The majority of the workouts I do are either accompanied by the cheesy synth-pop exercise video soundtrack (Jillian Michaels, I’m scowling in your direction), or whatever’s blaring through the speakers at the gym. When I run, though, I’m addicted to listening to the loudest, most upbeat stuff I can find. I know, I know, safety rules dictate you leave the iPod at home when you go for a jog, but what can I say, music makes the difference for me between “running” and “collapsing in a heap on the cement”.

I recently huffed and gasped my way through a 5K, and these are the songs kept me going:

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Do you realize that Christmas Eve is one week from today?  I’m making a list of gifts that have been given to ME in the past year, gifts that were a success and that you might want to consider buying for someone on your list.

My brother and sister-in-law gave me several pairs of earrings from the Etsy shop Kneehighs-n-Pigtails, and I LOVE them.  They’re so classy and dressy if you’re looking classy and dressy, but they look chic and awesome with t-shirt and jeans, too.
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My 2-year-old has never been particularly interested in music, unless you count his current interest in telling me to turn the radio OFF, Mommy, it’s TOO LOUD. (Note: it is NOT too loud, kid, I save the eardrum-bleeding stuff for when you’re not around.)

I do have a number of playlists on my iPod dedicated to kids’ tunes, though, just in case he stops being such a wet blanket about music sometime soon. Some of my favorites:

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The silver lining in my fairly long work commute is the fact that I have a solid chunk of time when it’s just me and my iPod, and I can listen to whatever I want at whatever volume I want, without worrying about destroying/sullying my son’s ears—or more annoyingly, having him tell me “No SINGING wight now, Mommy!”.

Of course, this isn’t time spent in a zenlike spa environment with restful water fountains burbling in the background and ivory-robed masseuses descending upon me with hot stones and various pleasant-smelling unguents; rather, I’m typically crawling along in a sea of red lights with fifteen thousand different hair-raising merge scenarios to contend with. But whatever, music soothes the savage beast! Even if the beast is a cross-Seattle rush hour battlezone.

Here’s a sampling what I’ve been listening to lately:

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