Last night was a good 'un for making me feel less friend lite!

It didn't start out promising; three of the four friends who swore they'd come to the show flaked on getting their tickets far enough in advance, despite my warnings that these shows were selling out.

Then we had a blizzard in Minneapolis. AS and I took the light rail so we were fine, but I wondered if my last friend, a co-worker, would be able to get out in her car. But she made it! Even though we didn't hang out a ton that night, at least she was the first person I invited to attend these five shows who actually showed up. (This was the fourth show, so clearly there's been much flaking.)

When we got there, AS spotted another superfan from Canada she'd met last year at a show. She was there alone, so AS got her and introduced her to me, and we ended up spending the whole show together, first at a table and then standing right up by the stage (even though it was a sold-out show, the weather made it a light crowd, so I got SUPER close). She and I friended each other on Instagram and Facebook and she also connected me to a woman in Portland OR who's also a superfan of the group. So, while not in-town friends, I have a few more connections, and since the Canadian and I both tend to travel to see this band (we were both in NYC in 2017 but didn't know each other then!), there's a chance we'll get to meet in person again.

AS also encouraged me to text the lady I'd met at last Monday's show (I'd exchanged numbers but neither of us had gotten in touch). So I texted her a pic of the band and just said "Guess where AS and I are? " She wrote back pretty soon and suggested getting together for coffee, so this morning I threw out a few dates in February. So we'll see if that turns into anything, but at least it's promising!

Thursday I'm on a business trip and it's the first one that another co-worker has gone on, so there's some chance of bonding with him even though it's just an overnight trip and we probably won't want to stay out super late. Coincidentally he's good friends with the main members of my fave band, so not only is he nice, it would up my chances of getting to be around them!

My friend with the boyfriend has definitely bought her tickets for the last show next Monday, so hopefully she'll show up for that! And she's scheduled a brunch with a group of ladies for the Sunday before, so we might get to see each other two days in a row. (Plus I can put out feelers with some of the other women in the group, several of whom I'd gladly be closer friends with, to maybe set up some other fun times with them.)

I'm glad my little bit of effort has paid off so quickly; immediate progress is always a good motivator to keep doing something.