First, let me sing the praises of chamomile tea. I. Love. It. A LOT. Also? Stevia rules.

In other news, Joe and I went on vacation. A month ago! This is one overdue entry, but it was a fun vacation, and I don't want to let it go by without writing about it.

The small backstory is that Joe and two of my three brothers are total gamers. They can't get enough of their video games. So when Joe heard there was a Final Fantasy Concert in L.A., there was just no way we were going to pass that up. I should mention that this was also a special performance because while this concert had been done in Japan, the concert in L.A. was the ONLY Final Fantasy Concert planned for the United States. And we got tickets! So exciting!

The Final Fantasy games are awesome, and have been around for years. I remember hearing the music from the first games as a kid while Garth played them in the living room. When Joe and I were first going out, we lived in different states, and while we were on the phone, I could hear the music from FF7. We used to play games on the phone, watch t.v. on the phone, etc. Moving in together did much to heal the poor phone bill. But I digress.

Lately, the music from video games has gained popularity, and it is really fun and awesome to hear orchestral versions of it, whether it's the Mario games or Zelda, or what have you.

So, we went down to L.A. for the performance, and what's a weekend in L.A. with no Disneyland? So, we went there too!

Disneyland was super fun, as always! We went on a big boat that we'd never been on. Captain Hook and Wendy were hanging out on the upper deck, which was cool. Joe and I explored down below and took refuge from the blazing sun. I felt a little seasick which is extremely sad considering how slow the boat was going and that it rides on a track. There aren't even waves to rock the boat!

Joe and I had fun riding the usual rides. Star Tours, Pirates of the Carribean, Haunted Mansion. It was awesome! We even checked out some of the Haunted Mansion conception art, which was really interesting.

As Joe and I wandered around, we decided to just sit down for a minute and talk about the rest of the day's plans. We walked into a small courtyard area in New Orleans Square, away from the crowds. There was a vacant bench, so we sat down to relax for a little bit. As we were talking, a man walked in through the doorway, and I had to do a double-take. When I did, he totally startled me! His face was stark white, and he had weird black eyes and... oh, he was a mime! I smiled at him, and he smiled back, and waved. He went up the white staircase in front of us, and I turned to Joe to keep talking. I must have seen something out of the corner of my eye, because I looked up, and with a small wave of his hand, something was flying at me. Before I knew it, Joe and I both put our hands out and Joe caught a string of gold, plastic beads. I got Mardi Gras beads! From a mime! In New Orleans Square! It was surreal and fun, and it just felt really magical. It was one of those odd moments in time that just stands out from the rest, and is shrouded in a sense of wonder and niceness, and... I don't even know how to describe why exactly it felt so special, just that it did, and that I'm glad it happened.

After two days of playing at Disneyland, it was time to go to the Final Fantasy Concert. We got dressed and ready to go, and it wasn't too long before we'd arrived at the Disney Concert Hall. I know, more Disney! It was great, and we had awesome seats. The only mishaps were that I dumbly picked a tiny scab on the outside of my arm, and then it would NOT stop bleeding. I was so embarrassed. Except that it eventually did stop bleeding, and boy, was I relieved. Note to self: Don't do that! Also, when Joe parked the car, he was all excited about finding a good parking space, when BAM! We hit the wall. We didn't hit it hard, as evidenced by the lack of damage to any part of the car. But MY GOD, you should have heard the noise! It echoed so loud inside the parking garage and freaked us out, but then we just had to laugh about it. Especially once we knew the car was okay! Last but not least, my stupid knit tank top's straps kept falling off my shoulders. That was uncool. I was sad when I realized if I had dressed down a little, like Joe suggested, I wouldn't have been out of place at all, and I would have been more comfortable. Another note to self: It is not required to dress super fancy for video game concerts.

Anyway, once the music started, everything was beautiful. There were screens that showed images from the games while the music played. And the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra is phenomenal. It was simply wonderful and enchanting to sit there and listen to such familiar music played so beautifully. Okay, so not ALL of it was familiar to me, but some of it was, and the stuff that wasn't was still very enjoyable. I did recognize the Chocobo theme right away! I knew they were going to play it sometime (how could they not?), so when it started, I just smiled. Some people cheered! It was really funny.

The composer for all the Final Fantasy music was there at the concert, and people cheered like crazy whenever he came into the concert hall. He got a standing ovation each time. Toward the end of the concert, he came on stage with an interpreter, as well as the creator of the Final Fantasy games, and the designer of the games. They each took turns speaking, saying wonderful things about how music is shared across cultures, and through all kinds of mediums, and what an honor it is to have people appreciate the music and the games so much. One of the guys (I believe it was the FF creator), spoke for a very long time before letting the interpreter jump in. Snippets of laughter rolled through the audience because we knew the interpreter must be feeling antsy up there, trying to remember all he was saying! When he stopped talking, she said, "Umm..." and everyone laughed, including her. Then she started talking and I think she got the gist of it. Of course, I don't speak Japanese, so who knows, right? But anyway, the three men up there seemed very happy and excited to be there and to see such a large audience, all fans of the games, enjoying the music together. It was very cool!

We waited in line for quite a while after the concert in order to buy programs and a tee shirt. I love my tee shirt! While we were in line, we were surrounded by super-nerds. I suppose that's to be expected at a video game concert. The dude in front of us would not stop talking to his friends, over explaining every detail of how he ended up getting closer seats. His pants were way too short and his voice way too nasal. It was as if someone had snatched him right out of a sketch comedy that makes fun of nerds, except he was the real deal. Weird. There was also a dude in these crazy boots that came up to his knees. It was like he expected a flood at any minute. Someone's girlfriend was there, but at first glance, I thought she was their mom. I can't even explain it. She looked like a flapper from the 1920s. Anyway, they were all I could concentrate on the entire time we were in line, and Joe and I laughed later at how odd it was seeing such a strange group of people together like that.

The night was great, and the concert was everything we hoped it would be. I'm really glad we went. It was a spectacular weekend!