From My Notes App, Vol 8

Coming to you live from Anchorage, Alaska

Writing to you from a hotel bed in Anchorage, Alaska—where the sun doesn’t set until after 11 p.m. and time feels bendy in the best way. There’s something about being far from home, WiFi half-working, suitcase half-unpacked, which finally lets my brain breathe. Maybe it’s also because I’m not being woken up at 5:30 a.m. by a screaming 10-month-old! Alas, I miss that little bugger.

I haven’t fully unplugged, but I have found myself slowing down. So this week’s notes are a little softer and maybe a little more honest—because that’s what happens when you finally step off the hamster wheel. Here’s what I’ve been carrying around.

🎧 What I’m Listening To

We’re zooming out—from tactical leadership to full-on brand reinvention. One episode made me want to coach a team, the other made me want to relabel every bottle in my pantry. Both reminded me that emotional intelligence and originality are still the real flex.

✨ The Quiet Power of the Empathetic Leader with Gordon Schmidt on A Bit of Optimism with Simon Sinek (Apple) — This conversation surprised me. Gordon Schmidt is a retired Navy SEAL turned high school rowing coach—and somehow, everything he says about leadership feels softer, deeper, and more useful than any business book. He talks about empathy not as a “nice-to-have,” but as a strategic advantage in high-pressure environments. It’s about learning to listen when others yell, staying grounded when things spiral, and leading in a way that builds trust, not fear. If you’ve ever felt like a quieter kind of leader—or wished you could be—this one will hit.

✨ Aishwarya Iyer on Building a Cult-Favorite Brand from Burnout on Hot Smart Rich with Maggie Sellers (Apple) — Brightland is one of those brands that feels like it should’ve always existed, but it didn’t until Aishwarya Iyer decided to fix a problem in her kitchen. This interview covers everything: how burnout led to brand clarity, what it’s like to be copycatted after a NYT spotlight, and why she took cues from Gucci and Ralph Lauren instead of food brands. She also talks candidly about becoming a mom after 9 years of marriage and how it changed her relationship with ambition and visibility. If you’re building something, reinventing yourself, or just love a founder story with actual depth—this is a must-listen.

🛒 What I’m Buying

This week’s vibe: For when you want to look rich, but chill. I pulled together a collection of elevated summer staples that feel polished but not try-hard. Think: effortless sets, breezy layers, and pieces that make it look like you know what you’re doing (even if you got dressed in under four minutes). Shop the full edit here.

Hero item? This navy flutter sleeve tie-front midi dress. It’s timeless but flirty, and makes you look like the kind of person who vacations somewhere with a private chef. It’s also not $295, which most dresses are these days.

Also on theme — my Al Fresco Essentials roundup on Amazon. These are the pieces I’d use for slow dinners, sparkling drinks, and meals that stretch past sunset. Think chic glassware and the platters that make your basic chicken and veggies feel like a dinner party (even if it’s Tuesday).

Yes, it’s Amazon Prime Week. I didn’t build out new lists this time (real life got to me), but you can still shop everything I’ve linked and loved over the past couple months right here. For great Prime curations, I highly recommend Cameron Oaks Rogers’ roundup and Sivan Ayla’s list. Worth a scroll!

👣 What I’m Doing

Right now, I’m somewhere between stillness and motion—watching the world blur past through a train window in Alaska. My mom and I boarded the Alaska Railroad in Anchorage and rode it through mountain passes and glacial valleys to meet our cruise ship in Seward. We’re officially off the grid (kind of), cruising through fjords, spotting bald eagles from the balcony, and soaking in the kind of silence you only get when the WiFi doesn’t work.

Over the next few days, we’ll be dog sledding with huskies in Juneau, riding the White Pass Railway in Skagway, floating above the trees in a red gondola at Icy Strait Point, and eating our weight in Dungeness crab in Ketchikan. In between: books, naps, long dinners, and a lot of staring at the ocean. I didn’t realize how much I needed a break from the algorithm until we drifted away from it.

It’s a gift to slow down. To be unreachable. To remember what it feels like to be fully in your life—no productivity apps, no inboxes, just real conversations and views that don’t fit in a phone frame.

📚 What I’m Reading

This week, we’re toggling between curiosity and cringe—the kind that makes you laugh, then spiral, then maybe reframe how you’re showing up online. Consider it your permission slip to question the noise and own your quirks.

Because the things we consume shape the way we think—and if we’re not careful, we start sounding like everyone else. These reads reminded me to stay weird, stay awake, and keep a sense of humor about it all.

🧠 AI Is Homogenizing Our Thoughts by Kyle Chayka (The New Yorker)
I’m pro-AI. It’s brilliant, efficient, game-changing. But also? Pieces like this are a healthy reminder to pause and ask: Am I thinking, or am I just repeating? This one digs into how generative AI—despite its promise—might be flattening creativity, nudging us toward sameness, and crowding out the weirder, more original corners of the internet. It’s not an “AI is bad” piece—it’s more like: Hey, let’s stay awake while we build with it. Worth the read if you’ve been feeling like everything sounds... vaguely familiar lately.

😂 In What Specific Way Are You Annoying? by Haley Nahman (Substack)
God, this one made me laugh. Haley goes all in on the tiny, self-important habits we each carry—the ones we swear are charming, but that might make other people roll their eyes. It’s sharp, self-aware, and secretly kind. Because we’re all annoying. The magic is just knowing how, and choosing to show up anyway. A fun, reflective read that might leave you side-eying your own Slack etiquette (or newsletter intros).

🌀 Spiral of the Week: Taking Time for Yourself (Especially as a Parent)

I’m on a once-in-a-lifetime trip with my mom—and still, the guilt showed up. Not loud, but there. A quiet loop of: Did I leave too much behind? Am I being fully present here? It’s a familiar tension. You want the break. You know you need the break. And still, part of you second-guesses it.

But the guilt doesn’t mean you made the wrong call. It usually just means you’re not used to prioritizing yourself. So I’m trying to stay with the moment. To let quiet be enough. To trust that rest is a responsible choice, not a selfish one. And if that feels hard for you too—you’re not alone. You don’t have to over-explain your rest. You just have to take it.

👀 Who I’m Following

Because sometimes the best kind of self-care is watching really sharp women be completely unhinged in public—in the most endearing, oddly healing way.

🩺 Abbie Cantwell (@abbiecantwell) — Abbie is a doctor who delivers dry, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it satire about the medical world, modern life, and the absurdity of being a person with a job. She usually records outside, in scrubs, mid-shift—no filters, just sharp, hilarious observations with surgical precision. She doesn’t dumb things down or perform relatability—she is relatable. Following her feels like a perfectly timed text from the friend who always gets it, even when you don’t say a word.

🫖 Jane & Beryl (@janeandberyl) — They’re two best friends who play dress-up, drink tea, and bring absolute chaos to your feed in the most delightful way. Jane and Beryl try on thrifted and antique pieces—Victorian slips, ‘80s bridesmaid dresses, rogue prairie gowns—and narrate the entire thing like it’s part period drama, part improv show. Their energy is charming, slightly unhinged, and completely their own. Following them feels like being invited to the world’s weirdest (and best dressed) sleepover.

💬 The Group Chat Says: Stuffies at Centre Court

This Jellycat Wimbledon video is the most charming piece of brand content I’ve seen in months. It’s a stop-motion-style video featuring Jellycat’s plush toys—rabbits, bears, and their signature tennis ball—playing a full-on match on a miniature grass court. The details are absurdly perfect: rackets are swinging, players are moving, the audience watches with rapt attention. It’s soft, surreal, and so precisely executed that it doesn’t feel like marketing—it feels like joy. No voiceover. No sales pitch. Just fuzzy, well-dressed chaos at Centre Court. Over 4 million views in a few days, and every single one earned.

✌️ That’s A Wrap

That’s it for now—before the next glacier, the next train ride, the next round of bug spray. Thanks for being here and letting me share the small stuff that somehow always feels big.

If something in here landed for you, send it to a friend or hit the little heart—it helps more than you know.

Until next time, from somewhere a little quieter.

xo,
Kelsey