I came across this book in a review, and although it's probably a light read, the concept interests me. The author writes about her move to Chicago to be with her boyfriend, and how she set out to make new friends similar to the ones she had in past cities. I have been in Philly for close to 3 years, but I can't say I have figured out the best way to make lifelong friends in a new city. I feel lucky to have best friends around the country that I chat with pretty much every day through email, phone, facebook, etc., but there is something to be said for friends nearby you can hang out with on a whim.
I think the hardest part about getting married and moving to a new city is not being able to live with girls. I lived in dorms and apartments throughout college filled with girlfriends. In San Diego, we had 5 girls living in a 2 room apartment! There are so many wonderful things about sharing a home with the person you love, but the dynamic is definitely different with female roommates. Guys don't help you when you need an honest opinion on a last minute outfit (or better yet, lend you something new to wear when you have a "bored clothing crisis"), stay up late to watch reality TV paired with wine and ice cream, and this may only be the case for me, but I definitely miss the gossip sessions. I'm lucky if Chasen gives me a shrug and a smile when I excitedly tell him about people we knew from college that I found out are now dating. I love him for his apathy toward gossip, but I definitely miss the face to face gossip sessions I had with girlfriends in college.
In the novel, Bertsche goes on fifty-two "friend dates" in an attempt to create lasting relationships. The idea of a match.com scenario with a platonic twist is oddly appealing to me. Instead of being fearful of coming across as the "weird, desperate girl" asking for a one on one hangout, both parties can admit openly they are interested in making new friends. On the flip-side, I've joined meetup.com for book clubs and soccer teams, but that seems safer to me based on the group aspect. A one on one date with a friend might lead to a clinger relationship, and we all know how hard it can be to lose clingy friends. I'm interested to see how things panned out for Bertsche and if she had success, because even though I now have some friends in Philly to meet up with for weekend shopping trips, I'm bound to have to move again in a year and start this process all over again!
