Ahem. So you may have noticed (or maybe not) that last Thursday I shut the computer for a Christmas break without publishing a three beautiful things post. My run-in to the holidays got a little crazy and it just slipped my notice, and the people who would normally remind me that I’d missed it have also been celebrating and not paying attention to this space. However, the only time I totally failed to share three beautiful things was when my grandmother died and that was an intentional decision, and I’d like to keep it that way. So, here, belatedly, are three beautiful things from the week before Christmas:

1. Rudi takes back over the driving in central New Jersey so I can more fully enjoy the Christmas lights along the Garden State Parkway from the passenger seat.

2. Parking lots are full, but all the shops I run into on Christmas Eve have very short lines.

3. To my surprise, tickets to see Darlene Love’s holiday concert in D.C. were still available on the evening of the show, but spending money on yourself at Christmas is not really in the budget. I remembered suddenly I’d squirreled away as mad money two cash gifts from my uncle before he died — and that it was nearly the exact price of the tickets. My uncle had a great love of music and of Christmas so I felt certain that he would think this was a perfect use of his final Christmas presents to me.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world recently?

(I’ll be back again on New Year’s Eve with beautiful things from this week.)