Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. The Building Museum (a lovely venue should you ever visit D.C. and off the normal tourist track), with help from the downtown business improvement district, set up an indoor “ice” rink inside their vaulted space, and I pounced on tickets as soon as they went public. It was definitely a different experience than skating on actual ice (natural or manmade), but it was fun and festive. We had a very uncrowded weekday afternoon experience, and I’m glad we did it.

2. Saturday morning, the cats and I were abruptly awakened by the sound of falling debris crashing just outside the bedroom window. Turns out the construction crew next door was working on deconstructing part of a brick wall that separates our back properties, and they didn’t realize there was a window just beyond it. They managed not to send bricks into my bedroom and stopped as soon as they understood the lay of the land beyond. (I don’t blame them for not knowing, but I still would have been super pissed off if their pickaxe had sent a brick flying my way.)

3. The caliber of play in the NCAA women’s volleyball playoffs has been incredible, with Louisville upsetting the number one team in the country to advance to a home court final on Sunday, even after losing their ace partway through the game. And Penn State, whose coach is actively undergoing chemo for breast cancer, pulled off a reverse sweep (and staved off four match points) to eliminate the team I thought was going to win it all. I can’t wait to watch the final on Sunday, which will be the first time in history both teams are coached by women. (It’s on ABC at 3 p.m. should you want to join me.)

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