And if there is one thing that every Christian knows, it’s that Halloween is a demonic holiday created by Paganists and Satanists in order to put razor blades and poison into the hands of our children. You think my parents would let us go trick or treating door-to-door while the devil was out roaming the streets?

“Does it feel real yet?” “I think so?” I scanned my much emptier home. One stack of boxes sat in the furthest corner, the other behind me. I had been in this house for seven years now, which in the time of typical early-to-mid-20’s apartment hopping felt like a lifetime.

“Are you one of those people that has to cheers every time we get a drink?” His tone was the shade of smug-meets-playful that knew he was asking a rhetorical question.

I blushed, Uhh no, I just think it’s nice to do at the beginning!

I like to ask people why they decided to reach out to me. Maybe something about my ad piqued your interest, maybe you just love my Twitter, maybe my SEO efforts are finally yielding fruit. I’m not fishing for compliments…don’t get me wrong, I’m not gonna turn down a compliment. I’m a Leo after all. (August 5. Mark your calendars.)

A non-comprehensive list of some of my favorite restaurants in Atlanta for dates, solo dining, and everything in between. Different types of cuisines at every price point.

The Greeks had a word, xenia—guest friendship—a command to take care of traveling strangers, to open your door to whoever is out there, because anyone passing by, far from home, might be God.

Certain beverages inspire such unwavering devotion that consumption becomes a facet of identity. Like coffee, scotch, and Diet Coke – you don’t so much “like” Negronis as you are “a Negroni person.”

“You aren’t treating this like a therapy session. We’re just talking.” Our conversation had become more serious, but it wasn't a burden. We were talking about our lives...which are kinda stressful these days. Every problem is a crisis. Emergency is the rule, not the exception. The funniest part was…this was very similar to therapy (but not in the way he thought.)

I get distracted so easily, it’s embarrassing. Music of any kind is absolutely out of the question. If I’m reading, I cut off at least 45 minutes so that with every word my mind doesn’t flit to work that needs to be done, dishes that need to be cleaned, cats that need to fed.

And when I was in positions like the ones I mentioned above, people helped. They might not have a lot either. But they helped because they care about you specifically or they care about people in general or they just understand what it’s like to feel totally helpless…and then have someone help.