Wicked......

In April a friend in my book group, Lisa, proposed an idea of us going to LA to see Wicked......12 of us ladies jumped at the chance! Here we are in front of the Theater.
Mary Ann and I were roommates and buddies. This girl is one of my favorite people and could be a sister to me. We had so much fun together, we always do.
Mary Ann, me, Anne(pronounced Annie) and Sarah.
This is Lisa who put this whole thing together. She was awesome and found a great hotel and put together meetings and everything else. She was the most excited to see WICKED. I believe their might have been tears when the music started.
Before the show, we all met to leave together as a "pack of chicks" as some man on the streets referred to us. From left to right: Jen, Sarah, Mary Ann, Me and Sally
Before the show we went to the Cheesecake Factory for an early dinner. We actually ordered cheesecake and took it home with us for our after the show treat.
Anne resaerched on the internet and found a great mall called the "Grove". It seemed to have been the perfect spot for 12 very different women. We got up in the morning and went straight there. We saw a movie, everyone chose the ones they wanted to see and then shopped ALL day. It was a blast, and everyone rotated who they were with according to who wanted to shop where.
Sarah, Jen and Mary Ann had make-overs in Nordstroms. Sarah made sure they gave her "smokey eyes" for that evening.

We left Friday morning and took a leisurely drive to LA with stops for shopping along the way. After we checked in to our hotel rooms we set off to hit the walk of stars and to look for something to eat. We were in downtown Hollywood and I have to say it was a bit scary. We may have passed thirty sex shops along our walk to dinner. I was glad to be a "pack of chicks" then.
We found a great Italian restaurant and had a lovely dinner there. There was singing and music and we were treated really well. It was great.
We took two vans full of six women each. This was Jodi's van and she did a great job of following Sarah's very fast and efficient driving.
I rode in Sarah's van with some of my very favorite people. Sarah, Anne, Mary Ann, Kelly, and Sally. We started a game of what was your most embarrassing moment that turned into some really deep and funny stories of our lives. This lasted the 6 hours there and the 6 hours home. Is it wrong to say that I enjoyed this trip more than most any other trip I have taken? I loved the drive as much as the show. Every moment was fun. I forgot that it is really fun to take a rode trip, (just not with little children). I loved all of the girl time, no men upset about our shopping and girls in PJ's talking to all hours of the night.

I loved that I got to have a much needed break of being mom and that I got to know some people really well and now have the ultimate respect for them. I can say no one bugged me. I can say not a bad word was said about anyone. I can say we giggled like little girls and that I cried many times from some of the stories friends told. All in all, this weekend was amazing, sometimes it is nice to just be one of the girls:)

Thanks to Annie for being the picture taker....Thanks to Lisa for the planning of this fabulous weekend....Thanks to Sarah and Jodi for driving. Most of all thanks to Bob for being such a great dad and husband that I didn't have one worry while I was away.