If it’s Thursday, it’s time to look back at the past week and highlight three moments of beauty (and to share them as part of Carole’s Three on Thursday:

1. Apparently we were good this past year, because Krampus did not carry us off in his sack and St. Nicholas filled our shoes with goodies. He left me hot cocoa mix and chocolate bars, and Rudi found M&M’s, socks, and coffee in his. He always knows what we like.

2. I’d gone back and forth on whether it would make January even more painful than usual, but I decided this week to book off all the Fridays this month to give myself leisurely long weekends leading up to the holidays. Last Friday involved sleeping in and getting a jump on holiday party prep. I suspect tomorrow will also involve going back to bed after Rudi leaves and then writing some Christmas cards, possibly doing some shopping, and maybe getting an early seat at the fire pit that’s opened up on the patio of the fancy grocery store/bar in our neighborhood. Luxury!

3. I didn’t find my hand knit Christmas socks with the other woolens after Thanksgiving, so I thought I’d forgotten them up in Connecticut and wouldn’t get to wear them again until we went up at Christmas. Today, though, Rudi came across them in the laundry pile. Hooray!

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

Three beautiful things from this final week of November:

1. The sunsets in Connecticut were quite stunning. It was quite nice of my parents to order the premium ones for while we were visiting. (I know a sunset made last week’s list, but I just really don’t get to see sunsets that often in the winter…)

2. Karen and I stopped in to the comic book shop in Putnam and the owner shared that the way he stocks stuffed animals is by sitting with the catalog with his six-year-old daughter and buying whatever she ooh’s and aah’s at.

3. I was late getting to today’s Creative Mornings talk at the Renwick Gallery (shocker! It’s first thing in the morning!), but arrived in time to grab the free kolache for breakfast and hear most of the talk about art exhibitions that center around death. Then I got to walk around and look at these miniature homicide investigation recreations put together by the woman who inspired the character of Murder She Wrote‘s Jessica Fletcher. Think macabre dollhouses with an amazing attention to detail. Fascinating!

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately? (You can check out other Three on Thursday lists over at Carole Knits.)

Three beautiful things from my past week, now part of Carole‘s Three on Thursday roundup:

1. My brother was able to join Rudi and my parents and me from California this Thanksgiving, which felt like a gift. (We missed his partner, Matt, but you can’t be greedy.) And I’m glad he got to spend a few extra days with my folks.

2. There was the most beautiful sunset tonight visible from my parents’ front windows. I’m going to miss their westward facing views when they decide to leave this place.

3. The surest way to feel awful on the internet is to read the comments section, which is generally filled with questionable posts. The people who comment here, however, are lovely, and I was encouraged by reading The Yarn Harlot’s most recent post and all the kind, generous, understanding things people said to her.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week, now part of Carole’s Three on Thursday:

1. As you might be able to tell, this is a banana flower, cultivated by the Japanese for a more temperate climate than other species. What is not obvious from my photo is that it’s growing at my community garden, right here in D.C. The tree is about ten feet tall and that flower is larger than a football. The tiny banana fruits you see are apparently inedible, filled with only a little bit of fruit and lots of black seeds. I’m sure that now that we’ve had a freeze, the flower has died, but this was last Friday morning, still blooming well into November.

2. With the cold snap, the gingko trees dropped many of their leaves prematurely, so instead of a nearby block turning golden, as it usually does in the autumn, the street was covered with green.

3. My orchids usually bloom right around Thanksgiving. That also coincides with the birthday of my Uncle George, who sent them to me for my birthday the year before he died. This will be our fifth season together, and the flowers began unfurling yesterday morning. I’ve moved them from my office windowsill to my desk for the moment so I can enjoy the day-to-day differences at this stage. It has a second stem shooting off in the opposite direction (those are roots you can see in the background) and the other surviving orchid has a stem growing, too, but it usually holds off blooming until the new year.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world recently? (And, oh! Would taking part in the Virtual Advent Tour next month make your life beautiful? If so, sign up!)

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. The new bikeshare company Rudi works for had their official launch party tonight. There was food and drink, trivia, speeches, a balloon artist, and a general feeling of merriment among attendees. Plus, everyone raved to me about how great Rudi is, which is always nice to hear.

2. For the first time in ages, we went out for a meal at a restaurant. An Irish pub has opened under the yarn store around the corner from us, so we went to check them out. The fish and chips were tasty (as was Rudi’s entree), the assumption was that I’d want cream with my tea (as opposed to lemon), the bread pudding we split for dessert was ginormous, and the service was good. We’ll be back.

3. Arriving home from a long bike ride two minutes before the rain moved in.

How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world lately? (Hit up Carole to see other people’s Three on Thursday posts.)

If it’s Thursday, it’s time for to look back at three beautiful things from my past week (and to share them as part of Carole’s Three on Thursday meme):

1. We’re finally starting to get a few trees changing color in the area. This one is in the schoolyard by my community garden. (We don’t have many maples down here, so I like to photograph every one I see.)

2. My favorite architecture in D.C. (and my favorite restaurant on the Mall) is the National Museum of the American Indian. Friday morning, I attended a talk there and got to spend a little time afterwards soaking up the ambiance.

3. The building where I work has public gallery space on the first floor. Today a juried show featuring art made by my colleagues opened, including two sets of work by women in my office. One paints pictures of animals and the other weaves wall hangings. Their work, as well as the rest, was very enjoyable to see.

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