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?!

Havin' a party up next door.

Gwen Stefani via Tim Armstrong!

You know, Tim Armstrong, the lead singer of Rancid? Also in The Transplants? Operation Ivy? Apparently, he took that photo of Gwen. And then he transformed it into a stencil and now two hundred 20x24 screen printed posters are available at Poster Child Prints for $50, signed and numbered! He also made fifty "Artist Edition" prints, each unique and handpainted by Armstrong, available for $150. On the site you can see that he even scrawled the lyrics to Rancid's "Ruby Soho" on one of the Gwen Artist Editions. This is Armstrong's first ever release of artwork, though he'll be releasing more in the near future. I honestly had no idea he was making art.

You all know I keep my ear to the ground when it comes to Gwen news, so, I thought this was particularly interesting. (More interesting, actually, than pregnancy rumors...which she's denying, by the way.) I am acquiring my own print, and will prominently display my all-time girl crush proudly in the apartment! Plus, a first-ever artwork from Tim Armstrong. Pretty, pretty sweet.

Poster Child Prints also has a pretty nice artist roster to peruse - Jim Houser, Tim Biskup, Mike Giant, Taki 187, Love Me, Dalek, Friends with You, and more. I've added their blog to my feed to keep up with it all, too.

Oh, by the way, they went on sale this morning at 9am PDT! Better get on it if you like them!

Anybody else going to get one? Think it's a pretty stellar homage to a stellar woman? I do!

I want to get away, to our sweet escape.

I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I'm kind of addicted to sunglasses. I currently own about ten pair?

Well, most of my shades are variations of wayfarers, cateyes, or big bug-eye frames. I just decided I probably need something a bit different. Something not yet in my collection. I turned to my trusted style guru, Gwen. Well, not Gwen herself, but Gwen Stefani via Google.

And I was surprised to find she wears a lot of aviator-style frames. I really dug these:

They are apparently Carrera-brand sunglasses, and in my research of the brand I found out most people already know the name, based on it's history as a "racing sunglasses" since 1956 but also because of some badass popstars sporting them. Not just Gwen but, Rihanna, Christina, both wore pairs in their latest videos, and Lady Gaga wore a pair in her (best) video, "Bad Romance" -

This summer Carrera is promoting their sick glasses through The Carrera Escape, which is a four-city party tour (how fun does that sound already?) that's hitting Las Vegas tomorrow (at Tao Beach with LOSTie Rebecca Mader, aka Charlotte, aka will she be in the finale tomorrow?!), and eventually LA, New York, and Chicago via Lollapalooza! Um, according to the Nylon blog, during the stops: "Carrera sets up shop somewhere in a city, offers massages, food, and concerts to whomever finds their oasis, and documents the whole thing via Facebook, Twitter, and everyone who comes out to party."

Needless to say, I want to go.

I'm keeping my eye on the Carrera Escape Twitter in order to figure out how to get into the NY date, for sure. Last year they roped in Peter, Bjorn & John to play the party - and I'm wondering who they'll get this year!

Right now, my mouse is getting really itchy for some of those fun Carrera Safaris my favourite celebrity ladies are sporting. I may traipse about some stores this weekend to try them on first, though - they sell at Solstice and Bloomingdale's and are not too expensive for their $100ish price tag! Let's see if I can look as kick ass in them, too.

What do you think about the glasses? Too Gaga-licious for my walkabouts in the city? Would you hit up one of those Carrera Escape parties??