It's Monday and I'm feeling good about this week because I have lists a mile long and they're motivating me to get crackin' on some projects I've been putting off. How is your week starting out? Hopefully good and interesting. One thing on my list that I started over the weekend has to do with my Pinterest account and improving it for myself and others. I've been a passionate pinner all weekend creating new boards and organizing them all so that I am more inspired to pin and so the new look I've given my page (packed with gorgeous themed boards clearly marked) will inspire others, too.

Until now, I did very little to promote my boards but I see real value in doing so and that is why one of my goals for 2013 is to monitor whether or not my efforts on Pinterest pan out or not. I'll let you know in December! For now, new boards and organization was my first step! :) I've also decided to pin almost daily - which isn't that hard considering I always have my iPad on me anyway and pinning takes very little time and in fact, is helpful to me because I can organize things so much better than by using bookmarks in my browser.

One board I created over the weekend is called Roller Skates. I love roller skating despite that I own and use inline skates -- I still prefer four wheels over blades any day. I find inline skates so ugly (sorry) which is another reason I don't enjoy putting them on my feet - when I look down and see these gigantic shiny black "Darth Vaderesque" things looking back at me I feel a bit uncomfortable because they are big, high off the ground and super ugly. Trust me, I don't need pink skates with Hello Kitty, that's not my style (or age group) either. I just want something stylish and well, fun. Are you feeling me on this?

Why my obsession with roller skates, aren't those like soooo 80's? YUP. So is neon and the whole geometric trend. Who cares. I like roller skates simply because they remind me of fun times, are so much better looking that inline skates and you can customize and personalize them to look even cuter (don't I sound SO 12 years old right now?!?) PLUS they are less massive and make you look so much hotter in shorts over mega Darth Blader skates. I'm not hatin', I own inline skates and use them but sheesh, you have to admit they aren't that easy on the eyes.

Vanity aside though, I also like roller skates for all practical purposes - getting from point A to B but also -- I love to skate! It's great aerobic exercise and lots of fun.  When it comes to safety, I also prefer stopping because it is wayyyy more intuitive (front toe stops! woot!) than having one stopper located in the BACK of only ONE skate. Who thought of that?!? Hello! I tend to stop in a much cooler fashion in old school skates vs. inline skates - Mainly since I adopt the tree hugger position using inline skates. I do this funny skip jump BONK thing off of the pavement when I need to stop so I can grab (slam into) the nearest tree. When going at a good, motivating break neck speed, I've been known to crash into trees and park benches to only look up, smile at the nearest passerby running to my aid, acting like, "Oh, this - pleassssse I totally meant to take a break on this pretty bench" or "Oh no need to offer to call 9-11, I'm cool, just felt a sudden burning need to hug a tree today and connect with nature". In reality though, I simply cannot brake in inline skates no matter how many YEARS I've been using them.

I have a little something to reveal while I'm in the sharing mood and now that you know how classy I am on inline skates. I started roller skating (at a rink with a wooden floor!) when I was 4 years old. I wasn't going to say "wooden floor" because that would age me but yeah, it was wood though for the record, the rink was already considered old school back then in the late 70s. I remember the skate guard chasing me around for the full two hours I was there because I refused to skate in the correct direction and instead, kept INSISTING that I skate TOWARDS the people. He would stop me, physically turn me around and say, "This way!", and the moment he skated off, I would turn around and mumble, "NO this way." I still remember my mother and her friends standing along rink-side with hands cupped around their mouths screaming, "Hollyyyyyy, come here, you're going to get hurt!" and "Skate THAT way, Holly!", but I refused to listen. They didn't have skates on, and the rink was packed with teenagers, so it wasn't like they were going to run out and get me. I think skating gave me this rush of independence because on skates (I was fast too), I wasn't Holly the 4 year old, I was Hollyfreakingawesome. Over the years, skating gave me wings and crazy amounts of self confidence.

By the time I was 7 years old, I was participating in weekly speed skating competitions in my local rink (with highly polished floors and a massive disco ball!) and winning competitions against girls and boys. Oh yeah, I wasn't just going to skate around and smile at boys, I was going to race 'em. I skated weekly my entire childhood indoors and outdoors but I went to the rink twice a week for as long as I can remember.

If you know what "shoot the duck", "all skate", "free skate", "backwards skate", "dance skate" and "couples skate" even means, then we are kindred spirits. If you ever cared about matching your pompoms to your outfit, you get it. If you remember couples skates to Wham! (Careless Whisper comes to mind) you and I are of the same skater girl blood. If disco balls still rock your world, yup - we could hang.

By the time I was 14, I had broken and lost several teeth on rinks and on roads, fractured my Tibia which kept me in bed for 3 months and sprained my wrist a few times and fractured my arm. Kids, right? Skating was my passion despite how many times I fell - I always got up. Skating was my life but being so dedicated to a sport where you fall so often yet still make progress, skating taught me the facts of life long before I became a grown up.

In addition to breaking things (mostly bones), I also knew how to fix stuff. I could name every part on my skate, I could fix them when they broke, and I was constantly in the "pro shop" trying to find the latest wheels and parts to pimp out my skates. I went from a high boot to a low boot when I was 9 because I could skate faster in them.

Sadly though, skating rinks started to close and by the time I was 15 and we relocated to Boston, I had to carpool with my friends from Boston to New Hampshire just to find a decent rink. Eventually, skating was no longer on my weekly agenda. I got my driver's license, really discovered boys and oh well - the skates went on the shelf.

But I still think about them. A lot.

So that's why I created a Roller Skate pinboard. I know, LONGGGGG story right? But I think it's interesting to learn WHY people do things, because perhaps there is a back story and those can be quite fascinating. I hope that you enjoy my ever-growing roller skate board on Pinterest and that it brings back a happy time in your life for you, too. It's got nothing to do with interior design or decorating but who cares, inspiration comes from often the oddest places.

By the way, if you want to own some cool skates, check these out over at Topshop. I first spotted them in person in December at the Conran Shop in London last year and fell in love. You will too.

P.S. How many of you would love to see roller rinks return? But really COOL modern ones... Oh heck yeah.

(images: backstage dresser, oracle fox, ban.do, topshop and lovely bride )