Tag Archives: friends

Finally Meeting An Online Friend (or An After Work Ice Cream Outing)

Posted on April 11, 2023 | Comments Off on Finally Meeting An Online Friend (or An After Work Ice Cream Outing)

Even though I have had my Movie Club group for over 3 years now, I’ve never met any of the women from the group in person. A few of us in the group have gotten close over the last few years and have a text group together, but I’ve never seen them outside of a screen. Most of the women from that text group got together about a year ago when they all met up, but because they are all on the east coast and it was really difficult for me to travel there and find an affordable flight, I had to miss out. It was tough being left out of that mini-vacation, but I knew that it wouldn’t have been the right choice to miss work and spend a huge amount of money on just a weekend trip. We’ve talked about having another group trip, but as things have been opening up more and everyone has gotten busier, it’s harder to organize.

I’ve had some conversations with some of the group one on one about them coming out to LA. Again, it’s not easy to plan trips when everyone is so busy. But one person in the group might need to be out here for work, so that could be a possibility for meeting up. And another member of the group has a brother who lives only a few blocks away from me, so we had said the next time she was here we should meet up. And finally, she was going to be in LA for a very quick time so we were able to make some plans.

We had to work around some family things she already had scheduled and the limited time she was going to be here, but we made it work to meet up for an hour or so when I was done with work last week. Since she was staying with her brother and was only a few blocks from me, we met up by the Culver Steps since that was easy for both of us to get to. She had dinner plans after we met, so we met up for some ice cream as a pre-dinner treat. And it happened to be a place I had a gift card for from work, so it was a free treat for both of us!

In a weird way, it reminded me of meeting someone from a dating app. It was in a location where I tend to do a lot of dates and I was meeting someone who I had only known virtually. But since we’ve been texting and talking for years (compared to dating apps where it’s usually only a few days), there was no weirdness when we finally met in real life. It felt like we’ve known each other forever and not that we only knew each other for the past 3 years.

It was so awesome to be face-to-face and hang out. It was a quick hangout and we were talking about the same things that we talk about via text, but it was so nice to have the hangout feel so normal. It’s crazy to think how the women in our text group have become some of my closest friends and I really have never met them. But I think a lot of us learned through the pandemic how friendships can be formed in unique ways. And making friends as an adult is hard enough, so I’m always open to however I can make new friends.

We weren’t able to sit and chat too long before we both had to get to what we had to do that evening, but even having an hour of face-to-face time with a friend helps me feel much more involved in the world. I’ve said so many times how I’ve become more isolated and how I want to work on being out and about more. This quick hangout accomplished that plus it allowed me to finally meet a friend that I’ve known for years but have never seen.

Hopefully, some more of the women in the text group will be able to make it out to LA in the near future so I can get to know more of them in real life. But even if that doesn’t happen soon, I’m so grateful that I at least have had some face time with one person from the group now.

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Default ThumbnailFinally Back To Brunch (or The First Mentoring Group Meeting In Over A Year) Default ThumbnailLocal Ice (or My New Valley Ice Cream Spot!) Default ThumbnailAnother Business Brunch (or A Delayed Mentoring Circle Meeting) Default ThumbnailHaving An In-Person Co-Worker For Once (or Work Plus A Friend Hangout) Default ThumbnailLast Official Mentee Meeting (or Planning For 2016) Default ThumbnailA Santa Barbara Friend Hangout (or Meeting Another Baby)

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The End Of A Pandemic Social Group (or No More Regular Movie Nights)

Posted on March 30, 2023 | 1 comment

Just over 3 years ago, at the start of the pandemic, I posted something in a dating Facebook group that I’m in about ideas for virtual dates. One of those ideas was virtual movie nights through a service called Netflix Party (which has since been renamed Teleparty). Someone in the group suggested that we organize movie nights within the Facebook group, and Movie Club was born out of that. And about 3 years ago, we had our first movie night together.

Movie Club started as just a part of that Facebook group and eventually, we became our own group. We also started with just one movie a week, then we went up to 2 movies a week, and then we switched to movies on weekends and tv shows on Wednesdays. We’ve watched hundreds of movies virtually together and we are about to finish our 4th tv series. We’ve watched one-off movies and we’ve gone through movie series (like watching all the MCU and Star Wars movies).

I know I’ve written this before, but I feel like Movie Club really helped me survive the pandemic. When I was experiencing the most severe isolation, I knew every week I’d have somewhat regular interaction with others. Our chats in Movie Club were different from texting because we were all experiencing the same thing at the same time. And it helped me not feel like I was on my own little planet. When I was not working, having these on my calendar gave me something to look forward to and helped me have things to do other than just sit and be alone.

And for a while, we had a lot of people joining in every week. We could have 8 or 9 people in a movie or tv show and the chat was so lively and fun! And while I didn’t know any of the other people in Movie Club in real life, we all got to know about each other’s lives and would always be checking in with each other. There are people from that group that I do honestly consider friends now and I know we wouldn’t have come together without these movie nights.

But recently, Movie Club hasn’t been as active. We used to do movies every single Friday or Saturday, and for the last few months, I have been doing polls just to see what days people would be interested in watching something. We could go a few weeks without a movie due to everyone’s schedules and also possibly a lack of interest. And with the recent tv series we’ve been watching, most weeks it’s just me and one other person. I’ve still been enjoying watching a show with someone else, but it’s not what it used to be. We are almost done with the current series, so I put out a poll to see what the interest would be in starting a 5th series. And the poll was clear, there wasn’t really any interest in having regular tv or movie nights.

I knew this was coming. When Movie Club started, most of us had nothing to do. We weren’t going out with friends for dinners and many of us were either working from home or not working at all, so our evenings were pretty free. And things have been opening up more and more, so everyone is starting to get busy again. I have always made sure I kept the evenings we watched things free just in case we’d be watching something, but lately I’ve had to work around other things that could have been on those evenings. One of the issues I’ve had with finding an acting class is finding one that works around the Movie Club schedule.

So I posted this week in our Facebook group that once we finished the tv series we were currently watching in a few weeks, we wouldn’t have any more regular Movie Club nights. I am not going to get rid of the group and I said I’d be happy to run a random movie night if there is a movie people want to watch, but I think if those happen they will be only a few times a year.

I remember when I started Movie Club I thought I’d be sad when one day the group would be ending. I knew it wouldn’t be forever, and when it started it really was a big part of my life. So thinking about the end was depressing. But now that I’ve announced that things will be ending, I’m not as sad as I thought I’d be. The reason this group was created was to help us not feel alone when the world seemed to be shut down. I know that not everything is normal and open again, but it’s getting closer and closer to that. And it’s a good thing that we all have been able to resume the social lives that we had before the pandemic. I think that’s a positive thing. And I’m happy for all of us in the group.

I’m sure that I’ll miss the group from time to time or I’ll hope that someone wants to watch a movie, but I also know that I’m working on being more social in real life so I might not miss it as much as I think. I might be busy with other things and not realize that it’s Wednesday and I’m not watching a tv show with the group. But I’m choosing to look at the end of this era as the start of something else that is good and I’m looking forward to seeing what adventures my life will have for me coming up.

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Default ThumbnailHaving More Virtual Movie Nights (or Still Trying To Be Social) Default Thumbnail2 Years Of Movie Club (or Another Pandemic-Related Anniversary) Default ThumbnailSo Many Virtual Movie Nights (or Thank Goodness For Technology) Default ThumbnailEnjoying Movie Nights (or Watching My Screeners) Default ThumbnailWorking In A Social Media Outage (or There Were Some Good Things That Happened) Default ThumbnailGetting Ready For A Fun Rewatch (or More Netflix Parties)

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Oscar Night (or A Very Low-Key Award Show)

Posted on March 16, 2023 | Comments Off on Oscar Night (or A Very Low-Key Award Show)

After going to the Artios Awards earlier in the week, I was ready for a casual party for watching the Oscars. I was going to go to the same party that I normally go to, and I usually try to wear something comfortable when I go since I spend most of my time there sitting and watching the show. But since it’s also a costume party, I try to figure out something fun to do that also isn’t too awkward to sit in. I seem to be pretty good at figuring out lazy costumes, but this year I was cutting it close with making a costume.

Since I hadn’t seen that many of the movies, I knew it wouldn’t be too easy for me to be inspired for my costume. So I decided to pay attention to the names of the movies and use that for my inspiration instead of the characters and storylines. And I think I figured out something that was really funny and easy. I decided to go as the movie “Blonde”. For my costume, I used a box I already had and printed a photo of a hair dye box and covered the box with that. I know I could have gone out to buy hair dye, but I was doing this about an hour before I was leaving for the party and it was much cheaper to do this. But I think the box turned out ok and my lazy costume came together.

I didn’t wear anything to go with the costume, so I knew that there was almost no chance I would win the costume contest. But I know that I never place in the costume contest so I don’t try too hard. I just like to make a costume of something and this worked perfectly for me.

I got to the party right as it started, which was about an hour before the show started. Since I am in a room watching the show for most of the time I’m there, I wanted to get my social time in during that hour. A bunch of people were there early as well, and we had a nice food spread that was much fancier than what we normally have. Right before the show started, I put together a little plate and brought it to where I would be watching.

There are two viewing areas at this party, the quiet room and the loud room. I’m always in the quiet room since I like to focus on the show. We do talk during commercial breaks and sometimes we say little comments to each other during the show, but for the most part, we are quiet. Most people at the party hang out in the loud room, so we are a small group and I didn’t really see people who showed up after the show started until I took a break to get something during a commercial break. It does feel a bit weird to not be social when so many of my friends are hanging out just one room away, but I think everyone understands that we will hang out a little later in the evening.

I really enjoyed the Oscars this year. The show didn’t feel long even though it was a bit longer than in some past years. I loved the speeches and everyone seemed like they were happy for each other. There was a nice sense of community at the show that I don’t remember seeing in the past and that made it feel more like a celebration of the work that was done in the past year versus a competition. I think there are some things they should still fix, such as letting the winners speak and not cutting them off, but there have been changes that they have been working on making and I think they are paying off.

Once the awards were done, we all gathered to vote on the best costume and see who guessed the most winners correctly. I sometimes do well with guessing the winners, but this year wasn’t my year. I missed so many of them and I think there were 8 people who did better than I did. But that’s ok since almost all my guesses were random and not based on seeing the movies. And I just have fun being around everyone and winning something at the party isn’t something I feel like I need.

I wish I was able to stay later than I did, but I needed to head home to get to bed early so I could get enough sleep before my workout. But even with the limited social time I had while I was there, I still had a great time seeing my friends and I know I’ll see them again at whatever the next party will be. And that next party will be much more social since we won’t have a 3 1/2 hour long show to focus on.

Maybe next year, I’ll have a more interesting costume or will have seen more movies so I can make more educated guesses on who the winners will be. But even if that doesn’t happen, I know I’ll still have a great time watching the show in the quiet room and being in my lazy and casual costume.

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Celebrating The Love In My Life Today (or There Is More Than Just Romantic Love)

Posted on February 14, 2023 | Comments Off on Celebrating The Love In My Life Today (or There Is More Than Just Romantic Love)

I haven’t always enjoyed Valentine’s Day. It can be tough when you are in school and never have a boyfriend or someone who likes you. Even as an adult, there can be so much out there implying that if you are single there is something wrong with you. I’ve never had a significant other on Valentine’s Day, and this year is no different. I’ve had random dates that happen to be on February 14th, but they aren’t necessarily Valentine’s dates. And I guess there is still a chance for that to happen this year, but I’m okay not doing anything special tonight.

But just because I don’t have a boyfriend or someone I’m seriously dating this year doesn’t mean that my life is lacking love. I have spent several years realizing that love and relationships go beyond just the romantic ones. I really hate when a guy asks me on a date about my longest relationship, but I’m always tempted to ask if it has to be a romantic one. I’ve maintained platonic friendship relationships for decades before. I think that should count for something. And in the same way, the love I have from friends and family counts as me being loved.

Yes, I know it’s not exactly the same, but when I’m having low moments and wondering if I’m unloveable, I have to remember that there have been people who have loved me for a long time and that proves that I’m worthy of being loved. I am so lucky to have amazing people in my life who are so willing to help me out when I need it and that is showing love. When I was sick and needed cold medicine but didn’t feel safe to drive, my friend didn’t hesitate to help me out and she even went to 4 stores to find me what I needed. When I needed someone to drive me to a medical thing, I’ve always found a friend who would take me and even wait if the procedure took a bit of time. Even with things that I wasn’t going to ask my friends to help me with, like moving, I had so many people offer to help if I didn’t want to hire a moving truck.

When bad things have happened, I can call so many different people and have a sympathetic ear. I might not reach out as much as I should, but I also know that if I did reach out that there are people who love me and would do whatever they could for me. And I would do the exact same thing for them. I’ve always told friends that they could call me any time day or night if they need me, and I know I have the same ability to call them. Some of these friends don’t live close to me, so I can’t necessarily rely on them if I need help in person, but I still know they are there for me.

I do still want romantic love in my life and that is still something I’m actively looking for, but I don’t believe that my life is lacking love. I might not have every type of love right now, but I’m not missing love in general. And I’m choosing to celebrate all the love that I do have in my life today because it is important to recognize any love you are lucky enough to have. And I hope that if next Valentine’s Day I am in a relationship, I still remember to celebrate other types of love. All love is always important to have and celebrate, not just on Valentine’s Day. But this is a good remember to take some time and reflect on that because I know I don’t appreciate all the love I have as much as I should.

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Default ThumbnailI Do Enjoy Valentine’s Day (or Celebrating All Love In My Life) Default ThumbnailEnjoying Valentine’s Day (or Celebrating The Love I Do Have In My Life) Default ThumbnailCelebrating My Friendship Love (or I Don’t Hate Valentine’s Day) Default ThumbnailSo Many Birthdays and Anniversaries! (or A Month Of Celebrating And Remembering) Default ThumbnailChristmas Hangout With My Birthday Twin (or Witnessing A Real-Life Romantic Comedy) Default ThumbnailBaby Shower Fun (or I Love Celebrating My Friends)

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A Cheesecake Lunch (or Still Keeping Up With An Annual Tradition)

Posted on January 26, 2023 | Comments Off on A Cheesecake Lunch (or Still Keeping Up With An Annual Tradition)

Going out to the Cheesecake Factory around the new year has been a long-running tradition with my birthday twin. We used to go closer to Christmas or New Year’s, but the last few years have been more about just getting there at some point in January instead of worrying about going during the holidays. It is nice going during the holidays since the outdoor mall we go to has some really nice decorations, but I also like going outside of the holidays since it’s not as crowded. This time, we also decided to go on the weekend for lunch instead of going after work one day. That allowed us to have a bit more flexibility with how long we were there and we didn’t feel tired after having a full workday.

I was surprised when we got there and we were able to be seated immediately. We are used to having a long wait, but we must have gotten there at exactly the right time because they were able to seat us at a table outside with no issues. And I wanted to sit outside since I’m still a bit hesitant about being somewhere inside without having a mask on. It was cold, but they have a lot of heat lamps on their balcony so it was actually warmer outside under the heat lamps than it was just being inside. Plus, it’s always nicer to sit outside where we can people-watch while we eat.

Because we went on a weekend for lunch, we had brunch as an option for our food. I was seriously considering getting something different that I’ve never had, but I ended up getting the same salad I always do. I was trying to think about what I would enjoy plus trying to have something that is at least somewhat healthy considering how bad the meal could be.

As soon as we placed our order, it was time for our catch-up. We always have a lot to catch up on when we have our meals together. She filled me in on the renovation she had to do to her condo, which had been something happening for the last year. And I told her about my crazy date, which was the day before, and some of the things I want to still do to the condo. I think both of us going through renovations at the same time has made her the perfect friend to bounce ideas off of when I have had moments where I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do something or not. Or to be someone who understands how stressful it can be to have to make so many decisions.

And of course, we got cheesecake. I think we confused our server when we asked if each piece could be cut in half so we each would get half, but he understood and we each got half of the flavors we ordered.

With my new medication, I’m not eating as much as I did before, but I still was able to enjoy this meal. I just had a lot less of my salad than I normally would and I ate probably half of the cheesecake I normally would. I rarely finish the food we get since it’s so much, but it was still interesting to see how much less I wanted to have this time. But that’s not a bad thing so I’m not mad about it.

And since we were there for lunch instead of a later dinner, we had some time to wander around after we were done eating. I think we both needed to walk a bit before getting back into our cars after that meal. We did a little window shopping at a few of the stores while walking around and then we went into Cost Plus since I wanted to see what they still had on sale since I know they normally have things on sale after Christmas. I ended up getting a couple of random things that I didn’t really need but would look nice as decor around my condo. And nothing was very expensive or elaborate. But I am trying to be better about either getting things that are cute that catch my attention or noting them somewhere to buy later. I want to make sure my home has things in it that are nice and make me happy.

After shopping for a bit, we both had to head back to our cars to get to other things we needed to do. But it was a nice change to our tradition to be able to spend more time than just eating a meal and then leaving. Maybe we’ll continue to do lunches for our cheesecake meals so we don’t have to feel as rushed as we have in the past. But even if in a year we are back to doing dinner, it’s still a tradition I look forward to each year and I’m so glad that we fit it in this year!

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Default ThumbnailA Virtual Cheesecake Dinner (or Not Letting Anything Stop A Tradition) Default ThumbnailA Full Friend Day (or Cheesecake For Lunch And Drinks For Dinner) Default ThumbnailCheesecake With My Birthday Twin (or Continuing A New Tradition) Default ThumbnailA More Normal Cheesecake Outing (or Still Savoring In-Person Hangouts) Default ThumbnailCheesecake Dinner (or A Half Birthday Outing) Default ThumbnailAn Evening Of Cheesecake (or Just A Calm Dinner With My Birthday Twin)

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Another Low-Key New Year’s Eve (or At Least I Made It Until Midnight)

Posted on January 6, 2023 | Comments Off on Another Low-Key New Year’s Eve (or At Least I Made It Until Midnight)

I continued my tradition of having a low-key New Year’s Eve again. I know that some people love going out or going somewhere fancy and festive, but that’s just not who I am. I do love occasions where I can dress up, but not when it’s going to be super crowded and likely overpriced. So doing something that isn’t too fancy is much more my speed. And pretty much every year I do the same thing, hang out with my friends and just have a very easy evening.

I’m glad I got to spend time with my friends and it was a smaller group than normal for a few different reasons. But we all still had fun and a nice time being together. It was a little crazy getting there because of the rain storms, but at least I wasn’t in a rush to get there and could take my time while driving. And I lucked out and found a parking spot very close to my friend’s house so I didn’t have to walk too far in the rain.

Since it was storming, we all pretty much spent the evening inside. We sometimes went outside to get fresh air, but it was cold and windy as well. So I’m glad it was a smaller group since we were inside a lot more than normal. Everyone there also were people I knew so it wasn’t like I was around a lot of new people who I couldn’t be sure took as many precautions about things as my friends and I do.

And like many times when I’m with my friends, we just enjoyed spending time together and we didn’t need to do anything crazy. Most of the time I was there, I was just talking with my friends about various things. One of the friends in our group just moved back to LA so we were talking about their job hunt and move. We also occasionally would glance at the tv and joke about how we all must be old because we didn’t recognize the different performances going on. There was also some karaoke happening, but I don’t usually join in for that since I don’t sing. But I do love seeing my friends having fun.

Once it was closer to midnight, we started to play a new card game my friends got for Christmas. It was called Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza and it was really fun! There were some moments when we were all confused about a rule, but most of the time we were playing we were laughing and making fun of each other for some of the silly mistakes we made. I was shocked that I did well in the game, but I ended up not winning in the end. But that’s ok.

I was a bit tired while I was there and there were moments when I wondered if I would have to leave before midnight. I knew I didn’t want to drive if I was tired, especially in the rain. But after the game was over, it was only a few more minutes until midnight so I managed to stay late enough. And when it officially became 2023, we all celebrated together. A lot of people in our friend group have had a rough year (or a few years) and we could celebrate making it through another year and still all of us being in pretty good health.

Only a few minutes after midnight, I decided to head back home. There was a bit of a break in the rain so I wanted to drive before the next storm started. And I never like staying too late since I’m less likely to be on the road with a drunk driver right after midnight compared to an hour or two later. Maybe one year I’ll stay later, but I don’t mind leaving earlier than many of the others since I do have one of the longer drives home.

Once I was home, I realized I took no photos while I was at the party. Usually, I’ll take at least a few, but I guess I was more focused on spending time with my friends and enjoying the moment. So that’s ok with me. Even without photos, I know I had a nice New Year’s Eve and I have fun memories from that night. And I’m sure that in a year, I’ll be doing the same thing again with another low-key night and enjoying it just as much.

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Not Quite My Traditional Christmas (or Relaxing And Enjoying My Time Off)

Posted on December 27, 2022 | Comments Off on Not Quite My Traditional Christmas (or Relaxing And Enjoying My Time Off)

I rarely get a long break from work, but I was so lucky that I had almost 4 days off for Christmas. I only had to work in the afternoon for 2 hours on Friday, but I had all of Saturday, Sunday, and Monday off. And going into the holiday weekend, I didn’t have many plans figured out. I knew I had work on Friday and I’d be going to a workout on Monday, but that’s all I really planned in advance. I didn’t want to make too many plans since I wanted to see how I felt about things, and I knew that if I wanted to do something at the last minute, I probably could figure something out.

It was nice to be able to sleep in later for those 4 days. I still don’t sleep in that late, but even getting the extra hour of sleep made a difference in how I felt. And I know more than ever that I need to work on my sleep schedule because I want to feel like this more often. And since I didn’t have to work until the afternoon on Friday, I enjoyed a nice lazy morning before logging in for work. Being able to do my routine things at a more leisurely pace was a nice change. And even though work was a bit stressful as the last shift before Christmas, it wasn’t too bad. And I think being more relaxed and rested helped me get through some of the craziness.

My normal plan for Christmas is to watch movies (either at home or going out to a movie theater) and ordering in Chinese food. But I had been invited to my friend Erin’s casual Christmas gathering, so I decided to order food on Saturday instead. Ordering on Christmas is usually really busy and crazy, so ordering a day early made it a lot easier to get food. And I still had leftovers so I had some to eat on Christmas Day as well.

On Christmas Day, I went over for a late lunch at Erin’s place. It was a very low-key and relaxed gathering and there weren’t too many people there. It also didn’t feel like a Christmas thing, so it wasn’t as awkward that I don’t celebrate Christmas. It was more like just a regular party where everyone was just enjoying being together and being social. And she made some really great food like lasagna and cheesecake, which was an awesome lunch!

After lunch was done, I went back home and watched some movies on Netflix, so I did still have a little bit of my normal Christmas. But it was a nice change to be around others instead of spending the day alone like I normally do.

And on Monday, I had to work on getting back to a bit of my normal routine so Tuesday wouldn’t be too much of a shock for me after several days of no schedule and nothing needing to be done. I did a lot of things that I usually do on Sundays like getting my house clean and figuring out what I need to plan for during the week. I still had a lot of free time to relax and I spent that time reading since I had downloaded a bunch of books from Kindle Unlimited over the weekend. I think Monday felt the most like a normal weekend day for me, which was probably a good thing.

I do have another odd week coming. The rest of my work week this week is normal since Friday isn’t a holiday and Saturday is a half day at the other job, but Saturdays are already half days so that’s what I’m used to. But I’ll get another Monday off in a week so I’ll have another opportunity to relax before I really have to get back to my normal routine and being busy at work.

But before I get to that craziness, I’m glad I had these past few days to get ready and I’m so happy that I got to mix a bit of my old Christmas tradition with a new plan to have a really amazing holiday weekend.

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Finding Fun In Regular Errands (or Having A Friend Tag Along Makes Things More Interesting)

Posted on December 6, 2022 | Comments Off on Finding Fun In Regular Errands (or Having A Friend Tag Along Makes Things More Interesting)

I saw something on social media a few months ago about how someone was going to start suggesting doing mundane errands with friends as hangouts instead of going to do something like get dinner or drinks. I didn’t think too much about it at the time. Still, I did remember seeing how many people commented about being single and missing the companionship of a significant other when doing things like grocery shopping and how they used to feel more like outings than errands. Because I usually do my errands at random times or without much planning ahead of time, I didn’t think about trying to do something like that.

But a friend of mine had mentioned wanting to go to Costco and they didn’t have a Costco card. I have one and I go every few months or so. I don’t usually get food items at Costco unless I’m getting something special, but I like to see what other goods they have there. I have gotten a lot of random and cool things for my place like storage baskets, dishes, and kitchen gadgets. So I made sure that I let my friend know when I was planning on going to Costco again so they could come with me.

We ended up going this past weekend after I was done with work, and I have to admit that the idea on social media about having friends come to do errands was right. It was one of the more fun times I’ve gone to Costco. I had a few things on my list, but I usually also make a loop through the store to see if there is anything else that I like because there are always new items in stock. I normally go through the store the same way each time, just because it makes sense for me to go in that order. And my friend and I were just having fun looking at all the random stuff we kept finding.

I was showing them some things that I had purchased before, like my new dishes since they were still selling those. And in the cookware area, we saw they were selling a set of dutch ovens for a pretty good price. I did need a dutch oven, but I didn’t need two. So my friend suggested we buy the set and we could each take one. That was perfect and I never would have been able to do that if I had gone shopping alone. We also ended up splitting up some food things that we saw since neither of us needed the full amount and things had individual servings.

And it was nice to have someone to show things I was looking at and get a second opinion. There was a blanket I had seen online that I thought would be nice for my couch, and I was able to show them and they helped me decide what color would be best. When I saw something I wasn’t expecting to find, like some really nice fleece PJs, they also could give an opinion on the impulse purchases.

And since they hadn’t been to Costco before, it was fun showing them around and having them be excited about what we found. We found a really cool Harry Potter cookbook in the book section and a Lego advent calendar in the holiday section. Both of those were things they wouldn’t have found at other stores but they were perfect things to get on their shopping outing with me.

Even though I was going through the store with a friend, I wasn’t there much longer than when I go alone. I think that normally, I spend a lot of time looking at stuff and trying to decide if I want them since I don’t have a friend there as a sounding board. So the extra time we spend having fun was balanced with the time I saved not having to make decisions on my own. And it was seriously so much more fun than when I go alone.

I know that I can’t do this with all my boring errands since I can’t plan when I might have to do them, but it did remind me that I could spend time with my friends doing things that don’t feel as extravagant. And that there are ways to have more fun with the things I have to do when I have the opportunity. And I think unless going to Costco in the future is a spur-of-the-moment decision, I’m going to keep trying to find friends to go with me to make it more of an adventure than an errand.

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Being A Word Nerd (or A More Normal Halloween Celebration)

Posted on November 2, 2022 | Comments Off on Being A Word Nerd (or A More Normal Halloween Celebration)

For almost as long as I’ve lived in LA, I have celebrated Halloween at my friend Marie’s party. It’s a tradition for me and I look forward to it every year. Of course, we had to skip the normal party for 2020, but we had a virtual party that year. And last year, it was a much smaller party than normal because it was mainly for people who have been in the same pandemic bubble together. All of the in-person parties since the pandemic have been that way, so they’ve been smaller groups. But even with fewer people at the parties, they have been so much fun and we all love hanging out together.

But this year, they did a more open party and it was the biggest party I’ve been to in a long time. There were still people wearing masks, which I think might be the way things go for a while, but since the party was held outside I felt pretty safe. And even though I didn’t know everyone there, I knew most of the people and the new people were friends of friends. So it was much more comfortable than being at a party where I didn’t know too many people or if I was at a party that was held inside.

I loved getting to be around so many people and even though I can be overwhelmed in crowds, I know that I was craving this social interaction. And I was so excited before the party to see what costumes everyone would come up with. I know that everyone is so creative and that I would be in awe over what crazy ideas people would come up with. For my costume, I went with something simple which is what I tend to do. I like to have costumes that I don’t have to necessarily drive in since my drive to the party can be an hour if there is some traffic. So having things that can be added to my outfit are the best option.

I didn’t have an idea for the longest time and I was worried as the party was getting closer if I would have some inspiration for a costume. But as it usually happens, I was inspired and knew immediately what my costume would be as soon as I saw it. This time, I saw it through TikTok, and I was so excited to make it as soon as I saw it.

I love playing different word games, including playing Wordle. I play it every day and have a text group with my family to share our scores each day. And I loved the idea of going as a game of Wordle to the party. I picked the words I put on there carefully because I didn’t want to have to make a ton of extra letters. So I figured out something that would make it super easy to guess, but I had little velcro strips on the extra letters and spaces to the costume so it would be interactive. I didn’t end up using any of the extra letters I made up since everyone was able to guess it on the first try, and I didn’t want to keep taking them on and off the costume. But I think people had fun with it even if they don’t normally play. But in the costume contest, I wasn’t even close to the top ones. The best costume was someone as Madame Leota from the Haunted Mansion. They made a tabletop that went on their shoulders and had a plastic bowl over their head to make it look like a crystal ball. It was so impressive and they easily won first place.

I was at the party later than I normally would be, but I knew the next day I could sleep in a bit and didn’t have to worry about getting too much done in my day. I wanted to spend enough time hanging out with my friends and getting to know the new people at the party since they probably will be at future parties as well. It was really a great time and felt like the old normal for a brief moment of time. I know all of us are still being careful with Covid and making sure we don’t take too many unnecessary risks, but it is also nice to be able to put down my guard and just relax with my friends.

And now, I have only a few months until the Oscar party and I know I want to think of a good costume for that one too! It might not be too elaborate, but I like having something fun and clever and I want to start planning for it as soon as I can!

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An Unexpected Friend Hangout (or More Proof I Need To Be More Social)

Posted on October 14, 2022 | Comments Off on An Unexpected Friend Hangout (or More Proof I Need To Be More Social)

I’ve written about how I’ve become much less social compared to how I was before. I know a lot of that is because of the pandemic and my hesitation to feel like things are normal again so I’m not really going out the way I did. But also, a lot of events that I used to go to still aren’t back yet. But besides not going out as much, I don’t have as many friends who live in LA as I did before. A lot of my friends moved in the past 2 years. All of them had reasons they wanted to move and they all are thriving in their new cities. But that doesn’t make me miss them less. And as so many people know, it’s really hard to make new friends as an adult. And even harder when you aren’t going out much and meeting new people.

Even though my friends aren’t all local anymore, I do make efforts to maintain those friendships. I’m lucky that those friends are the type of friends that you can just text each other random stuff for a while but when you have time for a phone call or a hangout, things pick back up exactly where they left off and there’s no awkwardness. Those are the truest type of friends to me. Those relationships are strong enough that they don’t need regular maintenance. And I think because of how things have gone over the past few years, most of the friendships that I still have are that type of friends whether they live in LA or not.

But of course, I miss seeing my friends that I was used to seeing on a regular basis who don’t live here anymore. I haven’t been able to see most of them because everyone is busy. But I always hope that either they will be back in LA for some reason or I will have a chance to travel to where they are so I can see them again. What has happened has been random chance visits from friends because they are in town and need a place to stay. That happened over the summer when a friend needed a place to stay for a night when they were here for a wedding. And I got another random overnight guest earlier this week.

I hadn’t seen my friend Dani since she surprised me for my birthday last year. I miss our Disney days and going to musicals with her, but I know that she’s been loving her new city. And we keep in pretty regular contact via text so we both know what’s going on in each other’s lives. And the other night, she texted me to see if she could crash at my place that night. She was flying and had a layover at LAX, but due to delays, she didn’t make her connecting flight and the airline wasn’t paying for a hotel. She didn’t mind that I only had an air mattress and not an actual bed for her to stay in, so I told her that I’d love to get to see her and let her stay here.

It was the best unplanned hangout. She got here really late and we both had to be up really early the next morning, but we still got a few hours of hangout time in. It was so awesome to get to catch up in person instead of via text. We’ve both had a lot of changes happen in our lives, but I think we both have grown in really great ways. And she had only seen my condo in photos and videos, so I wanted to give her the tour. I haven’t been able to show off my place to too many of my friends, and I love how everyone agrees that it’s the perfect place for me and it really feels like it’s my home. And Dani has done renovations before too, so I had asked her a lot of questions while the work was being done and I was so happy to show her how everything turned out.

I wish that she and I could have had more time to hang out, but we both needed to get sleep before getting up early the next morning. And I will be up where she is located next month when I’m doing some family stuff, so there’s a chance we will get to see each other again then. I’m not sure of my schedule yet when I’m there, but I’m hoping there will be enough free time to meet up somewhere to continue catching up.

It is always nice when I make plans with friends and have something to look forward to. But it’s just as nice when getting to see my friends is a surprise and happens with no planning. I’m just lucky any time I get to see friends, especially those who have moved away, and I am always grateful for whatever time I can have with them.

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