How do I start socialising again?

A social life was just another of the many things that my anorexia stole from me. As my anorexia worsened, I became more and more disconnected from everyone around me. I no longer wanted to see any of my friends and I didn't even want to spend time with my family. I dont know why I felt as though I needed to be on my own so much but it just felt like the easiest option at the time.

Now I am starting to get better, I really want to start getting out there and socialising again but I really dont know how to do this. I feel as though everyone in the town i live in just sees me as the shy one who always stays home and never goes to any events of gatherings and they are right, but I don't want to be that girl anymore. 

I want to have friends or even just people who I can talk to out at the pub or at social gatherings. I want people to invite me to their birthday parties so that I can get out and show everyone that I have changed and that I am now a fun person to be around. It is hard to make friends in a town where there are so few people around my age however I really am desperate to start socalising again. 

In a way, I know that it is my fault that I am now in this situation as whilst I was sick i was invited to many parties or gatherings but never attended any of them. So now everyone just presumes I wouldn't want to go and so they dont even bother to invite me along. I wish that I even had just one other friend that I felt really comfortable around, so that we could go out together and then I could talk to new people too.

And something else I have started thinking about now, that I havent cared about for years, is the fact that I am now wanting to find a boyfriend. I had absolutely no interest in guys when my anorexia was controlling me but now I actually find myself longing for a reationship with a fantastic guy.

I think I just need to be brave and start living the way that a 20 year old girl should be. This may mean stepping outside my comfort zone and socialising with people from outside of the tiny town that I live in. This is the only way i am going to make new friends and meet new people. I just really don't know how to go about doing this.

Does anyone have any suggestions for me? How do you think is the best way for me to start socialising again with people in my small home town as well as ways to meet brand new people? I know that I need to make this happen for myself and that it won't happen on its own. I just dont know how to do it.