Seeing myself on screen

Saturday, Mike and I saw Julie & Julia and I have never related so much to a character in a movie as I did with Julie. Wow. It was weird. Through the entire movie, Mike and I would exchange glances and know what the other was thinking. "oh my gosh, that's me."

First of all, this is a very sweet movie for both men and women, but I guess it would fall under the "chick flick" category. But there were plenty of men in the theater, but they were with their female significant others.

If you don't know the premise of the movie, then head over to http://www.imdb.com/ and look it up.

There were glaring similarities between myself and one of the main characters, Julie Powell.

J: She works on the phone in a cubicle and takes complaints for a living.

R: I work on the phone (used to work in a cubicle) and listen to people complain for a living.

J: She is married to a sweet, adorable, encouraging man who listens to her and supports what makes her happy.

R: So am I.

J: Her family lives in Texas. (Her mother was not supportive, but mine is, so that's a diff)

R: I have family in Texas.

J: She wants to change the world.
R: So do I.

J: Cooking is her stress-reliever.

R: Oh boy, I don't know what I would do if I didn't like to cook!

On that, somewhere in the movie, she said something like "It's good to know after a long day where nothing is certain, I can come home and know for sure that chocolate, eggs, and flour will make a cake." I totally identified with that. After a long day of zero certainty, I can come home and know that powdered sugar + butter + vanilla extract + milk will always equal an amazing sugary glaze. That is so comforting. It always works.

There were several conversations in the movie that Mike and I have had. Times where we sit on the bed into the wee hours of the morning, talking about our feelings (OK, I talk about my feelings) and about our dreams/plans for the future. Some conversations are tearful, and some have us in stitches!

There were times in the movie where her husband Eric came in and helped her when she couldn't take it anymore, and Mike would totally do the same.

Now I want to make it clear that while watching this movie and noticing all the similarities, I wasn't exactly proud of the fact that I was just like her.... she was a brat and possibly difficult to live with sometimes. And I know I definitely am at times.

It is difficult being a wife sometimes.... working full-time with too much overtime, having a part-time job (that I really love, but it takes time away), all this while trying to keep our apartment livable and a husband happy and fed. I can't imagine trying to do it all with kids too! Sometimes it's hard to create priorities, and find the work/life balance. As it turns out, according to surveys, this is the thing that most women find the most difficult to do.

All this to say, hats off to Nora Ephron for Julie & Julia. And Meryl Streep was adorable as Julia Child. Have you ever watched JC on youtube? You can see her programs, and I love how she's imperfect and totally OK with that.

We could all learn a little from both these women!