Aly's Newsletter: 'This Is Us' recap, my exciting Kentucky Derby plans, and stories I'm working on today!

It's such a busy week...

Happy Wednesday!

I have a lot of work-related stuff to go into today, but first …we have to talk about last night’s This Is Us, obviously.

There's only three episodes left of the series, and the writers seem intent on taking us on an emotional roller coaster until the very last minute.

(Alert: Scroll down very quickly if you don’t want spoilers for last night’s episode!)

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As soul lifting as last week's Kevin and Sophie reunion was, that's how soul crushing Miguel's death was in last night's episode.

But, really, who can be surprised, when six years in there's suddenly for the first time a Miguel-centric episode? As I was telling my friends I was texting with last night during the show...we knew this was coming for a while, it just was so heartbreaking to watch it all unfold.

This Is Us @NBCThisisUs

Miguel deserves the world. #ThisIsUsFinalChapter

I think the journey of This Is Us fans is a sort of hero worship of Jack (and honestly, it's not hard to love Jack), which made the Miguel character harder for a lot of people to accept. But last night's episode did show that Miguel, while not Rebecca's first love, is a hero in so many ways that Jack never got a chance to be, so much so that he put his own health and needs last and ultimately...that was his undoing.

It's the classic story of a caretaker and so incredible of This Is Us to show it in such a realistic way.

Last night was definitely a tear jerker of an episode, so lets hope that next week's tears will be happier ones! Perhaps we get to see more Sophie and Kevin? Or the future of Deja and Malik?

Tomorrow: I’m headed to Louisville!

This time tomorrow, I'll be on a plane to Kentucky for the Kentucky Derby. I have a super-packed schedule all weekend, but will make the strongest effort I can to send out a newsletter or two while I'm there (and of course, follow my Instagram for tons of updates - including the fascinator I wear!)  Obviously, I’m going to be wearing a fascinator…what kind of royal watcher would I be if I didn’t?!

Elizabeth Law @elawreads

So much has happened to the Royal Family in the last 11 years...but I, for one, will never forget Princess Beatrice's fascinator, worn to William and Kate's wedding. (Can you tell I'm reading Tina Brown's The Palace Papers? It's delightfully dishy.)

Newly published stories 

Forbes: 18 Beautiful Cocktails To Enjoy With Mom This Mother’s Day

AllRecipes: The Best Drinking Glasses For All Your Beverages

The Kitchn: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson Is Bringing Back the “Guac on The Rock” Campaign to Give You Free Guac This Cinco de Mayo

TODAY.com: Celebrate Mother's Day with sweet restaurant freebies and discounts

As always, if you or your client are featured in any of these stories, I super appreciate any social shares. Please remember to tag me at @alywalansky! 

A note about update requests

As there’s a fair amount of newly published roundups (the deals story, the cocktail story, etc), I expect I’m going to get a few dozen “EDIT REQUEST: PLEASE ADD MY CLIENT” emails three seconds after I hit publish on this newsletter.

Sit on your hands if you need to. Don’t send that email. You can’t add cheese to your burger after it’s been eaten. If you are in the story and there’s an error, by all means let me know. But no backsies if you were not included and want to be.

I give lots of notice for these stories, and if you missed the deadline, there’s always next time. Don’t worry! There’s always more stories!

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.

Clean Plates

For Clean Plates,  I need RDs to comment asap!  ( I feel like I say this often...) I'm working on two more of my favorite topics - Trader Joe's stories! They are:1 - The Best Trader Joe's Breakfast Items According to Nutritionists2 - Ways to Make Simple 15-Minute Dinners from Trader Joe's
The second one can be a mix of healthy recipes and products that go together in an easy way. For instance, the TJs cauliflower gnocchi + their seriously bomb pesto = great base for a meal. (This one would be great with suggestions of adding, say, their organic green vegetable foursome and some of their frozen shrimp or chickpeas for protein).  Would love RDs to comment for both!

RetailMeNot

For RetailMeNot, I'm rounding up Memorial Day store hours for 2022. This is the Memorial Day version of the Easter store hours story I did for them, so take a look at that one for format, but I'll have 3 sections - Stores Open on Memorial Day + Store Hours, Stores Closed on Memorial Day, Restaurants Open on Memorial Day + Hours. This Memorial Day story is an update of this piece from last year. So if you represent a store or restaurant in that story, it'd be so helpful if you can reach out with your Memorial Day info if you have it handy.

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