Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. My work event went really well today, and everyone involved was nice and helpful.

2. Where I’m staying turns out to have felt further from San Francisco than I’d expected, so I opted not to head back into the city for their restaurant week. Instead, I explored the Walnut Creek restaurant scene and enjoyed Peruvian and Burmese food, as well as a local ice cream shop.

3. The commute to where my event was being held today was just shy of a mile’s walk along a canal pathway. I passed joggers and walkers with baby carriages and toddlers, backyards with citrus trees, and a snowy egret perched on a fence, which a dog walker said was its usual spot.

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

D.C. at the literal crack of dawn.

My job is taking me to San Francisco in the morning. I’ll be there for an event on Thursday and then will take a red eye back early Saturday morning. I’ll have some normal work to do, as well, while I’m gone.

But I’ll also have a little time to myself, too. I’m hoping to enjoy the nice weather, to swim in the (outdoor) hotel pool, to check out restaurant week, to attend the local version of the creative professionals event I go to here in D.C., and to see an old friend.

And at the end of it I’ll come home, where Corey will be glad to see me for the weekend, but where I’ll also have the apartment to myself for the following week. Rudi does a lot of traveling for ski coaching in February and March — prime snow time, obviously — but this year, I’ll also be on the move. In addition to this trip, February holds time away in Connecticut, Arizona, and Florida. I think we’ll both be in D.C. at the same time 10 days for the whole month.

So pardon me while I log off and go curl up with him for a bit. I’m going to miss him!

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday topic from That Artsy Reader Girl is a choose-your-own-adventure from That Artsy Reader Girl. Anything is fine as long as it relates to book covers. I debated about being deliberately snarky (clever?) and telling you about my favorite adaptations, but I’m hoping to get a few more things done tonight and I decided instead to just go short and simple:

That’s a photo showing you the ten covers I like best from the 22 (!) books I currently have out of the library:

Top Row: I’m Not Dying with You Tonight by Kimberly Jones and Gilly Segal, The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg, and Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbali

Middle Row: Lynne Kelly’s Song for a Whale, Don’t Date Rosa Santos by Nina Moreno, Homerooms and Hallpasses by Tom O’Donnell, and The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee

Bottom Row: The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart, Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell, and We Met in December by Rosie Curtis

Of the group The Paper Magician, We Met in December, The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise and Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky are my favorites.

One of the nice things about having a blog is that it gives you an anchor in history. (I hear from blogless people that Facebook serves a similar purpose.) I can see daffodils today and think, gosh, this is way too early. But then I can go back to previous Januaries and see that we’re probably only a week early. I had snowdrops pictured in the final weekend of January last year, rather than in the middle of the month, and the daffodils didn’t turn yellow until February. (Also, how is February arriving at the end of this week?!)

With highs predicted for this next week to remain in the 40s, I suspect this daff will unfurl itself in short order. Right now, it looks not dissimilar to me when I am fooled by bright sunshine into leaving the house underdressed only to wish 15 minutes later that I had a warm layer to block the breeze.

The past couple days I was out during the day in just a baseball tee and sweatshirt (and knitted accessories). But as the sun sets, it still cools off quickly and I’m glad to pull on a jacket or puffy vest. It’s still too early for canvas sneakers (at least without wool socks), as I discovered this evening, but I know that day isn’t far off. (My apologies to those of you for whom that day is far off.)

The current forecast for the Bay Area has the highs in the upper 60s and lows in the upper 40s while I’m out there later this week, so I’m hoping that means I can leave the winter sweaters and coat at home!

I was lucky enough to be on an above-ground train this evening as the sun was setting over Old Town Alexandria. The first clue of its gorgeousness was actually the pink hue cascading over the D.C. skyline on the other side of the river, but I was on the wrong side of the train to capture that.