Ask anyone nowadays how they’ve been and it seems the answer is always “busy.”  There are so many events, work, kids, family, the list goes on and on.  Hopefully you are filling your time with things you enjoy doing but it doesn’t make you any less busy!  Chelsea, Lindsay, and I have by no means perfected the art of preserving a staple friend date but we’ve been doing pretty good lately with a few simple hacks so we thought we’d share.  We all live in different parts of the bay area now, separated by trains, buses, and boats.  Literally.  This past week, we had a standing dinner date and were talking about how consistent we’ve been lately and how a few things have helped us preserve our cherished time together.  In case you need some ideas to get your gal gang back together for some face time, here are some things that have helped us.

• Get it on the calendar.  As soon as everyone can agree on a date, we add it to our calendars so we don’t accidentally double book and have to cancel.  Give it some space, too.  Every week might be too much of a commitment for everyone and being so frequent, might give people a way out since they can just join next week.  Not that we are suggesting tricking friends into hanging out :).
• Make it convenient.  We’ve been meeting for coffee or dinner at the hub of transportation so before or after our meet ups, each of us can get on or off that train, bus, or boat.  Adjust for the groups needs, for example if someone is trying to stick to a diet, go for a walk.
• Make it quality time.  If everyone only has an hour to give, make sure everyone has a chance to talk about what’s going on in their lives good or bad.
• Try new places or specials on the menu!  We’ve been going to the same place for a few meet ups lately and have tried a few different menu items each time which has been really fun.  This brings an added touch of excitement to an already fun meet up.

Here we are trying the lemon shake and an assortment of fries.  What can I say, they were delicious!

I also have frequent FaceTime/phone dates with one of my gal gang who has moved out of state.  We have a standing calendar save for a phone date but even if we can’t connect that week, we still text and communicate so at least we aren’t letting too much time go by before checking in with each other.

What are some of the ways you’ve been able to make time for friend dates?