Amanda & Jen - a Retrospective

My friend is moving...pretty far away. Not California far, but southern border Texas town far - I will call it 'Texico.' Any which way, it's far enough. We all knew she'd be moving in the spring and we all knew that the time was drawing nearer - but the time is practically here - she's leaving next week. The friend is Amanda - the other half of Morning Cupcake!

It hasn't hit me yet - I may still be in denial. But all the months leading up to the inevitable departure has made me think about all the good things that have happened since becoming friends with Amanda:

My wardrobe has seen a big increase in the shoe and dress/skirt department since befriending Amanda. When first hanging out with Amanda, rarely did I ever see this girl in anything but a skirt and heels (platforms for the summer). So as we became closer friends and bonded over shopping trips, my closet began seeing more skirts/dresses and heels. I even broadened my black shoe horizon by purchasing grey shoes and red shoes - and those have become favorites in the closet. When I hit store websites, the first thing that I go to are 'dresses' and 'skirts.' I don't know why...I definitely have enough...and I think there is an imbalance of bottoms to tops. But my work wardrobe has certainly seen a positive change/increase and I owe most of it to Amanda. Without her equally fabulous fashion sense and enabling techniques, I would still be stuck in blah-collared shirts and flat shoes.

But Amanda and I weren't just about shopping - no way. It was about so much more. We found that we shared so many common interests - a love of music, movies, hot actors, good TV, the arts, dancing and everyday ridiculousness. We took karaoke to a whole new level by making it to the Karaoke Revolution finals, during ski trip, only to score perfect 50,000s on raw throats and a dying audience. And then repeating it the following year. We ventured to the Rock-It Grill, in Old Town, and had our fun, smoky, dance-party karaoke times in there. While driving in the car, how many people can you find that actually know the lyrics to Air Supply and will endure pain due to all the emotional hand movements that go into singing 'All Cried Out' and 'Total Eclipse of the Heart'? (Not many, I bet.)

One of my best memories is playing golf with Amanda for the first time (our first time playing together, not out on the course) on a hot, sweltering August day - who else could I depend on to join in my overheated fun than Amanda? I busted out the 'Beat It' dance (I even got some claps from a passing golfer), she made fun of me driving with a 'hammie' (sandwich) in my hand, we did circus tricks from our golf cart when picking up our stray balls (all while singing circus music) and we were together in arms against the golf nazi.

We signed up for hip-hop dance class together and were super ecstatic when we got chosen to move on up from Hip Hop I to Hip Hop II in a few short weeks! I will miss our routine trips to the 7-11 after class to get our much-deserved Slurpees (and then running back to our cars because of the shady people that hang out there). Never in a million years did I think I would be having a recital at the age of 32. And of course, would you expect anything less than both of us showing up to the recital semi-hung over? Rhythm Nation (not as good as 'Beat It') will always hold some good memories for me.

We're both semi-adventurers. We'll never go camping but we'll drive out of our way to check out new boutiques (that's an adventure!). How else would we have discovered one of our favorite stores, Diva? Our latest travel adventure to London was so much fun - lugging our suitcases into taxi cabs, through handicap-unfriendly train stations and going about our shenanigans in a whole new environment. There aren't many people that can go from an art museum to the outdoor markets and then back for a couture exhibit, all while constantly wondering if we bought enough wooden tulips to bring back home - but we did - and it was grand! This is where I deemed Amanda an agreeable traveling companion - and I can't wait to go on another adventure ('Sound of Music' anyone)?

Amanda seems to be the only one that I could really feel relaxed around and not have to worry about word vomit. If I had a thought on my mind, I knew I could spill it and she wouldn't ridicule me for thinking what I was saying. No political crossfires here.... No sir. I wanted to discuss the dilemmas of being a lesbian (if both lesbians are girly girls, then who gets the engagement ring?) or talk about my feelings for my top 5 famous boyfriends - and through it all, Amanda still took me seriously.

She's to the point and she sticks up for her friends. Amanda is extremely loyal and always up for anything (except camping - which I'm with her on that one). Her lawyer-side taught me that I need to be more aggressive when I've been wronged (this is SOOOOOOOO not HAM in my egg mcmuffin - it's sausage!). I just hope I can do her proud on my own.

What it comes down to is this - and I've told her this before - it's really hard to find someone with such similar interests but yet can have a differing opinion and really make you think about your own....and it's rare to find two such well rounded, accomplished people living in the same place. We always thought that somehow, in some way, we must've been separated at birth - despite our two-year age gap...and the fact that, oh yeah, I'm Chinese and she's not. But it never made a difference to us - we were like one in the same.

But what I like most about Amanda? Her laugh is just as loud as mine - and it's hearty.

I'll miss you Amanda!