As a BLM from Windurst, I came to San d'Oria primarily to get Drain and for the Dragon (of course); so to try and be cheap, I set out to do every quest I could to ensure I had fame enough for Novalmage to take my blood. Eventually I completed the first quest given by Abuela; but for some time only got the "Favortie adventurer" message as noted by others before me. Eventually I got fed up with all the running around for one silly spell (as I hadn't even done the Bastok half of my 2/3 Mission I didn't /need/ to be in Sandy); and started trading in Batwings. Between runs to AH for 10K stacks of wings and the taker, I'd hit the inn to see if I could get this quest and trade in my (already purchased) items. Long story short, she wouldn't change her story until I hit fame 3, this was confirmed by going to the fame checker in Souther Sandy who also noted that I had (finally) advanced to Fame level 3.
As always, your mileage may vary