Julie and Julia

Julie and Julia is all over the place. I think the PR crew did quite the job because everywhere I look, every talk show, every magazine has an interview or a review, or some other type of promotion for the movie.

I picked up the book in Borders early in the summer and was immediately roped in. I would go to Borders whenever I was bored, sit in the in-store cafe and read. I loved it and the fact that Julie Powell had started with a food blog only added to the appeal. I folded down just the very tip of the page I was on, and stashed the book away from its display in a remote corner shelf where I could find it, untouched every time.

Unfortunately, summer reading and summer work got in the way and I haven't picked up the book in a while. I have been very much looking forward to seeing the movie however, especially after reading countless reviews of "Streep's masterful portrayal of Child," from such critics as Time Magazine and well, my mom. I rarely go out to see movies. Very few appeal to me. I'm not into the action stuff (hated Transformers 2), and I absolutely cannot watch horror movies. Julie and Julia however, seems to be just my thing ;) My only problem is that I'm having trouble finding a friend who feels the same to come see it with me.

A few days ago my mom proudly declared that in the spirit of Julia Child she would make beef bourguignon from Mastering the Art of French Cooking for dinner. I smirked. My mom making beef bourguignon by herself! yea right! But I told myself that I would leave this to her as I sat down to work on my summer English essay. About 15 minutes after she had started cooking, I walked through the kitchen to get a sharpened pencil and saw she was running into trouble. She didn't really know what she was doing. I, partly to procrastinate on my assignment, partly to help my mom, and partly because I love to cook, took over. I brought in the big guns (my dutch oven; she had planned on using a casserole), rendering the bacon then thoroughly browning the beef, cooking the mirepoix, deglazing and finally putting the mixture into a 325 degree oven. I then went back to my essay.

Now my mom probably saw this as just another time that I helped her out in the kitchen. I, on the other hand, saw the situation slightly more metaphorically. My helping her was not unlike Julia helping Julie. My mom was Julie Powell, I was Julia Child. Julie, unhappy and lacking direction in life, sought guidance from Julia and with Julia's help, went from lack of direction to a life of happiness and vigor- basically what I've done for my mom- making me the equivalent of Julia Child.

Am I being serious about all this? Course not. What is serious however, is my desire to see Julie and Julia...

AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!