36. Dinner Parties

The woman shall periodically host dinner (or dessert, or perhaps even wine) parties to enjoy the company of her great friends, embrace the opportunity to meet new people, and to become familiar with the best culinary joints in her town.

Work has me moving every 2-3 months or so, and it's really tough to meet good folks in that short amount of time.   So....to advance building my social life (and to maintain my sanity!), I've gotten hip to organizing the kind of events that I'd like to attend.  These low maintenance get-togethers at area restaurants are always casual, and they are designed with the intention of bringing new folks into the fold.

Our first get-together back in November was at a local wine bar, and right after, we had an awesome dinner (to which we invited progressive and highly evolved gentemen). Depending on what's going on, we'll organize them once or maybe twice a month.  Each time, friends bring friends, and we get to connect with new and interesting people. 

Here are some incredibly helpful tools that we use to plan our monthly dinners:

1. www.Restaurant.com - Best website to help you find the ideal cuisine (and cost!) in your town. 
2. www.Evite.com - I love these templates!  They make planning dinner parties sooooo easy.  All you do is design the invite, load in some e-mail addys, and make reservations at a favorite restaurant. Done!
3. www.Meet-up.com - This is a great way to meet ladies in your town who have similar interests.  Lots of times, Meet-up groups will convene around dinner, drinks, or coffee.  Take a look at what you can find.

Quick tip - Try to organize your dinner parties on Tuesdays or Thursdays.  That gives folks something to look forward to on otherwise commonly open evenings.  Also, I send a Save-The-Date a few weeks ahead just so it's on the calendar.

Forget cocktail hour - give me good food and good friends anytime!