In a week that’s been filled with visits, emails, phone calls, cards, and packages, it was hard to narrow it down to a mere three beautiful things. But I did:

1. Macy’s has new window displays up advertising its wedding registries. When I saw the 12th Street window proclaiming its registries were open to all couples, I was pleased. But when I saw their 13th Street window had two female mannequins together against a backdrop of all permutations of betrothed couples, I was really impressed. Go Macy’s!

2. In at least three of the trees in the park next to the Historical Society, wind chimes dangle in the warm breeze.

3. Sitting in Pete’s Apizza, surrounded by the people here in D.C. I like the best, I feel one of those rare moments of peace. It does not feel dissimilar from slipping into a perfectly warm bath or being embraced by a loved one after a long absence.

Those are just three of my beautiful things during this birthday week. How about you? What’s been beautiful in your world this week?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. I buy three reasonably priced bouquets of flowers at Trader Joe’s — purpley blue irises, pink tulips, and little yellow roses — and squeeze them all into a vase to brighten up our kitchen.

2. The next day, I also buy a pot of hyacinths at the farmers’ market. Still furled up tight, the buds have only a hint of color. I can either buy one that will be pale or one that will be dark. I choose the darker hued and watch the plant grow each day. Tuesday morning, it’s obvious the plants will be fuchsia. Wednesday morning, the first flowers are out. That afternoon, I moved the plant from my windowsill to my desk where I could inhale its gorgeous scent. By this morning, the second bulb’s first floret had popped open.

3. The dvd of The Bishop’s Wife that I requested from another branch of the library back during the holidays finally shows up. I spend a pleasant Friday evening with my knitting and David Niven, Cary Grant, and Loretta Young.

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

It’s Thursday, which means it’s time to look back at three beautiful things from the past week. Here are mine:

1. After being lit in Christmas colors back in December (for the first time, I’m pretty sure), the turrets of the building north of Franklin Square are seasonally appropriate once again this week, bedecked in white and red for Valentine’s Day.

2. Twice this last week, I’ve walked home from work wearing inadequate clothing for the temperatures. Feeling the warmth come seeping back into my limbs after I reach the Burrow is delightful.

3. A bag of clementines make the kitchen smell particularly nice.

So, how about you? What’s been beautiful in your world this week?

No, it’s not Thursday. But I’m just not feeling up to a post that requires paragraphs. Instead you get three beautiful things from my trip to Annapolis today where I went seeking a large body of water:

1. The Chesapeake Bay is one of the winter homes to tundra swans. At the waterfront playground where I eventually ended up, a bevy (yes, that’s really the right word) of them were swimming nearby, mingling with mallards and gulls. Their trumpeting was impressive, but not as much as the crackling sound their wings made as they took off from the water.

2. It was clear today for the first time in ages, giving me a perfect view of the sun, a glowing neon red orb in the ice blue sky, setting over the horizon.

3. My car is now 17 years old and is feeling its age a bit, but its original, factory-installed stereo still works well enough that when I turned the volume up to sing along at the top of my lungs with John Mellencamp’s “Jack and Diane” I could drown myself out. The radio didn’t conk out the entire trip, letting me get through both of my favorite sing-along playlists and partway through the cd Dad made me last year.

What was beautiful in your weekend?

Three beautiful things from my week past:

1. Sunday morning’s performers at the farmers’ market were two young women. One sang a cappella the ballad of Lord Bateman/Beichan while the other operated a device I don’t know the name of (although my friend Michael is guessing it could be an old-fashioned diorama). It was a wooden box with an illustrated parchment scroll inside caught between two rollers. Each roller had a handle that stuck through the box and the girl turned them to create a panorama visual accompaniment to the story. Both the artwork and the girl’s (Elizabeth’s) voice each would have been stunning on their own, but in concert they created an extraordinary vacuum of art that sucked their audience right out of their everyday world. (ETA: The women’s names are Anna & Elizabeth, they call their device a “crankie,” and apparently they had a show that night that I totally missed, which is a serious shame.)

2. D.C. was hit with a snowstorm yesterday that arrived fast and furious, dumping snow so fast that plows couldn’t keep up with it. Although my office let us go early, I ended up staying late to catch up on some things, emerging at the height of the storm. Walking to the Metro, anytime I passed under lights, the snow pouring down looked like lasers flickering in an ’80s movie.

3. Those of you who know me will be horrified to know that when Rudi isn’t around, I eat even worse than he does when he’s here to cook. Although I am getting some nutrition from the lentil stew he made for me before he left for Colorado, I have also indulged in Eskimo cookies, a Fluffernutter panini, and sweet potato chips. Luckily, he’ll only be gone for a week and then I’ll be back to eating regular meals.

What’s been beautiful in your world this week?

Three beautiful things from the past week:

1. Sleet and freezing rain moved through the area Monday night, leaving us to awaken in a fairy land Tuesday morning. Every tree and leaf and railing was encased in a shining, shimmering glaze of ice, offering up a dazzling piece of ephemeral, seasonal artwork.

2. When John invited a bunch of us over to dinner Sunday night, Rudi and I decided to bring dessert. Lost for something fast and elegant (John subscribes to more gourmet cooking that wouldn’t pair well with many of my standard quickies) from my standard repertoire and thwarted by an inability to use fruit, Rudi and I sought inspiration in a birthday cake Mum made me a few years back and settled on a flourless chocolate cake. It ended up being just what we were hoping for and (I thought) a nice ending to a fancy meal.

3. Monday was a holiday and I celebrated by lounging around the house all day with books and knitting. After a while I was ready for some other type of diversion and ended up coming across the Emma Thompson/Kate Winslet version of Sense and Sensibility secreted amidst Rudi’s collection of James Bond movies. I had forgotten just how good it was (although I do think Gemma Jones’ portrayal of Mrs. Dashwood is more restrained than Jane Austen wrote the character).

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