A Note from Susan Miller — May 2020

Dear Reader,

What an unusual month we have come through, and as they tell us on the news, we are only in the first inning of the ballgame. Here in New York City, the epicenter of the US for the coronavirus, we are all following rules, wearing masks and gloves and social distancing carefully. I look forward to my brief errands out of the house, whether to the post office, supermarket, bank, FedEx, or CVS drug store.

Once, in 1993, I had to spend an entire year in my apartment (no joke) without ever leaving it, not even to get the mail downstairs in my hi-rise building. That year of quarantine happened after my harrowing surgery where I died on the table and had 18 transfusions. I was not contagious of any disease—only frail. My doctor told me I had to stay home to wait for bone to grow around the titanium he put in my left femur, as he found I was born with no marrow. I was therefore as breakable as a china cup.

If I went out and fell, he said, I would die—period. He said those words twice so they would sink in. It occurred to me that I stayed in for health reasons then, too. That was a long year, but it worked, and the bone grew beautifully around the steel. I never forgot how free I felt when I was finally allowed out. The fun of eating out never left me—I felt forever grateful. Compared to then, this year is easier—I can do errands and enjoy little bursts of sunshine when I do. Growing up to be a writer, I am used to working from home, so I guess I am all prepared for a quarantine.

My editors at Amica magazine in Milan, Italy; Claudia magazine in Sao Paulo, Brazil; W magazine in Seoul, South Korea; SModa magazine, part of El Pais in Madrid, Spain; Vogue Japan in Tokyo, Japan; and Vogue China in Beijing, China, have all had it even tougher. I am lucky to be able to talk and work with those editors and to hear about life in their cities. They all sound cheerful for they have adjusted to publishing beautiful magazines out of their respective homes in their big cities.

On Friday, May 8, a special interview with Mickey Boardman of Paper Magazine will be posted by the kind people at Marc Jacobs on IGTV answering many questions. See me on Instagram (@AstrologyZone) as we get closer to Friday and to find out how to see it. Mickey is a great host, journalist, and penetrating interviewer—I won’t get the questions ahead of time, so it will be quite genuine and from the heart. Thank you to Mac Jacobs for thinking of me.

I also want to thank two Astrology Zone sponsors—Rue LaLa and Fresh—for supporting our site. Because of their steadfast support, I have not had to lay off even one employee here and have not had to apply for a government loan.

Fresh and I have scheduled a fun hour-long Twitter chat for you where I will answer dozens of questions that you send in, and we will be careful to include questions from every sign.

The Twitter chat will be on Monday, May 4, at noon EDT, 9 AM PDT. Send me your questions—you must go to @FreshBeauty to do so. Use the hashtag (so that we can find you) #FreshAstrologyZoneChat

Rue LaLa is so thrilled with your response that I have extended our partnership almost two weeks, until May 13, the day Venus goes retrograde. The earlier you purchase products for yourself in May, the better, for many cute things are selling out fast. Readers have told us they are so pleased with their Rue LaLa purchases.

What happened is that Rue LaLa came to me in November with their idea, and it took time to work out the details. We never knew we would be in the middle of a pandemic at the time, but it worked well—sometimes it’s nice to buy something new to cheer yourself up. Many people are buying tops—so many Zoom conferences!

Back then, I wrote a 5,500 word manuscript to show Rue LaLa stylists. Before I got started to write about the new runway styles, I first researched many issues of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, GQ, and Esquire. (There is a male component in my manuscript, too.)

When I gave my manuscript to the stylists at Rue LaLa, they followed my advice precisely, and presented me with a deck of 1,200 picks, 100 for each of the 12 signs. I was blown away. They asked me to approve their selections and I did—making only minor corrections. I was amazed at how closely and correctly they followed my blueprint.

No one was ever supposed to see it outside of my new partners at Rue LaLa, but after I finished it I thought, wait, I bet the readers would love to see this. I asked Rue LaLa if it was okay to publish what I wrote, and they said sure, do it! The piece is called Fashion by Sign, and if you would like to see that secret document, I have posted it on AstrologyZone (but not on my app). Here is the link: https://bit.ly/39W2vLA

If you are not familiar with Rue LaLa, the digital retailer is a membership company (you give them your email—that is all—and you can leave your membership at any time). They offer a wide variety of items, from apparel to shoes, sunglasses to handbags, beauty to things for the home. I love that in each case, Rue LaLa shows the original price and their below-retail price that they negotiated just for you.

Rue LaLa is about to do a charity event a few months down the road and has asked me to be part of it—I immediately said yes, so stay tuned for more.

Speaking of humanitarian acts of kindness, I was listening to Mayor DeBlasio (mayor of New York City) speak to us one morning on TV this week as I typed your forecast. At one point he thanked Fresh for their generous gift to the city’s health workers. Wait, I looked up and rewound the TV news conference a little to catch that phrase again—he was talking about Fresh. I asked my agent to find out if I heard things right—I had. Here is a wonderful shout out to Fresh for their generosity to New York City.

Fresh donated over 10,000 personal cleansing products (soaps, moisturizers, and more) to various hospitals in the US, primarily in New York City because New York is their home. The value of their gift was over $200,000 worth of products. They told me that there has been a lot of conversation in the news highlighting how the masks and frequent hand washing were affecting essential workers’ skin, so Fresh was hoping some of these products could help. Fresh never told me a word about this—I had to hear it from our mayor speaking at a news conference. Bravo, Fresh! I LOVE your products.

I am working with several charities, including my favorite, AMfar, an AIDS charity, brainstorming for ideas for digital events we can do to raise money and awareness. Stay tuned, dear reader.

In the meantime, despite Venus retrograde, May will be a sweet, productive month.

Tell me what you are doing in quarantine on Twitter and Instagram (on both venues find me @astrologyzone). I found I am enjoying cooking, and this week I made Julia Child’s tarragon chicken—food for goddesses! My chicken vegetable soup made with saffron was divine. I am having fun.

If you haven’t yet read my article on the 2020 Coronavirus Outlook, go to Astrology Zone’s homepage and look for the big blue box. You can’t miss it.

Stay healthy and take no risks! Social distancing, masks, and gloves will likely keep you out of the hospital dear reader, and that’s my aim—to be your best friend.

Best wishes,

Susan