"Wicked" good friends

Amanda here...

You know you have a true friend when you get together with the person after almost a year and you just pick up where you left off like no time has gone by. That's how it is with Andrea and I. Sure, we talk on the phone once in a while - a lot less than we both would like, and we only get to see each other about once a year, maybe twice if we're lucky. It's a shame, really, because we only live 2 hours apart. But life gets in the way, unfortunately. I really feel so blessed to have a friend like Andrea - she is the greatest!

Andrea and I had the BEST time in Boston on Saturday. First of all, we were going to see the musical Wicked at The Opera House which is in Downtown Crossing. Macy's happened to be just about a block away, so we couldn't resist. The difference between the Macy's in Boston and the Macy's in Portland, Maine is HUGE. I mean, there is no comparison. We had fun oohing and aahing over all the designer clothes - I think I could have afforded maybe one article of clothing on the whole women's floor. Crazy....

After getting our fashion fix, we headed for lunch at Fajitas and Ritas, a quirky little Mexican restaurant right nearby. And then it was onto the show...

I had read Wicked a while ago and was very excited to see how the musical compared. The book was very dark and not very humorous. The musical, however, was pretty funny! It was fun to see the book "come to life" I guess you could say, even though the musical was only loosely based on it. The costumes were amazing, the sets were really mesmerizing (you can see a picture of the "curtain" before showtime above -- it's actually a map of Oz) and I thought that the performers really brought their characters to life on the stage. It was a great performance and one that I would like to see again. I don't want to give anything away here, but I need to read the book again to see if the ending of the musical matches the ending of the book. I don't think it does, because the musical ends very postively. I think the book just ends the way it does -- kind of on a sad note.

The best part of the whole thing was just getting to spend time with Andrea. Every time we see each other, I realize that I am so bad at keeping in touch with people and making an effort to see them. However, with close friends like her, it doesn't really make a difference in the quality of our relationship -- I just miss her.

Stay tuned for a later blog where I will tell you all about Andrea's husband Michael and his bees!