A month to vingt-cinq.

I want to savor every single day I have left until I turn 25.
Why?
Because whenever I get a year older, I look back at the year behind me and think, "Wow. I was so young then." Or "I should have appreciated that time more."
So, maybe I'm a little late with this, but I have 29 days until I turn the big 2-5 and my goal is to make every day memorable. Amazing. Moving. Remembered. In my head, this doesn't mean I have to do anything out of the ordinary, so much. But I want to be more conscious of living. More self-aware of my actions, thoughts and deeds. I'm not sure exactly what this means yet.

Today, it may seem a little petty, but I took a huge step by buying a new guitar. I've had my artwood since high school - it was my first serious buy as far as my songwriter self was concerned. I've loved that guitar ("Iggy", as I affectionately call it) for many years and its got a lot of miles - literally and figuratively - on it. But it's time to move on to a guitar that can take me up another notch, and that can suit me where I am. Today I found it, and it was all happenstance.



I don't need the fancy inlays or the "Taylor Swift-signature" model or anything elaborate. I remember falling in love with Iggy just playing in the guitar store for a few minutes. Today, it was an unexpected nudge toward the Taylor.
It all started last night while I was at Casa del Sol in Nyack watching my boyfriend's friends play for a few hours. Dylan, the bassist, told me he recommended the Taylor 314ce. I told him that was a nice guitar - generally out of my price range.

Strangely, I got a call from my boyfriend today around 4 p.m. telling me that he had spoken to Dylan (he'd lost his wallet and thought he might have left it at Dylan's place) and it turns out, someone had just sold a used Taylor 314ce to Alto in Airmont, N.Y. for a whopping $800 (mind you, all the retailers basically sell this guitar at $1600). The guitar was sure to be gone by Monday, as others had called in and scheduled a time to see the guitar on Monday. I checked my Google Maps and saw that it would take about 35 minutes to get up there, but we were just at the Bridge and still had to head home to drop off my sister. Would I make it?

I made a few calls (secretly hoping the place would stay open later to give me some slack time...no cigar) and before long I had Jansen and Claude - childhood church friends who had wanted to hit Palisades Mall - coming along for the ride. Nerves slightly shaking, I got there around 4:45. Made a beeline for the acoustic guitar section and asked to speak to the owner. I tried it for a bit, he told me some more about the Expression System, some of which I'd known about. I plugged it in and played. On the ride up I'd told myself not to be convinced to buy the guitar just because of the sheer drama of the buying experience. But whether or not that was the case, I don't regret it at all.

I came home with the guitar and spend a few hours playing it. It is amazing. I love it. I stand by it.
There will be more to come from my new musical addition, but so far so good!