Julie & Julia

August 7th was a big day. It was my sister's birthday. AND it was the day that the movie Julie & Julia finally came out!!

If you've been reading my blog, you know that I am a bit...shall we say obsessed?...with Julia Child.

I've been excited about this movie for months. My sister loves to cook and we love bonding over food. How perfect to see this movie with her on her birthday! My mom, sister, and I had such a nice time together.

You'd think my mounting excitement over the past few months would only set me up to be disappointed. No. I loved it. I just loved it.

The movie alternates between telling Julie Powell's story and Julia Child's story. Both are true stories. Julie's story is about her attempt to break the monotony of her life by cooking her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in one year. She chronicles her culinary adventures on a blog she names, "The Julie/Julia Project". The project not only brings excitement and opportunities into her life, but gives her an insight into who she really is.

Julia Child's story is based on her autobiography called My Life in France. The movie follows her as she learns to cook at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. She eventually gets involved in writing a cookbook that becomes Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Amy Adams (Julie Powell) and Meryl Streep (Julia) are just wonderful in their roles. I can't get over how much Meryl Streep looks like Julia in her scenes (especially the reenactments of The French Chef episodes!). The movie artfully jumps back and forth between their stories and I really identified with each character.

One thing I really liked about this movie was it's depiction of marriage. I was reading an article recently that said a lot of movies show the "falling in love" phase of relationships or they show marriages breaking down. The article (wish I could remember where I read it!) talks about how refreshing it is to watch a movie that paints a realistic picture of healthy, happy marriages. I don't know the current status of Julia Powell's marriage, but Paul and Julia Child had a famously successful marriage. She adored him and he supported her hopes and dreams 100%. In the movie, Julie Powell's husband also loves and supports her and she loves and appreciates him. It just made me feel happy.

I could go on and on about the movie...but you should just go see it! Before the movie, my cooking teacher, Art, emailed me this article. It's very long, but really interesting. It begins by talking about the movie Julie & Julia, but then goes into commentary on the cooking trends in America and our overall attitude toward working in the kitchen. It's written by Michael Pollan who recently wrote a book called In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto.

Anyway...it is unlikely that I'll become a famous cookbook author or TV personality like Julia Child...but, as I've said before, Julia inspires me to believe that it will never be too late for me to pursue my passions and become who I am meant to be.