Once you get to a certain age it’s really hard to make adult friends. Long gone are the usual scenarios where making friends comes naturally – you aren’t taking classes with a bunch of kids or going on playdates after-school any more. So where do all the ‘cool kids’ hang out?
I am the furthest thing from an athletic person, I don’t have any creative hobbies like painting or acting. I can’t play any musical instruments. You know, there aren’t a lot of clubs you can join for ‘People who really enjoy bad reality TV series’. (If that’s a thing then let me know, I want in.)
Photo credit: JJ from 84th and 3rd.
After I started my little food blog, my first interaction with actual food bloggers was all online. It was a bit of witty banter on Twitter which usually fell on deaf ears or casually commenting on other food bloggers, but not too much for fear of looking like a stalker. My first ‘food blogger event’ was a picnic with nearly 100 other food bloggers where we were asked to bring a plate. Cue hyperventilating. I enjoyed a mild panic attack in the car on the way there and made sure to tell Mama Sweet I was meeting strangers from the internet but she didn’t really need to worry. Too much.
Photo credit: JJ from 84th and 3rd.
It was at this little catch up that I met so many lovely food blogger ladies. My fears of looking like an awkward food-obssesed stalker melted away as I met so many other likeminded people. It was like a eHarmony meet up – how did all these people check the boxes on my “Adult friend wish list”?! That’s the power of food blogging. You put your heart out on a plate/in a photograph/in a restaurant review and you are met with a chorus of “Me too!’s” and “Nom nom nom”.
Over the past two years of my having a blog, I’ve met so many gorgeous, warm-hearted ladies that I am happy to say have become friends in real life. Awwww….
Recently, a bunch of the food gals got together and went on a wine weekend to the Hunter Valley. We ate, drank, gossiped, made pancakes late at night and life was good. So thank you, ladies for making this a fabulous weekend and proving that it’s never too late to make adult friends.
So if you’re finding yourself in the throes of asking a stranger our on an adult friend date – don’t worry. It will be awkward at first but over time, tweets and dinner… you will find a bunch of people that make your heart happy.