I went for a long walk this afternoon, which ended in Chinatown. This past Tuesday was the Lunar New Year, marking the start of the Year of the Pig, and tomorrow is D.C.’s New Year parade. I caught the end of it last year, but crowds tend to stress me out, so I decided to skip this year’s but seek out something that I didn’t get to experience last year due to the long lines — mooncakes at one of Chinatown’s few remaining local Chinese restaurants (and our only Chinese bakery).

Mooncakes are more traditionally eaten at harvest time, the Mid-Autumn or Chinese Moon Festival, but they are delicious at any time. The Joy Luck House is noted for theirs, and the line tomorrow will be down the block.

I bought both their lotus seed and their red bean paste mooncakes and a mochi, all of which are delicious and highly recommended. The red bean paste is what you’ll find in mochi, and I preferred it to the lotus seed paste, which understandably tasted more flowery and sweet. The latter wasn’t bad; I am just a big fan of red bean paste! The mochi was covered in unsweetened coconut, which gave it a nice texture contrast to the sponginess of the glutinous rice cake and the smooth filling. The taro bun, while pretty, came pre-packaged, rather than from the counter-top display case, and was consequently, I suspect, less fresh and drier. I also picked up a package of almond cookies, which I’ve saved for another day. It did not fare especially well in my bag on the way home, but I suspect the cookies will still taste pretty good in small pieces.

I served the desserts with a pot of Yunnan Gold tea, which contrasted nicely with their sweetness.

The best part of being unemployed right now is that I am regularly seeing the sun set. Tonight’s evenfall was particularly gorgeous and I kept turning around to snap photos before darkness pulled its curtains closed.

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. The weather was spring gorgeous earlier in the week, so I went for a midday bike ride up the river a bit. I stopped along the C&O Canal, where mallards were swimming amidst the cattails (which are the same as bulrushes. Go figure!) where the canal has become overgrown in the offseason.

2. The hellebore in my neighbor’s yard is blooming.

3. I woke up last night sandwiched between Rudi and Corey, who usually prefers not to cuddle while sleeping, but who is branching out.

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

I took my books and knitting up to the park today to get an outdoor shot and some fresh air. My sock is into the heel flap, but I may end up hating how it disrupts the striping once I start the gusset, so I’m trying not to get too attached to the progress.

I’m also on a quest to resurrect some long-languishing UFOs, so out has come the Lightning Shawl. (Sorry, Mum. I know you hate seeing it not yet finished, a reasonable frustration given it’s now in its sixth year.) I will finish the second half of this sixth strip and assess whether I’m done or if I want to eke a seventh out from the leftovers. (This will definitely involve math and, if the yarn yardage works, may involve blocking what I have to see it needs it or not once it’s really done. I want it wide enough to be a shawl, rather than a scarf, and it definitely looks closer to the latter than the former.)

On the reading front, I am still listening to The Woman Who Smashed Codes and am reveling in the D.C. mentions. Tonight it was a restaurant with gendered dining rooms next to the Mayflower Hotel, which sits less than a mile from where I’m typing. The Emissary is overdue, which means I need to finish this novella tomorrow or Friday in order to return it to the library. I would still not use any of the whimsical adjectives attributed to it, so I’m hoping that feeling appears in the second half of the book. I started Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor last Friday. Its titular character is an American-born albino Nigerian who discovers she has magical powers and I am enjoying it so far.

Head over to As Kat Knits to see what other people are reading and knitting.

According to the sports calendar, there is only one more week of winter.

Pitchers and catchers report next Tuesday, Feb. 12, heralding the beginning of spring.

That is all.

It’s been a while since I last had a trip, and I’ve decided that it’s time to start planning one. But to where? Help a girl out!

I spent part of this weekend looking at airfares to warm places. What’s the best beach you’ve ever visited?

How about other destinations? What’s your favorite vacation ever? And where would you go for a week if you could reasonably afford it?

The nicest beach I’ve ever been to is probably Coronado Island in San Diego.

We’ve been lucky enough to take a lot of good trips and I’d gladly return to any of them. Iceland, in particular, was really quite magical.

The list of where I’d like to visit is long, but Hawaii is high on my list and has been since I was a kid. Costa Rica sounds beautiful. I’d love to see the Northern Lights, since we did not get to see them while we were in Iceland. And if I could go on a longer trip (because a week is too short to travel around the globe), New Zealand.