Beautiful Thing of the Day + Wilder Musings: An Orchid, for Spring (and) Birthday Thanks

Despite the recent freak snowstorms, I think spring may be inching towards us. It's Passover, the air is a bit softer, the snow is beginning to crawl away down street grates, and I've been able to wear ankle-baring pants without wanting to die from the cold. So maybe there's hope. I took the day off from work today and I'm sitting at my parents' house, surrounded by tons of kosher for Passover dishes and cakes, lots of wine and fine silver, and, of course, Nana. Who is next to me with her "f***ing MacBook," complaining about all the emails she has to respond to, which leads me to believe she's way more popular than I am. But we already knew that (more after the jump).
So in honor of the changing seasons, I present you with a photograph I took of a white, curly orchid. Because sometimes all it takes to make me pause and marvel is a potted plant in my parents' kitchen. Speaking of pause, I was blown away by the love I received on my birthday yesterday. Whether members of my family, buddies I talk to everyday, or long-lost friends I haven't heard from in years, everyone who reached out to me made me feel blessed and lucky. Thank you, thank you, thank you. This flower is a little bit of beauty to send back to you in exchange for how much you gave me (both yesterday and everyday).
I'll try to post some Passover pictures once the seders are over. At the moment the thought of even looking at pictures of food is making me nauseous given the amount I ate last night, so it'll have to wait until I can stomach it. But in the meantime, enjoy the shifting seasons...here's hoping we'll be able to get a bit of a tan before we all turn see-through.