Hey Rodric! ^_^
Oh sweet - having a friend already here would make everything a lot easier! If you want trades, you could always post a trading thread in the
CS Trades forum - that's where people usually go if they're seeking people to trade with.
Just in case you or your friend miss anything, there's the
Newbie Guide & Index (even though you already know most of the stuff, there could always be something else!), which has links to handy trading threads that you might find helpful.
And hey, if you need any help with trading questions, I can try my best to help with that. ^^
Edity edit: As oakhearted pointed out below, you can get free pets to help you get going, too (I did forget to mention that!).
You can get free pets from
The Pound (you can adopt 1 pet every 3 hours if it's open), the
CS Free Adoptions board, and from the monthly
Adopts.