APR 28, 2026

INSIDE: Coloring Mental Health, Outfit Repeats, and Healthy Snacking.

TODAY I WILL:

Be intentional with my energy.

We’re chatting about friendships getting spontaneous, dating getting nuanced, and how even the airport has a glow-up.

• Spontaneous friendships are having a moment.

• Your brain on AI might look different than you expect.

• Your cortisol levels could use a vibe check.

• There’s a new label in the dating world: heteroflexible.

• Airport lounges are becoming destinations of their own.

Staying Inside the Lines. 

You don’t need to be “creative” for this art project—promise. Still, there’s something crafty about sitting down with a coloring book that’s already been outlined for you to color in. No stressful blank canvas, just shapes waiting to be filled.

According to Girija Kaimal, a creative arts therapies researcher, that’s exactly the point. Coloring gives your brain a break from decision-making. It’s not asking you to invent or solve—it’s inviting you into a space that already exists. Because when your attention is on choosing a color, staying inside the lines, or shading a tiny corner just right, your mind isn’t looping through those stressful emails, replaying that awkward conversation, or jumping ahead to tomorrow’s to-do list. In a way, coloring interrupts the spiral.

Try this today: Set a timer (could be for 5 minutes, could be for a full hour) and pull up (or print) a simple coloring page—think florals, patterns, or even a childhood favorite. Then, just focus on the motion of your hand and the page in front of you.

Same Look, Different Day

Outfit repeating is no longer something to avoid; it’s something to embrace. More people are rewearing the same looks for dinners, events, weekends out, and even photos, without feeling the need to constantly debut something new. When you find an outfit that works—one that feels effortless, flattering, and true to your style—the logic is simple: Wear it again.

Instead of signaling a lack of newness, it often signals confidence, self-awareness, and a clear sense of personal style. Knowing what works for you and owning it can feel far more compelling than chasing constant variety.

It’s practical, sustainable, and refreshingly low-pressure. Repeating outfits helps maximize the pieces you already love, reduces waste, and takes the stress out of getting dressed. It also creates the kind of signature style people actually remember.

Try it yourself: Pick one outfit you always feel great in and wear it again this week. Change the shoes, add different accessories, or style it exactly the same. Sometimes the best look is the one you already know works.

In today’s snack aisle, indulgence and intention are no longer mutually exclusive—people today want to know what’s in what they’re eating and make thoughtful choices. One key player in the change is Unreal Snacks, and at the helm of the brand’s strategy is Alison Whritenour, a powerhouse executive known for building brands that do more than just sell—they stand for something.

A Fortune 40 Under 40 honoree with a track record of scaling purpose-driven companies, Alison brings both heart and horsepower to the table. Before joining Unreal, she spent over a decade at Seventh Generation, ultimately serving as CEO and steering the brand through sustained double-digit growth. Translation: She knows how to grow a mission without losing sight of it.

We caught up with Alison to talk about the rise of purpose-led brands, the power of nostalgia in snacks, and why the future of chocolate might look (and taste) a whole lot better.

Unreal Snacks has built its brand around the idea of “unjunking” chocolate. What does that mission mean in practice for today’s snack consumers?

We obsess over quality so snackers can focus on taste, which is what keeps people coming back. In practice, for us, that means really focusing on simplicity and sourcing high-quality ingredients. At Unreal, we make all of our snacks using only Fair Trade Certified™, gluten-free, and non-GMO ingredients with zero artificial preservatives, flavors, or colors. 

We love to reinvent the nostalgic snacks that our consumers grew up loving, but with even better flavors and ingredients. Our new Peanut Butter Cup S’mores Kit, a collaboration with fellow better-for-you brands Partake and Dandies is a really great example of this. It takes the iconic campfire snack and gives it an unexpected twist by replacing the chocolate bar with our Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup. It’s like the flavors from the cabin scene in The Parent Trap cabin and your childhood summer camp memories came together in one delicious bite.

Consumers increasingly want snacks that taste great but also align with their health and sustainability values. How is that shaping innovation in the chocolate category?

“Better for you” only matters if it tastes better, too! People shouldn’t have to compromise their joy to meet their values. We want to continue to modernize the category by leading with truly outstanding flavor and really reshaping what people come to expect from their favorite snacks—it’s not just about “better for you,” it’s about being better in every way.

Do you think consumers are becoming more aware of how their food choices impact the planet? What do you think has fueled this? 

I think “yes”-ish. Consumers are so much more educated on the big picture of how our food systems impact personal and planetary health, and they are really starting to connect the dots on how these two are linked! However, the gap in understanding vs. action still exists, so there remains a huge opportunity to make better food choices more accessible and less expensive than their harmful counterparts. 

Is there anything you wish more people understood about the sweets/snack industry?

“Nowstalgia” is a hot topic in snacks these days. People are craving the feelings of their childhood, but in ways that don’t force them to sacrifice their modern values. That’s a big reason we’re seeing so many playful takes on childhood favorites. For us, this isn’t about perfectly copying the past; it’s about interpreting it. We follow an 80/20 rule for our “nowstalgic” snacks: recreating about 80% of the original flavor memory, then using the remaining 20% to refine it for adult palates—adding complexity, dialing back overly-sweet notes, and improving ingredient quality. 

What excites you most about the opportunity to transform the chocolate category?

At Unreal, we focus on building a better product while behaving like the most fun brand in the world. Being better for you is not a ceiling on joy. Our upcoming launches really lean into that, especially S’mores. We hosted a fun Camp Unreal activation in New York City to celebrate, complete with anklet making, custom camp merch, and sunset views. We want Unreal to feel exciting and experiential, and focus on what it brings to your life!