OP, congrats on your certification and on getting hooked on diving! I know the feeling. As for doing your AOW next month, don't let the naysayers dissuade you. If you want to do it and feel that you are up for it, go for it. I did my OW checkout dives in the Caribbean and then came home and immediately signed up for Nitrox, Drysuit, and AOW in the local quarry with cold water and crap viz. No problems. If you are confident that you have the basics down, AOW will be easy. If you aren't, then you probably wouldn't be eager to jump into AOW anyway.
As for finding dive buddies, ask around at your local shop. Here, we have a local group that meets up once a week for an evening dive after work at one of the small local lakes. It's how I connected with a couple of people who I dive with regularly. You can also check out sites like meetup.com.