baked goods, seasonal socks, and bedtime

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, heavy on the latter.

2. I have enough Halloween-themed socks to wear a different pair every day for more than a week.

3. Sleeping in on the weekend, surrounded by cats.

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

coffeeneuring and yarning along

I thought I’d share some recent bike rides, part of the annual Coffeeneuring Challenge, along with the reading and knitting (none of which is complete to date) I was doing for each one as today’s Yarning Along post:

Coffeeneuring #1: Baked and Wired (1052 Thomas Jefferson St., N.W., Georgetown)

Saturday, Oct. 15; 3 miles
Chaider and ginger pumpkin bread
Baked and Wired used to be a great under-the-radar place, with Georgetown Cupcake scooping up the crowds. Alas, that hasn’t been the case for more than a year, with long lines to be found outside most of the day. However, locals know you can usually sneak inside to the right of the door and order drinks and quick bread at the coffee counter, rather than waiting in line. This visit, though, was slow-moving even in the drinks line. I left my bike locked to a street sign (Georgetown is notoriously bad for bike parking) while inside, and then rode down to the Georgetown Waterfront Park to sit in the waning daylight.

That day, I had my Andrea’s Shawl with me. I’d meant to alter the shape of the shawl, but forgot to when I started the stripes. I’ve seen some reports that the weird shape blocks out, so I’m hopeful it’ll still turn out okay. I should really just finish that up this coming weekend. At the time, I was reading Fannie Flagg’s The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion. I enjoyed it, as I do all her books, but found it less uproarious than her novels usually are.

On the ride home, I enjoyed the rising Super Moon in all its massive glory. (It was not actually this dark, but I had to dim the ambient street light to get any contrast on the moon.)

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Coffeeneuring #2: Teaism (2009 R St., N.W., Dupont Circle)

Sunday, Sunday, Oct. 16; 13 miles
Chai and a pecan-chocolate chip salty oat cookie

So, this wasn’t supposed to be where I went. I played volleyball at Malcolm X Park, biked home, then over to Capitol Hill, where I dropped off some cider with Sarah, before heading to the Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital. I was there to see a Katharine Hepburn-Spencer Tracy film I’d theretofore never seen, Keeper of the Flame. However, I was supposed to arrive with enough time to pick up a drink and beignets at the adjacent Bayou Bakery. Alas, I arrived a few minutes late, and they close at 4, so I watched the film and then planned to stop someplace on the Hill on my way back. But I was tired (that’s a long ride for me) and I just wanted to get home, so I biked back to Dupont and then stopped at Teaism, which is a block from my house. This is another spot where there’s inadequate bike parking, so I tethered to a sign and then watched as a van nearly backed into the bike (which was wholly, but just, on the sidewalk) while I was sitting outside.

It’s a little dark, but you can see I was just starting the second sock of the vanilla pair currently in my purse. I’m still reading Kathering Zoepf’s Excellent Daughters: The Secret Lives of Young Women Who Are Transforming the Arab World, but only have a couple chapters to finish up, which is good, since it’s overdue to the library.

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Coffeeneuring #3: The Coffee Bar (1201 S St., N.W., Shaw)

Saturday, Oct. 22; 2.6 miles
London Fog and Peach raspberry muffin

I spent the afternoon cleaning and really needed to spend an hour outside, so biked over to The Coffee Bar for their last hour of operation for the day. They have their own bike racks, which had empty sides to them, and empty tables at the patio, which made me happy.

I decided to finally get around to reading Magic in Manhattan, by Sarah Mlynowski, in time for Halloween. That’s the first two books, Bras and Broomsticks and Frogs and French Kisses, of that witchy YA series packaged together. I’m not loving it so far, but I’m hopeful it’ll pick up. I’ve started a pair of stripy pink and purple socks for me & love how the yarn coordinates with the book’s cover.

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Coffeeneuring #4: Bourbon Coffee (621 Pennsylvania Ave., S.E., Capitol Hill)

Sunday, Oct. 23; 12 miles
Maple cocoa and a chocolate chip cookie

Another volleyball practice, followed by a trip to Capitol Hill once more, but this time in pursuit of a book for my Ninja Book Swap. Again, I just missed Bayou Bakery, but I knew I’d find something else in this neck of the woods. I wandered through Eastern Market and visited Labyrinth Games’ expansion and East City Bookshop, before settling down on Bourbon’s back patio.

That’s the second of this year’s Sock Madness socks and Meg Cabot’s Size 12 and Ready to Rock, the fourth book in her adult mystery series. (I hadn’t realized it was the fourth book until I finished last night and kept being surprised as I was reading when they referenced previous murders.)

When the coffeehouse was ready to close, I biked back across town, watered the garden, and headed home for the night.

comedy, practice, and no more

Sorry for a tardy Three Beautiful Things post. I had managed to lock myself out of my site and have had a tired, busy week that just wasn’t conducive to my getting back in. But, obviously, things are better now!

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. We got to see Dylan Moran, who plays Bernard in Black Books, at the Lincoln last night.

2. My volleyball team got together to practice on Sunday, and while we still lost this week’s game, our playing was much improved.

3. This week’s debate was the final one for this election season.

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

mid-october weekend to-do

Here are some of the things I’m hoping to do this weekend:

• Paint my nails.
• Pick up some necessities at Target with the coupon that expires tomorrow.
• Buy milk and yogurt and maybe local peanuts at the farmers market.
• Make pie dough (possibly, also a pie, if I’m feeling ambitious).
• Publish an Into the Stacks post.
• Ride my bike to some hot drink purveyors.
• Check on the garden.
• Practice with my volleyball team.
• Watch Fail Safe at the Hill Center. (They’re showing free classic, politically-themed films every Sunday this fall.)
• Do laundry.
• Shop for my Ninja Book Swap partner.
• Do laundry.
• Finish a book.
• Take five books to one of the nearby Little Free Libraries (I’m really bad at letting any but the absolute worst books leave my collection).
• Knit on a sock and a shawl.

How about you? What are you hoping to accomplish this weekend?

sharing, seasonal drinks, and good sleeping weather

A day late, but still… Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Because we found cider doughnuts on our drive home to D.C., we were able to pick up some to bring back to Sarah, who loves them as much as I do.

2. A cool evening means we make hot apple cider with fresh cinnamon sticks.

3. It’s nice to have chilly air for sleeping in, because it makes me want to snuggle underneath all the covers. With the windows open in our bedroom, we had perfect temperatures at my folks’ house.

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

long weekending

We headed up to Connecticut for a long long weekend, the benefits of which have worn off after a mere day of being back in the office. Such are the perils of the working girl!

What did I do while I was away, other than sit in a lot of traffic, you ask?

We listened to two losing Nationals games while driving. This makes me think that the Nats would prefer it if I would not listen to tomorrow’s game.

We got to be Amani and Marcus’ first guests to their new home, which was all in order after a mere week of occupancy (mine would have been cluttered with boxes forever months). They served up hot drinks, ice cream, and freshly baked scones and caught us up on all their news.

I slept in and generally caught up on sleep. There was also a mid-day cat nap on Monday.

I baked cookies, helped my mom peel apples for a pie, and made scones with my dad.

We celebrated my dad’s birthday.

I visited with Karen.

I admired the foliage, which was just beginning to pop along the state’s northern border. (This coming weekend will probably be lovely!)

We watched the film Sing Street, Lin-Manuel’s appearance on Saturday Night Live, the season premiere of Supergirl, and the second presidential debate.

I read Avi’s School of the Dead, which my dad had taken out of the library and kept so I could peruse.

We discovered two new sources of cider doughnuts.