My 21 Favourites for My 21st Birthday
I turned twenty-one years old this past Wednesday, on July 2nd, celebrating with dinner at a restaurant I chose solely for the atmosphere and bar-hopping at the same three local establishments we’ve been going to for years.
I’ve used to be terrified of my birthday: I still remember spending my seventeenth birthday sobbing in my basement as I read Normal People by Sally Rooney, petrified in fear. The mere idea of adulthood was enough to shake me to my very core.
However, over the years, I’ve learned to become very excited about the prospect of growing up and being able to do new things!! During my 21st year around the sun, I moved alone to a different country, solo-traveled, and watched a horror movie the whole way through. I also tried my first martini & miraculously did not puke.
Please indulge me in this, as I have seen hundreds of these listicles and have always wanted to write one of my own.
My 21 Favourite Things/Concepts/Etc. (in no particular order)
My adorable family dog, Maxon, that I begged my parents for one for years and of course, they finally agreed the year before I move out for university.
The song ‘Supercut’ by Lorde, which has been my #1 song for 4 years now.
via Pinterest. My cherry red ballet pumps that I make me feel incredibly chic, even if I am wearing simply a white t-shirt and jeans.
Words that start with a crispy, crunchy “c” sound like crouton, crisis, and cryptic.
The colour baby pink, which I love so much, I think it is less of my favourite colour and more of a defining feature of my personality.
Florence Pugh as Amy March’s monologue in Little Women (2019) on how marriage is an economic proposition for women.
Little Women, dir. by Greta Gerwig (2019). A sunny, 20°C Saturday afternoon, with a couple fluffy white clouds in the sky.
The scent of my childhood best friend’s home: warm and comforting with hints of amber and eucalyptus.
Cracking my back first thing when I wake up.
Bagel and lox on an everything bagel, with LOTS of red onion and capers.
via @karsenkimball on Instagram. Niche social media apps (Letterboxd, Storygraph, Beli, Strava, etc.).
Giving out your phone number as opposed to Instagram to acquantinces—Instagram is more intimate I swear!!!
Kinda ugly-looking non-circular pancakes because they always taste the best.
My personal copy of Macbeth, which is covered in so many annotations that it’s literally unreadable.
Giggling and gabbing with the gals.
via Pinterest. Walking home after a late-night study session while the sun is still setting—I love my college town in the summer!!!!!
Tucking myself into freshly laundered sheets after a long, hot shower.
The MTV pro-shot of Legally Blonde: The Musical.
Legally Blonde: The Musical for MTV (2007). Getting into arguments with men at the bar when I am a little tipsy but not too drunk so I am still fully in control of my actions.
The concept of photo dumps and shitposting.
Challengers Editor Tiktok’s commitment to making the most cinematic 30-second masterpieces to that film and that film only.
BTS of Challengers (2024), dir. by Luca Guadagnino.
