Merry Christmas everyone! I hope your holidays are full of laughter and light and loved ones.

Here are three beautiful things from my past week:

1. I have forgotten to transfer my cash from one outfit to the next, but don’t realize this until after I place my order. The man at the counter tells me just to give him what I have and calls it close enough. “There’s no reason to get upset about it. Pay me the next time you come in,” he says, even though I have never been in before. But I will be back, Pumpernickels Deli, I will be back.

2. I take my car in to have the blower replaced, since it hasn’t worked since we brought it down to D.C. two years ago. Turns out that a family of mice had made a very weather-proof home once upon a time, and now that the insulation is cleared out of the old blower and the vents, my little car has a defroster — and heat! — again.

3. I paint my fingernails alternatingly red and green. The polish is not quick-dry and so I make a big mess of everything, but the payoff is equally large, as I have cheerful hands and receive compliments from a surprising number of people.

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