When I moved down to Florida without knowing anyone, I spent a few weeks enjoying my alone time and getting settled into work and my new apartment. I soon began to get a little stir crazy, though, and realized I needed to know at least SOME people to talk to and get me out of the house.
I ovaried up (as my man Dan Savage would say) and began attending some of the Naples Young Professionals networking events. It was definitely an out-of-the-comfort-zone activity for me, as making mind-numbing small talk and introducing myself to strangers who seem to already know each other is not necessarily my recipe for the best time ever, but I did it. And whaddaya know, it wasn’t so bad. I made some friends. I must admit I do feel like it may be a little easier to do this in Naples, the land of the Midwestern and Northeastern transplants, than in other cities. It did seem to impress my family and friends back home, though, so I’ll pretend like it was hard and quite an accomplishment.
