Dancing Queen

When I started this blog, I never thought that anyone would want to hear me. I never thought anyone would want to read about my inner demons and emotional journey because I always saw it as imperfect and unsightly. But that has changed because I feel like I am being listened to, which sounds conceited I know, but feeling like I am being heard is something that I haven't felt validated in so long. Not to say that the people around me don't listen, but rather in the fact that my opinions, views and feelings have never coexisted with my voice. And now that I have laid it all out there, my imperfections and stacks of baggage, I thought I would introduce myself.

Lets do this...

1. My name is Mary Frances Donnelly. I am named after two women from both of my parents sides. My name is as Irish-Catholic as they come, not as much as my dads, which is Michael O'Malley Donnelly. I go by Mary Fran, MF, Frances, and Sissy (My sister calls me this). People will commonly call me Mary, because I never had the desire to correct people consitnuusly, and you can tell the people who went to Middle School with me because they call me Mary Fran (and because i was secure in myself more) and the people from high school who refer to me as Mary. But ultimately, my name has always been Mary Fran.

2. I am 24 years old, born on July 16th, and I am a Cancer. That means that I never got to take cupcakes to school, and that i developed green envy for all the girls that I went to school with that got balloons and attention on their birthdays. I am emotional, and attached, and someone that is loyal to a fault.

4. I am the oldest of 3 siblings. My siblings, Sal and Seannie, are two of the most frustrating, kind, understanding, loving, funny, and eccentric people that I have ever known. They are my two best friends in the whole world, and know me for the person that I truly am. We are obsessed with waiting to see movies together, Sean is always the one who hogs the aux cord in the car, I am always the driver when we drive to get ice cream at 11p, Sal and Seannie always outnumber me, resulting in us watching an action or comedy movie I don't want to watch.

5. My family is my everything. We have been through hell and back, and have come out stronger then ever. Its taken tears, arguments, long conversations, hard choices and unconditional love to get us all to where we are. We have been all over the world together (military family), but nothing can compare to the journey that would result in us making a life and growing up in Hawaii.

6. Music. I have grown up surrounded by music. Whether its my dad driving us to school to ACDC, Metallica, Linkin Park, and Guns n Roses, or my accrued obsession with ABBA, or the long car rides  my sister and I have where we scream/sing to Swift, Gaga and any of our other queens. I have always loved music, and as I have gotten older I have found solace, peace and an escape through my favorite tunes because it brings me comfort and a smile to my face. Also, the Donnelly's love having a good dance party on the back deck of our house under the stars and typically with a drink in our hands.

7. I have two favorite animals: Llamas & Beluga Whales. I have loved Llamas since the movie "Napoleon Dynamite" came out and there was Tina the fluffy, stubborn pet llama in the backyard. They are fluffy, odd, and underestimated, and I guess I resonate with that. Beluga whales have the sweetest faces, and I have loved them since I was little. When I visited family in Georgia and went to the big beluga whale exhibit that they have, I stood in front of the tank and just cried. They are smart, mate for life, live in dedicated pods, are known to understand emotional cues and are so so gentle. I know these are odd choices, but my family can verify my love for these things.

8. Books, Books, Books. I have always felt a sense of belonging to worlds that lie beneath the pages, and I always found my self engulfed by the stories that created a new world for me to escape to. I always read the books before a movie comes out, no matter how obnoxious (yes, I read 50 shades of grey).

9. Favorite Movies: Sound of Music, V for Vendetta and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Jesus, looking at that list, it looks like I have cinematic mood swings. Sound of Music was the first movie to ever truly make me cry from happiness and awe, just the shots of the hills and the music truly made my heart warm. V for Vendetta is an incredible political piece that critiques the flaws of our society in such a abrasive and aggressive manner, that I was left shocked and dumbfounded by the end and have watched it probably 100 times and every time I want to go out and mess with the system. And lastly, this HP movie was the embodiment of my favorite book of the series and we see the evolution of the characters as they are starting to grow into their roles. Also, wizardry is bad-ass.

10. Lastly, I am a loud laugher, dedicated window shopper, hipster restaurant officianado, lover of movie dates, tea drinker, mug collector, messy room occupant, owner of untamable hair, blue-eyed girl who is just trying to make it day by day by finding my happiness by accident.