30! When Work Is A Lot Less Fun And Fun Is A Lot More Work

I am always looking forward to our Friday girls night out even though of late it’s beginning to be more of an indoors things than it used to be of us going out. Not by design, I should point out but rather circumstance. I remember how much we used to laugh at the 30’s jokes, how we would view thirty year olds as quite the aged ones. (I want to apologize to all the people I called old when I was in my early twenties. I know better now hehe ).
“It’s hard for me to get used to these changing times. I can remember when the air was clean and sex was dirty.” ~ George Burns

All of my friends have now hit thirty. Let me tell you something Maina, the joke is now on us. I for once, no longer find clubbing to be fun, neither do the girls I think, although they’d rather die than openly admit it. Fortunately or unfortunately, their actions always betray them. Take for instance the other day when one of us got a major promotion at work and we decided to go out and celebrate. Since we had planned for the date beforehand, everyone was dressed to kill and ready to have the best night of their lives (bombastic side eye). Barely an hour into the outing, posh club, expensive drinks and all, one of us had secretly gone back to the car to sleep and the rest that were on that table got into a yawning relay. An hour later, another casualty was flat out sprawled on the couch. The Embarazzzzment.

Show me a strong 30year old party animal that genuinely enjoys it and I will show you an honest politician.
Unknowingly, the consensus has unanimously and quietly been passed. For the first time in history, a vote whose election was never held but whose results was agreed upon without ever being announced. A poll whose participants never knew was being conducted in the first place. This is how we found ourselves meeting in any of our houses every Friday and this; this we enjoy. Four of us, every Friday without fail. Suddenly we aren’t yawning after every thirty seconds, the vibes are good and the conversations have never been better. Which brings me to the conclusion that maybe, just maybe, the problem is the clubs. It has to be, what with having to shout over their loud music to be heard and drunk strangers rubbing shoulders with you as you make your way to the washrooms. Surely, the problem can’t be our thirty year old selves now, can it?

What I cherish most when we have these meet ups – apart from the ever flowing wine ofcourse- is this little culture we’ve developed where we talk about how our week went, the challenges we experienced, the situations we think we mishandled and what we should have done better. We talk about the toes we might have stepped on amongst ourselves and if anybody in the group has an issue with anyone else we lay it bare. A word misunderstood here, a statement that came off wrongly and everything in between. Nothing that cannot be solved. This right here, this is the one thing I’d not change for anything. I cherish this phase of my life so much because these are things I never did in my early 20’s.
Last weekend we came up with this idea to try something else other wine. Someone suggested cocktails and we agreed to try a simple yet one of the most famous cocktails. G&T.
Gin and tonic. We debated abit on what gin to use and settled on tanqueray since it has always been our to go to drink when out. There is something about it that makes you calm and personally anytime I am drinking it I never feel like I am in a rush to heaven knows where. It gives me a lazy vibe that I am always here for. Life is for the living and like someone famous once said, “Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.”
Tanqueray gives me Dolce Far Niente vibes – the art of doing nothing and actually enjoying it. And like I mentioned somewhere up there, 30 is proving to be quite the year of quiet.

I am not exaggerating when I say girls night out has never been more satisfying. An epic night it turned out. First we had our usual conversation on how our week went, then we played a game of cards, the we talked about anything and everything. We danced, we opened up, we talked about previous heartbreaks (a few tears were shed here and there) we talked about the future and past and opened up about traumas we never knew we had. Those cocktails did that, helped us cement our friendship better. Out with the wine, in with the cocktails. I just know that my Friday nights with the girls will never be the same again. Since I want every girl to experience true friendships and since I a can always be counted on to spread good news, I’ll go ahead and share the recipe with you. It’s such a simple one really and anyone can do it at the comfort of their house.
Ingredients.
Tanqueray, flavored tonic , cucumber slices, mint.