meet up

A few months ago I came across a website called Meetup.com. The basic premise of it is that it allows people to find other people with similar interests, and form groups around those interests.

There are so many different groups for people that love everything from reading, to chocolate, to wine, to motorcycles, to pub crawls, running, biking, photography, languages, etc. If you are looking for a group, chances are it already exists.

I thought it was a really great idea, especially in bigger cities, or places like the Bay Area where so many people are transient, and are looking to meet some new people. I immediately signed up for about 10 different groups, one for photography, one for running, a girl's night out club, a book club, and a chocolate club. Obviously.

I've met a lot of really fun, really nice people since I moved here, but most of them live in the city, and it's a bit of an ordeal for me to get home from the city after 8:00pm, so I figured it would be nice to meet some people my age, with similar interests, that live over where I live.

I've been to a few meets up so far, I was pretty nervous for the first one, it was at a girl's house in Oakland, at night, and I was going there alone, so basically the set up to every scary movie that's ever been made. It turned out to be really fun, I met a lot of nice girls, everyone brought something good to eat, that's how I was introduced to the amazing-ness that is the flour-less chocolate cake from Tartine, and there was lots of wine.

Last weekend I met up with some ladies for a Sunday morning brunch/ book club. I was a bit younger than the rest of the ladies there, but we had some really interesting conversations, and it's pretty neat how the most unlikely people can be brought together by the shared love of a good book. Also, I ordered eggs benedict and a mimosa. It was a good day.

I haven't been to meet ups for all of the groups I've joined, a lot of the time the date, location or times don't work out, but so far it's been a great experience. I'd like to keep finding new groups and going at least once in awhile because I really like to meet new people and try out different activities, especially when I'm a little bit scared to do it.

If you'd like to learn more about Meet Up, or find some groups in your area, check it out here.