I hope you had a nice celebration of love today. I did, as well as a good birthday.

The day included chats, texts, and emails from loved ones. Thanks to those of you who left messages here! It also featured my online book group meeting and the Cybils announcement.

I went over to Anacostia, a neighborhood on the other side of the river, to check out a new bookstore that opened recently. Mahogany Books sells books by predominantly Black writers (with a few Latinx writers, as well, but I’m not sure if that’s permanent or if because they’ve recently been sharing space with the pop-up bookstore Duende Books). It’s a cheerful space in the Anacostia Arts Center with about a dozen sections. I ended up in the poetry section and treated myself to Morgan Parker’s There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé (which I’d heard good things about) and D.C. poet Elizabeth Acevedo’s Beastgirl & Other Origin Myths. Before I left, Elizabeth happened to stop in and the owner of the store facilitated getting my book signed for me. I stopped in at Turning Natural for a late lunch before heading back to Dupont Circle to meet Rudi. I got out at the further metro exit and walked back through the circle, where one of the local hotels was giving away Valentine’s Day roses.

After deciding we didn’t really feel like seeing a movie, we headed out toward our favorite pizzeria for supper. I discovered that Jeni’s Ice Cream, which opened a D.C. branch recently, gives away free ice cream on your birthday, so we stopped there first. Rudi opted for coffee and chocolate, while I went with peanut butter & chocolate chip and goat cheese with cherries. Delicious! But, oh, so filling! We took a lap through the mall before supper and then walked home after a few slices.

The day concluded with cupcakes, presents, and the Olympics, where we got to see a transcendent ice skating performance by the German pairs skaters and a daring GS run by skier Mikaela Shiffrin.

It was a good day.