Monday, April 15

Took a long walk after dinner with my hubby. We took a different route than usual and I got to enjoy some front gardens I hadn’t gotten a good look at yet this spring. There’s tons of phlox blooming right now and it’s so pretty and springy.

Tuesday, April 16

It’s my birthday! My hubby sent me donuts (apparently because my actual gift hasn’t arrived yet), and we went out for an early dinner at spot we loved near our first apartment, The Pub & The People.

And then, we saw a wonderful performance of Macbeth with Ralph Fiennes and Indira Varma in the lead roles. It was staged in the old BET studios, which was a really interesting venue and it allowed them to set the mood from the moment you arrived. We had excellent seats right in the middle of the stage, thanks to a friend with a season membership who had early access to tickets. I liked everything about the show, and am so glad we were able to see this.

Wednesday, April 17

Walked to the library to pick up a couple of holds at lunch. The weather was pretty perfect.

Thursday, April 18

I started working with a personal trainer in late February, focusing on strength training. We missed the last couple of weeks due to each of us being out of town, so today was my first session in a while and it felt great.

Friday, April 19

Pizza for dinner!

Saturday, April 20

My bestie arrived for a visit! After we got back from the airport, we enjoyed a fun afternoon having lunch and hitting up my neighborhood bookstore, Loyalty Bookstores.

Sunday, April 21

I met my bestie in grad school, and a few other mutual friends from our grad school days live in the region. Today one of them came into town and we went to the Smithsonian American Art Museum to see Pattern and Paradox: The Quilts of Amish Women. The exhibit was gorgeous; I was surprised by how colorful some of the quilts were. And the craftsmanship! I’ve made one quilt, it’s small and has a simple pattern, and that was still finicky work. The level of skill and artistry that it took to make these is incredible.

We wandered around the rest of the museum and took in a couple of other exhibits, including Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas. Another gorgeous exhibit, and to me it’s in conversation with the quilts in some ways.