My friend from the internet

Photo stolen from Andrea's flikr stream

As a semi-anonymous blogger, there is little overlap between my blogging social life and my real life social life.

Some of the people I've come across through blogging seem too good to be true. Like, to the point where I've been convinced they were manufactured by some kind of keyword deciphering googlebot.

Last week I had the opportunity to put this theory to the test when Kempt creator Andrea wandered into my new neck of the woods.

Andrea, for those of you remiss enough not to already read her blog religiously, is fabulous.

Her talent for writing and photography paired with her sense of humour and adventure make her more than worth reading.

Beyond that, despite never having met me face to face, she's become an incredibly kind and supportive friend.

Naturally my first meeting with this particular brand of awesome left me a little apprehensive. I mean, I like to think that I come across pretty accurately through my blog, but the truth is, for every lame joke I make online, I make about a scrillion more in person. Annnd I say things like "a scrillion."

I tell stories so lengthy that eventually I forget the point or just get bored of them and stop. Oh, and I have hyperhidrosis, so I sweat about 90% of the time and I make weird faces about 100% of the time.

I tried to keep my nerves at bay by telling myself there was no way she could be as bright and hilarious and stylish in person as in cyber space.

Colour me corrected.

No sooner had I popped up from the subway like a nervous, brown-haired little gopher, than a clever, quick-witted little pixie with perpetually perfect hair was dashing across the busy street to greet me with a hug.

After dragging her to the funhouse mecca of low-priced goods, or "old lady heaven", as she quickly and accurately dubbed Honest Ed's and then to a sushi restaurant where apparently someone recently died by stabbing (who knew?) we headed out for drinks.

Naturally I wanted to show her off to all my friends, some of whom looked at me strangely when I'd excitedly explain, "She's my friend from the internet!!!" prompting me to reassure them that I did not order her from Amazon's Russian Bride department.

Fortunately as well as being cool and fun, she was just crazy enough to venture out with me a second time. In daylight no less. I was just crazy enough to try the Vietnamese coffee she recommended at lunch. It was delish, and ensured that I was a giggly jitterbug for the remainder of the afternoon while we tromped around under ludicrously large umbrellas and completed a whirlwind tour of nearby vintage shops.

All this to say, there are times when I'm not sure why I've kept up this blog, times when it seems like nothing more than a vanity project. Sure it's therapeutic to write, not to mention good practice, but I could easily do that in a diary.

Meeting Andrea solidified the best part for me.

Making connections with the potential to become real and lasting friendships makes it all worthwhile.