Life. Beauty. Laughter.: things that inspire me

These things warm my heart.

Joshua Radin

His music is just so incredibly heartfelt and beautiful - here is "Today", which he sang at Ellen deGeneres and Portia de Rossi's wedding (and will be playing at mine).

"Closer" is another favourite of mine, if I had to listen to one musician for the rest of my life it would be this man.

Miss Dior Cherie

This tv commercial by Sofia Coppola is so pretty and refreshing.

It never fails to make me smile or long to don a pretty pastel dress and ride a bicycle around Paris.

Frankie magazine

One of my favourite Australian magazines, this bi-monthly inspires me to look outside the box and take pleasure in the small things in life.

http://www.frankie.com.au/

Elias Tahan

This photographer captures the most captivating, poignant images of women.
http://www.eliastahan.com/

Scrubs

Scrubs is one of the only shows that can make me literally laugh out loud, and I love that it can also make me cry.

Tim Minchin

Tim Minchin is my favourite comedian in the world, he is just so intelligent and hilarious (as is everybody from Perth, Western Australia!)

Here is my favourite skit of his, a nine minute beat poem entitled "Storm".

Religious belief ≠ meaning or morality.

Adrian Grenier

Need I say more? (Click to zoom in and truly appreciate his undeniable sexiness.)

(Photographed by The Sartorialist)

Elizabeth Gilbert

I loved her book, but I love her even more in this lecture she gave about creativity.

Viral YouTube videos

Have you noticed that viral YouTube videos are always the ones that can't help but make you smile?

The wedding dance to "Forever", Christian the lion, Susan Boyle - the fact that all of these are positive and uplifting makes ME smile and restores my faith in humanity considering all the ugliness that is unleashed via the internet.

Forever

Christian the lion (gosh, this one gets me every single time!)

Plus a recent one-take amateur music video by university students in Quebec.

Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta

I read this book when I was 11 and it changed my life. Every young girl should read this (I still read it once a year).

It's about being yourself, standing up for what you believe in, the profound impact of family and the importance of forgiveness.

It is just as relevant as it was when it was written almost 20 years ago (back when The Wiggles were The Cockroaches).

Barack Obama

I adore this man and I don't care what anybody says - he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize.

The world will not change overnight but he has brought so much hope for peace and that is an achievement in and of itself.

Martin Luther King won the award a year after his "I have a Dream" speech - a time when the fight for civil rights was far from achieved.

Alfred Nobel established the prize in 1895 for "the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses" - the prize is awarded, not for lifelong achievement, but to the one who has done the most to create an atmosphere of peace and reconciliation over the past year.

As Desmond Tutu eloquently put it: “it is an award that speaks to the promise of President Obama’s message of hope”.

(Source: Greg Beals, "Why Obama Deserves the Nobel Peace Prize")

500 Days of Summer

My single favourite movie: it makes me smile, cry and think.

Love is real, love is complicated.

If you liked the movie, you will love this (starring Zooey and Joseph).

Garance Doré

She is my favourite blogger: so talented, beautiful, humble, funny and honest.

Make sure you read what she writes as well as take in her breath-taking photographs and gorgeous illustrations.

http://www.garancedore.com/