Friends Reunited

Friends. Noun: A person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically exclusive of sexual or family relations.

The friends you make at university are the friends you keep for life, and never has this been so true regardless of the time you spend apart. I found some of my best friends at university and this weekend I was lucky to spend time with two of them.

[caption id="attachment_176" align="aligncenter" width="231" caption="Third year university."][/caption]

I haven't been in the same room with Lian and Gemma since the day we moved out of our student house at the end of third year, so this reunion was a little bit extra special. Sure, I have seen them since uni, but with us all living in three seperate cities across the country it has been hard to get together. But after 14 months, it felt like it was yesterday and we were back in our student house. That photo taken above was one of our memories from there.

What did we do exactly? Had we aged and left the party behind in our uni days... Of course not! This weekend was Shakedown festival in Brighton, which provided the perfect excuse for an alcohol-fueled catch up! With acts such as Example, Razorlight, Ed Sheeran and many more, it was a match made in heave for three friends.

[caption id="attachment_177" align="aligncenter" width="163" caption="I would later regret this..."][/caption]

With a strict rule of not taking alcohol into the festival, we pre drank what we could and slipped the small vodka bottles and hipflasks in our wellies, and made our way through. Festivals are always a little bit more pricey than your average pub, so you can imagine our joy when we got through with enough vodka to put the most strongest of drinkers in hospital.

[caption id="attachment_161" align="aligncenter" width="183" caption="Enjoying a bit of Zane Lowe"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_164" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="At the front of the Dance Stage"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_163" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Ed Sheeran"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_160" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Myself and my Ab Fab Patsy"][/caption]

The weather stayed sunny into the evening, and as Example came on the heavens opened. When your jumping up and down to 'Changed the way you kissed me' it doesn't make much difference, apart from thanking yourself for wearing the wellies and not the espadrilles as originally planned!

[caption id="attachment_165" align="aligncenter" width="237" caption="The girls falling off a Wheelie Bin"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_162" align="aligncenter" width="202" caption="New hat from another festivaler"][/caption]

The following day, with a slight headache and a empty stomach, we got up and headed into Brighton for some food and a browse through the Laines.

I also managed to take the girls to this amazing shop called Beyond Retro. They have so much retro clothing that you can spend hours trying on pieces, even Lian found a bargain! They have stores in London and Brighton and it is worth a visit in there!

[caption id="attachment_168" align="aligncenter" width="238" caption="Beyond Retro... Lians new jumper!"][/caption]

And then in true Brighton style, we ended up at the seafront with a portion of fish and chips, watching the sea and topping up our tans.

[caption id="attachment_169" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Fish and Chips at the sea front"][/caption]

Before the girls left for their home cities, I treated them to a drive to Plumpton Racecourse as it was ladies day. Neither of them had been horse racing before, so we quickly nipped into the bookmakers and placed our bets before we headed over to catch a couple of the races. We found the perfect spot overlooking the whole racecourse, and cheered on our horses. Sadly, we didnt win a penny but it was worth the excitement and they loved it.

[caption id="attachment_171" align="aligncenter" width="269" caption="Gemma and her betting slip.. Not a winner though!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_170" align="aligncenter" width="265" caption="Perched under my Ascot umbrella"][/caption]

As always though, good things have to come to an end and before we knew it we were back where we started, Hove train station. My two girls were leaving me after what was undoubtedly the best weekend in a long time. We said our final goodbyes, hugged and made sure we do it again next month, before I stood on the platform and waved them off on their separate trains... Until the next time.

[caption id="attachment_174" align="aligncenter" width="171" caption="Time to say goodbye..."][/caption]

As they say, you make your friends for life at university.

[caption id="attachment_166" align="aligncenter" width="211" caption="<3"][/caption]