Mama Matsuo Musing #4: Brow Wow Wow

Welcome back to another installment of "Mama Matsuo's Musings" where I let you in on the wisdom of my very lovely, Japanese mother and the beauty & life tips she's given me over the years. Today's musing is one that I've been dying to chat about. It's as simple as they get and there's no way you can lose!

Mama Matsuo Musing #4: Who Needs Surgery When You Have Eyebrows?

When was the last time you really spent some quality time with your eyebrows?

Here's the thing, folks. These little babies are like a free ride into sculpted-face-town. With very little time and money, can you change your whole look. Here's the deal...

Being of Asian descent, I've had many an epic battle with my eyebrows...or lack of eyebrows. They're like the concept of eyebrows more than the actual thing. In short: sparse eyebrows suck. Kind of like my 5 eyelashes (and, yes, I'll post on this another time.) I spent many a prepubescent hour plucking, shaping, reshaping, banging my head against a mirror for overplucking...Rinse, repeat. Who knew that these little shadows of hair on my face would give me so much stress?

After having a go at all of this brow sorcery, I came to discover that the shape of my eyebrows had a profound effect on the shape of the rest of my face...or, at least, how it was perceived. The thinner my eyebrows were (or less existent), the less angular the rest of my face looked. The more of an arch I put in, the more angular and distinct my face would become. The stronger the brow, the sharper my face became.

Normal Nami vs. Browless Alien Nami

A Luxurious Life: Get One!

This post comes on the heels of a few revelations I've had recently, both due to my quitting smoking (yes, I'm still clean!) and spending more time alone. To be honest, I had a real fear of being alone for a long time, but lately things have been changing. Maybe it's part of growing up, but I've begun to enjoy my own company. (That sounds so self-centered!) It's something about being able to hear myself think.

Life is a funny thing. We all have a certain number of hours every day to allocate to particular actions...or non-actions. Growing up with a workaholic father (who is still, at 71, working, traveling, and kickin' ass) led me to believe that happiness lay in sitting in an office for long hours, toiling over projects, and not getting enough sleep. Turns out, that's what makes my father happy. However, I'm starting to get a feeling that this apple was plucked from its tree and hurled into a neighboring state (or even across several states equivalent to an entire country: He's in NY, I'm in LA.) Proving that, in fact, sometimes the apple falls very, very far from the tree.

I've begun to "unplug" as they say. When work hours are over, I step away and spend the rest of my time doing other things. Writing, reading, taking walks with my dog, spending time with my husband. I get enough sleep now and have taken up painting and tap dancing (I promise I'll post more about this later.) I've come to accept that, OMG, there are fulfilling things to do outside of my office job! And, get this, my work is a bazillion times better because I give myself the luxury of what I'll coin "non-work."

So, this post is dedicated to a solid list of 5 things that I enjoy doing while I "non-work" (or "un-work" if you prefer another grammatically wrong version of my concept.) Luxury has nothing to do with money or fame or silk sheets. (Ok, maybe silk sheets.) It has to do with loving life...

These aren't silk sheets, but puppies are just as luxurious as silk sheets.

Quote of the Week: Action...

Quote of the Week: September 24th, 2012

Thanks, Pablo. Not only did you have a great sense of style (eh hem, Picasso is almost synonymous with the nautical boat neck shirt, am I right?), but also solid life philosophies.

Nothing will happen if you just stand still. We all have to keep moving.

Action, people! Action!

Go out there and make your dreams come true!

Image: Created by Nami M. Scott

Dear Smoking...

Preface

I began smoking at the age of 16. A punk who couldn't drink, was too anxious to do too many drugs, but needed something to pass the time. A secret lover of old Hollywood and rough flapper girls from the 1920's, cigarettes seemed like the perfect thing to accompany my reputation for being scrappy.

I'm 31 now and with one major quitting period (1 year) under my belt and a massive relapse (another year), I'm finally back to quitting again. To help me get through this ridiculously rough time, I'm going to do what all people with addictions are told to do by therapists (or at least it happens a lot on that show "My Strange Addiction" which I'm totally obsessed with.)

I decided to confront my addiction and say farewell to it in a formal way. I'm really hoping this is the last time I have to quit.

...and now, without further ado, we (the royal "we") are proud to present: A Letter to Smoking

(insert some golf claps.)

Taking a break at work (a.k.a killing myself)

Tales of Fashion Week & Phlegm

Behold! Out of the deserted plains of this blog cometh Nami like a phoenix out of the fire...except more like a sick child emerging from a balled up comforter, covered in cracker crumbs and surrounded by tissues...

Let me explain.

First of all, I won't pussyfoot around the fact that I had disappeared for two weeks. I'm apologizing wholeheartedly right now for that. I was in NYC for Fashion Week for work and was dealing with such a frenzy of responsibilities, I barely had time to eat or sleep. Don't worry. I spent most nights right before bed ashamed at my lack of blogging. Mental wrist slaps the entire time I was there.

So, this happened.

But, like all workaholics who are weak against air travel (screaming restless children, a middle seat, no sleep, and broken in-flight wifi, anyone?) and never get as much sleep as they'd like, I ended up catching the black plague while at the tents, leaving me in a near-death-like state for a few days. Yay, fashion?

So, now, I will try my best to delight you with a few things I picked up in the last two weeks while I was away! Ready?

Mama Matsuo Musing #3: "Ship" Shape

Welcome to another installment of "Mama Matsuo's Musings" where I get to pass on the sage fashion & beauty advice of my beautiful, Japanese mother. Today's tip has seen me through every clothing season to date and has been completely fail-proof!

Mama Matsuo Musing #3: You Can Never Go Wrong With Nautical

Ahoy, matey! (And, yes, I know sailors don't wear these hats. Bad hair day & couldn't find my red knitted cap!)

Every one of us has a little sailor or captain directing the winds of our lives inside of them, helping us navigate this crazy thing called life. (OooOOooh, philosophical!) And because of this, I get the feeling that everyone can relate to nautical fashion. Think it's a stretch? Sit tight. I'm getting to the good stuff.