The Sweetness in the Bitter

The Future:
She sat with me, glasses teetering on the edge of her nose. Her hair was silver and her arms hung loose out of her T-shirt. She used foul language, but only when tastefully appropriate, and her laughter rang with the freedom of someone who had invested serious time into developing a relationship with herself. She was not trying to get something from me, not even a patient audience. She did not seem to expect anything from me, I felt no pressure to take a stage. Unsure of what their was to learn, I felt quite sure that she was a person that I could learn from. I hope to be like her one day.

The Past:
She sat across from me, with orange glowing skin and bright white teeth, like a character peeking out from the little square on the back of a juicing manual. The faint smell of tanning lotion permeated the air, it reminded me of maple syrup. She smiled at everything I said, because someone told her that is what nice girls do. Inside, she felt restless. She wanted to die, she said, with a nervous smile and a downward glance.

In a moment of foolishness I climbed up onto my platform and began talking as though I had answers to give. I spoke about the impermanence of beauty and youth and about connecting with oneself on a deeper level, as if there were some way to talk her into hope.

We talked at each other like two kids throwing bean bags at each other. Take that hopelessness! Take that super optimism! Each time we spoke we teetered further from our purpose and closer to the edges of right and wrong.
"One day your youth will slip away, we all grow old and ugly you know, if you learn to base your self esteem beyond your vanity now you will be ready for that day when it comes" I said, feeling exceptionally clever.
"but you didn't get ugly" she said
SPLASH. Her bean bag pelted the target and I felt the platform drop from underneath me. "d-d-did you just call me old?" her face got a little red and she smiled nervously.

I had to leave the coffee shop with the consolation prize of my own advice.
It wasn't the first time.

The Present:
I stopped in the juice bar for 12 oz of carrot juice and sucked it down like it would deliver all that it has promised on infomercials. Then I went home to get ready for my meeting with the Charlies Angles. They are not really the Charlies Angels of course, but three female TV producers who are filming the episode of a TV show in which I will be appearing. I call them the Charlies Angels because they have a male producer who is behind the scenes and seemingly calls all the shots, he is kept well hidden from the set due to the fact that the entire premise of the show is to inspire middle school aged girls to become leaders. The episode will be about cooking. During the meeting we experimented with different foods, we were trying different methods of sweetening fruits when we discovered the amazing sweetening and softening effect vinegar has on peaches.

The salad:
Shred ~2-3 cups carrots (I used a food processor). Add 1 1/2-2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar, a drizzle of vegetable oil and a drizzle of maple syrup. Add some diced snap peas, snow peas and some dried cranberries. Enjoy!

Christina's vote: "Sweet tangy and lovely"