meeting bloggers in real life Archives

Remember when saying you met someone online sounded creepy and desperate?

Now people are less likely to raise an eyebrow when you say you are meeting someone online.

That is, unless of course you are being questioned by the Canadian Airport Security in which case they might ask you a whole slew of questions that you are ill prepared to answer. I will do the Canadian thing and apologize for that Patti. Next time I will give you my full biography in advance so you can study up and pass the test with flying colours.

Last week I was very fortunate to have two bloggers, Ally from Shy Biker and Patti from Not Dead Yet, come and visit me for a few days.

Ally made the trip all the way from just outside of NYC to Toronto on her motorcycle. Yes, I was impressed!

riding motorcycle suzanne carillo — Me trying out Ally’s monster touring bike.

Patti flew up from the hot and steamy state of Florida to be greeted by the hot and steamy summer of Toronto. It is true folks! We do not have snow here year round and our go-to transportation is not via dog sled. Shocker!

take online friendship to the next level ally and patti blogger meetup 2016 — We shopped Kensington Market and viewed some of the art at Ally’s hotel, The Gladstone.

Top Three Tips To Take Online Friendship To The Next Level

#1 Tip To Take Online Friendship To The Next Level

Make sure they aren’t serial killers. The first time I met Patti and Ally was last year during the 40+ Blogger Meet-up, so I already knew neither on of them were serial killers.

I also did a full background security check and traced their ancestors back thousands of years. Apparently they are both related to prehistoric man. Amazing!

#2 Tip To Take Online Friendship To The Next Level

Be prepared with an “out” excuse in case things don’t work out as planned. Make it realistic so as to not upset/tip-off your visitor.

“I’ve got to go home and finish watching my socks dry, or I think I hear my Mom calling me home for supper,”

only work under just the right circumstances. I’ve used both of these on my husband. I think he is suspicious about my Mom calling me home for supper. Especially since she lives on the other side of Canada and there is a three hour time difference.

Lucky for me I didn’t need to use my excuses for leaving the real life meet up early cause these guys are great!

#3 Tip To Take Online Friendship To The Next Level

Have an emergency number to call in case you need help.

I only called that number once when I went to pick up Ally from the wrong hotel. (I had a blond moment. Yes, my natural hair colour is blond.) Okay, twice because I didn’t remember where I’d parked the car. Honestly I only used my emergency number three times because I was getting bored sitting in traffic and needed someone to talk to while I ate all of the emergency snacks in my car.

Making New Friends Online Makes Blogging Meaningful

Online friendships like real life friendships require nurturing. Time is our most precious commodity, especially as we grow older and carving out some time to devote to new found friends is a priority for me, especially since I lost my real life best friend two years ago. No, she didn’t die, she just decided she didn’t want to be my friend any longer after 23 years. That is a whole other story. Letting go and moving on hasn’t been easy for me, but my online friendships that have turned into real life friendships have helped dramatically. In fact, they are honestly the only reason I continue to blog. Without them this blog would just be me dressing myself up like a 50 year old Barbie doll and taking photos of myself. Apparently I’ve never outgrown Barbie Dolls.

As I’ve gotten older I see how much harder it is to make new real life friends. Since I work from home and don’t go to school my only chance of meeting new people is when I’m running errands. Everyone at the grocery store just wants to get in and out of there as fast as possible. They don’t appreciate it when you strike up a conversation about your favourite brand of cereal, the overripe avocados or keep “accidentally” confusing their grocery cart with your own.

Making friends online is much more socially acceptable and what fuels my desire to continue blogging.

There is no way I would have randomly met these wonderful people in real life. That is the power of blogging and creating online friendships. The internet provides so much more than porn and hate forums. Photos and videos of baby pugs and connecting with fantastic, interesting, unique people top my list of things I love about the internet.

What is your favourite thing about the internet?

How do you manage to meet new friends?

Have you ever taken an online friendship to the next level? Did it work out?

Linking up with Throw Back Thursday

1970's vintage maxi dress – Clarks sandals, necklace made by me : )

Sue's dress made by Sue, Sandals – Stuart Weitzman

I had my first IRL blogger meet-up with Sue from A Colourful Canvas when I was in BC last week.

What went through my mind before the meet-up?…

I don't want to disappoint her. What if she thinks I'm a fake? Loser? Or worse…fashion challenged and humourless?

I don't want to be disappointed. I've formed ideas in my mind about what kind of a gal Sue is. I hope she lives up to my expectations.

Is it going to be awkward? Will there be annoying lags and breaks in the conversation where we are both left looking around wondering what to talk about next and cursing ourselves for ever having left the comfort of hiding behind our computer screens?

What if Sue is really an insanely methodical male serial killer carefully stalking prey by grooming them through her funny blog all the while only pretending to be a bubbly sweet funny lady that likes to sew?

Okay that last one I only thought of later when Sue told me she thought that of me (sans the sewing bit) LOL.

6 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Sue And Why She is Cool

1. Sue is tiny. Super tiny. I know it looks like we are the same height in the photo but that is an optical illusion created by the hill we are standing on. And cute. You probably already knew the cute bit. Oh and she has cute little feet! She may be slightly annoyed at me for mentioning this last bit…

2. She drives a wicked little wisp of a white convertible sports car that is about 2 inches off the ground. No joke. It is like crawling into bumper cars and twice as much fun when you're in it.

3. Sue loves to smile and laugh and always has a mischievous sparkle in her eye, like she is keeping the biggest secret in the world.

4. She is a good listener, funny and didn't disappoint me one bit.

5. Sue makes her own body cream (thanks for the lovely personal handmade gift!)…along with being very creative artistically and a brilliant seamstress.

6. Until the day we met Sue had never eaten a macaroon. I thought that was in lesson #1 of being a blogger! Eat beautiful macaroons daily with your non-fat skinny mocha soy latte.

I can say that after this "in real life" meet-up was a success because,

A – I'm still alive.

B- I had loads of fun.

C – I think I may have met someone I'd hang around with again.

Thanks Sue for such a fun first time! I am no longer an IRL virgin.

Be sure to visit Sue's entertaining funny blog A Colourful Canvas where she makes everyone jealous of her impeccable sewing skills creating original fabric masterpieces.

Have you or would you like to meet any bloggers IRL?

Linking up with the gorgeous Bella over at Secondhand First stop by and say hi!