Yay! I have some friends (sort of)!

With a place as big and as densely populated as New York City, I figured it would be easy to make some new friends.

As I've discovered with Sarah, one of my best friends, it's way more fun to go places and do things with a friend. We had a blast at the comedy club, museum, and shopping when she came and visited a few weeks ago.

But it's not like you can go up to some random friendly-looking person on the street and ask them, "Will you be my friend?" Though I have yet to try that tactic, I have a feeling it may not work because it might come off as a bit desperate. And weird.

To make some new friends in a normal way, I figured I've got to get involved with something more than work and the gym.

So I went onto Craigslist and joined the Upper East Side Book Club, which was looking for new members because many of the old members had moved on or didn't have enough time for the club. Though I do not live on the east side, the founding members of the club said that they had members from all over and didn't care where I lived as long as I could get to the east side for their monthly meetings.

I've been to two meetings so far, and absolutely love it. The club is small, with about 25 members, but all of them that I've met so far are female and around my age. They're smart, funny, intelligent, and they encourage me to read more good books, so I love it!

And I especially loved it when we were sitting around discussing what to read next at this month's meeting and one of the girls suggested reading "Bringing Down the House" by Ben Mezrich. The novel is based on a true story about a group of MIT students who learned how to count cards while playing Blackjack and made millions of dollars with that talent in Las Vegas.

The movie "21," which comes out later this month, is based on the novel. So I seconded the suggestion to read the novel and then asked the group if they would be in favor of seeing the movie when we meet next for book club before going to the coffee shop we usually meet at to talk about whether we liked the book or the movie better. Then, like a dork, I told them that I made the suggestion because I want to see the movie - preferably with a friend - and they were my only friends. They responded with "awww," laughed, and agreed with my suggestion, so I took that as a good sign.

So I officially have a date - WITH FRIENDS - to see a movie on April 14. Go me!