A New Chapter 🦋

An Upleveled Intentional Muse Experience, THE BEST Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe, and Journaling Through New Beginnings.

Jul 30, 2024

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I simply love this newsletter and the community I’ve been building through The Intentional Muse.

I began this newsletter in the Spring of 2022 as a creative outlet — and let’s be real, escape — during an extremely tough time in my life. On the outside, you might expect things to be going incredibly. I was newly married, often starting my mornings with walks on the beach, and finally had a dreamy office space.

I had just recently decided to leave a comfortable position in my career and leap (back) into the world of full-time entrepreneurship. Meanwhile, my husband and I were working to recover almost all of our Earthly belongings after we returned from our extended honeymoon to a storage unit filled to the brim with water damage from a burst pipe and a rat infestation. Trying to keep things together and optimistic at that time felt like when you walk down the street on a hot day with an ice cream cone. You constantly have to lick to keep the train moving, while being well aware that big globs are falling to the ground beyond your control.

These are the days!

Let’s just say things continued to test us — my sole consistent client selling her company, a layoff on my husband’s side, my PCOS symptoms flaring up, court case involvement from a heinous crime we had witnessed — but I soldiered on sharing the ups + downs, book recs, and techniques that were helping me, with you.

>> Fast Forward to July of 2024 and while some of the afterquakes from that shaky time still arise, my life is markedly changed.

I’m living in New York City, my anxiety is much more manageable thanks to a reinvigorated sense of self + Lexapro, I live across the park from one of my best friends, and I now work primarily from the couch crisscross applesauce.

One thing that has stayed the same? The joy received from sending you all these missives! Hearing about your own highs and lows, what movies you think I’d love, and even seeing some of you gather IRL has been a privilege.

I’m a couple of weeks away from a new decade (30s, here I come!) and I’ve become much more aware of what I truly desire + where I want to spend my time. One of those places? Here! With you!

Because of that, I’ve decided to make The Intentional Muse a paid newsletter starting next week.

The cost will be $7/mo (I didn’t want it to be more than your coffee order) and will allow me to…

✨Send The Intentional Muse Missives Out Every Week

✨Record Muse Spotlights as Podcasts

✨Give You Access to One Event of Your Choosing Per Calendar Year Free — just jet me an email at hello@kaylimylius.com when you’d like to redeem + we’ll get you in!

✨Make The Intentional Muse More Accessible Through Audio Recordings

✨And Other Fun Surprises I’ll be Revealing in the Coming Weeks.

If you prefer to stay unpaid, I appreciate you sticking around + being a part of our community. You’ll still receive one missive a month + have access to most of our Geneva Chat channels!

Lastly, no one will be turned away due to lack of funds. If you’d like to stay current with The Intentional Muse but can’t prioritize the investment, send me an email at hello@kaylimylius.com + we’ll set you up with a paid plan, no questions asked.

Thank you so much for helping me bring my dream to life. It’s truly because of each of you that I’m able to take this next leap.

Onwards!

Kayli

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NYC // John William Godward, Athenais, 1908 // Woman and Animal // Freja Gloves // The Eventual Window by Katja Lichtermeer // Very Wet, London, 1975 by David Buckley /

I recently went on vacation with my family back to our home state of Wisconsin — how lovely it was to get a proper Brandy Old Fashioned (sweet!) + a bottle of Spotted Cow… I digress — and it was my Dad’s birthday. One thing about my Dad + Me: We are certifiable cookie monsters! Many nights growing up, we would tear into a box of Chips Ahoy! and before you know it, the rows would be empty. Not to mention, the many batches we baked together.

For his birthday, I knew I wanted to make a huge triple batch to bring with me, and in doing so, found my new all-time favorite chocolate chip cookie.

I said what I said.

They’re huge, chewy, and the extra salt (this recipe calls for a tablespoon!) leaves you with an aftertaste that is… delectable.

I found this recipe in my treasured New York Times: Recipes of Record cookbook (Amazon, Bookshop) but managed to find it digitally recorded, here.

Note: Do not use Morton salt with this recipe! It won’t taste the same. I couldn’t find Diamond Kosher (as the recipe states) at my grocery store and tried La Baleine Coarse Sea Salt instead (also non-iodized) + it worked wonderfully 1:1!

🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪 🍪

From Sugar Spun Run’s Recipe

Also on that vacation, I made these divine thumbprint cookies for a family party + the plate was gone before lunch had even been served!

I didn’t use jam, and instead used a lovely lemon curd discovered on a recent trip to Menton where the citrus is plentiful. It was tangy and perfect. I’d highly recommend finding or making a curd for this recipe, I think it’s perfect for summertime!

Note: If you go the curd route, you’ll have to put it in after the cookies have cooled. To make sure the thumbprint doesn’t disappear after baking, immediately upon removing the cookies from the oven, use a teaspoon to create a re-deepened “thumbprint” divot.

🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋 🍋

Lastly (yes, I’ve made 3 batches of cookies in the last 2 weeks), I baked these Salted Banana Cookies from Justine Doiron + they were delish. The browned butter lends a unique flavor that I love + I made half with dark chocolate and half without because my husband doesn’t like chocolate — I know, I’m also shocked it worked out.

But!

I’m here to say that both the chocolate and non-chocolate ones are mouthwatering.

Did I groan when I saw I had to add another step (brown butter in a sauté pan)? Yes. Of course.

Was it worth it? Yes. Definitely.

Grab a glass of milk + enjoy, fellow cookie lovers! 🥛

The Friday Afternoon Club by Griffin Dunne

It can be tough for me to keep up with audiobooks but my husband + I ~~listened~~ devoured this one on our 15-hour drive to the Wisconsin North Woods + agreed it made our trek seem lickity split.

First things first, it has what I want from a celeb memoir: Juicy name drops — Dunne’s BFF was Carrie Fisher, his Aunt was Joan Didion, and his parents mixed & mingled with the Hollywood crowd of yesteryear. But it also had complex human stories that tugged at my heartstrings and important messages that I still find myself thinking about as I lull about on my evening walks. Not one second of the 12-hour 19-minute listen made it seem like it was dragging on + I highly recommend!

(Amazon, Bookshop)

Stay True by Hua Hsu

I requested Hsu’s Pulitzer Prize-winning read from the library after seeing some pals save it on Goodreads and opened it not knowing what to expect. What I got? It felt like every emotion under the sun... Nostalgia, joy, annoyance, heartbreak, anger, empathy.

Anyone who has loved + lost, gone through a “who even am I?” renaissance, or had a friend who mirrored what they loved about the world should read this book.

(Amazon, Bookshop)

My Life So Far by Jane Fonda

I was going through a memoir phase and saw that this one was highly recommended, that’s honestly the only reason I picked it up. But after I turned the last page, I texted my Mom exclaiming that she had to read it. It was one of those.

I’m a Grace & Frankie fan, knew Fonda came from a famous lineage, and was intrigued by all of the “anti-Americanness” propaganda touted by… everyone… back in the day + Fonda addressed all 3 of those things and a wide variety of other topics. If you’re craving more femininomenon content, are going through romance ups & downs, or are figuring out how to be a person you can be proud of, you’d love this book.