My friend Sami leaves for Costa Rica today and won't be back for 27 months. She is fulfilling my lifelong dream (okay, half of my life if we're being accurate) and joined the Peace Corps.

Last month, she asked me to make her a playlist. She had the most clever idea of asking 27 of her friends to make her a playlist, one for each month she would be gone. Of course I said yes. And then she told me she wanted my playlist to be the first one she listened to. Talk about pressure!

Well, I don't back down from a challenge. Some songs immediately jumped to mind. Others song I knew I'd have to dig a little deeper in myself.