The Sweet Life

Life, especially as an American, is full of sweet, and the French are quick to point this out, pointing out that this is the reason for our obesity problem and cheesy romantic comedies.  American food, for example, is full of sugar, even when you least expect it.  For some reason this really hit home when I came back to California last Tuesday for a Christmas visit.  After surviving the past three months on a diet of French bread, cheese, and McDo's french fries, I noticed how sickeningly sweet American restaurant food is.  Though this hasn't stopped me from eating sweet potato casserole and shortbread cookies by the boat load.

And then, there's the less literal "sweet".  Like the sweet smell of flowers as you're picked-up by a dearly loved one at the airport.  Topped off by the priceless expressions on the faces of my friends and family when I knocked on their doors last week to wish them a surprise Christmas visit.  Or the sweet look on my niece's face when, while opening Christmas presents, she discovered the joys of tissue paper.  And the endless sweet memories of spending Christmas with your family when no one breaks out in a fight, punches each other, or declares that they're writing someone out of their will.  And to top it all off with the sweet sugarplum dreams I'm able to have cuddled up in bed with three dogs and a cat. 

Even though I miss Paris and the snow,sipping sweet and spicy mulled wine on the couch during this inevitable hangover of a week between Christmas and New Year's in Calfironia, I'm also very sad to leave.  Luckily, I have London waiting right around the corner.  French life may be la belle life, but in America, I've got the sweet life.  Usually, this sweet life is an overly-confectioned fake high-fructose corn syrup version, but sometimes Americans get the ingredients just right and, if we're very lucky, even a family photo.