Three beautiful things from my past Thursday (which, let’s be honest, was the most beautiful day many of us have had in a while):

1. National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman knocked it out of the park with her recitation of “The Hill We Climb.” There was not a single syllable that she uttered without thought, from the honorifics to the word play, and I anticipate a long career for the 22-year-old.

2. I have yet to talk to a single woman who came away from yesterday dry-eyed, with the installation of Kamala Harris as the first female vice president of the United States.

3. The Mall being closed to everyone had the single benefit of it allowing the most remarkable fireworks show in D.C.’s recent history.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Two missing Christmas cards from Connecticut reached me today, and my package with my parents’ gifts arrived there on Monday.

2. The third and final To All the Boys movie will be released on Netflix next month the weekend of my birthday — and I didn’t even know it had been filmed!

3. Karen and I get a chance to talk on the phone late Sunday night. It’s a lovely way to end the weekend.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Despite the horrible things that went on across our country yesterday, the Democrats did win both Georgia Senate seats and the electoral college results were certified.

2. Spending down my flex spending account for 2020 involved several steps, including a trip to the eye doctor, which resulted in my getting a new contact prescription for bifocal contacts. It’s really exciting to be able to not wear my glasses out to be fogged up by my mask and to still be able to read on my outing. I expect this to be a game-changer on nicer weekend days.

3. I didn’t do a great job baking during my holiday break, but I did make a batch of Spritz cookies on Sunday evening. If you were to ask me what Christmas cookies are, I’d probably point you to Spritz, so it did feel like a win to get them made (even though doing them mostly alone is way less enjoyable than making them with my folks as usual). For someone who hasn’t made them on her own in two decades, I was surprisingly well prepared to do so, with a never-before-used cookie press tucked under a shelf and a pleasingly deep collection of sprinkles.

What’s been beautiful in your world this stressful week?

Happy New Year! May 2021 bring a return of the things we miss the most.

Here are three beautiful things that I was lucky enough not miss this past week:

1. A most breathtaking sunset, full of oranges and purples.

2. Eating lunch in the park on a warm afternoon with a book, a thermos of tea, and an ever-diminishing pile of correspondence.

3. My brother texts to say he and his partner been diagnosed with COVID-19, but were already out of quarantine and on the mend.

How about you? What’s was beautiful in your world as you rounded out 2020?

Three beautiful things from my week past:

1. Our friend Sam and his brother, Alan, share their family kugel recipe with me. It was my favorite dish the years I spent Christmas Eve at their grandparents’ gathering.

2. Rudi’s post-travel COVID test came back negative.

3. Christmas cookies from the farmers market.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Karen and I got to catch up.

2. The beautiful weather over the weekend lent itself to Christmas shopping by bicycle.

3. Thai takeout after a stressful day.

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