i realise that my entire blog is technically my own ‘things i like right now’ – but i am enjoying this series so much i needed to take part. every time someone sends me their list i think damn! i like that too! and then mentally rearrange and add to my own list. so here goes. things i like right now, by me … birthday edition. i am 27 today.

1. david sedaris. i am ashamed to say that i had never read david sedaris before my recent trip, where i found his book dress your family in corduroy and denim in the flat we were staying in. i read it in one day because i am a shameless lying-in-bed-reading-until-four-in-the-morning-because-i-can’t-put-it-down kind of person. i managed to track down a copy of me talk pretty one day at the good old abbey bookshop around the corner, and so had more awesome reading material for the plane. his books have sold over 7 millions copies, and i only discover him now? needless to say, the man is a genius. and his writing appeals exactly to my sense of humour.

2. simon & garfunkel. a while back i was all about paul, but now i’m giving the duo much love again. not that i have ever fallen out of love, mind you. i can watch old videos of them harmonising to an enraptured crowd over and over, resulting in extreme jealousy of anyone who has ever seen them live.

3. beer. i am a late bloomer when it comes to alcohol preference. my student days were all ciders and vodka (shudder.) it took me years to get on the red wine train, and then one day i had a glass and just loved it. the same goes for beer, which is now my beverage of choice pretty much at all times.

4. this illustration by maria sibylla merian. oh man, i would give my…. simon and garfunkel collection for a giant print of this. jokes, it’s all digital anyway. fine! i’d give my ipod for one.

5. boots. shit! it’s almost summer. which means, no more boots. no more of the boots i have been living in for the past few months. worse still – the internet is quickly filling up with all new boots that the northerners will soon we running around in, keeping their toes warm. while my toes melt. oh well, maybe i can wear them in the evenings…. right?

6. her hair. i have been wanting to cut my hair forever (right now it’s at the birth of venus hair length, basically.) my friends are sick to death of me umming and aahing over whether to cut a fringe again (it’s just grown out!) this stylish lady’s hair has me practically convinced that i should lose the fringe and go shoulder length.

7. blouses. i had to stop myself from buying a suitcase of blouses when i was in paris. (cheap, too! can you say h&m?) and i instantly regretted it as soon as i got home because i have a feeling i’m going to live in them this summer.

8. music mixes. i like making these way too much. i am constantly compiling and rearranging the stupid things, trying to make the perfect mix. but most of all, i am contemplating doing two a month – that’s how much i love sharing them and knowing that people are enjoying them. i hope the free music police don’t catch me, though.

9. not-skinny jeans. i haven’t dipped my legs into the flare / boot / wide leg revival yet, but i am excited to once i find the right pair. high waisted and hip hugging like karla’s would be amazing.

10. stroopwafels. i saw my dutch family when i was overseas and they gave me a tin of stroopwafels (proper ones, from gouda). nothing, and i mean nothing, excites me as much as a tin of stroopwafels. i’ve been rationing them much like a child would their easter eggs.

11. photography. picking up a camera and just shooting my entire holiday made me realise how much i love photography. i haven’t done anything creative (properly creative) in a long time …work doesn’t count. now all i can think about is reviving my old film cameras and getting into it again – for good.

12. my family. i suppose i don’t like my family – i love them. and not right now, but always. of course right now i really like them because i think they might give me cake today.

* i had to stop myself from putting mad men on this list. that would have been too obvious! but just so you know, mad men is on this list… it’s just invisible. omnipresent, if you will.