Wednesday: Thanks for all the love! And what I'm working on going into the holiday.
Also: Does your bar/restaurant do a birthday-themed cocktail? I'm working on a roundup to publish tomorrow - send the deets ASAP, please.
Good morning!
I think it’s pretty obvious that acts of service is my love language.
I love to show the people in my life I care about them by giving and doing, it's all about keeping the people important to me happy and making their lives easier, and better and happier whenever I can.
I'm not really much for taking or expecting things or myself, I'm more about making other people happy. But every so often, a voice will pop into my head, wondering if I am seen, and valued, and appreciated. This has been an especially hard year for me in a lot of ways, and there's been times that inner voice has gotten louder and harder to ignore.
But this month...thanks to so many of you, and the incredible people in my life, I've been made to feel so loved.
From my amazing girlfriends trip with Jill and Alice to Vegas a few weeks ago (those ladies and I shared everything from caviar martinis in blocks of ice to a rousing game of tipsy mini golf, it was incredible) to an epic dinner with my family over the weekend (hosted by Capital Grille, who was SO good to us!), to my INCREDIBLE birthday party at Madam Mikette's Monday night (and pre-party blows and champagne at RPZL, hosted by my incredible friend Lisa!), where just about every person I know in the tristate area came out and we had a beautiful time to really special birthday plans I have tomorrow night (which is my actual official birthday) with one of the oldest and most cherished friends in my life, I just feel so seen and ...yes, valued and appreciated.
And lucky.
And I can't wait to spend tomorrow going through my sack of cards and gifts. I don't deserve all this. But I'm so grateful for it. And you.
(PS: Tons more photos from my various birthday fun on my Instagram stories!)
For everyone who has a rough time — in general or during the holiday season — remember, you are valued, and you are appreciated, and people do care. And sometimes, you are lucky enough to look around and see beautiful, stunning, tangible evidence of just that.
And also on a less cheesy note, I'm so grateful I got to meet SO MANY of you in real life Monday night (and see those I have met before, again!), we had the bestest time and I can't wait for an excuse to do it again!
But believe it or not, this email is not just a gush fest today. I do have work things to discuss!
Newly published or updated this week: For RetailMeNot, Stores Open Christmas Day + Christmas Eve Store Hours 2024. For Martha Stewart, 18 Coffee Table Décor Ideas That Blend Form and Function.
For Travel & Leisure: I Travel Solo Often, and I Won’t Stay in Another Airbnb Without Packing This 1 Safety Device. For Forbes.com: 17 Cocktails To Enjoy In Honor Of Mocha Mousse, Pantone’s 2025 Color Of The Year and 10 Foodie Treats That Present A Delicious Way To Celebrate Hanukkah as well as 6 Hanukkah Cocktails To Try In Honor Of The Festival Of Lights.
Finally, for Apartment Therapy: We Asked 7 Chefs for Their Go-To Cleaning Tips for Hosting, and Here’s What They Said and for The Spruce: How to Add Storage to Your Kitchen Walls and Make the Most of the Vertical Space.
In news you can use, I was recently interviewed for the Muck Rack blog, and we chatted about some best practices for PR to land all that holiday-related coverage and begin to look ahead toward 2025 media opportunities. We touched on timing, follow ups, targeting, and looking forward/not backward in pitching during this time of year — yup, all the stuff that always comes up in our consulting sessions and AMAs, so you may want to take a minute while refilling your morning coffee and check it out.
Looking to up your affiliate marketing game?
Affiliate marketing is complicated, and it seems that the landscape keeps changing. If you are looking to be prepared for gift guide season and all other shopping-related content, you may want to try the 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!)
Newly published or freshly updated
Since people are often asking about the status of stories from a while ago, and I only share stories in this newsletter that were published or updated in the current week, I have created a list of my author pages at various publications to which I contribute. Bookmark it and make your life a bit easier.
This list will live on my Substack URL and be updated as necessary. That way, you can see what I’m doing at any publication, at any time, from types of stories to general structure of stories to even volume and frequency of my content at that outlet.
This can also help you to target pitching a bit better. That makes your job easier, and mine too!
Newsweek Readers Choice: Best Apres Ski Spots, Best Casinos with Live Music (outside Vegas), Best U.S. Wellness Resort, Best Packing Cube, Best Vodka, Best Gourmet Subscription Box, Best Mattress, and Best Outdoor Grill - more categories coming very soon!
RetailMeNot: Stores Open Christmas Day + Christmas Eve Store Hours 2024.
Martha Stewart: 18 Coffee Table Décor Ideas That Blend Form and Function.
Travel & Leisure: I Travel Solo Often, and I Won’t Stay in Another Airbnb Without Packing This 1 Safety Device
Forbes.com: 17 Cocktails To Enjoy In Honor Of Mocha Mousse, Pantone’s 2025 Color Of The Year
Forbes.com: 10 Foodie Treats That Present A Delicious Way To Celebrate Hanukkah
Forbes: 6 Hanukkah Cocktails To Try In Honor Of The Festival Of Lights
Apartment Therapy: We Asked 7 Chefs for Their Go-To Cleaning Tips for Hosting, and Here’s What They Said
The Spruce: How to Add Storage to Your Kitchen Walls and Make the Most of the Vertical Space
Yahoo Life: 50 best wellness gifts to encourage a healthy lifestyle
Apartment Therapy: 4 Popular Kitchen Trends Contractors Want You to Stop DIYing Immediately
Southern Living: The 9 Best Bottles Of Bourbon, According To Southern Chefs And Bartenders
Forbes.com: The Latest Holiday Dinner Hosting Trend: Outsourcing
Apartment Therapy: The Unexpected Items Pro Travelers Always Pack
Southern Living: Here's Why You Should Always Travel With Duct Tape
Apartment Therapy: We Asked 8 Pro Travelers What They Never Pack in Their Carry-On, and Here’s What They Said
Her Money: The best time to save on hotel bookings
Travel & Leisure: This $7 Luggage Accessory Helps Me Feel Safe When Traveling — and I'll Never Have to Replace It
Forbes.com: Holiday Gift Guide 2024: The Best Gifts For The Martini Lover
Forbes.com: Holiday Gift Guide 2024: The Best Gifts For The Starter Kitchen
Forbes: Holiday Gift Guide 2024: Beefy Texas-Inspired Gifts For The Southwestern Carnivore
Food Network: Trader Joe’s Finally Has a White Queso Dip and It Was Well Worth the Wait
If you or your client are featured in any of these stories, I super appreciate any social media shares! Please remember to tag @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.
Please remember when pitching me: Email me at alywalansky@gmail.com - do NOT just hit reply on this newsletter, or there’s a good shot your email will be lost in the heap. Give your email a subject line that makes it clear which story you are pitching me for — it’ll help you in the long run.
Please consult my industry insights guides on submitting expert commentary, sending emails that will catch a journalist’s attention, how to craft pitches journalists will say ‘yes’ to, and the right and wrong way to submit photos, if you need any extra guidance before sending your pitches.
Apartment Therapy
I Asked TK Organizing Pros to Share Their Biggest Organizing Regrets — Here's What They Said - I’m looking to chat with a few organizing pros about what their biggest organizing regret is. Like something in their household they got rid of, and regret getting rid of — why they got rid of it, and why they regret it. Could be a memento, an important document or photo, whatever. Drop me a note if you have someone who may like to weigh in!
Forbes
In a moment of clear self-interest, I’m looking for restaurants and bars nationwide that have fun birthday (or birthday cake) themed cocktails. If you have anything, please email me the name, description, quote about the drink, and an image by Wednesday am.
Plate Magazine
I’m putting out bites/drinks of the week feelers, which is sort of a drink/dish spotlight piece. (Some examples are this Peruvian-inspired sweet potato in Savannah and a molecular banana daiquiri in Chicago.) Basically if you are pitching me something for this, think along the lines of: Is this dish/bite something new? What interesting techniques are used to make it come together? If the technique is simple, what’s the hook? An interesting ingredient? Something being made in house or in an interesting way? What’s the story behind the dish? What inspired it? Is there a cultural/family story behind the dish? An ingredient the chef got their hands on? Love to hear what you might have for me!
<3
aly
Yay Aly - so happy you're feeling all the much-deserved love & appreciation all month long! Happy Everything to you!