Things of Beauty #28

Cake, bread, & stuff to listen to (including a sax playing squirrel)

This week, I'm sharing a great article about making those real-life, offline connections that I mentioned last week from one of my favorite writers on the subject. I'm also sharing my adventures in sourdough and some good stuff to listen to, plus a little announcement...

Thanks for being here and sharing in tiny joy!

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🧁 loved this article, Focus on the Cake from

Kat Vellos

about reframing some of our thinking around the work of making connections with others. If you've ever thought "making friends as an adult is hard" or "maintaining relationships takes so much work," then I highly recommend reading (or listening to!) this one.

🎶 Listening to this song from Manchester Orchestra on repeat lately: The Way.

🥖 I've been experimenting with sourdough bread lately, which made this article from

Josh Brake

feel really timely: The Optimal Number of Failures is Not Zero. Pictured here are my first and second loaves. The first one (left) was super wet and had to have LOTS of flour added. The second one (right) actually got a little crusty and dried out while it was rising (over-proofed, I think, if you know sourdough). But I learned something both times: I adjusted the water for the second loaf, and I've got some things to try to keep the next one from drying out. Plus I lucked out, both were still edible and still delicious.

🎸 I got to see Young the Giant live yesterday evening. It was a perfect outdoor summer concert. This was the closing song and I loved how the disco ball filled the dark sky with little points of light (video is from a different venue, but gives an idea of it). The woman standing next to me during the encore seemed like she might be attending the show by herself, and it reminded me of this ages-old essay I wrote about a similar experience.

🐿 Just absolute squirrel (and sound editing) brilliance here. Click the photo for the full video.

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A little housekeeping announcement:

Beginning August 1, these biweekly Things of Beauty posts will only be available to paid subscribers. If you'd like to become a paid subscriber, I'm offering a discount on subscriptions through August 15.

Also, if a subscription just isn't possible right now, but you'd still like to get some tiny beautiful things every other week, please let me know. I do have some gift subscriptions to share. If you get this in your email, just hit reply and let me know and if you're reading in the app, send me a quick email at marychrisescobar@gmail.com (no need to share details, just let me know you'd like the gift).

All other Healthier Hustle posts will remain free.

Thank you so very much for your support of my work here.

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What's beautiful in your world this week? Is there a song you're listening to on repeat? Do you have sourdough tips for me?

Be well, find tiny joy-

Mary Chris