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I realized, a few months ago, that my midlife social life has slowly devolved to

• sending 15 texts so we can get something on the calendar for 3 weeks from now
• meeting at a coffee shop / restaurant
• each of us reciting “what we’ve been up to” and asking each other “So how’s work?” “How’s your family?” “Do you have any trips planned?”

That’s it.

And, I mean, it’s perfectly nice! It’s better than NOT seeing each other. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good and all that.

But!I want to deepen my friendships. I want to make memories. I want to have the sorts of experiences that we will be able to tell stories about later. Click To Tweet Like the time – while loading a trailer full of wood on the side of the road – I mistook my friend’s hand gesture for an invitation for a fist bump, thus essentially recreating this viral video.

But isn’t it hard enough to find a time that works for all of us busy adults? Why add in the difficulty of finding “interesting” things to do? WE HAD TO MAKE A DOODLE POLL TO FIND A TIME TO GET DINNER.

3 Ways To Find Fun, Interesting Things To Do With Your Friends

 

📱 Facebook’s “Discover Events” tab

At this point, I’m only on Facebook for Marketplace and the Discover Events tab. You can sort by location, date, most popular or things your friends have expressed interest in. I’ve found so many funny, random events this way! (I’ve already been to two Ramsey After Dark events and they are a DELIGHT.)

📧 Your city’s visitor bureau newsletter

If they know what they’re doing, your city should be sending out regular emails, highlighting in bullet-pointed form all the fun events that are happening that week. Delivered right to your inbox with zero effort! (This is how I heard about the Saintly City Cat Show.)

🧠 Take Community Ed classes together

You know what I will always remember? Taking an “Auditioning For Actors” class with my friend Jordan and how one student developed a vendetta against the instructor and tried to lead a coup to get us all to stop attending because she thought the instructor talked too much. (More memorable than getting coffee.)

When you take a Community Ed class together, nobody has to decide what you’re doing or where you’re going. You just show up on the same day every week, in the same place, and someone tells you how to can tomatoes, or research your historic home, or read auras. You learn something, you see your friends, and they cost, like, $50 for 6 weeks of fun and togetherness.

12 things I’ve loved lately

Before we get into the links: I have the rare opening for a new marketing client – since my exit from blogging I’ve returned to client work, writing blog posts, newsletters, and sales copy, managing social media, and creating content and launch strategies. My retainers start at $2,000 a month; if you’re interested, you can grab a spot on my calendar for a quick, zero-pressure chat here!

• I watch every Caleb Hammer video through my fingers, just about falling off the couch from secondhand anxiety (and they’re all so good). Educational, funny, and evidence that you’re probably better at money than you’re giving yourself credit for.
• A less overwhelming life and home? YES PLEASE.
• We’re planning to rip out our (tiny) front yard and replace it with native plants this spring! This website has tons of free, professionally-designed native plant landscaping plans divided by city.
• Such a cute idea for your dog’s food dish area.
• I’ve been eating these, like, twice a week. They’re even teenaged boy-approved! (Which is no small feat for a tofu recipe)
• A new-to-me musician I already love so much that I’m searching her touring schedule.
• If you want to get involved with an organization that fights climate change, but aren’t sure where to start, here are 4 orgs that are doing great things!
• I love a planner. Even better, I love a FREE planner with beautifully designed downloads that aren’t just trying to make you prioritize productivity over everything else.
• Extremely random product recommendation: This long … plastic tube? lets you connect your in-sink soap dispensor to a bulk-size bottle of dishsoap so you’re not crouching under the sink, unscrewing that tiny soap bottle once a week. It is, truly, the little things.
• Ahhhhh! Have you read Tom Lake yet? It is so good and I need to talk to people about it. I hope they make a movie out of it, starring Julianne Moore as Lara.
• I need to frame this / tattoo it somewhere.
• A new-to-me IG account that’s a really lovely combination of de-influencing, kind pep talks, and funny / realistic lifestyle content.

After almost 2 years away from The Content Treadmill™ I finally feel like I have the wherewithal to write in a semi-consistent way again. In a just-for-fun, I-don’t-necessarily-have-to-stake-my-livlihood-on-it way. I hope to be showing up in your inboxes at least monthly from here on out! You can subscribe for free here.