Meringue Fusion

My daughter and I arrived back in Columbia yesterday from our brief sojourn to Atlanta Market. And shoutout to American Airlines - they did not disappoint and delivered us on time from Atlanta to Dallas to Columbia. (Though here is my public disdain for all airport Starbucks locations - we must have walked by at least six airport Starbucks yesterday and every single one was closed. CLOSED. At like 10 am. We were so desperate that we had an energy drink in the Dallas airport, but that is no venti iced coffee and frankly, I’m still confounded by the situation. Do they not have enough employees? Do they have COVID concerns? Is it an airport rule? I feel like no one needs Panda Express at 10 am in Dallas, though they were open just a few doors down from Starbucks serving up Chicken Fried Rice like any regular day while the Starbucks remained dark.)

So, anyway, we arrived in Columbia and even though it is usually cheaper to fly out of St. Louis or Kansas City, the three minute walk to the car and the seven minute drive to Nifong Boulevard makes it 100% worth it. We landed at 12:09 and then was at our Starbucks by 12:40 and at PJP by 12:46…which is good, because we had a YouTube video to film at 1 pm with a local video producer. We rolled our suitcases in and I changed clothes and my daughter curled my hair while I did makeup. Jeanne and Jason met us there and were ready to go for our first tutorial on how to make a meringue. I’ve seen no footage, but we did get into a tussle because she was certain that the beating of the egg whites separated the PROTONS…while I was certain it separated the PROTEINS. Admittedly, I’m pretty terrible at science but I feel like protons have to do with nuclear fusion and not meringues. I’m guessing you’ll get to watch it play out on camera, but if you want a vibe on the feel and tone of our YouTube channel, please recall the protons/proteins scuttle as your reference point.

We did have the best time at Atlanta Market, as always. We achieved a major goal, like finding and purchasing the light fixture for the front counter at PJP West End. And we also found some new vendors and so much cute decor and merchandise for fall and holiday at both stores. (And I found some lamps for my house, but let’s keep that just between us and hope Jason doesn’t read here.) But overall, I think we enjoy it most because we can not wear ponytails and tennis shoes…and we are surrounded by people who own their own businesses and agonize over the same decisions we do - like will something sell well in store or if they can store it until they have floor space or what their Plan B is when shipping delays impact purchases. In short, we don’t leave our store enough to remind ourselves that all the things we think and feel are the same in small businesses everywhere. Except I bet most of those other people we met in Atlanta don’t have a set of tennis shoes just for baking or they will leave a trail of flour footprints everywhere they go. That may just be a PJP thing…