Tradition!

Once again, another September has arrived after an all-too fleeting summer. Crisp mornings are a sign of things to come - the changing leaves, the short-lived sunlight, the first drops of snow. Well I say to Nature, "Hold up already, we have far too many things to do first!"

That's right, it is officially fall, and that means a chance to actually enjoy the outdoors without sweating out every ounce of water I drank for the day. (And let me tell you, when you're breastfeeding that is a lot of water!) More importantly, though, are the traditions fall brings along for its windy ride. And in true Jesse and Jessa fashion, we kicked this season off right by attending the Irish 2000 festival (aka Celtic festival nerd heaven) in upstate NY. Longtime friends and family will understand, but for those who don't know: This event is the reason Jesse and I ever even met in the first place. Let's return to that fateful day five years ago for a little walk down memory lane, shall we?

(Cue dreamy harp music and fog machine.)

September, 2004. I was living back in CT after leaving the Albany area, but I returned for a weekend visit to attend Irish 2000, or i2K as the regulars call it. Early in the day, I saw this guy dancing during one of the sets. He looked very familiar, but I just couldn't place where I knew him from. Seeing a girl with him and really not knowing where I knew him from, I opted not to approach him. Flash forward several weeks to the beginning of October. Having decided I missed the Capital Region far too much, I had returned for good and resumed my part time job at Professor Java's. Imagine my surprise when the same young man I had seen at the festival showed up for coffee one day! Here's where things get fun.

His version: Jessa said "Hi, I saw you at Irish fest didn't I?" Therefore, she was totally hitting on me.

My version: I finally realized why he had looked so familiar at the festival - he was a regular at the cafe. I mentioned that I had seen him there and introduced myself. Before he left, he totally hit on me and said (this is VERBATIM because I will never forget how corny it was), "If you see me at another show, you should save me a dance."

But I digress. My point is, if I hadn't seen him out of context at the festival, I probably wouldn't have initiated much of a conversation with him at the cafe weeks later. Every time he came in after that, we chatted about our favorite Celtic bands. He eventually convinced me to go to a Black 47 show with him in November, and the rest is history.

(Dreamy harp music and wavy image transporting us back to the present.)

Here we are, five years later and we haven't missed an i2K yet! Even having a new baby can't stop us. In fact, she enjoyed the festival as much as we did. Of course, being the uber cool yet responsible parents that we are, we made sure her little ears were protected from the noise of acts like Hair of the Dog and Enter the Haggis.















Here are a few more pics of the fun we had with some of our favorite people:



























































Of course, being the dynamic duo trio that we are, we didn't stop there. We followed up the festival with a trip down to CT for my grandmother's 80th birthday! It was a marathon weekend for sure, but Eily did great. Good thing, too. With parents like us, life is going to be one adventure after another!