she's backkk!

please, I know, it's been a while, but let's catch up! 😭

let me just start by saying I have NAWT forgotten about y’all!

in fact, I think about you all every time I open up my inbox because, despite my extended break, there’s always a new creative girl checking in and subscribing to the newsletter — and for that I am grateful.

you may be wondering why it’s been so long since I’ve posted on there and the short-ish answer is: I felt like I didn’t have enough words to share with you all.

i’m a writer, occupationally. like, it’s my job, it’s what pays the bills and what allows me to live my cute life in Chicago.

so between pitching, interviewing subjects, and writing about lifestyle/wellness topics every day, there’s been very little left for myself. but as the summer takes off, I realize that I have to find a balance between my professional writing and my creative writing — plus I’ve honestly missed this space and you all.

but I have been keeping busy.

first: Black Girl Playground.

my brainchild, Black Girl Playground, a social wellness collective, is growing.

on June 22nd, we hosted our first Play-Girl Walk of the summer and the turnout was truly amazing.

normally, when I’m dealing with large crowds or events, I tend to leave feeling a bit drained, but the mental joyride I was on following the event was something I wish I could have bottled up as a keepsake.

while we’re not a walk club, we will continue to host wellness/play-focused events for women in Chicago who are looking for a solution to loneliness and desire to make new connections — because the loneliness epidemic is real; [the surgeon general said so!] 😭

via: Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation

the Playground we just hit a new milestone of 2,100+ followers and growing by the day. i’m so proud of my creative offspring and it’s inspiring me to: just do the THING! that “thing” that you can’t get out of your head and keeps you up at night in the best way.

next: I be on TikTok, y’all.

and in so many ways, it has been the best teacher for creating like no one is watching, but like you’re speaking to your dream audience.

when I took a break from social media back in Oct. 2023, the one app I allowed myself to be on was TikTok and I’m so glad I did.

it’s been this sort of exposure therapy where I’ve been able to get my quick thoughts off, sharing the points of interest (i.e coffee/fashion/Chicago living/yapping) and it’s itched a part of my brain that needed scratching.

“Exposure therapy is a psychological treatment that was developed to help people confront their fears.” — source: apa.org/

IG has been my primary social media for a long time, but it got a lil spooky over there for a minute and I had to reset.

now, I’m just not afraid to post how I want on IG because I just want to continue to serve y’all dope, fly, inspiring content.

thirdly: summer reads & writing prompts!

i’ve been working on ways to keep my brain stimulated this summer and what I landed on was to do writing prompts and start my ownsummer reading list!

reading for leisure is something that I’ve gotten away from because my A*HD be making me forget what line in the paragraph I’m on. but I know it’ll do my mind, heart, and creativity so much good to add these two activities to my summer shenanigans.

here are some of the titles:

what books are you picking up this summer!

and here are some of the prompts — the full list is from the MILK FED newsletter here:

last: it’s summertime Chi, babyyy.

one thing about living in Chicago: summer is earned.

and once you’ve survived a Chicago winter, you’ll find every excuse to be outside. i’ve been taking more walks, attending events, and just enjoying this social time of year because as much as I like to think I’m an introvert, baby, it’s very much so giving ambivert.

so that’s it.

you’ll be seeing me at least twice a month! 😂🫶🏾

until then, let me know your summer plans, what you’ve been up to, and what sort of content you’d like to see more of me becasue again, I’m here to serve — literally, figuratively, and creatively. 💅🏾

— ya girl, Aley 

follow me:

ig: @yagirlaley | BGP: @blackgirlplayground | tiktok: @yagirlaley