Zak didn’t exactly get to go home early today due to garlic breath, but he did get home earlier than usual tonight. We loaded the whole family into the car and hit up the pool at the fitness center for some family fun and exercise too.

Swimming is probably my least favorite form of cardio, but I rather enjoyed it tonight. Maybe because I haven’t swam laps since the spring? Whatever the reason, it was a nice change of pace and I swam laps for 30 minutes, alternated 100 yards of freestyle and 100 yards backstroke while Zak entertained children in the shallow end. He got his turn to swim laps while I took cold, wet girlies into the locker room for nice long hot showers on someone else’s dime (forgive me, Mother Earth), blow drying hair and hiding in lockers until dad was done and ready to go.

So what’s the best thing to do after an evening at the pool?

First, make a bucket of air popped corn.

Next, get out the coconut oil.

It’s time to give your chlorine dried out face a little TLC.

Did you read that whole label? Go back and read it! Take special note of the part that says “soft, smooth skin”. A giant, HUGE shout to Cindy for bringing this miracle moisturizer to my attention!

So, where were we? Oh yes, dig out a little coconut oil.

Ready?

Time for a rub down.

Oh yeah, get in there really good.

Smear it all around. Yup, yup, that’s the ticket.

Totally loved this. Totally will be doing this again. Totally not telling anyone my new beauty secret.

Oops.

• Waiting For Pop Off
• The Opposite of Birthday Beet Juice
• Reunited and it Feels So Good

Big juice, little juice. Carrot juice, garlic juice. Which juice is which juice?

Yes, that’s right. That little glass. That very little glass. That very little glass that is only half full is the one with garlic in it.

Zak – AKA Garlic Romancer, asked me the other day about putting garlic in juice. I told him I’d never seen it in any juice recipes but he was free to browse The Juicing Bible I borrowed from the library and admittedly, have barely cracked up open.

The Juicing Bible says? 4 juice recipes with garlic. OK, so I guess garlic in juice is not completely unheard of. I’m still not sure I’m fully on board though. Especially this morning when I had sweet carrot apple ginger juice on the brain and as I’m putting the juicer together he’s chanting Garlic! Garlic! Garlic! like a cheerleader for the away team at the Vampire Senior High basketball home game.

Garlic? Really? In my carrot apple ginger juice?

.
.
.

Really?

I’m sorry, I can’t do it. Like a long run, I need a day to mentally prepare it and garlic in my juice feels a lot like long run. I’m not ready. Maybe tomorrow after I think about garlic juice all day, dream about garlic juice all night, psych myself and promise garlic juice won’t be that bad and I can eat a huge piece of cake once I’m done.

So, we compromised. I made my sweet carrot juice and after my glass was well on the other side of the room, I made a second glass for him with the exact same ingredients + two cloves of garlic. Two cloves because I put the first clove in and I didn’t see a thing come out of the spout. Not even a drop. I could smell it, but I couldn’t see it. Well, what’s one more clove of garlic then? Go big or go home, right Team Werewolf?

I poured him his glass of carrot apple ginger garlic juice and then, like speed work and a let’s-just-get-this-over-with frame of mind, I poured myself a little sample of garlic juice.

The verdict? Surprisingly good! I will not be held responsible though if Zak’s coworkers kick him out of the office early today. Garlic juice was not my bright idea, he gets full credit for it and all the exhalation repercussions that come with it.

I’ve fallen behind with some thing’s around here so with fingers crossed that Zak’s garlic breath gets him sent home early, my work out today has been pushed back to this afternoon. I spent my child-free hours this morning at my desk trying to get caught up.

Once my sweet and savory juice buzz wore off I dug out my batch overnight oats. Yesterday’s quinoa breakfast made me realize how long it’s been since I’ve had a bowl of oatmeal. Today was the day.

1/2 c organic rolled oats
1/2 banana
1 Tbsp almond butter
1/2 unsweetened almond milk
1 Tbsp ground flax

Soaked for a few hours this morning and topped with the other half of my banana just before I was ready to eat. I think I’ve said this before but I’m loving this dairy free version of overnight oats, compared to how I use to make it with vanilla yogurt.

The banana makes it sweet, the almond butter gives it a great flavor. The almond milk softens the oats, it’s like magic in a bowl.

I’m thinking now I’m going to have to try garlic in my overnight oats for tomorrow – what do you think?

• Listen to the Silence
• Energy Lessons
• Birthday Beet Juice