just do it

one of the lessons that i'm quickly learning about being new to a city is that if you want to have any chance at meeting people and having some semblance of a social life, you oftentimes have to just suck it up and be social, even if that prospect seems as appealing as the prospect of having a big glass of rotten milk. mmm. now, for the extreme social butterflies in the audience, you may be thinking "that's crazy talk - who doesn't welcome the opportunity to be social?" but then there are nights like tonight when my ass is SO dragging after a killer work week and a disappointing thing happening at work and the prospect of moving to a new apt with maybe 47% of the bare necessities and an overall tough day, and it is nights like tonight that the prospect of going out and being social is the absolute LAST thing on my mind.

yet when you're new to a city and meeting people is a relatively important objective and a co-worker invites you to get dinner and drinks with some other people, you have to just suck it up and go. even if you look like a bum, and you're tired, and all you want to do is go home and make kraft macaroni & cheese and zone out for a few mins before getting started on all the work you brought home - you go. b/c you never know who you'll meet, and who you'll connect with, and what fun new places they'll introduce you to, etc, etc, etc.

so i went. and i perked up and had a lovely time with four other women, although two of them were hard-core athletes and spent a good 30 mins talking about all the races and triathlons and swim training and stuff they were working on, and i just sat there feeling guilty as i sipped on my margarita and thought about the fact that i'd only gone running once this week.

now that i'm home, am i tired? hell yes. am i really tempted to go to bed by 10 pm although i honestly can't remember the last time i did that? very much so. was it the time of my life? meh. arguable. but hey. sometimes you have to just do it, or else you'll just sit at home and eat macaroni & cheese and when there comes a time that the mood DOES strike and you DO feel like being social, you may not have anyone to call.

and that, boys and girls, concludes today's lesson on Living In A New City 101. the teacher is either going to go daydream some more about home decor or (gasp!) go to bed early for once...