moshi moshi means hello

first off, it's memorial day.  a day to remember everyone that has fought for our country and paid the ultimate sacrifice, and a day to remember those continuing to risk everything as they defend our freedom.  you people rock.  plain and simple.  some kids might idolize superman or spiderman or batman or some other type of crossover between beast and man, but i idolize you, military men and women.

when it comes right down to it and i'm being honest, i've never been known to be selfless.  in fact i've often been known to be the exact opposite of this, but you fine folks are the epitome of selfless.  i know in my heart of hearts that i couldn't do it, but i am so very thankful there are people out there that aren't like me (for so many reasons, but especially this one).  all my love and my sincerest thanks.

now that my memorial day thanks are complete, it's time for my daily language lesson.  hooray!  having been told in high school that i had too strong a southern accent to ever be good at a foreign language (which still stings today...especially since i'm not even from the south), i am often hesitant to practice any type of language other than my own.  i can rationalize this with the fact that i often sound stupid enough on my own and i don't really need to add salt to the foreign language wound by stumbling over words, saying them incorrectly, and having more knowledgeable people laugh at me.  and trust me, i've heard it all...trying is the only way you learn, people don't mind if you stumble because they know you're practicing, practice makes perfect, blah blah blah, etc.  

whatever.  i'll just do what i did during my trip to mexico in middle school - i'll pretend i can't speak and just survive by pointing.  if i can't get it by pointing, i don't need it.

anyways, and yes this will feel like a tangent but stick with me because it's related ... i decided recently that it was time to trim the mane that sits atop my head since it had been so very long and eventually my hair really does resemble dead lettuce hanging from my scalp (something i tried to explain to friends tonight at dinner - that really is what my hair looks like when it dries naturally).  i googled salons in my area and found one called moshi moshi means hello.  i didn't know what moshi moshi was or if it really meant hello, but the reviews were golden and it thought it sounded cool.

and it turns out, moshi moshi really does mean hello (at least informally...like for a phone conversation. naturally i asked for clarification because i don't like believing lies).  and i feel like i even remember michelle tanner calling japan on a full house episode and saying moshi moshi...or maybe i'm making that up?  but either way, i think i'll start to incorporate moshi moshi into my daily vocabulary, much like i'm incorporating the 'so fetch' phrase.  if you don't know so fetch, you should (and you will once i'm done with you).  moshi moshi sounds like a great way to say hello and it's definitely a language i can speak, southern accent or not.  

so don't be alarmed if i say moshi moshi to you the next time you call.  because obviously it is so fetch.

also, for the record, moshi moshi means hello is a really wonderful salon and mary, the lady that did my hair, was definitely so fetch.  she was one of those stylists with vision.  and when dealing with a girl that usually just ties her horse mane up into a ponytail or braid, vision is something necessary if a stylist is going to succeed and make me want to come back.  moshi moshi means hello, and mary, definitely did that. if you're in the market to get your mane chopped, it's worth checking out.  

sometimes a girl deserves to pamper herself

by all rational accounts, i should be completely consumed by my research methods test that will be occurring, whether i'm prepared or not, in roughly 32 hours.  eh, call it the 3rd semester grad student blues or call it flying by the seat of my pants, but either way i am truly underwhelmed.  i mean, yes, i will in fact study tomorrow as i have been for quite a few hours today.  but you know what?  in the end i'm banking on the fact that for 24 years i have yet to fail a test (excluding the one bubble test in 2nd grade when i skipped a line on roughly the 6th question therefore making the remainder of my answers wrong, and also that daily edit grammar quiz in 5th grade...because it was stupid) and i don't think i'll be starting now.  i mean, maybe that's overly confident, but i just have this feeling.  i'll let you know how it plays out.

anyways, because i'm feeling rather apathetic towards the whole studying thing, i've decided to list 5 things related to pampering that i love (some of which i realized today, others of which i've known but wanted to add to the list anyways):

3 of the 5! sorry, no haircut picture...too creepy, even for me.

1.  it is amazing how changing your nail polish from a dark, moody purple to an eye-popping neon pink will improve your mood.  it's almost an instant fix.

2.  it is much easier to throw your recently showered hair into a braid and just go with it.  i mean, let's get real.  what are the chances that you're going to meet your husband in LIBRARY SCHOOL?  yeah, exactly.

3.  cooling eye masks are god's gift to stressed graduate students.  they should be used daily, potentially multiple times a day depending on the time in the semester (ex: finals=3 times a day).  

4.  self-tanner WITH GLITTER is the bee's knees.  i mean, not only does it give you that instant satisfaction because you are no longer vampire-pale, but it adds a little shimmer to your life.  and who doesn't need shimmer?  it's the easiest way to instantly become part of the cullen family, minus the icky pale factor and the drinking of blood.

5.  a haircut can truly, and i mean truly, transform a person.  considering that i haven't cut my hair in like 9 months (sorry horselike mane, but there really is no need when i slap you in a ponytail or braid every day), i didn't learn this from my own haircut.  but let's just say the haircut i recently saw made me stop and stare as if seeing jonathan taylor thomas through my lovesick six year old eyes.  it is amazing how with a few clips of the scissors, a rebel-without-a-cause can be transformed into a take-him-to-grandma's-for-christmas-dinner type man.  well done, anonymous hairstylist, well done.  women everywhere are thanking you for uncovering that masterpiece of a man.