"You can be absolutely certain that the gossip we have to share will be diabolical. Hometown gossip. University gossip. Ex-boyfriend gossip. Family gossip. Nobody and nothing is safe"
"Have I already told you about...?" and "Should we do one more round before we...?" and definitely "Omg stop! I'm going to pee my pants hahah"
When you hear those sentences, you already know the girls are having the best time of their lives. And to be honest, a truly great girl's night out only comes around every blue moon. So once everyone is finally in town, ready to drink spritz and laugh the night away, you better be prepared.
To prepare for such an iconic night, I shower using all the good stuff. You know, the expensive shampoo I got for Christmas and decided to save for a special occasion. Some people save it for weddings, graduation parties, or first dates. I think a girls' night deserves it just as much.
Oh, and you can bet, I'm blasting only the best getting-ready music from my shower speaker: Olivia Dean, RAYE, Olivia Rodrigo, One Direction, and without a doubt Never Say Never by Justin Bieber.
I always prefer having the girls at my place so we can all get ready together while sipping wine. Unfortunately, now that we all live in different cities, that's become a little harder. But don't worry—the outfits are still chosen together through the group chat. By the time I leave the apartment, my hair has spent an hour in rollers, my makeup was done while watching Vogue's „Get Ready With Me“ videos, and I've already sent at least three mirror selfies to the group chat asking for final approval.
If my friends and I haven't seen each other in a while, you can be absolutely certain that the gossip we have to share will be diabolical. Hometown gossip. University gossip. Ex-boyfriend gossip. Family gossip. Nobody and nothing is safe.
So when we finally see each other, it's like atoms colliding. The energy is through the roof. Everyone is talking over everyone. And before we've even ordered our drinks, somebody is already saying: "Oh, remind me later, I need to tell you something about that too!"
I will never turn down a good burger or a well-portioned döner. But on a girls' night out, aesthetics matter! Pictures will be taken and a nicely plated avocado shrimp bowl or a plate of spaghetti vongole just photographs better.
The pictures serve several very important purposes:
1. Bringing Instagram back to life.
2. Providing new content for the hometown haters.
3. Getting a new profile picture after using the same one for the past year.
After taking photos with flash, without flash, on a retro camera, individually, in pairs, and in every group constellation imaginable, we are finally ready to eat. Starter. Main. Dessert. Because on girls' night, we are not stingy. Financial responsibility is a problem for tomorrow.
A few spritzes later, we inevitably decide it's time for a location change.
New location. New drinks. Probably new pictures. But the exact same heartfelt laughter. At this point, first and last names are being dropped completely shamelessly, and we're probably the loudest table in the bar. None of us cares. They only stare because they wish to be part of the conversation too.
At some point, someone always has the brilliant idea that ordering more spritzes and espresso martinis isn't enough. We should add shots. And to be honest, the jump from: "One shot is fine." to "How much is the whole tequila bottle?" is surprisingly small.
The night can go one of two ways. Either we stay at the same bar until they practically close. Or we move on to the nearest club and bring out the lawn sprinkler, shopping cart, and every other dance move we promised ourselves we'd never do again.
But even the best girls' nights eventually have to come to an end. And before heading home, we somehow always end up at a döner stand or hot dog stand after all.
At that point, nobody is worried about cute profile pictures anymore anyway. The photos taken there usually end up becoming our group chat profile picture for the next six months.
So while finishing the last bites of döner and waiting for the bus, we know the night is coming to an end. In our state of drunkenness, we've probably already told each other every five minutes how grateful we are to have friends like this and how we'll never let anything come between us.
But as we see the bus come around the corner, we always say it one last time for good measure.
And that's usually when the night becomes a little bittersweet.
Because we all swear we'll do this more often. And we genuinely mean it. But we also know how busy everyone is. There are studies, boyfriends, jobs, moves, dreams, and a hundred different lives happening at once. So maybe we'll do it again in six months. Maybe it'll take two years. Maybe three.
But honestly, I think that's part of what makes these nights feel so magical. Because they are rare. And because every time they happen, it feels like no time has passed at all.
