Recharging the Batteries

Wow, have I had an awesome weekend so far!! Brad and I FINALLY got away on a mini-trip away from the girls. We bought tickets to see Dave Matthews on Friday night and the grandparents kept the girls.

If you have been a frequent reader of this blog you know that I have suffered from post partem anxiety/ depression. Part of that is being freaked out whenever I have to go and venture out into the world. Specially when it's somewhere I have never been before. So..this get away was a very big deal for me. It is a baby step. The more comfortable I get with the little trips the further away I can go...and feel like my old normal self again. Fearless and ready to conquer the world!

Left around noon on Friday to go to Pittsburgh. The concert was actually about 30 miles closer to us than Pitt. but I had never been to the burgh so we decided to stay there for the night. If you've never driven into Pittsburgh from the west you need to. It is an awesome, breathtaking experience. You drive and drive and drive..no biggie...interstate travel with the usual construction as you get closer and closer to the city. You know you are getting close but you can't see any buildings or anything... just more congestion. Next thing you know you are at a tunnel. It's not a very long tunnel...maybe a mile at most..you can see the daylight at the other end. You think oh, okay..

Then you come out and WHAM you are there, Pittsburgh is staring you right in the face. You come out of the tunnel onto a bright yellow bridge. To your left is Heinz Stadium and umm...*please excuse my ignorance here as I'm not a baseball fan, but a football fan* ...the stadium where the Pirates play. Directly in front of you and to the right is downtown Pitt. Some of the coolest looking buildings I have seen. The city is gorgeous in the daytime and even more so at night.

We stayed at the Sheraton in Station Square. It is directly across from the city and we were on the 15th floor. We had an amazing skyline view.

Went and walked around Station Square had some dinner at Joe's Crab Shack *was my first time to eat there as well* (I know, I know, where have I been?) and then we were off to see Dave!!!

The band played at the Post Gazette Pavillion. What a great venue. It was way out in the middle of nowhere. People were camped out and tailgating before the show. We spent some extra cash and got the premium parking so we didn't have to walk a zillion miles to get to the Pavillion. The weather was great! It was cool enough to where we had to take our jackets in with us. The Pavillion itself was very cool. It wasn't just a big ole ampitheatre..there were all kinds of vendors there as well. Good food, good drinks, decent restroom facilities...and believe me that is important!

We had seats right in the middle at the end of the row. Great view of the stage if we hadn't had THE largest woman in the freaking world sitting in front of us! I coudn't believe it when we sat down and saw who was in front of us. But.....everyone stood up during the show so it wasn't too bad after all.

The show as outstanding. Dave and the band are so tight together. Such a good jam band. I have always liked their music but seeing them live was just really cool. The music kind of has a southern sound to it with the fiddle playing and it made me a little homesick for the south. We had so much fun at the concert.

Drove back to the hotel after the show and then went out to a bar to find some food and a drink.
This morning we went shopping and then out for Indian food. Brad absolutely LOVES Indian food. I had never been to a real Indian restaurant so we went. I was a little nervous about trying it because I know it can get pretty spicy and I have a crappy stomach when it comes to some kinds of food.

They had a buffet at the rest. and so I got to try out a few different things and it wasn't bad. I actually liked most of it. I didn't get sick at all! I'm sure that there are some things I could've eaten that would have been bad, but Brad steered me safely through the experience.

It was a GREAT time and I'm sooo glad we got to go.