I enjoy cooking. I do. I like having a reason to cook, making a list of the ingredients I’ll need, going to the store and buying those ingredients, seeing which of those ingredients have any coupons I can apply, and so on. It has to be said, however, that the cooking doesn’t always go the way it’s supposed to. Usually it’s not a problem because I’m either cooking for just me, or for me and one other person who cares about me and really doesn’t care what I cook or how it turns out. Where I have absolutely no confidence is in my ability to cook food that actually looks good. Good enough to serve to others, perhaps in a dinner party type of setting. I just don’t know how to present the food, how to serve it, what to serve it in, and ultimately how to make it look like more than a sad green salad and a pot of soup, for instance.

Somehow I managed to go the entire month of September without blogging, so I'll just catch you up by saying it included a resort getaway in 120 degree weather, an attempt at golfing, an expansion of my super amazing herb garden (pesto on the menu this week!), an almost full return to my pre-injury running distance, and, of course, about a million read-throughs of the new manuscript. And by a million I mean like 4. But still. It does become rather easy to become so fatigued with your own writing that you're pretty convinced that it's terrible.

There's a framed picture on my bedroom wall of a group of people ice skating in Central Park. It's a print actually, a creative artist's depiction of a whimsical and vibrant city. The people are thin, colorful, their limbs like sticks that dangle in front of or behind them as they glide along the ice. They are bundled, wearing scarves and jackets, a cityscape of buildings towering behind them.

It's almost too late in the season to still be considered fall, but I found myself in New York City over the Thanksgiving weekend and boy howdy, it sure felt like it.

Things I miss about fall: changing leaves, cool temperatures, sweaters, light jackets, the smell of campfire, rainy days, and baking sweet things. I also miss all the Ohio State crap in everybody's yard. But don't tell anyone.

So, remember when I was living in New York City and studying gemology? Yeah, me too. One of my favorite phases of life. Ever. I miss the city a lot and the gemstones even more.

My neighbors recently had the huge tree that grew in their front yard cut down. This was as shocking as it was devastating to me. Like the day I got home from work to find the city had cut down all the trees lining the street in order to prep for a construction project. All. The. Trees. Gutted I was.