Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Gelato and Friends! What Could be Better?


One nice thing about new friends is sometimes, they're so excited to be your friends that they accidentally undercharge you for things!
One time, my roommate and I went to the gelato store in our 'hood. (Well, one of them. This one is the good one: see the picture? That's where you go. It's next to the pig statue).
You won't believe this, but as soon as we stepped into the store, we made friends! There were two boys working, and BOTH of them wanted to be our friends.
Now, my roommate and I are not so good at decisions. (Know what we are good at? Making Friends!). So we started looking at flavors, and realized there were far too many delicious things to eat there. Thankfully, our new friends were there to help! They let us taste everything about ten times. And, while we were tasting, they told us about a brewery we should go to with them. Isn't that nice?
Now, when we finally decided, here was the best part. The cheapest gelato is at this store is 2.95. My roommate and I both got some, so our total should've been around 6 dollars. Somehow, our friends were so excited about meeting us that instead it cost 4 dollars!
I feel bad that our new friends were so distracted they didn't notice they were wrong. I didn't want to make them feel embarrassed about it, so we just took our treats and left. But what great friends!

Monday, May 25, 2009

A great NEW way to make friends!


You know, it's a funny thing. I used to make so many friends, but whenever I have my boyfriend with me I just don't make as many. But guess what I found out! There's a wonderful way to make NEW friends that he and I can do together!
We started looking at houses and let me tell you, I've never met so many helpful, friendly people in my life!
It's fun to make new friends when you're looking for a house. There are some good secret words to know, because house buying people have a whole secret friendship club! One secret phrase is "We're preapproved". House selling friends know that phrase means "We're great people to have as friends!". Another good secret friendship phrase is "20% down payment". That secret phrase means "I've got BFF potential"
Last weekend we went to some open houses. Because people are so friendly that they open up their homes to us to see! And the nice helpful people at these houses, they wanted to be our friends! Just two open houses has gotten us an inbox just FULL of emails about other houses that we might like! It's so nice that they want us to find the perfect home. They even want to make sure we really like our realtor. They keep saying things like "I know you've got a realtor, but if he's busy I can take you to see the property" and inviting us to call them any time.
Buying a house is a great way to make new friends!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

I'm glad I'm not on reality TV!

I'd be terrible at it!  
Not here to make friends?
Why would you not want to make friends?  
Sometimes I get a little sad that there isn't America's Next Top Best Friend.  I could win that.  
  

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Friends in my Neighborhood!




















I live in an area that's known for being very white.  Not only that my neighborhood is one of the whitest neighborhoods.  But know what's great?  People around here don't lose touch with communities of color.  I already told you about my friend with dreadlocks, but he's not the only one with an appreciation of other's cultures.  
One time, I was walking down the street at night, and a large SUV full of young white boys pulled up by me.  They were blasting TI's "Whatever you like".  
Well, these pupils of African American Studies wanted to be my friends!  
One of my new friends decided to say hello.  It was so nice how we all knew that I could feel safe taking to a car full of strange men at night, while I was on foot.  They knew their appreciation of the cultures of others showed me that they were safe to talk to AND progressive!  
My new friend, who was saying hello told me the funniest thing!  He said "You know how TI says 'you can have this big boy in your life'?" I nodded, because I too have an appreciation for other ethnic groups, and thus was familiar with that song!  It's great to meet people and discover things you have in common!  Well, when I nodded he looked at me and said "that's what I'm talkin' 'bout baby".  
What a funny friend!  It's too bad I suddenly remembered I needed to turn on the next street and call someone on my phone or I'm sure we'd be buying Lil Wayne tickets together RIGHT NOW.  
Having progressive friends is great!  

Trader Joe's is full of Friends!


I live right by Trader Joe's.  It's nice because it's got great groceries AND great friends!  I make so many friends every time I go there.  I could talk about a lot of them, but for today let's talk about my friend, the white checkout boy with dreadlocks.
Now, you might be saying "A white boy with dreadlocks? Surely he's too cool to be your friend!" 
Dreadlocks ARE cool, especially when you pair them with tattoos of bike gears like this young man.  But even though he was that cool, he STILL wanted to be my friend! 
The day I met this friend was like any other.  I got into line with my 6 dollar bottles of wine.  I'm terrible at shopping for wine so unless another of my Trader Joe's friends is working (I told you, they're friendly there!  Especially to women in their 20s!  What great customer service!) and can help me pick it out I just grab anything under 7 bucks and call it good.
Well, when my friend rang up my wine he wanted to know which one was better.  That's how I knew we'd be friends, he thought my purchase of cheap chianti means I'm a wine expert.  Then, without me even having to ask, he told me about what he likes to drink (microbrewed stout and whiskey) and how he doesn't like wine.  It was so nice that he knew we were already such good friends that I cared about his beverage of choice.  
Don't worry, my dreadlocked friend gets even friendlier!  He told me I'd have to let him know which wine was better.  See that!  he doesn't even drink wine, but he cares about my purchases.  He pointed to his name tag several times and reminded me that next time I was in the store I should find him to let him know.   That's going above and beyond basic customer service, and do you know what I call that?  Friendship! 
What a nice friend!   

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

My Friend at the Liquor Store!

One time, my roommate and I went the liquor store.  You won't believe it, but we made a friend there!  
Here's how we made our friend:
We went in to pick out something delicious to drink, preferably to be made into a beverage that tastes like candy.  I love candy!  
When we got up to the register the nice man working asked to see our ID.  It's nice to know people are doing their jobs and carding people.  Just say no to underage drinking!  
Well, when I showed the nice man my ID, he said something that showed me he wanted to be my friend.  He looked at the picture on my driver's license and told me "This looks like a professional modeling photo".  Giving compliments is a great way to make friends!  
Not only did our new friend tell me that nice compliment, he also put some candy into our bag!  Like I told you before, I love candy!  Wasn't that nice of our friend!  Telling a girl he doesn't  even know that she's pretty, AND giving her candy!  
The funny thing is I told this story about my great friend to some girls one time and they didn't think it was charming.  I don't understand why!  
If you're looking for new friends I recommend compliments and candy!  

Once, I made a friend in the Pearl!

I remember one time where I made a great friend!  
I was on a walk by myself.  Now, some people might say it's not the best idea for a woman to walk by herself in a city, but Portland is full of friendly people who make me feel so great!  
I met this friend by Ben and Jerry's, in the Pearl.  He was sitting outside.  It must've been busy inside because he was sitting on the sidewalk outside the store for some reason.  He had a cup in front of him full of change-what a great idea to recycle dishes into a wallet!  He was a creative man.  
Well, I was walking by my new friend, and he said "excuse me miss, can I ask you a question?"  Now, I'm a friendly girl, so of course I said yes.  He asked me "do you know what my favorite flavor of ice cream is?"  
I spent many years working at Baskin Robbins, so I really care a lot about ice cream.  But I wasn't sure what his favorite might be.  Could he be a Rocky Road fan?  Maybe Butter Pecan?  I just wasn't sure, so I replied "No, what is it?"
Remember how I told you he was creative?  You'll never guess what his answer was!  He looked right at me and said "It's female.  Girl ice cream"
How funny is that?  It's really too bad that the traffic light changed and I had to cross the street.  I'm sure we would've been fantastic friends.