Sunday, February 27, 2011

The First Un-Birthday

In hopes of running into someone with like-interests I went to paint pottery at 2000 degrees a "paint you own pottery" studio. It was something to do, something to get out of the house. With the prospect of meeting a new friend, it was a great idea. The whole time I was painting my pottery piece, I was the only person in the studio aside from the girl who worked there. At one point a lady came in to see about hosting her daughter's birthday party there, but aside from that I enjoyed a quiet evening of painting to myself. As the girl working the studio explained to the interested Mother the birthday package deal, the wheels in my head starting turning. I thought it would be so much fun to host a party there.

I knew it would be a fun party to attend as I had attended a painting party that  my Boyfriend's Mother hosted  back in the area my Boyfriend and I lived prior to moving to State College (for my boyfriend to complete his BA at PSU). On the drive home I thought I couldn't be the only person in State College with little resources in finding people to hang out with and socialize with. I went home that evening and posted an ad on craigslist.com saying that I wanted to start a group where we get together and celebrate for no reason. Just make a big deal out of nothing just to have a good time doing something fun with other people.

Creating a social group was not my only prerogative however; I also wanted to be able to get people together to give back to the community. My intentions are to dedicate mostly all my free time and effort toward raising some money to give some "financial love" to as many of the local non-profits as I possibly can while providing the chance for women to connect with each other and make the transitional move to State College a little easier. I made event flyers and persistently posted new ads on craigslist as well as started a group page on facebook.com for the members to keep track of what’s new with the group and I to keep track of headcounts and organize group events accordingly. When the group had over six members to attend the first meeting/party I made the reservation at 2000 degrees for our first Un-Birthday Party.

There were 10 RSVP's and 9 of us total at the pottery party in December of 2010. Upon meeting everyone I was able to recognize most of the people thanks to facebook.com's group page for the "Happy Un-Birthday Group." All of the women seemed to be from all over including some that were from the State College area. After getting to know each other and during the time we painted I asked "what would the group would like to do next?" and together we came up with go to a movie, go bowling, and go roller skating. Organizing the group instantly granted me the social network that I needed. It was nice to hear others be so thankful for having the opportunity that I myself at one point had scanned the craigslist community postings for. Being assertive, social, as well as organizing and leading anything at all isn't something I'm normally known for. That's the fun of moving to a new town, you get to be different if you want to. =) It's the perfect time for positive changes.


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