For the past 8 years or so, the coming of fall was never an exciting or happy time for me. Everything was dying, and the cold weather was coming. I've had too many heartbreaking moments in the fall. It has historically held a lot of bad memories for me. But something is different this year. I want to put on Nico's Chelsea Girl and drive through the country side, soaking up the delicious crisp air and warm autumn sun. It's crazy how discovering little things about yourself- strengths you never thought you'd ever possess- can help you see the beauty in something that was once so painful. For the first time in a long time, I'm looking forward to the chilly weather, a change of pace. Warm sweaters, blankets piled on the bed and maybe, just maybe, we'll use the fireplace this year.

Good people are so hard to find. And I, somehow, found a lifetime's worth this weekend. I met and spent time with so many amazing people...I feel so blessed. So lucky to have met these people and now have a chance to get to know them. And so blessed to reconnect with people who I always knew were amazing. This weekend verified that.

Saturday morning Mr. BenzoVodka woke up early and drove down to Baltimore to visit! We promptly (or not so promptly) piled in my car and took a little field trip out to the country side to go pumpkin picking, sip on cider, eat fresh apples, and spend some time with the children from my organization's after school program. It was an amazing and fun time. Benzo found me the PERFECT PUMPKIN. No seriously, it's the awesomest. And I'll post pictures once that llama-guy and I carve it. After all of that pickin' of perfect pumpkins, we had worked up quite an appetite, so we stopped in the city to get some pizza from our favorite pizza place, Iggie's. It was delicious, as always. No trip to Baltimore is complete without a stop at the Wine Source to spend way too much money on delicious craft beers. So we did. After flitting about the house for awhile, we piled back into my car and went to visit Ms. Cairo and Mr. Tigerwong. An amazingly geeky time was had, complete with Rockband, Guitar Hero and DDR. I "forgot" most of the end of the evening, but I woke up in one piece, so I'm happy.

This morning, Benzo, the dude, and I all somehow got ourselves out of bed and got to the JFX Farmer's Market. Amazing time as always. A little later, Mr. and Mrs. Cairo-Tigerwong came to our house to visit and have a little lunch. Such. Amazing. People. I can't get over how much fun we had. Chipotle chicken and sauteed asparagus and herbed rice and cold stone creamery, OH MY!

Eventually everyone had to go home, and I just had to get on here to rave about such an amazing weekend, and the so many amazing people with which I shared my weekend.

To Benzo, Cairo, and Tigerwong: you are all absolutely amazing!! Thanks for a great weekend!