A WICKED WEEKEND =)

2/7/09

For my 40Th birthday, my mom gave me a trip to SF to see Wicked. I have been waiting since October and it's finally here! Hooray!

Dave and the kids drove me to the Pittsburgh Bart station Saturday morning around 11:00. I was a little nervous because I don't think I have ever taken Bart alone before. I wasn't afraid of anything happening to me or anything like that. I was more worried that I would get distracted and miss my stop because I am not familiar with the stops. I know, I am a total dork. I should have sat by the poster of the Bart map but didn't think of it until I was already sitting somewhere else. I knew I had a fairly long ride so I sat back popped my ear buds in my ears and started working on the blanket I am crocheting. I was just thinking that maybe I should move closer to the map on the wall when a woman sat right next to me blocking me in. I was so worried now I began to worry that I wouldn't be able to get pass her with all of my junk before the doors close. Oh the Stress! LOL I figured I should put my stuff away so I could concentrate and not miss my stop. I think the nice lady sitting next to me knew I was worried and asked me which stop was mine. She new her way around the Bart system and told me that her stop was after mine so she would make sure I had plenty of time to get off of the train :) About a stop before my stop she moved and suggested I move closer to a door. So it all worked out.

Yes, I am aware that my life is so dull that a ride on Bart is the most exciting thing I have had to blog about in months =)

My mom was waiting when I came out of the station at Powell street. We walked back to our hotel, we were staying at Hotel 480 which was a few blocks up the street. We dropped off my stuff and left to walk around the city. Mom made a lunch reservation at Rotunda, the restaurant in Neiman Marcus. Mom had a Chicken Salad and I had and Grilled Chicken Sandwich. It was really yummy!

We shopped around Union Square for a while. Wondering who would pay over $1,000.00 for a pair of jeans! Must be nice :) We headed back to our hotel to clean up and change clothes they we were off to Dinner. Mom thought it would be fun to walk through Union Square to the restaurant, that way we could catch some of the Chinese New Year Parade. BIG MISTAKE!!! We got trapped in a huge crowd of people. It was a mess! Nice plan mom! :) We made it through the crowd and to the restaurant. We ate dinner at Hotel Monaco (i think) it was also really good. The clock was ticking so we decided to skip dessert, the waitress told us that they serve dessert until midnight so we figured we could come back after the show. After leaving dinner we only had about 15 minutes to get to the Orpheum Theatre! We were running like crazy to get to the Bart station and hoping that a train would come in time! We were lucky that a train showed up right after we got there. The next stop is right in front of the theatre. Whew! Only as soon as we got in the guy was yelling "hurry, we need to shut the door" We must have looked so silly running up those stairs. What a work out! We got to our seats just in time. The show was so good! THANK YOU MOM!

After the show we decided to head back to the same restaurant where we had dinner and grab dessert. I had creme brulee, YUM! Being in San Francisco made us think about my brother Jason. (who passed away 9 years ago) We asked the waitress if she had ever heard of a bar called The Owl Tree, not expecting her to have ever heard of if let alone know where it was. Turns out it was just a few blocks away. The Owl Tree is a bar that my brother worked at for years. He really loved working there. Mom and I decided to go check it out. Turns out the owner died and the son completely renovated it so we were told it looks nothing like the place Jason loved so much. We miss you Jason. By this time it was really late. So we headed back to the hotel and hit the sack.

The plan for Sunday was to have breakfast at the restaurant where my cousin is an executive chef then maybe head over to china town. We still went to breakfast but it was pouring rain so we decided to call it a day and head home. Mom dropped me off at Bart and I had a nice relaxing ride home where Dave and the kids were waiting to pick me up. The girls were so excited to hear all about the show and are hoping they get a chance to see it someday.