again. I take a quick break to update my finances for the month. I track my budgets and expenditures in a Google spreadsheet, and I try to update it weekly, but it often ends up being just once or twice a month. I send M. a Venmo request for an Airbnb I'd booked for our upcoming trip to visit one of my best friends in Portland. We usually try to split the costs when we travel, but because of our salary difference, I'll sometimes end up picking up a bit more of our lodging or flight costs to ease his financial burden. I eat a bit more cookie dough as a snack. M. plays video games on the couch next to me and then does a deep clean of our bathroom. He's seriously too good to me.

6:30 p.m. — M. starts making dinner, and I try to wind down my work so that I can take a break to go to the gym. He makes us the porkless bites, cauliflower rice, and broccoli, plus some fried rice for him. He puts mine in Tupperware, since I'll eat after the gym — I'll also bring the leftovers to work for lunch tomorrow.

7:30 p.m. — I'm out the door and off to the gym. Today I bench and finish with rows, lat pull-downs, and core work. A guy comes up to me while I'm resting between planks and asks if I want to grab coffee sometime. “Sorry, no thank you,” I tell him brusquely. I'm low-key annoyed — the gym is my “me” time. I come here to unwind and to burn off some extra calories. I don't come here to pick up men. I cut my last plank short because I keep thinking he's going to come back over. On the walk home, I second-guess myself — should I have turned him down more nicely?

8:45 p.m. — I get home and vent to M., and then get in the shower. Afterward, I put away a load of laundry and then heat up some of the porkless bites, cauliflower rice, and broccoli for dinner. M. and I each get a small glass of rosé to finish our open bottle. I grab my laptop to resume working, and we turn on Avatar: The Last Airbender. This was my favorite show growing up, and I talked M. into watching the whole series with me this summer (he'd never seen it). M. makes me a tequila lemonade and pours himself some bourbon. Once the show is finished, we agree that THIS is how to end a great series (take note, Game of Thrones) and that we need to move to The Legend of Korra next. M. goes to bed at 10:45. I try to wrap up what I'm doing with work so that I can go to bed at a reasonable hour.

11:45 p.m. — I'm finally in bed, but I can't turn off my brain. I toss and turn for more than an hour. The next time I check the clock, it's 4 a.m. I have to have fallen asleep at some point in the past four hours, right?

Daily Total: $14.75

Day Five

7 a.m. — My first two alarms go off. My head is throbbing. I feel like death. I bump the rest of my alarms back by 15 minutes so that I can try to get a little more sleep. M. gets up at 7:30 to shower, and I finally drag myself out of bed at 8. M. leaves for work at 8:30, and I get in the shower. I'm out the door a little after 9:30 and make it to work by 9:50. I'm not entirely drenched in sweat today, so I'll count that as a win.

2 p.m. — I've been super productive today but have put off eating. I'm starting to feel lightheaded. I take a quick break to heat up my lunch. The cauliflower rice and porkless bites taste fantastic, but the leftover broccoli and Brussels sprouts from the weekend are a soggy mess, so I only end up eating a few bites. I wish I had a sad desk salad instead. I eat while I work, as per usual.

6:30 p.m. — I leave the office, stopping by the library on the way home to pick up a copy of the novel I need to read for next month's book club. When I get back to the apartment, M. is at the gym and I'm too tired to cook. I heat up some leftover fried rice and snack on some of that vegan cookie dough again. At 8, I turn on The Bachelorette(which is the only show I ever watch live). M. comes home partway through the episode, and I pause the TV so that I can catch him up on what's happened. I make myself a tequila lemonade, and we watch the rest of the show together. I keep an eye on my inbox but am hoping I won't have to work tonight.

10:30 p.m. — A couple of items from the Nordstrom sale have arrived, but the rest are in “getting ready” purgatory. I try on the pencil skirt I ordered, which looks super awkward in person and will be going back. M.'s North Face jacket fits him great, thankfully, so at least we know one item we ordered wasn't a bust.

11 p.m. — I'm dead tired and start getting ready for bed. I check my work phone and see that I've missed a few emails from the past hour (I forgot to monitor it after the show ended). It's all stuff that can wait until tomorrow morning, though. For once, I get into bed before M., but then toss and turn for the next two hours while he happily passes out at 11:30.

Daily Total: $0

Day Six

7:15 a.m. — I snooze through seven different alarms again but get up at 7:45. I empty the dishwasher, make breakfast, and then pull out my laptop to start making a dent in last night's requests. I work for about 30 minutes, and M. heats up a couple of Boca turkey burgers in the oven — I'll take those for lunch with our leftover cauliflower rice. I shower and get ready for work, then spend a few minutes tidying up the living room before I leave.

9:50 a.m. — I arrive at the office and sit down to start working. I'm basically looking for a needle in a haystack, but eventually I find the documents I'm looking for. I snack on some dry multigrain Cheerios that I brought to tide me over until lunch.

2 p.m. — I can't ignore my growling stomach any longer, so I heat up my lunch. I shoot off a quick text to a friend to confirm that we're still on for brunch this weekend. This job makes it hard to make new friends, so I'm just glad that there are a few people I know from law school in my current city.

7 p.m. — My inbox has been quiet for the past 15 minutes, so I think I'm safe to head out. I walk home and enjoy the gorgeous, non-sweltering weather. At home, I load the dishwasher and toast a pretzel bagel for myself as a snack. I answer a few more emails and try to psych myself up to hit the gym. M. is at a work event tonight, but texts to ask if I want anything from Chipotle — he's been craving it and wants to get it on his way home. I send him my burrito order and snack on some more multigrain Cheerios while I get dressed for the gym.

9:30 p.m. — I get home from a light cardio and ab workout. M. just got back as well with burritos, chips, and guac. I Venmo him for my share ($10). I shower and realize that I'm almost out of my Neutrogena face wipes, so I order a three-pack on Amazon ($18.98, but I pay with my Discover cash-back balance). M. and I dig into our Chipotle while we watch the finale of Big Little Lies. I eat half of my sofritas burrito and put the rest in the fridge, but polish off my share of the chips and guac. I receive comments back on one of the documents I'd been working on, implement the changes while watching the show, and then send it out for another round of approval. M. goes to bed at 10:45, and I stay up for another 45 minutes to wrap up my final work tasks. $10

Daily Total: $10

Day Seven

7:30 a.m. — I set my alarm for a little later today to see if I can actually get up once the first one goes off, but of course I stay in bed for the next 20 minutes. M. is sleeping in, since he's working from home today. I head into the kitchen, put a couple of Boca burgers in the oven (spicy “chicken” today), unload the dishwasher, and make my breakfast. M. comes in while I'm eating and makes me a side of peas to bring with my lunch. I shower, pack my lunch and gym clothes, and leave for the office a little before 9:30.

9:45 a.m. — I sit down to work, but it's a relatively slow morning. I start reviewing a new production that just came in and snack on some Cheerios. I take a break to refill my water and run into one of my work friends, who's just gotten back from a trip. We chat for a while and then reluctantly head back to our desks.

1:30 p.m. — I take a break to heat up my chik'n patties and peas, and scroll through social media while I eat. My inbox is pretty quiet, since a few of our partners and senior associates are traveling for work today, so I try to get ahead on some of the tasks I have due next week. I take another break around 5 to snack on some Greek yogurt I had in the fridge, topped with honey that I keep at my desk in a makeshift pantry.

7:30 p.m. — I head to the gym and have a killer workout. I bench and then move to dumbbells for some arm and shoulder exercises.

9:00 p.m. — I get home and M. isn't back from the gym yet. I shower and then put on a face mask to try to diminish some of my period breakouts. M. gets home just as I sit down on the couch to answer a few emails. He showers and starts a load of laundry. I eat the other half of last night's Chipotle burrito and a few bites of Halo Top while we watch the first two episodes of The Legend of Korra. M. heads to bed at 10:30. I stay up a bit longer to read and take some of our more wrinkle-prone clothes out of the dryer once the cycle finishes. I'm in bed at 11:45 and mercifully fall asleep without too much tossing and turning.

Daily Total: $0

Attention, college students! Refinery29 wants you to share the dorm organization items that you couldn't have made it through the school year without. Fill out this form and you could be included in our story!

Money Diaries are meant to reflect individual women's experiences and do not necessarily reflect Refinery29's point of view. Refinery29 in no way encourages illegal activity or harmful behavior.

The first step to getting your financial life in order is tracking what you spend — to try on your own, check out our guide to managing your money every day. For more money diaries, click here.

Do you have a Money Diary you'd like to share? Submit it with us here.

Have questions about how to submit or our publishing process? Read our Money Diaries FAQ doc here: r29.co/mdfaqs

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

Is It Worth It To Get Wedding Insurance?

A Week In Ottawa, ON, On A $50,434 Salary

A Week In Chicago, IL, On A $87,000 Salary

Ever since its launch in 2015, Staud has charmed us with their signature blend of retro glamour and of-the-moment fabrication. Whether it’s a nylon ballgown dress, a cotton-candy pink kitten heel, or a tackle-box shaped handbag made chic by faux-croc embossing, their knack for combining classic, jet-setting silhouettes with a healthy dose of kook, color, and Instagram-ready styling keeps us returning to their online shop (and their newly launched New York showroom) again and again.

And then, of course, there are the bags. The literal (and digital) influence of signature styles like the cylindrical Bissett, the macrame-adorned Moreau, or the boxy Shirley cannot be understated, and for many of the brand's fans, acted as a gateway accessory to Staud’s dressed-up universe. So we were excited to catch wind of a new addition to their growing arm-candy family: the Moon Bag, a structured, circular tote in the sculptural vein of all the brand’s previous hits.

And today, Staud is offering R29 readers first crack at shopping the latest creation, in advance of the bag’s public launch (along with the entire fall collection) on August 13. Priced from $325 to $395, the circular satchel is available in a standard and a large size, in fall-ready colorways like raspberry, cognac, and the requisite snake print. Some of our favorites iterations are highlighted below, but you can click here to shop each piece for yourself (after entering your email address when prompted9. Prepare to find yourself over the moon.

At Refinery29, we’re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. All product details reflect the price and availability at the time of publication. If you buy something we link to on our site, Refinery29 may earn commission.

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

The Top Labor Day Sales For All Of Your Transitional-Dressing Needs

Amazon's Best Holiday Weekend Deals — Starting Now

The 29 Most Wanted Goods This Month — According To You

National Lipstick Day is barely a legitimate holiday, but do we mind? Not really, because any excuse to shop for lipstick is a good one. On National Lipstick Day beauty brands are offering a ton of great deals on their best lip products. And while the holiday is technically on July 29, we're celebrating early by rounding up all the best sales to shop this year.

Whether you're a daily red lipstick wearer or all about the MLBB ("my lips but better" – Internet speak for your perfect nude shade), there's a sale for every lipstick personality out there. From a free full-size MAC lipstick to 40% off all Colourpop lip products, these are all the can't-miss deals and freebies to enjoy, sealed with a kiss.

At Refinery29, we’re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. If you buy something we link to on our site, Refinery29 may earn commission.

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

Every Kylie Lip Kit Is Buy One, Get One Free This Weekend

These Foundations Were Made For Oily Skin

Don't Make This Mistake While Removing Waterproof Mascara

From American Pie to Blockers, there are plenty of teen comedies about students trying to lose their virginities before graduating high school. Watching these movies, you might think that starting college without having had sex is something really strange and unusual. But research shows that that’s not the case at all — and that’s without getting into the complications of what virginity even means in the first place.

According to the CDC, the average age at which American women first have penis-in-vagina sex is 17.3 years; for men, it’s 17.0 years. But keep in mind this is an average, which means that there many people are older than 17 when they first have sex. According to the same CDC data, 70.7% of 15- to 19-year-olds have had sex — which means about 30% have not. Other studies show similar results. For example, the Guttmacher Institute found that the average age at which Americans first have sex is 17.8 for women and 18.1 for men. SKYN’s 2019 Sex & Initimacy survey found that the average age respondents first had sex was 18, and that 30% of Gen Z respondents (ages 18 to 22) have never had sex. Other data shows that millennials and Gen Z are losing their virginities later: one 2016 study found that people born in the 1980s and 1990s were more likely to have had zero sexual partners at age 18 than previous generations.

As the Cut points out in a piece appropriately titled “College Virgins Are A Mostly Silent Almost-Majority,” it’s not even unusual to graduate from college without ever having sex. That happens for about 20% of students, according to the Online College Social Life Survey. That’s one in five people.

Complicating the discussion is that fact most of these studies define “losing your virginity” as your first time having penis-in-vagina sex, which is a pretty narrow way to look at it. Plenty of LGBTQ+ folks never have P-in-V, after all. In reality, people view “losing your virginity” in a whole range of ways — such as their first time having an orgasm with a partner, their first time having consensual sex, or their first time having oral or anal sex. 

All that said, if you’re a college student who’s never had sex, it’s understandable if you feel a little insecure about it, thanks to all the messaging we get from pop culture. Liz Goldwyn, founder of The Sex Ed, a multimedia platform for sex, health and consciousness education, tells Refinery29, “You may be surprised to know how many mid-20s, 30s and older ‘virgins’ there are out there who feel ashamed of their status.”

If you don’t feel great about your status, she has two pieces of advice. First, rethink the concept of “virginity.” “Try to have a broader view of what ‘sex’ is — this can include oral, fingering, orgasm with a toy (with or without a partner) and more,” she says. “We need to challenge what the construct of ‘virginity’ is in the first place.”

Next, try not to compare yourself to others. “Don’t compare your sexual status to anyone else (as hard as that may be) — we have to be responsible for our OWN level of comfort and desires,” Goldwyn says. “That is what being sex positive is all about.”

Being a virgin in college isn’t unusual — and it isn’t anything to be embarrassed about, either. Plenty of your classmates have never had sex, either, even if they don’t talk about it. And even if being a virgin in college was rare, there’s nothing wrong with having a different type of sexual experience than someone else — no two people are the same, and that includes their sex lives.

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

34 Women Describe Their First Time

Everything You Need To Have Great Sex At College

7 Sex Positions For Beginners

“Let me show you a super frosty one,” a Mr. Feeny lookalike tells me.

It’s a rare cloudy day in Willcox, Arizona (population: ~3,500), and Feeny — real name, Tony Stevens — is leading me through a massive 325,500 square foot greenhouse of which he is the director of agricultural operations. We’re on the hunt for a particularly picture-worthy blossom aggressively speckled with little white pustules of oil, the aforementioned “frost,” and some dozen rows later, we spot it. “This one here smells like cherries,” Stevens says, and sure enough, if you lean in close, you get a whiff of fresh stone fruit. The smell is entirely unlike the skunky scent of marijuana that I’d grown so accustomed to from college and living in New York City. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. We’re a world away from a dorm room and instead at The Pharm, a massive emporium dedicated to the art and big business of growing cannabis.

Housed on a 67-acre plot of land, The Pharm was acquired by cannabis company Sunday Goods in 2016. The goal: Turn an old tomato and cucumber greenhouse into a direct source for premium marijuana, use the accompanying 34,000 square feet of manufacturing space for research and development, and create one of the most successful vertically-integrated weed companies in the country. 

Looking at the sheer quantity of marijuana in The Pharm, it seems like Sunday Goods is well on its way to meeting its goal. Last year, the greenhouse produced 40,000 pounds of cannabis. This year the greenhouse is expected to produce 45,000 pounds. If you do the math, that much weed would roll roughly 40,800,000 joints.

“If you do the math, that much weed would roll roughly 40,800,000 joints.”

Of course, Sunday Goods is not selling 40 million joints a year. Instead, that 45,000 pounds of marijuana will be sold in Arizona wholesale, as “popcorn” (grade B buds), as extract, or in their line of Instagram-friendly products. This last section seems to be the key to serious growth and expansion.  Sunday Goods’ focus is on products that not only appeal to potheads of the past but also of the future — and that future is seemingly female. Marketing to include women is a no-brainer given the numbers; one survey from 2017 found that 53% of women smoked marijuana, compared to 42% of the men who responded. But how Sunday Goods is appealing to this market is seemingly through another, highly-profitable industry and buzzword: Self care.

Hence the name Sunday Goods, a counterbalance to the Instagram-ubiquitous Sunday scaries. And hence the design-friendly lineup: Instead of the mysterious chocolates and questionable rice krispies treats of yore, Sunday Goods has lemon rosemary hard candies and pretzel-speckled milk chocolates, with 5 mg and 10 mg of THC, respectively. There are THC-laced lavender-colored bath salts and pink bath bombs and pearly white and gold vape pens. And forget the eyesore of plastic canisters; actual bud is sold in chic amber jars labeled “Sunday Flowers.” The entire line feels like what would happen if Glossier met Aesop and decided to get customers high.

It must be said, though, that Sunday Goods’ origin story is a fairly conventional one. In 2015, startup founder Yoram Heller expressed interest in working in the cannabis space after selling his first venture, tech company Morphlabs, while also growing his family business Intercare Therapy. In a strange twist of fate (or perhaps, an indication of the societal circles that spawned Sunday Goods), a former tour manager for Metallica introduced Heller to Randy Smith, who was working at cannabis consulting company 4Front Advisors at the time. In short, a business guy met a cannabis business guy, and by 2016, the two had raised $10 million to buy The Pharm for their new company Sunday Goods.

The co-founders subsequently tapped branding company Gin Lane (client list: sweetgreen, Recess) to help build out their brand, and fully leaned in to creating a company that positioned marijuana as not just fun, but also good — for the soul, for the mind, for the self — mirroring the messaging of brands like Lululemon (with its Selfcare beauty line), Lush (with their emphasis on natural products), and even Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop. 

It’s tricky when the federal government doesn’t necessarily see it that way. Despite a rash of states recently decriminalizing marijuana, cannabis is still federally considered a Schedule 1 drug (alongside heroin, LSD, and ecstasy). According to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration’s website, marijuana has “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse,” and the sale and use of the drug is still very much illegal in the federal government’s eyes. 

So even though Sunday Goods is based in Arizona, where marijuana is legal for medicinal purposes, operating nationally in this pseudo-legal drug realm poses a gauntlet. The company, and other similar producers, can’t ship their products across state lines; that would be drug trafficking. Banking weed profits can technically be considered money laundering; many national banks straight up refuse to work with cannabis-related companies. Businesses like Sunday Goods are forced to convince smaller, more adventurous banks to work with them, and/or deal primarily in cash. On top of all of that, weed-related businesses then have to pay taxes on the entirety of their revenue, thanks to Section 280E, which prohibits them from taking any tax deductions (such as operating expenses). So yes, in case you were wondering, places like Sunday Goods do pay taxes, and they pay a lot. 

Regardless of these hurdles, however, entrepreneurs across the United States are jumping at the chance to make it big in the wild west of weed. According to Fortune, weed-related companies in America raised approximately $13.8 billion in investments last year, almost quadrupling 2017’s number. And a few companies are already proving to be financially worthwhile. There’s MedMen, with its Apple-like stores, which signed to acquire medical marijuana provider PharmaCann for $682 million in 2018. Cresco Labs in Chicago reportedly agreed to pay $850 million for Canada-based but California-centric Origin House. 

Sunday Goods, which has privately raised some $45 million, seems to combine the cannabis’ business potential with the boom of self-care (an industry often cited with a $10 billion future value). You can see this strategy beyond the product and in the retail experience, as the company plans to expand in Arizona with both everyday retail dispensaries as well as a highbrow flagship experiences. Think Starbucks Reserve but with weed, complete with Instagram backdrops and coffee shop coworking spaces. It’s a far cry from the somewhat outdated stereotypes of shady home deliveries and dark, dingy dispensaries, and might be an instrumental step in getting new customers (including female customers) through the door. 

“The act of buying weed, especially in a non-legal market, can be intimidating, more so for a woman,” Anna Ho, Sunday Good’s director of (business) growth says. “We’re disposed to not want to contact a stranger and meet up in a semi-private place. One of the cool things about legalization is that it creates a space that is more welcoming to women, where people who are new to the industry might find it less intimidating to consume.”

So when the first Sunday Goods flagship store opens in Arizona in 2020, the space will mix community and commerce by including a bar and cafe, a second-floor art gallery, a sculpture garden, artist studios, and a drive-thru. They’ve chatted about collaborating with buzzworthy names like Stumptown or Ohio-based Jeni’s Ice Cream to take over adjacent spaces in smaller “premium” shops. 

“Traditional estimates say [the industry will grow] to $80 billion, but I personally think that’s light. It doesn’t take into account what I think is going to be a conversion factor,” Smith says. If the weed dispensaries of the future feel more like The Wing than a college bro’s basement, well, yeah, conversion might be higher than expected.

“The weed dispensaries of the future feel more like The Wing than a college bro’s basement.”

And then there’s The Pharm, which might be the company’s final step in rebranding marijuana from illegal shady substance to dreamy, Instagrammable self-care product. Not only does growing in a greenhouse decrease the cost of producing weed (The Pharm sits on a geothermal well and produces marijuana at around $230 a pound, compared to what indoor growers might grow at $900 a pound or so, Smith says), it also gives the company a farm-to-table angle, a place where they can test strains while touting transparency in their sourcing. 

This is why Sunday Goods hired seasoned marijuana grower Sjoerd Broeks to helm the greenhouse, alongside our Feeny-lookalike Stevens. The manbun-sporting Broeks and bespectacled Stevens make a surprising pair, but the two have surprisingly complementary backgrounds. Broeks, a 44-year-old raised by cannabis growers and Doberman breeders in the Netherlands, made his name in the industry as the head breeder for seed-supplying company Flying Dutchmen Seed Co. Sixty-one-year-old  Stevens, meanwhile, has 20 years of experience running large-scale cucumber and tomato greenhouses. 

With Broeks and Stevens, Heller believes the greenhouse and production facility could become the “Blue Hill at Stone Barns of weed.” (In an Esquire article last year, Smith compares their marijuana to heirloom tomatoes.) At the time of Refinery29’s visit, the team was not only cultivating Cherry Punch (the bud that smells like cherries), but also Headbanger, a sour limey version, Old Dirty Diesel, which smells like “funky sweet rotten fruit,” plus some 60 other strains at any given time. The Sunday Goods team talks about marijuana strains the same way wine snobs talk about grape varietals and craft beer geeks namedrop hops.

“The consumer goes in right now to buy cannabis, and they’re like, red or white?” Smith says. “They’re not like, ‘I like Malbecs and Pinot Noirs.’ We’re so far away from that, but that’s where we see it heading.” 

Granted, there’s still a ways to go before the market becomes that discerning. In fact, there’s still plenty to do before the company can go national in a big way. “Launching in a new state is like launching in a new country; all the laws are different,” Ho says. “None of the infrastructure is there. It’s like you’re on a boat, and you’re trying to build that boat while sailing that boat while also trying to hit a moving target.” 

Nevertheless, Sunday Goods debuted in California last year, albeit without their own greenhouse to supply them. And in case you were wondering, the same elements of self-care dot their California line, too. The company launched its “effect pens” in April, a line of metallic pastel disposable vape pens that incorporates elements of aromatherapy. Their effects? “Rest,” Spark,” and “Soothe,” to name a few. Pair with a bubble bath and a book.

Travel and lodging for this story was provided by Sunday Goods. However, Sunday Goods did not approve or review this story. Refinery29 in no way encourages illegal activity and would like to remind its readers that marijuana usage continues to be an offense under Federal Law, regardless of state marijuana laws.

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

All The States Where Recreational Weed Is Legal

All The States Where Weed Is Legal

The Most Effective Ways To Use CBD

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

How To Stock Your Pantry If You Still Can't Cook

The Healthy Trader Joe's Snacks To Have On-Hand

Stock Up On The Best Snacks This Amazon Prime Day

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

These Are The Best Toners For Oily Skin

12 Powder Foundations That Look Natural

This Foundation Has A 17,000-Person Waiting List

Today, Apple announced a change to its Siri privacy policy in response to concerns over user audio recordings being retained and evaluated by Apple contractors. Until earlier this month, Apple employed a grading system where recordings from Siri interactions were evaluated to measure the accuracy and relevance of Siri's responses — but according to The Guardian, many such recordings included private and sensitive information.

“We know that customers have been concerned by recent reports of people listening to audio Siri recordings as part of our Siri quality evaluation process — which we call grading. We heard their concerns, immediately suspended human grading of Siri requests and began a thorough review of our practices and policies,” said Apple in today's statement.

Accompanying the apology is a list of changes being implemented by Apple immediately. Most importantly, Apple will no longer keep recordings of Siri interactions with users by default. Instead, users will have the option of letting Apple use their voice data to help inform and improve Siri — with the ability to opt out of this preference whenever. And lastly, for those who do opt in, from now on, only Apple employees (as opposed to contractors) will be allowed to listen to recorded audio.

It's worth noting that, according to Apple, the audio recordings that were subjected to this grading process make up less than 0.2% of all Siri interactions, and that, though Siri requires some user data to execute commands, overall, the user data that Siri interacts with is pretty well-protected as far as voice assistants go. For example, if you ask Siri to read aloud your text messages, Siri will access them without retaining their contents on the Siri server. And after six months, all user personal data — which is tied to a random identifier (basically an encrypted code) instead of the users' Apple ID or phone number — becomes detached from this random identifier and associated with a new one.

Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant are fighting similar privacy battles, as they also employ contractors to evaluate a small percentage of their audio recordings. Apple's privacy policy change comes alongside Google's announcement that it will be halting Google Assistant recordings in Europe for three months while German regulators look further into the issue, as well as Amazon's new policy that lets users opt out of their audio being reviewed by humans.

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

Apple's New Credit Card Is Finally Here

Apple's Back-To-School Deals Have Arrived

The Apple Watch Can Now Track Your Period