6 Happy Things to Celebrate

small and big joyful things #18

Hi friends,

Welcome back to another installment of this almost three-year-old series where I share a hodgepodge of things I find interesting lately. This week's theme is about living well, including farmers’ market finds, flowers and good eats. I am also sharing some reads and media recommendations. Hope you enjoy!

it’s peach szn :)

1. Local farmers market - what to get?

After enjoying hot girl spring with the best delicacies in France, I am heavily influenced to incorporate high-quality produce and animal products into my weekly diet. This is not a daily thing because your girl can’t afford that lifestyle just yet but I am looking to shift consuming animal products from mass-produced systems to those from local small farms and pasture-raised. For one, I find the taste is better - more flavorful. It is also a great way to support local businesses.

Some stalls that I like from Austin area farmers market:

• Mother culture (I am in love with their honey vanilla Greek yogurt and drinkable yogurt. They also have sesonal flavors like peaches, lemon blueberry, etc.

• Belle Vie farm They offer pasture-raised ducks, chickens, and a variety of pate/rilette, sausages, and meat pre-packaged products. They sell at Muellers and Downtown Farmers Market and recently opened a location on North Lamar called Local Pastures. I bought their duck rilette - very good spread on bread :)

some of their offerings from Mueller Farmers Market

• Central Tea Matcha They make ceremonial grade matcha and is Asian owned. They currently only sell lattes with oat milk, I might try this the next time I see their stall!

2. To read, watch or listen

Books I have been reading:

• Bookseller in Paris by Kerri Maher. An interesting historical fiction and fun read if you are ever curious or have been to Shakespeare & Company bookstore in Paris (I haven’t personally). I rated this book a 3.5/5 star.

• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. I surprised myself when I gave this a 5 star. It is a book about video games but equally about love and tribulations of life. I really really like it - it frustrated me at times but the ending resolved the story well. It is worth the hype.

Substack essays I have been loving :

• Different Emotions in Different Languages by

  Elif Shafak

• So You Want to Be a Writer? by

  Jen Hitze

• my life is boring by

  Jenny Clark
  (my personal favorite!)

• Kiss me on Tulips
  European adventure - I am living vicariously through her travels.

Lastly, some podcasts and movies:

• This podcast episode with Natalie Barbu and Breezi’s founder Lillie Sun which I found infinitely interesting. Breezi is a social media that revolves around people sharing lists just like how Instagrammers share photos. I have 1600 notes in my notes app and most are lists so I am fascinated by the potential of something like this.

• P and I watched Inside Out 2 last week. This came out almost ten years after the first one and exceeded my expectations for the second part of any animated movie. It was joyful and witty, I would recommend this to anyone.

3. Buying flowers on the weekend

I used to buy a lot of flowers from Trader Joe’s then I stopped for no apparent reason. I have been more inspired to get flowers and make the living space a beautiful and enjoyable place (expanded more on this in my last essay)

flowers lately

4. Sweet fruit season

Altaufo mangoes, peaches, stone fruits, strawberries. If you are in Central Texas, peach season is in full swing and you can pick fresh peaches in Fredericksburg. I am trying to freeze peaches and grate it like shaved ice, will report back on what it tastes like.

5. A cool new Asian dessert spot

Hui Lau Shan in Highland area brings a full array of Hong Kong mango-based desserts from sago mango soup to mango mochi. I have been twice and favorites are the mango sago, mango coconut jelly and purple sweet potato soup.

6. Use your free! library!

Here is your reminder to utilize your local libraries. It is one of the best things we could enjoy (and for free!) IMO. If you are in Austin, sign up for a free library card and be introduced to the world of literature - they have every book under the sun. You can also study/work/print documents/meet in groups there.

---

Thank you for reading Life with MD. Please give this piece a like if you enjoy it. If you have not already, subscribe to receive monthly essays in your inbox. I never spam, promise :)

Leave me a comment with your thoughts. I appreciate all of them.