Hayley: Dear readers, we did it: We have published Gold-Plated Girls for an entire year. Ahh!!!
Honestly, it doesn't feel real to me. In many ways, but mostly that 1) it doesn't feel like an entire year has passed and 2) I can't believe that we've stuck by this project so consistently? I don't mean that as a knock against us and our level of commitment, but rather an endorsement of it. Not to be dramatic, but this newsletter has been an anchor to reality for me during a time when everything felt like a surreal nightmare.
When Victoria and I decided to do this, we had both already been laid off for six months and needed something — anything — of substance to help us stay somewhat organized and also keep up the practice of writing, and more specifically, writing for an audience, writing on a schedule, and pushing ourselves to write the kind of stuff that we always wanted to read.
And here we are, one year later. It's been a really fun project: sometimes exhausting, sometimes exhilarating, as any project can be. I think what has surprised me the most (besides my own ability to keep up a writing project for a year) is the incredibly warm, positive, and supportive reception that we've gotten from all of our readers! I mean, the hope is always that you're putting something good out into the world, whether or not you get feedback on it. But the support has been overwhelming at times. My coworkers frequently Slack me to tell me how much they have enjoyed a particular issue. My friends will refer to it in casual conversation. My Twitter followers will send me DMs about topics that they think GPG should cover. Once I told my friend to be sure and read a particular issue because I gave her a shoutout in it. She replied with "Oh, don't worry, you never need to tell me to read it, I read every issue." What a JOY this is to behold.
Victoria: Listen, I am not surprised we are still going, because this is a project that has a built-in accountability partner. When I was writing a newsletter solo, it was very easy to skip a week, because who would care. But if I slip a week of this, you would care! When writing a sentence feels like sucking an extremely thick and cold milkshake through a straw, I remember that you are on the other side, waiting for what I write. I write for me, and our readers, and also for you. It's nice.
It's also nice because basically all other writing I usually do I have....not really been doing for the last year. I feel bad writing this right now, because I feel like our anniversary issue should be a celebration! But like all anniversaries, it makes you take stock of the last year, and the last year was extremely bad. I'm grateful that GPG gave me an outlet to talk about how extremely bad it often was, and provided a distraction when I didn't want to think about the bad stuff, too. And it gave me a reason to write when I didn't think I had any words at all.
Also I'm grateful that GPG has given me a chance to write about things I have been wanting to write about forever, like Mariah Carey's Ring Pop ring and how everything is Beauty & The Beast. I think about your single women in Hollywood matrix all the time! Also I am so looking forward to another Christmas movie season, mostly because I know we will almost definitely write about it here.
Hayley: That's a very good point, and I think the accountability has been the most compelling reason to continue! My friend and I used to go to yoga before work 2-3x a week at 6:30am (2015 was a different time because this exhausts me to think about). I never wanted to go, but because she was driving to pick me up and take me there, I always felt like it would be rude to cancel. So, at the end of the day, find a friend who will guilt you into doing things that you like, but need to be reminded that it is worth the effort. You and I will gently nudge each other via text if we haven't heard what the other one is planning on writing their essay about in any given week. It's usually the kick in the butt I need to get writing.
I think something that has surprised me over this past year is that we have not run out of things to write about! Maybe this is a dumb fear, but this is always my fear: one day I'll wake up and be out of ideas. The creative juices will dry up and I will be done. It hasn't happened yet, so it probably will not, but it still haunts me! And I think we have gotten really good at telling each other "you should write about that for GPG" when we're texting about something that we are clearly passionate about. I mean, that's how we got your lovely The 10 Best Ice Creams I Have Ever Had.
This newsletter has pushed me to write things that I never felt capable or qualified to write about before. When I thought of the Single Women in Hollywood Matrix, at first I was like does this make sense? am I an authority on this? is this annoying? But in writing that series I had more fun than I thought possible, and each installment was incredibly creatively fulfilling to write. I hope to do more series or installments in the future, because I like breaking a bigger theme down into bite-sized pieces. (I promise, I will return to Timely Stuff in the future once my desire to binge watch period dramas comes back. Currently I am in a book-reading mode...barely.)
Victoria: Right now I'm listening to the audiobook of The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green. It's based on a podcast of the same name that started in 2018 where John Green would review different parts of human life. The book is mostly a collection of these essays he wrote for the podcast, but edited and with some additions.
When John started TAR, the podcast, he of course didn't know anything about Covid. But the book — even though the topic on hand is not explicitly Covid — is basically a Covid memoir. It touches almost every part in the book. The book is joyous and sad and funny and sometimes just heartbreaking. I find myself crying at almost every essay.
In an essay I listened to this morning while brushing my teeth, John talked about how he can't stop reading about historical plagues, and he talked about some of the parallels to our present moment. He spoke about the people who wrote "plague diaries," and how some of those people died of the plague before they could finish. I was gut-wrenching to consider, but it also made me think of us. GPG is not a plague diary, but in a way it is always about Covid because it is always about the moment we are living in, which is defined by this disease and the world's various, often infuriating, reactions to it.
In the past month, I have been seeing more strangers and acquaintances, and they're all like "what are you up to?" And then I say, "nothing," and they get uncomfortable. One of my brother's friends kept asking me if I've been writing and can he read it and for some reason I didn't tell him about this newsletter. That's partially because it felt too big to explain. Also did I want him reading it? Dunno. I am proud of GPG, but because it is not something I make money from, and because there are no gatekeepers who are attaching their "prestigious" names to it, sometimes it is hard to claim it as something good and to be proud of. Who am I to say this is worthwhile?
But it is worthwhile and I am proud of it, and want to be explicit about that going forward. I am excited to grow even more (we're going to have some fun guest posts coming up, dear readers) and to continue to write about the things we love and hate and terrify us.
Have you enjoyed the first year of Gold-Plated Girls? Do you have anything you want us to cover in the future? Let us know! You can email us at goldplatedgirls@gmail.com.
What Victoria Loves This Week
I am currently working my way through the Lolita podcast, where comedian Jamie Loftus works through the book Lolita, the horrible attempts at adapting it, and why our society has been dead-set on misunderstanding the story. It's great!
This article about the failures of the 9/11 museum is the only 9/11 media I will be reading this year.
I'm currently reading the YA novel Last Night At The Telegraph Club, which I'm loving. If you want an adult romance, check out While We Were Dating. If you love a Regency romance, read The Duchess Deal.
What Hayley Currently Recommends
Victoria and I were guests on The Great Samaritans comedy podcast this week, where we discussed the fabulous Outshine Fruit Bars and how we think they can be improved going forward.
The Beach Plum Lacroix is absolutely incredible and I can't get enough of it.
My friend Marnie's review of the new Crispy Chicken Taco at Taco Bell is spot-on and I know this because I enjoyed two of them for lunch yesterday and you should too.
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