Keep Your (Witchy) Friends Close 🧙‍♀️

Welcome to Girlhood — the group chat we should have had all along, where we talk openly about our bodies, the questions we whisper about, and the everyday moments that make us pause, laugh, or rethink life.

This week’s issue is about paying attention: to the people we trust, the advice we question, and the small comforts that get us through winter. Let’s dive in!

Hi friend,

Last weekend was full of lots of girlfriend time, which — for a mom of three — is few and far between, deeply needed, and never (ever) taken for granted. On Saturday, a bunch of us went out for wine and apps. On Sunday, we regrouped with the husbands and kids to debrief, watch football, and… casually dabble in some tarot readings.

Yes, you read that right.

One of my closest friends reads tarot, collects crystals, and keeps sage next to her bed like someone who absolutely would have been burned at the stake in the 1800s. And honestly… it tracks.

It tracks because we don’t really do typical mom small talk. We’re bad at it. We don’t want to linger on snack logistics or carpool calendars (important, but not our calling). We want to know the real you — the thing you’re circling but haven’t said out loud yet, even if it makes you a little uncomfortable.

These are newer friends, too, which somehow makes the whole thing funnier. At one point, one woman, still assessing the vibe, laughed and asked, “Is this… normal?” Without missing a beat, I said, “Welcome. We’re not regular mom friends. We’re witchy mom friends.” Everyone laughed. She stayed, which felt like the point.

Because what we were really doing wasn’t fortune-telling. It was skipping the pleasantries and creating space to say things like, “I think I want more,” or “Why does this feel harder for me than it seems to for everyone else?”

That same friend is also the one who gently helped me recognize my own ADHD: the kind of person who notices patterns before you do and says something when it matters. Looking back, it explains a lot.

Maybe that’s why none of this feels that strange. I’ve always been the kind of person who senses when something’s off before I can fully explain it, who wants to talk things through instead of letting them sit and get heavier than they need to be.

Motherhood can shrink your world if you let it. These women expand mine, reminding me that intuition isn’t mystical at all; it’s just paying attention.

So yes, keep your friends close, especially the witchy ones. They’re not here for the small talk. They’re here for the truth.

🔍 Ask Clara: Is there an ideal age to freeze eggs?

🥗 The Food Rules We Grew Up With

This might be a controversial take, but if you’re a millennial woman who grew up in the ’90s and early 2000s, there’s a decent chance body image issues were a regular part of the curriculum — whether anyone ever called it that or not.

I don’t remember my mom saying a single negative word about her body in front of me. And yet, I was on Weight Watchers in high school, which probably tells you everything you need to know about the cultural air we were breathing.

I’ve also been pretty open about my complicated relationship with food rules. The endless “do this, not that” advice cycle. The moralization of eating. The way social media keeps rebranding restriction as wellness. And now, in 2026, layered on top of GLP-1s and a renewed obsession with being visibly smaller, it’s hard not to feel like we’re back in familiar territory. Everyone is shrinking again. Victoria’s Secret even brought back its controversial runway show last year, and the stock market was thrilled. 

So when the new food guidelines dropped, I didn’t feel excitement so much as a pause.

Partly because women have good reason to be wary of “guidance” from institutions that haven’t always respected our bodily autonomy, and partly because it’s fair to wonder whether federal nutrition advice actually changes anything at all. Still, I noticed what felt different this time. The messaging was more direct. Less nutrient math, more real food.

Protein was framed as something to actually prioritize (not minimize), especially as we age. Full-fat dairy quietly made its way back into the conversation. Ultra-processed foods and added sugar were named more clearly, instead of politely danced around. Even gut health got a mention, which would’ve been unthinkable in the old low-fat, calorie-counting era.

It doesn’t undo decades of diet culture or fix access and affordability. And it certainly doesn’t protect women from the pressure to be smaller. But it also doesn’t feel obsessed with restriction in the same way past guidance often did, which, given our history with food rules, feels worth acknowledging.

After years of being told our bodies were problems to manage, clarity — and learning to trust what actually feels supportive — is at least a place to start.

🔍 Ask Clara: How does diet affect period cramps?

📺 Is Too Much Content… Actually a Good Thing?

In a meeting recently, one of my colleagues was practically giddy about how much watchable, readable, and listenable content exists right now. She started listing shows, books, podcasts, even soundtracks, and instead of the usual polite nodding, everyone on the call perked up. Actual enthusiasm. In January, of all months.

With so much going on in the world and seasonal depression very much in the group chat, it helps that January is stacked in a way that feels comforting rather than overwhelming. Not everything needs your full attention or emotional investment. Some things just need to be there at the end of the day.

Emily in Paris is perfect for nights when your brain is tired, but your eyes want something colorful and familiar. The Traitors works when you’re in the mood for drama without the emotional labor, all scheming and accents with a clean ending. Landman apparently hits differently if you’ve ever worked in oil and gas, because, according to Abby, yes, people really do act like that. And Stranger Things is for when you want a little nostalgia and real stakes — a reminder of when friendship solved things (mostly).

Reading-wise, The Correspondent is one of those tender, heartwarming books that makes you want to write your best friend a letter, even though the two of you already text every day. The Four Winds is for when you’re emotionally stable enough to be wrecked, while Outlive is for a motivated Sunday that might turn into a nap.

As for me, I’m currently binging Owning Manhattan, listening to Good Hang with Amy Poehler, and genuinely excited for Bridgerton to return. Because sometimes it’s not about keeping up; it’s just about having something to enjoy.

xo,
Kristyn

🔍 Ask Clara: What exactly is ‘cozy cardio’?