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JB left for Japan last Friday — a whirlwind of a trip that involved bullet trains and, apparently, HORSE SUSHI — and instead of sitting around getting increasingly eye-twitchy from the lack of adult interaction, I packed up the boys and hit the road. We drove to the cabin where we played with Riley’s cousins, we drove to Coos Bay where we stayed two nights with JB’s parents, and we drove to Florence to spend a night on the beach. It was hectic and gorgeous and loud and amazing and oh, you guys, we just had the very best time. What a great age these (obnoxious, maddening, completely awesome) kids of mine are.

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For the last few weeks I’ve been working my ass off to, well, work my ass off, and I’m in that good place where you can see the progress happening in your body and your clothes fit better and you’re like yeah, I can DO this. Except if you’re me, what you’re really thinking is, I can DO this … maybe. Or I could lie on the couch and inhale an entire pizza with a Haagen-Dazs chaser. Self-sabotage can just be so DELICIOUS.

Motivation has never come come easy for me, but here’s what’s helping me lately:

This shirt:

I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to buy a loose-fit workout tank. If you’re like me and you tend to get all self-conscious about your midsection in those tight racerback shirts, these things are game-changers. I bought a black one at Old Navy and I plan to go back and stock up on every single other color they have.

This MP3 player:

I got Sony’s updated MP3-playing Walkman as a Klout perk and I figured it would be like every other Klout perk I’ve ever received: a nice mailbox distraction from the usual flotsam of bills and junk flyers, but nothing I would have bought on my own. As it turns out, I can’t stop raving about it. It’s all in one piece, and it stays put — no more fiddling with cords or adjusting earbuds during a run. The downside is that it doesn’t play nice with iTunes on my Mac, so I have to manually drag individual songs to it instead of importing playlists. Aside from that small headache, though, I absolutely love how it eliminates gear-related distractions during a workout.

These songs:

“Daybreak” by OVERWERK. Heard it on this (gorgeous, watch it fullscreen) GoPro video, love love love it.

“Monday Morning” by Melanie Fiona. I can listen to this over and over. (The AV quality on this video totally sucks, sorry about that. This version sounds a little better.)

“I Get Around” by Dragonette. Makes me feel snarly and badass.

“Don’t Leave Me (ne Me Quitte Pas)” by Regina Spektor. Boppy and happy. I probably sound SUPER awesome when I try and sing along with the French part.

“All Alone” by Fun. Best Fun song. According to me.

“Must Be the Moon” by !!! She said “love is love but a fuck is what it is.” Ah, this song is great.

Okay, your turn, if you feel like playing: what are your current workout must-haves?

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