My Top Five Girl Crushes.

I've enumerated many a time my Top Five. However, I've never enumerated my Top Five Girl Crushes. These are ladies I want to befriend and converse with. I want to steal all their clothes, or simply go shopping with them. I want to pick their brains. I want to get hair and make-up tips. I want them to tell me their secrets to their confidence. These women, in my mind, rule.

I present to you, in no particular order, my Top Five Girl Crushes:

Gwen Stefani

No surprises here, right? I mean, she's been the inspiration to my LIFE since 1995. Through her music, honest lyrics (from a female point of view), fashion, classiness, business sense, and the way she seems to own at her own life - there's no one I'm more afraid of ever meeting, as well as hoping to become best friends with. If I could choose any one in this world to be a "mentor" in my own life, it'd be Gwen.

Penelope Cruz

I would be Penelope's frenemy in real life because I'd constantly be jealous of her beauty. And her talent. And her fiance. Just kidding about that last one! Kinda. She's simply mesmerizing - from Volver to Broken Embraces - and I want to figure out how to embody that hypnotizing quality. I wouldn't mind the sexiness, either.

Julie Delpy

Have you SEEN Before Sunrise and Before Sunset? Two of my favourite films of all time? You may remember me discussing how they are amazingly realistic romantic stories?? Because if you do, tell me how Julie Delpy manages to be ethereally beautiful throughout the films (and her career) with constant pre-makeover hair and little to no make-up. When my hair was long, it would look similar to Delpy's in it's frizziness and spontaneous waves. Yet, I was never so damn cool. Couple her effortless beauty with the loveliest French accent I've ever heard, and I'm smitten. Plus, she writes, directs, produces, sings, and gets nominated for Oscars for writing.

Zooey Deschanel

She's the reason I spent 2007 with bangs - the year I met Jesse. I want to steal her cute dresses and, sure, I'll take those gargantuan blue eyes, too. I remembered her very clearly from her bit part in Almost Famous. I followed most of her career since then through Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Weeds and 500 Days of Summer, and found her endearing and, suprisingly, not annoying. Then she co-founded She & Him. If you don't know yet, I basically think someone created that modern band with a 60s sound straight out of my head. And as someone close to my age that is also married to a musician (mine's cuter!), I feel like we could really bond if we ever met.

Tilda Swinton

If I could learn "badassery" from anyone, it'd be Tilda. She seems like she does whatever she prefers concerning fashion, the red carpet and her personal life - and all with a certain strength, confidence, and aplomb. Plus, she's strikingly gorgeous. If Zooey rustles up the girliness in me, Tilda (with a splash of Gwen) inspires the ties, the menswear, and any androgynous fashion I may wear on occasion. I once saw her walking out of a movie theater I was entering - I swiveled dramatically, in awe of catching a glimpse. As with all the ladies on this list, she's supremely talented. Sigh.

What are your top five girl crushes?!