The hot weather lured us back to Brighton this weekend, so we packed up the picnic blanket and headed to the beach. I started reading Kelly Cutrone’s book If You Have To Cry Go Outside on the train, which will hopefully turn me in to a type A business woman.

We started off at Brighton Marina and took the electric railway along to the East Pier.

The train was quite rickety but the view of the beach was lovely.

When we got to the other side we went to PJ’s Diner where BK had taken us just over a year ago, it wasn’t the same without him

I had a peanut butter milkshake (I’m on the hunt for a really good one, if anyone has recommendations?) and watched Tom &  Jerry cartoons – I’d forgotten how funny they were.

We got a special train deal which meant we got all-day bus passes included, so we took an open top bus (they run them as normal buses in Brighton which is so cool) up to Devil’s Dyke. The views were really lovely and you can see all the way to the Isle of White on a clear day.

We headed back in to town after, where we overheard someone describing the Royal Pavilion as a wedding cake meets the Taj Mahal.

We sat on the beach overlooking the burnt out West pier. I love that they just left it out there for the sea to deal with.

We walked along the shore to Hove. If I lived in Brighton, I’d rent out a pretty coloured hut and put my craft table in it.

There were lots of cute shops in Hove and I got some inspiration for cushions to make for the Mews.

Afterwards we went for cocktails and dinner back in Brighton. It was happy hour and there was a table of 18 girls dressed as Audrey Hepburn over from us at dinner.

When it got late, we sat on the beach and watched the sunset before heading back to London. I love Brighton!

We took my Dad to Brighton today for his birthday. It was so hot and sunny, so we relaxed on the beach for most of the day. I managed to bag Clare a 50p penpal gift and a set of Pirate cupcake cases.

There was an old fashioned Penny Arcade on the beach, where I had my fortune told.

“Be wary of… women with facial hair”? That sounds ominous, I’ll keep an eye out.

There was a beauty parade slideshow which was a bit pervy, I was rather embarrassed after spending my penny on it.

There was a cool old label press and you could make a label for 20 pence.

It took a bit of practice but we got the hang after spending about 80 pence.

My Mum saved my Dad from drowning.

Tom went on a roller coaster on the pier to make up for the rides at Legoland.

In the evening I treated my Dad to dinner at Jamie’s Italian. They had webcams in the kitchen so you could watch the chefs as they cooked your meal.

Today was awesome because we got to hang out with Ben Kweller in Brighton. We bumped in to him at the train station and shared a cab down to the shore.

BK treated us to milkshakes and fried food in an America diner – I had gingerbread flavor and he had marshmallow, but my one won the taste test! We chatted about root beer, music, our favorite iPhone apps, London / America, temporary tattoos, webdesign and he took a bunch of CO+K Moo cards to give to his wife, Lizzie. He thinks Tom looks like Adam Green.

We got to hang out during his soundcheck and then we all headed to a secret gig in a park, where he played lots of requests and dedicated Penny On The Train Tracks to us. After that, we nipped away to send postcards and catch a few songs of Catherine AD’s performance.

In the evening we went to BK’s show, which was really good, and said goodbye to him (he wants T to email and “chat web”) and then headed off to see Idlewild on the DiS stage. I ♥ Brighton, I think we’re going to come down in a few weeks, when the weather is really nice, and spend the day exploring and hanging out on the beach.

2nd day of the Great Escape festival and, as planned, we gambled away our 2p savings jar in the penny falls.

It got rather exciting at the end and we had a crowd of Japanese tourists gathered around and cheering us on, as the prizes were pushed tantalizingly close to the edge.

We hit it big in the end, winning a toy mobile phone and a pot of several year old candy. We caught a couple of bands in the bar on the pier and then headed to a DiS meeting, where we nommed free food and drink.

In the evening we had cocktails…

Including one that looked like the sea and tasted like Elise’s famous Miracle Juice. To make Miracle Juice, she would combine shots of every spirit in the house and mix it together with fruit juice – it always got stronger and weirder as the night went on.

In the evening we went to see METRIC, who were awesome and walked along the dark pier.

Today we headed off to Brighton for The Great Escape music festival. A lot of people have told me that I’d love the town and I did. It’s like a place where you’d become a sailor girl and hang out with mermaids. Only an hour away from London by train.

The beach is cool, especially with the burnt-out pier sitting offshore in the distance.

I stole a few pebbles from the beach to take home.

The main pier was really cool too. We gambled our change away in the penny falls and then caught a few bands in the bar. 

Tomorrow we’re going to take our 2p savings jar and spend the lot.

They gave us passes with demon-eyed photos, because we’re delegating for DiS (they spelt my surname wrong ). In the evening we went to see a bunch of bands, including Emmy The Great & My Latest Novel. Tomorrow we’re meeting up with Claire, going to see Metric and attending music industry conferences.