Aly's Newsletter: 2024 in review. This year kind of blew. But it was also kind of epic.
Good morning!
So, everyone is sharing their 2024-wrapped-up year-in-review type posts today, and I just want to say — don’t let these posts make you feel bad.
A lot of people did great this year, but a lot of people just survived this year — and if that is you, that’s an achievement, that’s an accomplishment, and that’s something to feel proud of and honor.
Don’t let other people’s posts take away from that.
For me…this year was really hard. In fact, I stressed so much thinking about doing a wrap-up that I almost didn’t end up writing one.
This was a year that had some really low points and also some pretty high points, from personal life to career to the greater existential impacts of the world around us…but here we are at the end and, honestly, as hard as 2024 was, I find myself dreading it ending, because 2025 is coming tomorrow, and indicators are it may be positively harrowing.
So, some highlights of 2024:
February: Launched my headband and bow collection with RPZL, just in time for Valentine’s Day. It was SO fun and you were all SO supportive!
March: Jill and Alice and I have a daily text thread where we text and voice note ALL DAY every day, even when we’re all traveling - but we’d never all traveled together - until now, when we met up in Phoenix for an awesome girls trip. It was the best!
Also in March - the Dirty Aly martini pizza launched! An actual pizza - at an actual pizza spot in Little Italy - inspired by the Dirty Aly martini. It was so fun, and dare I say, delicious?
April: Went to Atlantic City for Taste of Nobu (one of the most fun food events I hit up this year)…somehow ended up getting a lap dance while I was there. (To be clear, the lap dance was not from Chef Nobu, he just provided the sushi.)
May: One of the low points of my year - my baby girl Scarlette passed away. I barely left my bathrobe for a week after.
But then when I did re-enter civilization, my mom and I had a date at Lip Lab, where we had custom lipsticks made in Lily and Scarlette’s honor!
June: Lectured journalism students at NYU! How effing cool is that?!
…and the very next day flew to LA, where I got to be reunited with dear west coast friends such as Alice — and Lauren & Marcel!
oh, and took a hard hat tour of a soon-to-open property while I was there, because, well, journalism.
July: Kind of a quiet summer for a lot of reasons, but did have a really special night at Lisa and Chris’s place - where we had an intimate beautiful dinner party completely curated by a private chef (who I totally stalked in the kitchen the whole time)
August: I had been going thru some stressful times, and it was a perfect time to do something somewhere that was bigger than me and my life and my problems - went to San Francisco’s Chinatown, where I volunteered at their womens residence and safe sanctuary, where we had the honor of volunteering to serve the women and their children lunch. Obviously, I also ate some amazing food while in Chinatown!
and then when I came home, we had a new addition! Tony came to live with us and join the family!
September
Started the month strong with caviar and fried chicken with my girl Lisa.
and an amazing week in Temecula
only to come home to the saddest reality — after 18.5 amazing years, Lily passed away. I was devastated.
October
Tony’s brother Sammie joined the family! He’s absolutely amazing.
and I taught a virtual class at Auburn University
and saw tons of my friends for NYCWFF!
November
Visited Chicago for a restaurant opening, and got to see my girl Patrice while I was there - our first breakfast date (non-virtual!) in nearly a decade.
December
Ended the year strong! Vegas girls trip for my birthday, followed by a party with 100 of my closest friends — followed by a special intimate dinner with my girl Amber!
and then a Hanukkah party at Shari’s (I made the cake!)
and finally, the perfect finale of the year - last night’s amazing omakase dinner with Juliana at Sushi by Scratch!
And we’re ending the year at well over 9,000 readers of this newsletter and with me on the Muck Rack top 10 most-viewed journalists list for the 4th year in a row…that’s pretty exciting!
Whatever your year looked like and however you feel about it right now - you got to the other side and you have lived to tell about it. That’s an achievement! Congratulations - and happy new year!
<3
aly
Happy New Year, Aly! We loved having you in Phoenix last year. Hope to see you again soon!
Happy New Year. Aly!! Loved your year-in-review. Cheers!!