We can’t quite believe that January has come and gone already, making us 1/12th of the way through 2015. This has been a month of resolutions and retrospection, of tea and Netflix and hibernation. The first real snow has fallen, the temperatures have dropped, and we’re rocking the fleece-lined leggings like nobody’s business. We both made it home this month — Zelda for some brief post-holiday family time and Scout for the even briefer SAM launch party — and now we find ourselves staring down the winter months with nary a day trip in sight. All the more reason to hunker down with the things we love (see aforementioned tea and Netflix), stick some cheery music in our ears, and dream of sunnier times to come.

What We’re Doing: As tradition dictates, we started the year off with some resolutions (Zelda prefers to think of them as “exciting new adventures”) and introspection. Scout ranted about some pet peeves, and waxed poetic about why they bother her so much. We talked to the awesome ladies of SAM about how they’re turning folks into heroes, and proceeded to dissolve with jealousy at their road trip wanderings. We continued some series — from GRITS to Just Folks — and started a new one, touting the things that make this Home Away From Home not so bad after all. But more than anything, this month was about music: from bluegrass to our beef with T. Swift and lots of audible sunshine in between.

What We’re Listening To: We’ll be straight with you: January sucks. It’s cold and grey and damp, with no holidays in sight to liven up the gloom. So this month’s playlist was a much needed dose of Vitamin D, full of sunshiney beats and pick-me-up lyrics that brighten our short days and long nights. And while Zelda’s birthday may have been last month, January presented us with the most beautiful present of all: a new album from our favorites, Houndmouth, and an upcoming tour that will include our 15th (collectively) time seeing them. Are we obsessed? Maybe. Do we care? Not in the slightest. Until March, you can find us listening to the two singles that have dropped so far, and watching this California dreamy music video on repeat.

What We’re Watching: Zelda and Scout are both big fans of YouTube, and all the education, inspiration, and hilarity its creators provide. So as members of this wonderfully wacky community, we were positively kvelling over “YouTube Asks Obama,” in which Hank Green (one of our favorite humans), GloZell Green, and Bethany Mota showed mainstream media how it’s done, asking thoughtful questions about real issues, and also finding out which super power the leader of the free world wishes he had. The whole thing is well worth a watch. And bonus points for the fact that the interviewers included not just one, but two women of color. Take that, cable news.

We also love: Zelda is gearing up for award season by attempting to see as many Oscar-nominated movies as her wallet allows (her favorites so far: Boyhood, The Imitation Game, and The Theory of Everything). Scout is super into FX’s anti-rom com sitcom “You’re the Worst.” And we both couldn’t be happier that “The 100” is back, and renewed for another season! Now excuse us while we dissolve into a puddle of anxiety over the fates of our favorite post-apocalyptic teenagers.

What We’re Reading: We love the banjo. We love how it sounds. We love how it looks. We love the people who play it (ahem Scott Avett…). But we didn’t fully appreciate the depth and complexity of this instrument until we read Jenna Strucko’s in-depth, multi-dimensional analysis published by our favorites, the Bitter Southerner. (We’re particularly tickled by the fact that the interview took place in Louisville’s own Clifton Center, where Zelda once performed Alice in Wonderland and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Stories for another time.) Strucko, with help from the Carolina Chocolate Drops, uses the instrument and its rich history as a lens to look at stereotypes and oppressed narratives of the South as a whole. We’ll never look at this five-stringed wonder quite the same way again.

We also love:  This beautiful essay, which marries our love of musical theatre to our quarter-life angst over pursuing “artistic careers” and our cognitive dissonance about living in New York, and this peek behind the curtain at how iPods become iPods and why prunes are so 2008.

What We’re Eating: Finally, a Hallmark holiday we can get behind! This past Friday marked National Pie Day, which is now officially our favorite day in January. We celebrated with some traditional apple and a viewing of Waitress (or rather, as many clips as our work schedules allowed). And Zelda bought herself a present, which will allow her to begin research and preparations for that other festive occasion: Pi Day.

What’s On Our Wishlist: We have mad respect for the SAM ladies. We’ve also got mad respect for their style choices: Their merch is hella cute, and we want all of it. All. Of. It. (Scout bagged a couple of t-shirts and some rocks glasses at the launch party, and Zelda may have already ordered a hoodie and a pint glass…) Check out their website for SAM tanks, mugs, and more! So much cuteness for a good cause.

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