I’m a little sleepy today, but it’s a good kind of tired caused by staying up late with an enjoyable book. Nothing compares to a satisfying volume in a beloved series of novels, but let’s see what else we can find:

Here are three more beautiful things from my past week:

1. I have, in the last week acquired four new pairs of underwear featuring Wonder Woman (or, at least, her logo), Minnie Mouse, Animal, and Cookie Monster.

2. The breadmaker finishes its cycle just as Rudi turns off the shower. By the time he nudges me out of bed, there’s a mug of loose-leaf tea and a still-warm piece of buttered bread awaiting me.

3. I came across some older strands of Christmas lights recently and Rudi strung them around the living room for me. The pink glow they emit is enough that I can turn off the other lights and still see my knitting.

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

Today is not Thursday. Yesterday was Thursday. And, yet, somehow, when I thought yesterday afternoon, you should write a TBT post before dinner, I then said, but it’s not Thursday. It’s Wednesday, so that would be silly. And so…

A day late, but no less lovely, here are three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Yesterday was my birthday! I turned 39 and celebrated by taking the day off, as I like to do. Rudi got up early and went up to the best bakery in our neck of the woods to procure breakfast and made me a cup of loose-leaf tea to drink with my doughnuts. I watched a Loretta Young romantic comedy (The Doctor Takes a Wife) on tv in my pj’s. A trio of orchids arrived from my uncle. Cards arrived in the mail. I got dressed up in my neon blue tutu and my fairy crown and went and wandered around the neighborhood, stopping for an ice cream cone and to buy a few books and to sit in the park. Rudi and I polished off a whole pizza. I got some very nice presents (including a concert ticket to see fun. next July). And I heard from most of the very important people in my life. I’d like to believe this is precisely what 39 is going to look like.

2. Rudi took Sunday off from skiing and from cycling, and spent the whole day with me instead. We went to the farmers market. We ate brunch. We went ice skating. We ate cupcakes.

3. We culminated Sunday’s together time by going to see Bon Jovi. They had a nice blend of songs from over the whole of their careers, including some new ones from the album that comes out next month. That they seem to still like playing together after all this time was nice to see. Also, I don’t think I’ve ever heard girls/women squeal that high (and I’ve seen New Kids on the Block), and I don’t think I’ve ever heard people sing aloud so deafeningly as when the band ended on my (and everyone else’s apparently) favorite song by the band. It’s clear that I am not the only one who sings at the top of my lungs when their songs come on the radio. It was a fantastic night.

How about you? What was beautiful in your world this week?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. I follow up last week’s successful venture on my own to a bookish Tweetup by heading off to word game night with strangers at the local gaming establishment.

2. I invite folks to go swing dancing, and the response is enthusiastic. Apparently the whole city picks up on this vibe, because the free intro class has 62 people packed into it. Four among our group are considering the month-long Lindy Hop class that begins next week.

3. My coworker friend has received Brave from Netflix, and, knowing it’s the final movie Rudi and I need to see to complete the animated film category of the Oscars, offers us her copy instead of sending it right back. It saves us a trip to a Red Box. (Interestingly, the D.C. Public Library doesn’t seem to have any copies (I assume it was a catalog search error) and the Arlington copy had over 100 holds on it when I last looked.)

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

The final Thursday in January means one more chance to look back at three beautiful things from the last week of the month:

1. Tuesday’s weather was so warm and sunny that a coworker and I ate lunch outside sans jackets. And yesterday approached 70 (more than three times the temperature from the previous week), allowing for bare legs.

2. Pink cava cava navel oranges every afternoon.

3. We clear off the table, which left molehill status back in December. It’s refreshing to have it uncluttered — and the cats enjoy spreading out on it.

Bonus:

The paperwhites my uncle sent me for Christmas have bloomed and their heady scent saturates my office.

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

It’s a sunny Thursday afternoon here in D.C. Time for three beautiful things from my past week:

1. It snowed last night! Enough to stick and make everything look fresh and pretty this morning, but not so much that it was onerous to trek through. A good dumping snowstorm with enough snow to romp in would be great, but I’ll take this for now.

2. The last few days have been below freezing, and I’ve enjoyed that. It’s been nice to get to wear turtlenecks and woolly accessories and sweaters and to snuggle under warm blankets and to turn up the radiator. It’s been cold enough to make your eyes water if you’re out in it for any amount of time, but not so cold that your eyelashes freeze, which is this New England girl’s definition of uncomfortably chilly. I am mindful, living in a city as I do, that I am lucky to have a place to retreat to when the temperatures plummet, and I am grateful for that abundance.

3. Gramma is en route to a rehab facility in the town she and my folks live in. Since my mom, trooper that she is, has spent most of the past two weeks living in a Boston hotel, I’m delighted to hear she’ll be able to be home again. And a week or so in rehab will help Gramma gain the final strength necessary to come back home, which will make all of us happy.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Gramma comes through her heart surgeries okay.

2. We see The Rise of the Guardians, the story of how Jack Frost joins Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and the Sandman in protecting children from the Bogeyman, at the movie theater. It’s good enough that I could see owning it in the future.

3. Christmas trees (including ours) are along the street awaiting city pickup. The odor of pine wafts through the air.

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