Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Our landlord needs to renew his rental license, which means the city wants to inspect all the apartments in our building. Which means the big spring clean we’ve been meaning to do is actually happening. It’s definitely not fun, but we have found some things we’ve been missing (my footie socks like to hide from the wash) and it’s going to feel so good to have it complete.

2. I remembered to pick the lemongrass from the garden for the supper recipe I found in The New York Times. (And it was tasty!)

3. The rain finally stopped and the humidity and temps dropped and the weather turned gorgeous! 10/10. No notes.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Some of the team headed out for supper after the game, only to find the kitchen had just closed. We had a drink, gabbed a bit, and then about half of us went onto another restaurant to grab food. Usually it falls apart when you have to relocate, so it felt particularly good that it did not.

2. I pick the first peas from the garden.

3. The Nationals decisively win the game we attend, and the night is a perfect one for a ballgame.

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

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic from That Artsy Reader Girl is Authors I’d Love a New Book From. Here are ten of mine:

1. Rainbow Rowell (This is cheating, because her next novel is due out in July, but still…)
2. Maia Chance (It looks like she has a thriller coming out this summer, but I was really hoping for one of her mysteries.)
3. Deanna Raybourn (I downed the latest Veronica Speedwell a few weeks ago and would be delighted with another in that series or another standalone.)
4. Sonali Dev (I haven’t read her latest, but know I’ll devour it quickly and then I’ll want more!)
5. Erin Morgenstern (I have, but haven’t read, The Starless Sea, but even that came out five years ago.)
6. Grace Lin (Her middle grade novels are exquisite.)
7. Carsten Henn (It looks like he has other books, but they don’t seem to have been translated.)
8. Michael Scott (I want him to write something new and then come to the U.S. to promote it, because he was such a great author to hear live.)
9. Chad Harbach (How has he never published another novel?!)
10. Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (A third series from them would be just great from my perspective!)

How about you? Are there authors you’d like to have send you a new manuscript right now?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. We celebrated Rudi’s birthday today at a local brewery with friends.

2. When I stopped by the garden earlier this week, the tallest pea vines were 5 feet tall and covered in flowers and the earliest pods.

3. My jam didn’t jell last night, but it made the apartment smell so fragrantly of strawberries. I may try reheating it again tomorrow and adding a little pectin to help solidify it some if I can figure out where it’s gone to. But even if it doesn’t, it will be delightful on ice cream or in yogurt.

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

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. We can’t quite pull off an intrasquad game, but we do pull of a team dinner on one of our off weeks. It’s a lovely night to spend with five of my teammates under the stars.

2. I have been dragging my feet on finishing a shawl for the past six months. I mean, I started it 11 years ago, so there has been plenty of procrastination built into this shawl. But six months ago, I realized that I was running a yarn chicken race that was going to depend on whether the ends of the yarn already in the shawl were long enough to fill the dozen or so rows I still had left to knit. This weekend, I decided enough was enough, so I wove in the ends, looked at what I had left, and, despite knowing there was most certainly not enough yarn left, proceeded to try it anyway. Then I ripped those all out and contemplated my options. I dug through the stash, came up with likely contenders, and, with some input from Rudi, came up with an option that I think works okay. I still need to block the shawl, but, for better or for worse, it is done. (And I have to think a finished, imperfect shawl is definitely better than an unfinished knitting project than has lingered around since I was in my 30s. Ouch.) Look for photos next week, maybe.

3. After a month without a cell phone, my mom’s is working again.

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. There are ducklings at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

2. Strawberries have arrived at the farmers market and also are appearing in my garden.

3. We have a new head coach for my volunteer volleyball program, and she is young and enthusiastic and receptive to ideas and feedback and just generally everything I want for the kids.

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