We can now look back on three beautiful things from the first week in April:

1. The lovely spring weather permits outdoor meals with friends this week. Sunday I eat crêpes with Phillip, Susan, and Holden. And Wednesday I have Thai food with Amani and Sarah.

2. We run up to Politics and Prose to collect my Jasper Fforde novel and walk in on an author talk. It turns out to be Jacqueline Winspear, whose Maisie Dobbs series has intrigued me since we saw a Masterpiece production of one of the novels a few years back. I leave with a signed edition of the first book in the series.

3. Rudi and I bike to the Tidal Basin after work on Monday to catch the cherry blossoms before they disappear. Although the trees on the Mall side are a bit past peak, the ones by FDR are glorious and we walk a leisurely loop as the sun sets over Virginia. A large storm moves through early Tuesday morning and a drive past after work suggests we captured the last really perfect day for the trees.

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