FMG Newsletter: Instagram Pics + Feeling Wicked

+ one week 'til Queen Bey!

Happy Friday and happy March Madness! Go Frogs, Boiler up, and vote Caitlin Clark for president.

Weekly thoughts:

• Instagram: Humblingly enough, I’ve never received such a strong reaction to a section of my newsletter as I did to the story about St. Patrick’s Day 2019, which I’m choosing to see as a positive thing because it was at the very end of the newsletter and that means you all made it all the way down there. I relish the opportunity to tell stories about myself, so I figured I could share some more Instagram-pic backstories both for everyone’s pleasure and for my own attention-seeking purposes. Cheers!

  • I forced my friends to take this pic of me when we met up to have dinner after I got home from a wedding at which I met mY sOuLmAtE. Said soulmate had followed me on IG right after the wedding (slay!), so I naturally had to show him that I’m a Cool Beer Girl and also incredibly chill and fun and low-maintenance. As it turned out, we never spoke again!

  • This carousel features pics from a friends trip to Traverse City, and the first lil outfit selfie was taken while I was on a walk between a bar and our Airbnb because I had left my ID at said Airbnb. Similarly to the St. Patrick’s Day story, this one also included me crying in the street (on the phone to my sister this time), and I took this pic post-cry. (No, the crying was not alcohol-related. This was pre-bar, if you’ll recall.)

  • This pic is from another friends trip, one of my favorites of all time. I and four friends gathered in Los Angeles and then spent the next several days driving up the coast of California, stopping in Santa Barbara, Monterey, and San Francisco. This pic specifically was taken on our first full day, which we spent bopping around West Hollywood and stalking cast members of Vanderpump Rules — in fact, we were at a restaurant having a little drink and bite before attempting to get into SUR (spoiler alert: We did and we saw Lisa, Schwartz, James, and Racquel filming! Fame!!!!). But I digress — while at this bar, a waiter came up to us and said that he reads energies and was wondering if we’d like to hear what ours are saying. Obviously, we said yes (very LA of us), and he went on to share that Maddie’s energy reads like a lighthouse amidst a storm, Josie’s is filled with balance, and so on and so forth. He looked at me last, paused, and then said “I’m scared” and literally walked away. We all looked around at each other until he came back a few seconds later and proceeded to say “I didn’t mean anything bad, I just mean I’m scared because you have underlying darkness.” Did I call my dad immediately after to see if I should be spiritually concerned? Of course!

• Movies + Music: I have been positively devouring any content related to the upcoming Wicked movie(s), and I’m obsessed with the new photos and mini-interview that came out this week in Vanity Fair. In related news, I do really like the new Ariana Grande album — but every time she releases a new one, my strongest emotion is nostalgia for how I felt when I first listened to Sweetener, which is in my top 10 favorite albums of all time. Does this have more to do with my undying love for “no tears left to cry” (my most-listened-to song of 2018) or with my all-consuming crush on Pete Davidson? We’ll never know, but the answer is likely a firm “both!”

• Dating: I haven’t done a Hinge update in awhile, and that’s largely because I’ve felt unmotivated to pUt MySeLf OuT tHeRe and have instead been spending quality time with the ladies of Wisteria Lane and with my current hyperfixation meal of cheese tortellini and plain Prego. If I had an update to give, I’d share it here. In related news, however, my coworker/friend Kimberly went to a birthday dinner this week that was also attended by several members of Bachelor Nation, and I’m disappointed to report that she did not bring with her several 5x7 photos of me to pass out as party favors. Booooo, Kimberly!

And in some truly stunning news, it’s the last Friday of your life you’ll ever have to experience without Cowboy Carter, and that’s worth celebrating. (Isn’t it so weird how there are songs you haven’t heard yet that will someday be your absolute favorites? I genuinely think that’s so beautiful.)

XO, Gail

And as a reminder:

It’s an election year, and it is my duty to remind you that while newsletters like this are crucial for maintaining sanity and levity, I am not a news source and am in no way a replacement for staying informed. For every newsletter you read that makes you smile, I hope you also read an informed take on politics, world events, and social issues (then fact check it!) — and for every heavy piece of news you take in, I hope you also consume and/or create a piece of art that promotes light, laughter, and joy.

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