Back when the kids were in elementary school, my favourite fundraiser – even considering my eight solid years running the Scholastic Book Fair twice annually – was the magazine fundraiser. I loved choosing magazine subscriptions and I loved the getting the happy little surprise in the mail a couple times a month.
The mail! Sob. Canada Post is currently on strike and I am just hoping it gets resolved soon. All my holiday cards are ready to go when the strike is over (GODSPEED), but in the meantime, last week pre-strike I mailed several (non-David-penis) postcards, and I have honestly no clue where they are in the mail process. If you receive one, will you please let me know?
Anyway. Back in the day I had quite a few magazine subscriptions and I loved flipping through the glossy pages. I still have pages of recipes I tore out of Canadian Living and I would incorporate interesting postures from Yoga Journal into my classes. My mother-in-law gifted me a subscription to O Magazine for my birthday for over a decade, which is a lot of What I Know For Sure. That is where I got the idea for Nicole’s Favourite Things. I’m just like Oprah! Except for a few small differences.
Of course I don’t subscribe to print magazines anymore – who does? – but I realized that I do have a lot of subscriptions in lieu of that: podcasts, newsletters, and, of course, blogs. Every once in a while I will do a housecleaning to unsubscribe from such things that no longer interest me or bring me joy. I was doing this the other day – why does Substack automatically sign you up for newsletters you may be interested in? I’m not! Why did I think that podcast that spirals me into despair was a good idea? It isn’t! – when I started thinking about subscriptions I actually pay for. There is a lot of free content out there, but there are a few things that I value enough to pay money for.
O-oooohhh Listen To The Music
As a family we have the paid plan for Spotify, and it is worth every penny. Sometimes I think of Teenage Nicole with her tape recorder, trying to catch songs on the radio to record mix tapes. There would always be some DJ chatter before or after the song, or the entire opening bars would be missed completely as I scrambled to record. I had mix tapes made from friends’ cassettes or, in some cases, vinyl albums, and the sound quality would be just as good as one could expect. If someone told Teenage Nicole that she would spend her forties listening to any song she wanted, no matter how obscure, no matter how niche, no matter how, frankly, weird, at any time, well. Teenage Nicole would have been thrilled.
In addition to that, I allow myself one, and one only, Patreon subscription to a podcast. My rules for choosing this podcast are threefold: it must be independently produced, it must have bonus content for Patreon subscribers, and it must be something that actively makes my life better. Currently, this subscription belongs to Forever 35, but before that, it was Gen X, This Is Why, which I only stopped subscribing to because they ended the podcast.
Content With The Content
I really believe that writers should be paid for their work, but also, a person could go broke paying for all the good content out there. I have a number of free subscriptions to Substack newsletters, but I pay for two: Laura Bray’s The Cozy Library, and the Fug Girls’ Drinks With Broads.
I have been a Laura Stan for many years now – her writing is so gorgeous, and you must, you MUST sign up for her newsletter, at the very least her free edition – and I am lucky enough that she is now not only a good friend of mine, but also an inspirational writing partner!
As for the Fug Girls, I have loved their fashion commentary and celebrity gossip for years, but they offer a lot of bonus content for paid subscribers, including deep dives into weird vintage cookbooks and tours through really obscure museum gift shops. In other words, content that is right up my alley.
Language, People
Time has no meaning anymore and so I can’t tell you how long ago, exactly, my son and I upgraded to the paid family plan for Duolingo, but I am currently on a 994 day streak with 65 weeks in the Diamond League, so I’m guessing it’s probably a couple of years ago. But how worth it that upgrade was! I spent six months prior to our trip to Italy learning Italian, which came in very handy. I refreshed my high school French before we went to Quebec, and I can now converse (albeit slowly) in Spanish. I don’t follow anyone on Duolingo except my son, so that he and I can go on “quests” together each week. Bonding!
Beauty…
Speaking of quests, I have been on a lifelong one for Hair Happiness. I could probably employ a therapist for a significant amount of time just to talk about hair issues, but instead I use that money for a couple of hair-related subscriptions that have improved my life immeasurably: Nutrafol and Prose. I’ve talked at length about Nutrafol and I will say this: in 2022, I was in a very low emotional state about my thinning hair and bald spots. I mean, obviously! No woman wants to go bald! But since starting the supplement I have had so much less hair shedding, and a lot of hair growth. It really worked for me and I wish they would sponsor this blog because it is expensive. Worth it! But expensive. I have a six-month subscription because, being in Canada, I have to pay for shipping and this way I am only charged for it twice annually.
I just had a sudden feeling of panic: Nutrafol comes via Canada Post. Pardon me while I go do some ujjayi breathing and reassure myself that the strike will be over by the time my next subscription comes. Breathe. Breathe.
Anyway. I also have a subscription to Prose hair products, which I love. I also love that I can pause the subscription or change the amount of time between deliveries, depending on how fast or slow I’m going through them. For someone who is very, very sensitive about her hair, these two product lines have been life-changing.
…and The Beast
Sometimes I feel low-level guilt that Barkley was the recipient of fancy, all-natural dog food that I had to pick up in a specialty store, whereas Rex gets Purina One. What can I say? Rex is almost 100 pounds and goes through five cups of dog food a day, to Barkley’s one and a half, which certainly factors into the decision. Well. I never once brushed Barkley’s teeth nor did I walk him for ninety minutes a day, so I guess things even out.
Because Rex goes through so much food I buy the 14 kilogram bags, which last about six weeks. Because of their awkward size and shape, I find them nearly impossible to lift and maneuver into a grocery cart. Once I tried to heave the bag into the bottom of a Superstore cart, and ended up accidentally launching the cart – sans dog food – down the aisle. I now use the subscribe-and-save function at Amazon; I don’t have to think about it, the food is always available, and I only have to drag it to the pantry if no one else is home to lift it.
Weekly Reading
Long Island Compromise. The very first thing you have to know is something I discovered about 1/4 of the way through the book: “Long Island Compromise” is a euphemism for “doing it up the butt.” What a wild title, and yet it is so appropriate, as basically everyone in this book is getting fucked up the ass, mostly figuratively, but also in some cases literally. The second thing you have to know is that this book is a work of art. I can’t remember the last time I read something that is such a statement about society without being a tiresome bore of a lecture. This book MOVES, and the characterizations are all so incredible. I could not tell from one page to the next where it was going to go. It starts out with the kidnapping and subsequent return of a Jewish family’s patriarch, and the remainder of the book deals with the fallout from that one-week incident. It deals with wealth and inherited wealth, trauma and inherited trauma, class, secrets, and viciously brutal choices and decisions. At first glance this book is about the old adage about wealth-building, in that “the first generation builds the house, the second generation lives in the house, and the third generation burns the house down.” But it’s so much more than that. Plus, it is hysterically funny; a few times I laughed so much my husband thought I was reading David Sedaris. I cannot say enough how much I adored this book. It’s absolutely brilliant. Big thanks to the beautiful and talented Suzanne (HI SUZANNE) for getting me to bump this book up on my TBR, and for being amenable with all my messages about it (Suzanne, omg, it means doing it up the butt!).
After Annie. This was a moving story about the year following the sudden, early death of a woman, and how the new world is navigated by her husband, four children, and best friend. It was well-written and compelling, but whoa, I have read way too many books lately that deal with the aftermath of untimely death. I think this is my fifth in less than a month. Time for something light, or, at the very least, something that does not discuss the devastation that results from a person dying prematurely and unexpectedly.
I have a pretty fun and exciting week ahead of me: it’s Full On Festive Season around here, and so the tree is going up, I have a very fun outing with the girls, and holiday baking and treat making has officially started. Yesterday I baked a warm gingerbread cake with caramel sauce, and it was absolutely perfect – the recipe was from my friend Julie’s cake cookbook (HI JULIE). My son very kindly reminded me that I have had this book for almost two years now and STILL haven’t made every recipe, as I have vowed to do. I’ll get there! One cake at a time. I hope you all have a delicious, festive week. xo
My sister subscribes to the print version of O, or rather I subscribe her to it, at her request every year on her birthday.
When I did social media posts for supplement companies I often mined (the online version) of Yoga Journal for content, even though I have never done yoga.
I really liked YJ! Every month they would break down a difficult posture and sometimes I used that as a variation for postures for my seniors.
Is it weird to say I didn’t even know the print version of O is still available? Now I kind of want it!
First of all- thank you for the picture of Rex! It made my morning, as always.
I do pay for Spotify. AND I remember the days of making mix tapes off the radio! Ah, the good old days, Yes, the beginning of every song would be cut off, but that was okay- I still loved my tapes. I wish I still had them (of course… what would I play them on?)
Long Island Compromise sounds good, and I’m already laughing just from reading your review. I’m going to put a library hold on it right now.
I hope your strike is resolved in time for you to get all your Christmas cards AND YOUR HAIR PRODUCTS. Eek.
Hahaha I found all my mix tapes when we were preparing to move, but I didn’t have anything to play them on. Did you ever decorate the cover very carefully? Make a special one for a boyfriend or for your best friend? Songs all full of MEANING? Good times!
Whelp, you will probably not be too surprised to find that I abandoned Long Island Compromise. I loved her last book this one was just TOO MUCH for this sort of prude’ish reader. I almost want to give it another shot since you loved it so much but gah, I just can’t. The son’s story line just pushed me over the edge into the “not for me” vibe.
I miss magazine subscriptions! I don’t get any either and haven’t for years. My boys both get subscriptions, though. We get Highlights and Paul is moving to the older kid version so Taco will get the younger kid version and we also get Ranger Rick for Taco – all gifts from the grandparents. I hope your mail strike is over very soon. What a terrible time for that, but also how strategic for the strikers… I was prepping some of my cards on Friday while watching the Great British Bake Off and Phil worriedly said – ‘um, when do you plan to mail these?’ I think he was concerned I was going to like mail them today. I mail mine the Wednesday of Thanksgiving week which will be here in the blink of an eye. He’s not a gung ho about the Christmas season starting in November as I am!
Is next week your Thanksgiving? I think it must be, wow, it’s the 18th already!
This solves the mystery! I knew one of my friends read Long Island Compromise and didn’t like it, and I couldn’t remember who. Too bad, but hey, different strokes. Or, different…I was going to say something else and I am refraining so as to not offend you! Lol! Anyway, I loved it but I can see why you wouldn’t.
I have not read either of those books, and I have liked prior books from both authors, so thanks for the reccomendations! I do not subscribe to any magazines but for some reason at my old place, I got issues of Ebony sent to me. I never asked for them, nor did I read them, but they just kept coming! My parents took over my uncles’s Rolling Stone subscription when he passed away, and they have been getting it for about 15 years now without paying for it. I think they finally went to online by default, but are STILL getting it!
You and I are on the same holiday card schedule. I always send mine out the day after Thanksgiving (and Lisa always beats me!) so that people can enjoy them for as long as possible! I am not fully ready to go yet, but should be done by the end of this week!
I don’t have any subscriptions now, BUT, my brother pays for a YouTube TV and YouTube premium family plan, which means I get music when I want it and no ads on YT. I barely use the YT-TV though. Also I used to get cat food via Amazon subscription for the same reason as you do! Awkward bag!
Oh if you read those books do let me know what you think! Long Island Compromise may be one of my favourite books I’ve read all year (but I have recency bias so…)
Gosh I hope the strike resolves quickly so I can get the cards out. As I said to Elisabeth, I’m worried the postcards I already sent are not going to get anywhere ever. So let me know if you receive yours!
Oy, Nicole! I wanted more of the gingerbread cake than that coy photo! 🙂 Yes, you son has made an excellent suggestion… please make every cake and report!
I used to love print magazines… there are so few of them around these days. OMG, I too remember the days of waiting to tape songs off the radio. And my cousins who lived in the US would tape hours of radio replete with DJ chatter, ads, everything, to share with us when they visited India over the summer vacation.
Nutrafol should definitely comp you something! I started taking it (not the whole regimen, but just a little proactive dose) after you raved about it.
WHERE IS MY FREE NUTRAFOL??? On the one hand, can you really trust sponcon? On the other, I AM GIVING THEM FREE ADVERTISING. But hey, it really does work, or did for me.
I always look at the magazines in the checkout line at the grocery store and they seem so sparse now.
Literally every single subscription I have is for my dog or cat. Not a one for the people. My husband pays for Netflix and I think he has an Apple Music sub, but I have NONE. No Patreons, no Substacks, no magazines, no hair care products. I clearly need to treat myself more.
And everyone talking about holiday cards is stressing me out BIG TIME. I have not even LOOKED at them. And people have them ready to go! Egads. But I do want Canada Post to figure out their strike so my Canadian peeps can enjoy holiday card season!
You DO need to treat yourself!
Engie, I am trying so so so hard to be calm about the strike, but getting happy mail is such a big part of the season for me, and I AM SAD. Hopefully it won’t last long.
I can’t imagine life without Spotify now. I use it every day. We also have Disney+ and Netflix (shared with my Dad). My husband has an Oura ring subscription and that’s…it? We are gifted a magazine – Saltscapes – by my parents each year for Christmas which is lovely. It’s all about the Maritimes. My husband once won their photography contest and we got to go away for a two-night stay, all expenses included to a lovely little Nova Scotia resort.
I have not gotten your postcard yet 🙁
Like you, I have cards ready but it’s anyone’s guess how long the strike will last. I suspect the government will order them back to work soon because of how deeply it can start impacting the economy and people’s livelihoods but…they were very strategic with their timing!
Wow wow WOW, well, I’m not surprised, your husband takes excellent photographs. Still! That’s amazing.
Wahhhh I was hoping the postcard would make it to you, I worry that everything in limbo right now will just…not go anywhere? I hope the strike is resolved and fast.
On a whim, I just picked up Anna Quindlen’s 2012 memoir. It’s delightful. We get a dinner subscription box weekly (Every Plate, serves 4, 3 nights a week) – it’s not great, but it helps with the “what do you want for dinner” conversation that will be the death of me. My dog gets her prescriptions by mail, on subscription, and it’s way cheaper than through the local vet.
The second I read this comment, I put that memoir on hold! I love it for the title alone.
I have had friends who get those dinner boxes and they love them! Especially for busy families, it’s such a great solution.
Our family pays for Spotify, Netflix, Prime, Disney, Youtube and Duolingo (we have a family plan). We happily pay for these as they make our life happier. 😀
I always forget we subscribe to streaming services (Prime, Netflix, Disney) too because I don’t watch much (although NYPD Blue is on Disney+!)
Smash that button!! Loved this post!!
years ago, also had a paper subscription to O! magazine. Also, Success and the Economist paper version.
We pay for 1. Spotify 2. Hulu 3. Netflix 4. HBO (I think, need to ask T) and Disney +. Why so many I have no clue. I am ashamed to say that I do not support any of my favorite podcasts but I feel like I may start. The girls next door, or best of both worlds…
Mixed tapes were everything to me.
Oh, the Economist, I loved the Economist!
The guys subscribe to streaming services too – Netflix and Disney+ and something else…I guess it’s Amazon Prime. I don’t watch much but they enjoy it. Oh, and my husband subscribes to some sports channel during NFL season.
I had Long Island Compromise in my hands at the library and put it back. Time to add it to my TBR.
That gingerbread cake. I wish you lived next door…
I wish you did too! Wouldn’t that be fun!
So much fun!❤️
We get Foreign Affairs, Highlights, and Real Simple in print PLUS the local paper!! Also, I googled a recipe for that cake and plan to make it as soon as I have an oven that heats.
Oh wow, Sarah! My parents get the paper daily too.
You just inspired me to trim my podcast patreon subscriptions. I never gave anything to Patreon before this summer, and since then I’ve gotten 3 subscriptions. One is fabulous and the other two are mediocre. So out the other two go!
Woof I wouldn’t know how to survive without getting dog food online – we used to get it on Amazon but the supply wasn’t consistent so we moved over to Chewy. When we got our first full sized bag for Doggo it weighed more and was bigger than her. Now she’s heavier and bigger than a bag of dog food, so that’s progress.
I’ve got my eye on that Anna Quindlen book! I couldn’t get into Fleishman, so I think I’ll skip Compromise
Birchy, Amazon was pretty inconsistent for dog food until I got subscribe and save. I haven’t heard of Chewy, but maybe that’s States only?
Oooh can you share what podcasts you subscribe to?
Shout out to Scholastic Book Fairs! I met one of my good friends while we were volunteering at one in 2002!
I subscribe to 9 podcasts and one of them is Kari’s! I don’t pay for any of them. We have a Sirius XM account, so I don’t have Spotify. You know what I do have a lot of subscriptions for? Boring Amazon products that I use regularly, like supplements and cleaning supplies.
We used to have Sirius but I like making playlists. Can you subscribe to podcasts via Sirius? I didn’t know that!
I think Sirius might have podcasts, but no, I use Apple Podcasts on my phone.
I am suppressing a panicky feeling about Canada’s mail situation. I would be very upset to be missing The Fun Mail Season of December, so I will be earnestly hoping that the situation is resolved by then. They can fix this in 12 days, right? RIGHT???
FROM YOUR LIPS TO GOD’S EAR, SWISTLE *sob*
I have the same dilemma about wanting to support the content I want to see but also, I can’t subscribe to every podcast and substack! Right now I’m doing one for one month and then moving on, but I’m not organized enough to make full use of it. I’m also subscribing to Abortion Every Day by Jessica Valenti after the election as a tiny fuck you to Trump and the Republicans.
We have Apple Music, but I feel like all the cool kids have Spotify and sometimes I feel left out. I love that you and J (is it J?) do Duolingo together! Maybe I can brush up on my French.
My thing for Substack is that I like one that has bonus content for paid subscribers, but not EVERYTHING is bonus content, if that makes sense? Like some newsletters (that I have since unsubscribed from) would send out five posts a week but four of them would be for paid subscribers only, and that drives me crazy. So the ones I pay for, I really like.
It is J who does Duolingo, he’s doing Japanese. I brushed up on my French before our trip last spring and it did help a lot.
I have purchased my cards, and have written out about 3. So I’m way behind you, but I don’t typically mail them until December 7th (my brother’s birthday is the 6th, and Christmas is AFTER that). Though if I have time I might send some out before that, just not his.
I read (and enjoyed) After Annie. I think my (brief) review is coming up soon. That other book sounds like a LOT.
I used to enjoy getting magazines too, but I’m not currently subscribed to any.
I’ll look forward to your review! I did like it but it was just a bridge too far in terms of how many books I’ve read that have featured premature death lately.
Great title, Nicole! My parents get Better Homes & Gardens and always give the magazines to me when they’re done. I also miss the days of real magazines! I have Kindle Unlimited, so I can read them online, but it’s not the same. I’ve been weeding out my subscriptions as renewal time approaches. I also pared down the number of Instagram accounts I follow, deleted my Threads account, and unfollowed a lot of Facebook pages.
Oh, that’s smart, Michelle. The thing with IG and FB groups especially – I don’t see the updates I want to see because my feed is so cluttered with things that are unimportant to me. So I should do what you’re doing!
Wait, wait, Michelle… you deleted Threads! I wondered where you were, worried even. Now I get it.
I never thought about Barkley being so much smaller than Rex. I suppose if my dogs were as large as Ole’ Rex, I’d not be making him home made food. I’d never have time to actually cook for the humans!
Nicole, I was just thinking this morning how the Nutrofol has been working for me. I have lots and lots of baby hairs! I’ve been using it for a while, but my silly self would occasionally forget to take them, so I think being consistent is KEY!
I just got a subscription to Simple; bought it from a Girl Scout. But when will I make time to read the actual magazine?
Oh yay, I am so happy it worked for you! Consistency is key for sure.
Yes, Barkley was 50ish pounds and Rex is twice that – I can’t imagine how much time it would take to make homemade food for him!
I like Laura Bray, too. I don’t have many subscriptions anymore, got rid of ones that were based on anything I got by snail mail then had shifted them to online editions. Reading a magazine on a screen isn’t compelling. I do pay for The Guardian and my husband gets business-oriented subscriptions that he lets me read. But that’s it…
Ally, yes! There’s something about reading a magazine on a screen versus paper. Then again, I am a person who prefers paper books too.
It means what?! Moving that up on my to read list because of your gushing.
I subscribe to 2 substacks (Pantsuit Politics and Footnotes & Tangents) and 2 podcasts (Sarah’s Bookshelves Live and Currently Reading). If I subscribed to all I wanted to it would bankrupt me.
I know what you mean! There is so much good stuff out there and $5/ month for everything really adds up fast!
Oh, I love magazine subscriptions. Those were the days!
I really want to try Nutrafol… ever since you started raving about it, but the price! Ugh.
The price is crazy and for Canadians it’s especially bad because we have to pay exchange AND shipping. So it says something that I keep paying!
I have so many subscriptions. SO MANY. I don’t want to list them all here, lol. But I do subscribe to 3 podcast Patreons and all three are so worth the money for me. I used to subscribe to a premium Substack but then stopped. I want to find a new Substack to subscribe to, though.
So Prose worked for your hair?! I’ve been thinking of trying them.
Oooh I’d love to hear which three podcasts you are on Patreon with!
Stephany, after so much podcast/ IG advertising, I broke down and tried Prose. I think at the time there was a 50% off code with Bad on Paper. And I love it! It’s so worth it to me.
I can tell you! I have Patreon subscriptions for The Popcast, Sarah’s Book Shelves Live, and Strange Bedfellows (<– a very niche podcast that is mostly two straight dudes in their late 30s/early 40s talking about Jane Austen adaptations).