I had a lovely and exhausting weekend. Friday was the NAAFA meeting and Doron's birthday, we threw him a little surprise party complete with paper hats and noisemakers. Then Saturday it was up early early early to make it to Riverside Park for the Love Your Body action (it was just loads of fun, and I met some really wonderful new people) and then a little downtime before heading over to Central Park for our Mabon rite.

(I stopped off at Zabar's for bread and cheese for the feast and I was just feeling so peaceful and happy and cheerful, and enjoying being out and about in the city on such a glorious day, and as I was meandering through the aisles, an elderly man came up to me and said "I just had to tell you how beautiful you are, but I'd better hurry up and leave before your husband comes back!" - were I only so lucky, but hey, I was flattered nonetheless.)

The rite was also really great, although it was so summery out that it didn't feel like we were ushering in the fall at all (oh, I do love the fall, sweater weather and crisp apples and a nip in the air and leaves crunching under my feet) - we did a ritual where we placed a symbol of our imbalances on a scale and then balanced them out; I selected a mirror to reflect (hah!) my oft-too-harsh self-perception. It is good to keep that in focus.

Yesterday was the medieval festival at the Cloisters and I wanted to go primarily so I could get all gussied up in my RenFaire oufit, long billowing cotton skirts and a gauzy top off my shoulders and a blue and silver corset that makes my breasts look much more, well, prominent than gravity usually allows. But it was great fun to meet up with a bunch of witchy folk, and my friends JeaNa and Justin (although perhaps I should call them Beyonce and Tupac as Rose does) came out from New Jersey, as they are very renaissance-y folk and much fun.

After the festival we got changed and then drove to the Palisades mall (for some reason, I love the name Palisades) and had dinner and went shopping at Target, and how ludicrious is this - the highlight of my day was getting a new wallet. I had my wallet stolen in Chinatown last year and I'd been using a purple satin zippered pouch from Chinatown as a makeshift wallet, and it never really worked - all my stuff was just thrown in haphazardly. But I never found a wallet that I liked in that whole year. So when I found this one that just screamed my name, I was delighted. It's raspberry-colored suede, with a photo insert, and a pocket where I can keep my stamps. It's just so pretty!! I know this is such a slight thing, but damn, it is so good to have pretty things in my life.

And oh!! My little mini-vacation is coming together wonderfully. I am taking October 13th through 15th off from work. That Friday, I'm leaving for CT after work, where I'll meet up with Marty and Aimee and Chloe and Jack (what Chloe calls the new baby) and Neil at my parents' house. Marty and Aimee and Neil were invited to a wedding for Marty's high school friend, and Neil called her to ask he could bring me as his date, so the four of us will go to the wedding on Saturday, then all drive up to Massachusetts to spend the weekend, and then I'll spend Monday and Tuesday in Boston, and then back to New York on Wednesday. I'm so very much looking forward to meeting the new baby, and seeing my parents and their in-the-process-of-being-remodelled kitchen, and meeting Brian and reconnecting with Boston again.