Today is 24th birthday & I am off to New Jersey - the home of one of my best friends, & former college roommate. We'll talk-talk-talk & eat and drink margaritas at a Mexican restaurant I love & go into NYC & it will be grand. I'll be back on Monday (maybe Tuesday) - but for now, aurevoir!

I leave you with some pictures of me in my younger years, because many of them make me laugh (& because I was organizing all the pictures I have saved on my computer yesterday). & because I always get rather nostalgic on birthdays. 

(as you can see in two of the pictures on the top row, my mother was a fan of coordinating outfits for my sister and I - although I will say, that the beret one was for a Christmas card, she never made us go out in public in actually-identical outfits... just matching ones)

Today is my day to "blog it forward" in the huge project started by Victoria of sfgirlbythebay (learn more about it here).

I'm supposed to talk about the things that inspire me, and there are so, soooo, sooooooooooo many things that do. I could go on forever & ever. I think you can be inspired by anything - a cupcake paper, a gorilla finger puppet, vintage glasses with circus illustrations, a pink ukulele, attractively-designed shoe boxes (these are all things that I can see hanging around my room right now). One of my favorite things about myself is that I never, ever get bored. I think this is because so many things interest/inspire me. Someone or other said "the only people who get bored, are boring people" - & I think that's pretty damn true. 

I fill this blog with "lovely things", but to me they're also "inspiring things" - whether the things in question are illustrations or beautifully designed pieces of clothing or jewelry - so in this post, I'm not going to include any of the items I talk about here on a daily basis. 

Instead, I've put together some images showcasing my other inspirations that aren't often discussed- music, movies & books. I honestly couldn't live without reading, watching & listening. Really. The thought of losing my sight or hearing sends me into an intense depression. I know some people (like my sister, an athlete) really loathe the idea of losing their ability to walk, but I'd rather cut off my own feet with a butter knife than lose my eyes or ears. That is not an exaggeration, haha. I would quite literally cut off my feet if it meant I could keep my eyes. 

I have plenty of friends who NEVER got to the theater to see a movie. Who have maybe 5 dvds total - it boggles my mind. At the end of the year I have a HUGE stack of ticket stubs. I have so many dvds I will decline mentioning the amount. 

Then there's the people who don't read often, or at all. Sadly, lots of people are like this, so it doesn't boggle my mind as intensely as the movie thing, but - it's still a shame for them. If I were really wealthy, I would happily not work & just read. And read. And read. I am forever & ever thankful that my mother really instilled a love of reading into my Mallory-head. Thanks, mum.

Probably the strangest sort-of person (to me) is the lad or lady who doesn't really care about music. An example: My sister was talking to me about her boyfriend's father - he drives in silence. He NEVER has music playing while he drives. One of my GREATEST JOYS is driving & singing at the top of my lungs. Or just driving and REALLY LISTENING to music. I'm driving to New Jersey tomorrow & I am PUMPED. I mean, I'm excited to see one of my best friends & go into NYC & joyfully wander around & eat & see this play - but, I'm also just excited to drive & sing until my voice gives out.

I'm babbling & not being at all coherent, but my point is. I love music. I love stories. I feel like - nay, I know - that many people would tell me I "need to get a life" if they knew how many books I've read or movies I've watched or how much I enjoy doing so, but, I really don't give a - to be perfectly frank - shit. I have a life, thanks, I just make all these things a part of it and I think I'm the better for it. & I'm surely happier for it.

So. ANYWAY! Haha. In short - books, movies & music inspire me and here is a round-up of a medium-sized selection of my favorites. 

MUSIC

Van Morrison / Rilo Kiley / The Beach Boys / Kate Nash / She + Him / The Clash / Kitty, Daisy & Lewis / Otis Redding / Jenny Lewis / Florence + the Machine / Coconut Records / The Beatles / Flight of the Conchords / Peggy Lee / Regina Spektor / David Bowie

BOOKS

I was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane Crosley / Born Standing Up by Steve Martin / The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath / The Cider House Rules by John Irving / Dressed: A Century of Hollywood Costume Design by Deborah Nadoolman Landis / Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl / Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro / The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray / Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems / Olivia Saves the Circus by Ian Falconer / About A Boy by Nick Hornby / The Shining by Stephen King / Street Gang by Michael Davis / On Beauty by Zadie Smith / Marie Antoinette by Antonia Fraser / The Likeness by Tana French

MOVIES

Moulin Rouge / Gentlemen Prefer Blondes / It's a Wonderful Life / Alice in Wonderland / Ten Things I Hate About You / Almost Famous / The Wizard of Oz / Terms of Endearment / Edward Scissorhands / Sleeping Beauty / Superbad / Waitress / Little Miss Sunshine / Up / Funny Face / Aladdin / Labyrinth / Juno / Romeo + Juliet / The Virgin Suicides / Girl, Interrupted / Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind / Pretty in Pink / The Breakfast Club / Where the Wild Things Are / Stand By Me / Atonement / The Brothers Bloom / Milk / What's Eating Gilbert Grape / The Sword in the Stone / Little Women / Singin' in the Rain / Titanic / Mary Poppins / Marie Antoinette / The Shining / Election

I'm blogging it forward to Whitney English.