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Last week, a friend was in town for a conference. She spent the weekend after with me. We went to the Conservatory of Flowers, where this shot was taken and where I don't spend nearly enough time, and to the California Academy of Sciences, where I volunteer, and did a lot of walking around lovely parts of the city.

And it was amazing.

She works in London, near amazing museums and gardens and yet her reactions to everything, the big things, the little things, the behind-the-scenes stuff, and the trivia were so raw, and open, and full of wonder and awe that they made me see things like it was the first time all over again. I like to think that I'm still open to the beautiful things and the amazing things and I am, just apparently not as much as I had thought.

I noticed her reactions at the time and thought they were glorious but I hadn't yet realized what they had also done for me so I didn't thank her then.

I'm thanking her now.

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White Christmas: The Spirit of Christmas Past

Very limited edition. Anchor took the remnants of the 2012 holiday ale and distilled them into this almost aggressively festive white whiskey. It’s pine and mint and florals and fruits all bundled together and reduced to jet fuel. It’s crisp and multi-layered and complex and it absolutely needs a mixer.

Chatoe Rogue Oregon Single Malt Whiskey

HOLY CRAP, that is good. It’s very… malty. Straight, it’s incredibly smooth on the tongue, not terribly sweet, not at all bitter. Adding ice introduces a little bitterness that I find unpleasant so I’ll be taking it neat, or with whiskey stones in the future.

Redbreast Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey, 12-year

Yep. That’s Irish whiskey. It has that aftertaste I associate with Irish whiskies, a little less of it and it took longer to onset so that probably means it’s a particularly goodIrish whiskey but yep: That’s an Irish whiskey.