A girls' night out after 40

In our 20s we’d start planning our weekend a week before, sometimes a month before. We’d plan what we'd be doing, where we'd be going, who was going, what we’d be wearing, who was not drinking, driving and giving everyone a lift. The more the merrier! Young and full of energy, we’d go for a nice meal out for 8 - accompanied by a nice wine - that moves on to digestive drinking until we're in the mood for dancing. The night would ironically go on like there's no tomorrow till the early (and late) hours of the next morning.

In our 30s life gets in the way so there's not much spare time for meals out with friends. All the spare time we get, we cram in something useful and boring like doing the washing, ironing or cleaning. For those of us who have kids, our energy levels decrease by double, despite the copious amounts of caffeine. We start enjoying dinners with only a selected few - the parent ones because the single ones start making themselves scarce-, and dinner and drinks over childhood memories start to become a trending theme. It’s either that or constant moaning about the latest social anxiety episode of one of the children. Oh, and huh, we start skipping the dancing part.

In our 40s things get serious. Gravity seems to take quite a good hold of our body and our stamina goes through the floor. Like a wake-up call, it was the exact time when ageing seriously clicked for me. That enthusiasm spark faded, and life tiredness started kicking in. All those sleepless nights for the children, all that constant housework upkeep, whilst still trying to preserve a bill-paying job eventually catches up. Life is just relentless.

Going out for dinner now has become a challenge. I want to go but I don’t always feel like it, because it’s all so or more appealing some nights to stay in and chill, have a Netflix session, or have an early night, which is what ends up happening anyway… I can’t stay awake any later than midnight. On a good night.

So nowadays it’s a matter of deciding which restaurant to go - it needs to be affordable but well-rated -. We quite like our local Chiquitos because the food never disappoints, it’s open till late (which hopefully saves me from being dragged anywhere else after but home), and the staff is quite friendly. This is usually a once-a-month kinda thing I treat myself with, as the food is absolutely lush (love Mexican food!). I keep looking at the watch, to make sure I get home early enough to get my much-needed beauty sleep.

When we leave, we’re pretty much ready to go to bed, after eating all that spicy and fatty food. We finish up with a nice cocktail for the sake of good old times and go home feeling like we did what we were meant to and we’re all caught up with our latest personal news and gossip. This is what is to go on a girls' night out when we get to 40. On to the next level: the home get-togethers - so we don’t have to leave home.