If it’s Thursday, it’s time for Three Beautiful Things from my week past:

1. A well-timed discount code and fast shipping from the Post Office means my box of footwear from Sock Dreams arrives with more than a week left before Halloween. I’ve enjoyed wearing seasonal socks all week — stripey knee highs and tights and normal socks with Jack o’Lantern faces on them.

2. We’d been watching Supergirl trailers all summer with some trepidation: what if it wasn’t as good as it seemed like it was going to be? We needn’t have worried, though. For a show premiere, it was pretty strong episode, and we’re excited about its future.

3. We follow up It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown on network tv with a late showing of Hotel Transylvania 2, where we had the theater to ourselves.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. The Mets, in a surprising fashion to any long-time fans, dispensed with their league championship foes in quick succession, winning the first four games of the series to sweep the Cubs out of the post-season. Second baseman Daniel Murphy continued to play exceptionally well and was named the NLCS MVP.

2. This maple tree at Lafayette Square (the park directly in front of the White House) was resplendent today:

3. One of my personal favorite Twitter feeds is @booksfordc, which shares every new book the library catalogues (and adds to their new book slideshow). Thanks to them, I discovered over the weekend that the new Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) mystery novel had been added to the system early. Click the link in the tweet, which sends you to the DCPL website, where you can put a hold on the book — and pick it up day of release for free mere blocks from the office.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. The Mets advance to the NL Championship on a savvy base-running play by Daniel Murphy.

2. New England foliage in the autumn is better than any other foliage anytime.

3. A life-sized lawn inflatable shaped like a stagecoach and “peopled” by ghosts, skeletons, and ghouls.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. The staff at the Moroccan embassy leaves food and water out for the local wildlife. During the rain, a particularly plump sparrow is waiting its turn for the food while sheltering under a security spotlight.

2. I found a recipe for a coconut curry tomato soup I wanted to eat and procured all the ingredients needed except for panang curry paste. We stopped in vain at two major grocery stores, before an employee in the Asian foods aisle at the third gave Rudi a link to the recipe she uses to make her own.

3. Sarah, John, Nicole, Rudi, and I headed into the countryside over the weekend for our annual apple-picking adventure. I found us a new farm to try way out in Virginia, complete with what those of us who’ve lived in the northeast deemed the best cider doughnuts in the region, which mostly made up for the expensive way they had of selling apples. To celebrate a day of fruit and non-rain, we stopped for supper at the converted mill where we all dined two years ago. Tasty food and drinks helped conclude the trip.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. The mail brings a birth announcement from a Christmas card friend: She and her husband had a gorgeous baby girl back in August.

2. Rudi needs to be in Virginia early on Saturday to meet some friends for a weekend camping trip. Since I am on the other side of the river before breakfast, I scout out one of the local doughnut shops that’s cropped up recently in advance of coffeeneuring, which starts this weekend. It’s good to cross another indie doughnut shop off my list.

3. Rudi is able to attend my company picnic (always held during the fall on a weekday) for the first time. Despite a rain shower and muddy grounds, we play horseshoes (thanks to a colleague’s husband for teaching me the rules earlier in the day), mini golf, tetherball, and one-on-one volleyball (after we discovered I’m inclined to treat the tetherball like a well-placed set). We take a spin on the zip line. And we take a goofy photo booth shot with silly hats, glasses, and boas.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. We caught one final baseball game for the season this afternoon, one which had been rained out Monday night. It was a gorgeous day and we enjoyed our sunny seats, if not the loss to the Orioles. The game finished up at sunset, and we got to bike home as the final light faded away.

2. Rudi made delicious yellow tomato sauce this week with produce from the market (and some tiny tomatoes from our garden).

3. A woman in a maroon jacket completes her rainy day outfit with knee-high shiny red rain boots.

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