the best $5 money can spend

I hope everyone wished al dente a happy first birthday! Time really does fly. What a year! This newsletter that I started for fun has turned into one of my favorite pastimes, and as a girl with big ideas, there’s a lot I’m cooking up over here at al dente HQ.

After 365 days of creating something I very much love, I decided it was time to level up — you may have noticed a paid option become available for all present and future al dente subscribers.

Fear not! Please do not feel obliged to upgrade. If you stay on as a free subscriber, nothing will change. That’s right! You’ll still receive the same exact al dente experience as before, four-course meals and all, and I’ll love you all the same. I’m primarily adding on a paid option because I’ve noticed the Substack algorithm tends to promote accounts that offer a paid tier, and if my goal is to grow this thing, I figured now is the time. We’ll see what happens!

For those who may be inclined to upgrade, it’s $5 a month. Naturally, you’ll receive exclusive, top-tier content straight from yours truly. I want to include articles that have real value, so if you do upgrade, here’s what you’ll get:

• All the regular al dente posts you know and love, business as usual.

• Exclusive articles only available to paid subscribers, such as:

  • Travel guides for cities across the globe (we’re talking Boston, New York, Edinburgh, Savannah, Amsterdam, Paris, Dublin, Milan, you name it). They will range from restaurant guides to shopping guides, and full itineraries for niche and not-so-niche occasions.

  • Gift guides for friends! girlfriends! boyfriends! grand-dogs! For any and all occasions.

  • The occasional interview with an objectively cool person.

• Monthly favorites posts with links to all of my favorite things that month — clothes, home decor, books, recipes, playlists, and the pièce de resistance… links to whatever treasures I leave behind on The Real Real, eBay, and Depop. Oh yeah.

So, that’s at least two extra articles a month — can you even stand it?! Not only are you getting extra content, but you’re also helping support my passion and my work. So, when al dente becomes the next goop, and then takes over the world, I’ll have you to thank!

I’ve been wanting to share my many travel guides with you all for ages, and since I haven’t really introduced that to al dente yet, it seemed like a good section to reserve for paid subscribers. The same applies to monthly favorites — 2014 YouTuber style. I’ll share my purchases of the month, what I’ve been loving, reading, listening to, and more. These will be shorter, link-heavy posts for easy shopping. Paid subscribers will also have the opportunity to suggest/request any specific city guides or gift guides, which I personally think is very cool.

Thank you all for supporting my writing, however that may be! Buckle up, readers, you’ve got some good stuff coming your way. I hope you’re as excited for the future of al dente as I am!

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