I’m really quite tired and want nothing more than to climb into bed with Rudi. So with no additional preamble, three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Rudi and I have tickets to see The Merchant of Venice at D.C.’s Shakespeare Theatre tonight. (Yay, Groupon!) We decide to have dinner before the show, and a gift card my brother gave us for Christmas a number of years ago comes in handy in narrowing down our choices. We dine al fresco along Pennsylvania Avenue, listening to the carillon concert from the Old Post Office Tower, and enjoying drinks and a delicious three-course meal. And then we walk out without having to leave even a dime of our own money.

2. A swarm of nasty biting critters descends on me at the garden Sunday, chewing up my arms in a spectacular fashion. The next day, unable to find the only commercial remedy that seems to help (After Bite) and driven to madness by the itchiness and swelling, I resort to Mum’s remedy from my childhood — a baking soda paste. It’s crumbly and messy (I’m glad I thought to put down a towel before applying it generously to my arms and legs), but the relief is nearly instantaneous.

3. The final two episodes of this season of Bones leave me in a melancholy mood. After Rudi goes to bed, I rummage through the fridge and settle on the first blueberries of the season. I curl up on the couch and pop them in my mouth one after another, just like M&Ms, but healthy.

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