The Reason I'm Well and Well-Off

Last weekend, I had a chance to go out and catch up with my girlfriends over dinner and drinks at our favorite spot, North.


From Left: CC, Janice, me, and Jewel

As we enjoyed the nice warm spring night at an outdoor patio table chatting away about anything and everything; from how rude the waiter was to the craziness of our husbands' work schedules to the latest shopping spree; we somehow ended up talking about what it is that makes women feel safe and secure in life. Right off the bat (or so it seemed after a couple more martinis...), we pretty much agreed that we needed the same thing--companionship, stability, a comfortable home, a loving-but-driven partner, intimacy, and...BANG, there it was...the money.

Maybe these are--more or less--all basic human needs, but the interesting thing was how each of us ranked the order of importance differently, although we fit into a pretty similar demographic group, financially and socially speaking. Especially when it came to the actual amount of mula we each felt was necessary to sustain our living, there was a HUGE gap. I mean, huge.

I know this sounds like a total cliché, but I realized that, for me, the most precious and priceless value laid in the people in my life. I don't just mean my immediate family. Of course, they're the biggest source of security, but many of the friends/mentors/and even some strangers that have left some impressions on my life are all such important part of me today.

Growing up in the suberb of Tokyo where we all had very small homes, the size of homes and what we have in them have never held much importance for me. (Although I do enjoy and appreciate everything I have been blessed with.) Money... Rachid and I have literally been through "the richer and the poor" in our short life together, and although it does mess with your stress level, I will admit, I have been completely secure and happy on a very limited budget before.

Where I feel so tremendeously lucky and well off is the intricate threads of support I have around me--some close-by, some half-way around the world--that makes me feel like I can never fall off the face of the Earth because this safety net is always there to catch me and cradle me like a sling around a newborn baby should I start slipping.

So, if you visit my blog regularly to see what my family and I are up to, the chances are you are a big part of my comfort sling. Thank you. Because I would not be where I am today if you didn't come across and alter my life so very tremendeously.

And if you are a great friend of mine but have been a stranger to my site, what the hell is wrong with you? Repent immediately and give in to the power of the dark side...


Baby, I love you, and you are the best thing that has ever happened to me.
...Well, at least ever since the Neiman Marcus clearance sale...