VoxSentia

Bel Air Presbyterian's Christmas program was amazing!

I felt like I was at a real concert.  Bel Air Christmas program is certainly professional grade. Not to mention their amazing multi-media that went into this program. There was a full orchestra and choir and band. I am amazed at how talented some of the congregational members are. I wished that God gifted me with musical abilities but much to my chagrin, I'm not good enough. But I really did enjoy listening to the orchestra playing majestic music. I just kept thinking how amazing God is to bring all these talented people to come to worship him. And tonight I heard the best rendition of "Silent Night Holy Night". I don't even like that song, but the orchestra arranged it in such a way that it was heaven. It's a big congregation so there are truly talented people in the music industry, movie industry, and many other avenues where one can show their professional talent. It was even better than the programs when I was at Berkland Baptist church, and I thought they were good. Bel Air Christmas program was essentially a concert that was free.

Sweet Chari-tea

I go to this one tea house called Sweet Chari-tea. It's my favorite tea house. I love tea houses and whenever I visit a garden, I make sure I make a stop at the tea houses. The only thing about this tea house is that it's in a bad location. I only found out about this tea house because of my old job (the office building was next to it). The owner is selling the tea house and I always wonder how busy this tea-house would be if it were in a better location like Santa Monica. I would love to own something like this. I love how they decorated the place; it's quaint and charming. I also bought several tea cups and tea pots. Look at how cute this place is!

It's Christmas season so the decoration is very Christmas-y. Don't you just love the lamp? It reminds me of "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." Also, take a look at the painted on stone floor and the warm peach walls. Call me girly, but this place is fabulous. It would be a perfect place to have a bridal shower or baby shower.

This is where I normally sit. Here's my tasty peach ginger tea and yummy sandwiches.

I bought my mother these lovely tea cups for Christmas.

I also bought her this tea-for-one set. She loves roses.

There is another tea house that I visited that I really liked. It's the Tea Rose Garden in Pasadena. It's another cute, quaint, little place. And of course, the tea house in Huntington Gardens.

The Golden Compass

I went and watched the Golden Compass last night and I think I liked it (I like most fantasy movies), with the exception of the dissatisfied incomplete feeling I got at the end. The movie didn't resolve the story enough and left me hanging but not necessarily in a good cliff-hanger way.

But I really liked the concept of one's own soul walking next to you in the form of a talking animal. My animal daemon is called Andreas; it's some sort of a wildcat.

Insomnia finally over!

Last week, I struggled with insomnia the whole freaking week. I didn't sleep at all at night and the only sleep I got were a couple hours of sleep daily in the car. It was just AWEFUL! I remember thinking, "I can't live like this anymore." I just didn't know what to do. The Ambien that I was prescribed stopped working for me. One night, I got so upset I took 4 of them (a very stupid move because I could have died of overdose), but didn't sleep a bit even still.

So I went to the Dr. last Friday and got a new prescription. I actually got a couple. One is a tranquilizer which is only recommended as needed and the other is a drug that has a off-label use for treating people with chronic insomnia.

Thanksgiving totally screwed up my sleeping schedule where I was sleeping at odd hours and waking up at like 1PM or later. The week after that was just horrible because I could not adjust my sleep.  Last night I slept really well. I'm happy with the drug so far, except it makes me very tired even during the day for about half the day at work.

I also have been doing yoga for a few weeks now. I'm not sure if that's helping at all with the sleep, but I like going daily. Equinox is really great for it.