People, LISTEN UP.

If you have at all enjoyed the popularization/revival of folk music in recent years then I am about to tell you about the best thing that you maybe already know about because it started ten years ago!! Get ready...

This morning at the coffee shop a song came on that I've heard a few times before. It was "Yellow" by Coldplay, but it was a bluegrass version. It plays on the Pandora there sometimes and I think I've even heard it elsewhere, too. It's part of a "Pickin' on Coldplay" album, and a coworker and I had a conversation about how there are actually a few different "Pickin' on..." albums; I was pretty sure there was one for Bob Dylan and maybe Tom Petty?

So we looked it up.

And.

Turns out... there are a BAZILLION "Pickin' on..." or "Bluegrass Tribute to..." albums out there! There's one for Relient K (Whaaat?!?), Jewel, Beck, and on and on. There's even one for Nickelback. There are a bunch of country music compilations (which seems a little silly, but hey I guess if they wanna they can) and classic rock and modern hits and just EVERYTHING you could imagine.

So when I got home I scrolled through the extent of Spotify's "Pickin' on.." series' and made a playlist of all the songs I know/like. It's six hours long. Guess what I'll be listening to as I clean the house today? Just so you can check out a song, I'm putting one here for you all.

 Enjoy.

And here's a link to "Yellow" in case you were interested in hearing that too. (Although if you enjoyed the R. Kelly one, I strongly suggest investigating this glorious sub-genre of music on your own.)


Apparently Wednesdays are "share music with the world" days. I don't hate it. I hope you don't either.

Have a Listen.

The coffee shop where I work has ad free Pandora and sometimes I make stations on it. Occasionally the songs that I like are ones that my bosses hate; I like them because they remind me of my early childhood and Rachel and Gretchen (who might be reading this since we're facebook friends now...HI GUYS!) hate them because they remind them of their high school and college years. Pretty funny.

Anyway, a couple weeks ago I made a James Taylor station but Pandora decided to take it an awful country music-themed direction and I promptly changed the station. Today I came back to it and spent some time "thumbs up" and "thumbs down"-ing the songs that came on so that it played songs from the genre I actually wanted to hear.

And it was a good morning. Full of James Taylor, Simon and Garfunkel, Crosby, Stills and Nash, a smattering of The Beatles, etc. I danced in the kitchen a little. It was nice. So then I came home and continued with my own (unfortunately, not ad free) Pandora. I really love this song. I thought I'd send it out into the world for you all. Take a few minutes and enjoy some Simon and Garfunkel. Sing along. Get dancey. It's a beautiful day. You're welcome.

Baby Steps Toward Adulthood.

Yesterday I changed the password on the loan account that my mom has been paying for me for the past several years. When it came time for my federal loan grace period to end last spring I signed into my account and figured out how much I'd be paying each month, cringing at how expensive it is to go to college. My grandma paid off one of the two private loans I took out to cover costs after federal aid, and my mom has been taking care of the monthly payments on the remaining one. I am so incredibly grateful to have such generous women helping me out! But yesterday, when I tried to sign in to my private loan account (as I totaled how many dollars in the negative I am worth--and let me tell you, the result wasn't pretty) and accidentally locked myself out necessitating a password reset, I decided that I wouldn't tell my mother the new password. This is my loan and I'm going to own it from now on. All by myself.

Now, I was always planning on taking this debt onto myself, I was just planning on giving myself a few months (to make it through my wedding-filled June) to get more financially stable first. But when the opportunity presented itself yesterday, it seemed like a sign that I should just bite the bullet and take the step toward adulthood now.

As silly as it sounds for this one loan to make that big of a deal to me, it feels pretty symbolic of my independence. I've "been meaning to" take this burden off my mom for a while, and kept putting it off because it sucks to have more bills to pay. (Actually, truth be told I love paying bills! Not that I love spending 90% of a paycheck within an hour of its direct deposit, but the feeling of success that I get from taking care of my finances myself is not insignificant.) But there comes a point when it feels really silly to keep making someone take care of me. I work hard, spend more time at work than anywhere else, make my own money, pay (most of...still on the family phone plan) my own bills, and if that doesn't make me an adult then I don't know what will!

There's the obvious sadness that comes with the knowledge of even less savings/disposable income, but otherwise, I'm feeling pretty thrilled about finally taking charge. It is a good feel, my friends. Since moving to Minnesota, I've been gradually learning that I can do things on my own. I can take care of myself. You don't really realize how much you let people do for you until you've removed yourself from the range of their (non-monetary) assistance. Maybe I'm alone in this among twentysomethings (though I don't think I am...), but every step toward self-sufficiency seems like an amazing accomplishment.

Last year, when I wondered aloud whether my ecstatic pride about adulting was an indication that I'm not actually that much of a grownup, my boss assured me, "That's not true--you'll continue to have that feeling for decades!" I hope he's right, because it sure does feel good to feel good about my accomplishments, insignificant though they may be.