Aly's Newsletter: New stories pending on this hump day (And my recap of last night's This Is Us!)

Plus, a heads up on the next Ask Aly Anything subscriber Zoom event!

Once upon a time, I was a big fan of Gilmore Girls, and when I started watching This Is Us, it was really hard for me to see Milo as Jack and not Jess...eventually, I stopped trying though, because I feel like the Jack character is what the Jess character could have grown into, with age and maturity. 

(That's not to say I see Rebecca as a Rory extension because I ADORE Rebecca and there was a part of me that couldn't stand Rory for at least half of the run of Gilmore Girls.)

Anyway, as we are now two weeks away from saying goodbye to not only Jack and Rebecca, but the whole series, I'm feeling pretty nostalgic already and had to share that.

Whew. The family meeting episode this week was...intense. And I'm so glad Kate finally grew the much-needed back bone she's never had around her brothers. This season has seen some REAL growth for Kate, and I’m so glad to see it.

But: Who else is…really…nervous about next week’s episode? We all know what’s coming.

Subscriber Zoom event!

It’s that time again! I’m going to be hosting an Ask Aly Anything Zoom on Monday 5/16 at 5 pm ET exclusively for paid subscribers. As always, I have a head count of no more than 100 people that can attend (not my decision, I’d love to have EVERYONE, but I have a limit to the amount of people that I can have in a single Zoom event.)

To RSVP, I’ll be adding instructions at the bottom of this email behind a paywall so only subscribers can access it. However, something new this week: If there’s any room left after subscribers have all had a chance to RSVP or express interest, I’ll open up the remaining spots to everyone! These Zooms are truly an ask me anything sort of situation, so no question is off limits.

Newly published

Food Network: We Tried Magnolia’s New Banana Pudding Cookie

RetailMeNot: 10 Father’s Day Gifts for Every Type of Dad

Taste of Home: 15 Paw-some Dog Birthday Party Ideas

If you or your client are featured in any of these stories, I super appreciate any social media shares tagging @alywalansky and the outlet. 

Here's what I'm working on:

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.

Forbes.com

Unless you've been living under a rock, you are probably aware that Her Majesty the Queen's Platinum Jubilee is being celebrated over the next few weeks. This is an incredibly historic event. For Forbes, I'm doing a roundup of cocktails/dishes being served at restaurants/bars/hotels around the world in honor of this MOMENTOUS occasion (sigh...what I'd give to be in London to celebrate...I can't even tell you.) - To pitch me for this story, please send me the following:

1 - Name of dish/drink

2 - Where being served (must exist on the menu or as a specialty at a bar or restaurant)

3 - Description

4 - Quote about the drink/dish (please don't forget to include a name of who is being quoted)

5 - High-res image of the dish/drink

Oxygen

I'm working on a story on how to incorporate your pet into your workout routine - in a sense that they are kept busy and exercised but are also a sort of accountability partner, We always use all our chores and life tasks as an excuse not to take better care of ourselves, but one way I've always found to "cheat" is to combine activities - and making pet time also be workout time can be one of those. Would love some expert sources to weigh in (by Friday, please!).

The Complete Guide to Keto

This is a *print* magazine to be published by Centennial Health in August 2022. I'll be working on a story on Meals for All Eaters -- How to Feed a Food-Loving Family. It's essentially advice on creating meals that allow one person to be on keto while everyone else is eating non-keto meals. Maybe adding pasta to meat and veggies, or making two easy casseroles?. I'd love to talk to an R.D. re: how to do this, and also how to balance nutrition for kids/teenagers/men and a keto dieter.

Basically, for this story, I want to imagine that someone has gone keto and has kids and a partner who doesn't want to go keto. At the same time, we want everyone's meals to be healthy and balanced (in a keto way or in a typical way), so the concept shouldn't be that they just eat more meat, but maybe add almonds or olives to her meal (keep the keto balance in mind) and that a kid could maybe eat a cup of mac & cheese and not all the meat. Or whatever. I would love a nutritionist to comment on what a kid's dinner should look like or any other advice they might have (including that if you're going to do keto you should eat healthy fats not a bag of pork rinds). 

I'm also going to do a sidebar on frozen dinners -- those you can find in a grocery store/Walmart/Target/Whole Foods. Deadline for this one - May 15.

To pitch me for ANY of these stories, please email me at alywalansky@gmail.com (and start a new thread, please!).

Virtual consulting sessions...

Over the last six months or so, I've popped into a fair amount of PR team meetings and made myself available to answer all sorts of questions about pitching, events, and trips from a media perspective.  If you are interested in setting anything up for your own team in the coming months, please email me and we'll get something on the books!

Are you confused about affiliate marketing?

If you are having trouble learning how to navigate issues of affiliate marketing (trust me, we've all been there!), you may want to try out my friend Sarah Karger, a publicist, and former editor Dana Baardsen (and all-around fab girl!)'s Ultimate Masterclass and Introduction to Affiliate Marketing for Publicists. It's a brilliant course and it'll answer all your questions (including some you didn't know you had!)

Download the Substack App!

Good news! This newsletter is now available via app. That means you can keep up with everything you are reading from your phone. Download the app for iPhone and iPad here. For Android users, sign up for the waiting list here.

<3

aly

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