This past weekend, no less than three of my friends celebrated their birthday. Two of them went to uni with me and will graduate with me in the same ceremony at the end of this month. I feel endlessly blessed to have these two girls in my life, so I wanted to honour them both with a cake – a ‘Vanellie’ cake, just for Ellie and Vanessa. 

I was a shy, invisible thing with big bushy hair when I came to uni in London. All the other students sported the most effortless just-tumbled-out-of-bed hairstyles, wore the coolest hipster glasses, had read and studied all the English classics at school, spoke eloquently and confidently in class. And all formed friendships nearly instantly. I thought I might never fit in. I wasn’t like that girl in the striped shirt with a messy but pretty bun on top of her hair, the girl who sounded so clever. I saw her the first day at induction and thought, ‘She’d never be friends with me.’

One evening in the uni’s student bar, I was doing my best to socialise, awkward, shy little me, nervously cradling a glass of Malibu & Coke in my hands. A friend of a friend sat down next to me – a skinny, boisterous American, with enough energy to light the room. I couldn’t not talk to her. We spent a good couple of hours talking of cats and boys and life and she was just so nice. And not exclusively American, but a little German as well, which made me grow even fonder of her. 

Vanessa is the rare kind of person who cultivates that fine balance of wisdom and fun. She’s there when you need to go wild, and still there when you’re spinning and need someone to talk you down. This girl is the bomb dot com, period.  

Ellie loves purple and vanilla, and she can’t eat wheat or dairy. Vanessa told me she had a preference for fruity, summery flavours at the moment. Wish granted. Happy birthday, girls, I’m so lucky to know you both.