Aly's Newsletter: Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is a hard day for many people, as we are made to feel bad for not being in a relationship or having romantic love.

But remember that Valentine's Day is a celebration of all kinds of love. Friendship, family, pets, even a vocation or cause you are passionate about. If today is hard for you, try to focus on the love you have within yourself, for yourself. Because I've learned time and again over the years -- if we don't find a way to love ourselves, we won't be able to find (or feel, or recognize) the love around us, either.

It’s easy to feel lonely these days, especially those of us who have spend much of the last two years being pretty isolated…but thanks to texts and Facetimes and Zooms (for better or worse!) we’re never truly alone.

What's on TV?

Started watching Inventing Anna last night, and I am so sucked in. Between that and Tinder Swindler, I feel like my TV watching this week has had an oddly specific theme...

But who after watching both series (I'm only about 4 episodes into Anna!), REALLY wishes we could set up Simon and Anna? Like what would even HAPPEN?

Press trips

This weekend’s paid newsletter post was about best practices in planning, executing, hosting, and attending press trips. (That’s right, it’s geared toward PR and also media.) It’s a really intricate topic and there’s still a lot more to cover, but check it out here if you are interested.

Job leads

JJBPR is looking to hire someone with a few years experience in beauty PR and someone who can help with pitching, strategy, and managing the team.  Great international beauty brands including Gisou, ICONIC London, Dazzle Dry, MDSolarSciences, ZIIP and many more! 3 weeks vacation, paid holidays, closed btw Xmas and NYs, hybrid model (mostly WFH), competitive salary and more! Athleisure wear welcomed (and expected!). Email jennifer@jjbpr.com for more info.

Here's what I'm working on today:

1 - For SPY: Best sparkling summer wines: Similar to the last story I did on sparkling wines, but with a summer angle. Specifically, what are the best light wines that are ideal for warm summer days. Would love to have some somms weigh in on this as well.

Fun kitchen tools and gadgets under $50 (must be available and in stock at major online retailers. If this is an item that is generally over $50 but currently on sale for under $50, that totally counts!

2 -  For Clean Plates, I'm working on a roundup of the healthiest, best-tasting peanut butters and almond butters you can buy. (Please note these are two different stories - one story is on peanut butter, one story on almond butter.)  This is in the same sort of format as the chicken soup story I just did, so I'm looking for nutritionists  (with appropriate credentials) to weigh in re: what to look for in both of these products, but also some good ones to buy and why. Also open to products for me to taste and evaluate. 

For these two stories, I'm veering toward organic-only, with a focus on peanut butters with the least amount of added stuff in them (peanuts + salt is a great recipe for peanut butter, after all). If there is added stuff — which is needed for some flavors, of course — I want to make sure all the ingredients are top-notch, and if it's a sweet peanut butter (honey peanut butter or maple peanut butter) to make sure it uses top-notch ingredients and is relatively less sweet compared to the competition, etc. These are the categories I'm focusing on: salted, unsalted, crunchy, honey peanut butter, powdered (not my thing personally, but people love it for smoothies), "fun" flavors (maple-cinnamon, etc) - if you have a credible nutritionist (who is not tied to a brand) to weigh in, please email me!

For any of these stories, please start a new email thread and email alywalansky@gmail.com. 

Here's some stories that have published in the last few days:

Clean Plates

8 Easy Valentine’s Dessert Recipes That Use Exactly Zero Refined Sugar

Forbes

The Best Comfort Food Care Packages For Those Isolating At Home

Have the best day - will try to make something especially romantic for tonight’s Instagram cooking video! (As for last night’s, it’s just wings — Super Bowl and all — but I made them in my new air fryer if you want to check it out!)

<3

aly