Aly's Newsletter: Monday (PM) Edition
Hello, it's me. Again. For the second time today.
Good afternoon!
This is actually the second newsletter I’m sending out today. Sorry for crowding your inboxes!
This morning was a special update for my paid subscribers about an upcoming ask-me-anything Zoom meeting. This one, though, has all my current story leads.
I’m going to try to keep this brief, because I have a big story I need to finish up this afternoon and tonight (for the first time in MONTHS), I have dinner plans with a few of my closest friends. That’s right, I’m actually leaving my apartment, and seeing people I cherish…and eating food I did not cook.
I can’t even begin to say how much not being able to do that for a stretch of time makes you never again take the ability to do so for granted again.
I did watch last night’s part-two of the season finale of Euphoria, and to be honest…I’m still processing. I feel like it was a bit more melodrama than drama, and I’m not so sure that is a good thing. Also, was Lexi’s play longer than any other play ever? It seemed to be.
Outlander is (FINALLY) coming back this weekend, though, and that means, sorry, but no other television matters anymore. Be prepared.
Today in media news...it appears that TikTok has quietly bumped up their videos to a 10-minute time allowance? Which...sort of makes them YouTube? TBH, that may be a bit too much TikTok for my senses.
Some newly published stories
Looking to start the day right? For The Kitchn, I shared a simple and fast recipe for one pan oatmeal.
In other cooking news, for SPY, I wrote a roundup of some of my favorite Kosher cookbooks. I'm a big fan of cookbooks and collect way more than my space really allows, and these are some faves. This is part of a series of articles and I have a roundup of favorite cookbooks in other categories publishing soon.
LOTS of open story opportunities!
Be sure to read the below list carefully. Many are stories I posted about yesterday, but some of yesterday's stories are no longer listed and a few new ones have been added since yesterday. This (below) is everything that is still a currently open opportunity as of today.
Today.com
I'm working on a big roundup of restaurants open on Easter. We’re looking for a big list of big and small chains across the country –high and low. It's the Easter version of this story we did for Christmas, if you want an idea of the format I'm looking for.
For Today.com, I'm also rounding up food/restaurant chains doing special deals, discounts, and freebies in honor of St. Patrick's Day.
Finally, I'm looking for restaurant chains nationwide doing special deals/discounts for tax day (i have a few weeks to play with this one...a rare feat!)
HerMoney
For Her Money, I'm doing a story on how to order takeout/delivery in a way that is smarter. Personally, I RARELY order delivery. It's such a hit on the budget. But when I do, I do my best to avoid the third-party delivery apps with a ton of added fees, and often take advantage of the tail end of a lunch special to get dinner cheaper (or order a special that has more food at a good price, so I'll have leftovers, and thus, bang for my buck. I would love to speak to some experts on the smarter way to do takeout/delivery.
Also for HerMoney - speaking of food delivery...those grocery delivery apps. Are they worth it? Do you end up spending a lot more money for the convenience? And how do we get the best value? I would love to speak to experts for this one as well. As most of us, I spent the BULK of the last two years relying on grocery delivery, and it was a life saver (quite literally). But are we paying a premium for that convenience?
Clean Plates
For Clean Plates, I'm working on a roundup of the healthiest, best-tasting jarred tomato sauces available at grocery stores. This is a continuation of the series I have done (examples of previous stories in this series: chicken soup, chicken nuggets, mac and cheese), for this story, I'm looking to include tomato sauces that are organic, pesticide-free (if not organic), no added sugar (or extremely low added sugar, EVOO > any other oils. Have any tomato sauces to pitch me? Email me! Nutritionist who wants to comment on this topic? Please email me also and I’ll send along what I need! Please make sure to glance at the examples above first so you have a clear idea of the kind of story this is.
SPY.com
I’m working on a roundup of kitchen gadgets under $50 that you can get on Amazon. This is an update of a story from a while back, so if it sounds familiar, that is why!
To pitch me for ANY of these stories, please email me at alywalansky@gmail.com (and start a new thread, please!).
Have a good afternoon <3
aly