I stayed up late to finish a book and I have no regrets. (But, also, now I’m going to bed.)

It’s a quiet weekend ahead. Here’s what I’m hoping it includes:

• Knitting
• Reading
• Leaf peeping, since it’s peak foliage season in the District
• Christmas shopping (including at some craft fairs)
• Spending some time on the bike
• Maybe visiting a museum for the first time since the pandemic
• Poaching the quince (didn’t get to that last weekend)
• Doing laundry
• Hanging up art
• Watching the new movie with Gal Gadot and the Rock

What’s on your to-do list this weekend?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. I had today off, so we headed to Delaware to the beach. Although the forecast predicted cloud cover by mid-afternoon, we had a partly sunny day and a gorgeous sunset to boot. The air and water were both in the 60s, which means that it was perfectly pleasant to wade in the water … in November! For being fully dressed, I got myself very wet!

2. My volleyball teammates reassured me after someone said hurtful things last week (not at our game, but in another sphere of my life). One was downright angry that I’d been mischaracterized.

3. A couple had brought their 10-week old Australian shepherd on an outing to the yuppie grocery store/bar. “He’s getting cranky,” the woman said, as they swaddled him to take him home.

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

I’m not sure who else needs to hear this, but Thanksgiving is only a couple weeks away.

And Christmas is just over seven six weeks away.

We can get there.

I have Thursday off in celebration of Veterans Day and Rudi and I are going to head out of the city for some together time.

But we’re torn between heading to the mountains (we’re past peak color, but there are still leaves on the trees) or to the beach (temps in the mid-60s and getting progressively cloudier as the day goes on).

Unsurprisingly, I’m leaning toward the beach. After all, I was just in the mountains.

After reading last week that a new cafe had come to the old record store lounge space in Adams Morgan, I decided it needed to be a Coffeeneuring destination, and Saturday, when I had a little time between library-grocery store-garden run and video chat with friends, seemed like a good time. The cafe has a couple bike racks right outside, so it was easy to lock up right there.

The cafe’s menu skews Russian, with an emphasis on coffee-based drinks. They had matcha and some house-made herbal teas on their menu, so I asked the girl at the counter to recommend a tea.

She said that the pear-saffron was her personal favorite. I’m not usually a fan of herbal teas, but decided to give it a shot. Turns out, it was delicious. I’d absolutely get it again. I mean, look at what was left in the bottom of the cup when I was done:

I paired it with a croissant filled with bavarian cream and jam, which was also delicious.

The cafe’s interior is cute, but I’m not really down for eating inside just yet if I can avoid it. While they’re licensed to have streetery space, right now they’ve only got one table, which was taken. I took my repast down the street to the school to eat while reading a bit.

The cafe’s brunch menu looks good, so I’ll definitely be back, particularly once I’m feeling more comfortable with the idea of indoor eating.

Total miles: 3.51

Dawson’s Market
2001 20th St., N.W.
Sunday, Nov. 7, afternoon
Conditions: Clear, but rapidly cooling after sunset

I biked up to Adams Morgan to a friend’s apartment for a small gathering Saturday afternoon and, after it disbanded, I decided to continue on to a Coffeeneuring destination. But this was the first day of a return to Standard Time, and it was rapidly getting dark. While I had my lights, I wasn’t feeling especially trusting of drivers’ ability to look for me, and I decided just to stop locally, rather than pedaling over to Georgetown. Unfortunately, my first stop, Emissary had recently changed their weekend hours for the autumn, and had closed already. (Cafes have really dialed back their evening hours since the pandemic. I’m going to have to Coffeeneur earlier in the day… ) So I opted for Dawson’s Market, known familiarly as not-Glen’s, after the previous owner of the yuppie grocery/bar. They’ve got a couple bike racks curbside and are a regular favorite of cyclists.

While Glen’s served coffeehouse beverages until the pandemic shut down their bar and cafe, Dawson’s has been slow to add those amenities back in. But they’ve been advertising them recently, so I took my chances. The girl at the checkout was very kind and went and found me some black tea down in their storeroom, so I took my Earl Grey and my Bethlehem Bar (like a seven-layer bar) and sat out at the picnic table to read and knit until my tea was cold and I couldn’t feel my fingers anymore.

And then I pedaled the rest of the way home.

Total miles: 2.12 miles