Aly's Newsletter: TGIF (for real)
We survived another week. Sort of.
Congratulations to making it to Friday on what has seemed like the longest week...ever. And we have had quite a few endless weeks the last few years.
This morning, I came across a really helpful guide to the organizations and nonprofits on the ground in Ukraine you can support and where you can donate. We may all feel powerless and overwhelmed right now, but there's ways we can all help, from wherever we are, and whatever our circumstances.
Newly published stories
For The Kitchn, I wrote about the upcoming release of a Gilmore Girls-inspired cookbook. (Team Jess forever, BTW. Fight me.)
For those who love the season of all things PEEPS, for the Food Network I wrote about a piece of the brand's latest launch -- now you can customize those adorable marshmallow chicks to be any color, flavor, and topping you want. Personal peeps!
For Forbes, check out my roundup of all the most fun drinks and eats in honor of Mardi Gras.
And for those looking to upgrade their scent, here's my roundup for YourTango on the 20 most attractive scents scientifically proven to turn men on.
As always I super appreciate any social shares calling out me (I'm @alywalansky basically everywhere) and the outlet.
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 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 doing a mattress roundup. The gist is how important sleep is for your health (wouldn’t mind an expert source to quote for this!), and then I’ll break up my choices with superlatives that fit for each one, such as Best for Hot Sleepers, Best for a bad back, etc. Please email me by end of day TODAY for this one!
Also for Clean Plates, I'm also 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! 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 day - and take some time to be kind to one another.
<3
aly