'check your privilege!'

So, despite drowing in Tarquin, which sounds a lot worse than it is, I took some time off this weekend to go to Reading for a belated celebration for my friend Rachael's birthday. I was absolutely knackered from the previous week, so I was feeling a little bit stressed on the train there, but the moment I saw my friends (some of whom I haven't seen for over a year!) all the worry went away.

Candy, Vic, Rachael and Charlie looking gorgeous.

On my arrival in Reading, I was greeted by Rachael and her lovely chap Mike (who makes rather delicious breakfasts, it must be stated!), and in due course Charlie, Candy, Vic, Annis and Rowan turned up. There was much squeeing and joy as we saw each other, balanced only by ice-cream and a cheeky introduction to Lush!

 I think Rowan was sneakily plotting which of the delicious foodstuffs she would start with.


Lemon curd muffins? Cakestand? Mojitos out of jam jars? Totally Tumblr-whimsical.

Once we'd all arrived and indulged in some group hugs (much to the surprise of the other people in the station!), we wandered over to Rachael's home and decamped onto her floor for some catch up, mojitos and deliciousness. My friend Vic brought some gorgeous lemon curd and raspberry tarts which were ohmylordsoscrummy, and Rachael had clearly been baking for some time, since there were mini quiches, rosewater meringues, lime meringue tarts (all mini), plus (bigger) lemon curd cupcakes and a chocolate ganache torte, which sadly I didn't try! Sadface. We also made mojitos which we drank out of jam jars for added Tumblr whimsy. They were all utterly delicious, and I was very happy to be able to drink, eat and be merry with such wonderful ladies.

We headed over to the Nag's Head, which is a really lovely little pub. I let Candy and Charlie use my camera, which led to this photo of me. Charlie pronounced that it looked and like the sort of thing which would appear next to a sign saying 'office hours are...' Glad to know I look like I fit the part of my future career plans!

Annis and Rowan are serious real ale fans, and there has to be an obligatory shot of them with beer.

Candy brought out her bubbles and brought some whimsy to the pub. In the foreground is Rowan's hand protecting her beer, since she wasn't sure how the ale would react with the bubble mixture!

Nice but strange shot of Annis and I - Annis looks lovely, as always, I look a bit weird, but with a face like mine, that's just to be expected, really!

I spent a lot of time sitting with Rowan and Vic discussing academic futures. We all want to be academics, and so we had a conversation about what we're thinking of studying, and how we're going to get there. I felt quite old though when I realised that in a few years we could all be doing pioneering work in our respective fields - scary stuff. At any rate, I'm looking forward to the future when I get to address these lovely women as 'Doctor...'!

On our return from t'pub, we curled up in the living room, ate combinations of bread, hoummus, cheese, celery and tomatoes, discussed various ridiculous things including feminism, gender politics, literature and Toddlers and Tiaras. Candy and Annis' exploits with vegetables should give you an idea of the tone of the evening!

Finally, the dramatic finale: Vic brought her coveted copy of Carlton Mellick III's The Haunted Vagina with her, and as such we had to read it out. It's exactly as trashy and mental as it sounds: there's lots of inane descriptions of things like dietary habits, horrible erotica scenes and some truly disturbing scenes of grown men squashing into vaginas. When my turn came around, I'd become somewhat accustomed to the ridiculous subject matter, but I couldn't refrain from correcting the terrible grammar!

I think Rowan's face sums it all up, this is exactly how the book made me feel. (If anyone wants to buy it, it's £6.66 on Amazon!)

The list of the author's other titles made me actually lose it. I attempted to read them out, but it took me multiple attempts and a lot of breathless laughing before I could actually say The Morbidly Obese Ninja. It's making me smile even now.

 On a side note, there were some epic pajamas to be seen.

Peach and amaretto ice-cream. Sweetest, tastiest thing I had since...the day before. And the breakfast Rachael's boyfriend Mike made. But the point still stands!

Before this weekend, I was stressed, miserable and worried about the future. Time spent with my favourite ladies, with lots of laughter and relaxation made everything a lot better, and just remembering some of the things we got up to ('Sit down, you are eleven!') makes me smile. Leaving and knowing I'd have to get back and deal with Tarquin was really not a happy thought at all. But on the plus side? I'm hoping I can convince them all to come to Cambridge to a few days of punting, decadence and summery fun. So hopefully there will be another hilarious set of photos soon!