Meryl Streep, Julia Child, and the general mess of things in my head

So today, I woke up at 7:10 AM to take a quick shower and begin the 5 hour trek to Ithaca, NY for a weeklong Italian cooking class/family vacation-reunion-type-thing. On the way up, between eating 3 delicious PB&J (cold, but after they had already been toasted - DELICIOUS. THANKS GRANDMA!) I started reading the book Julie & Julia (by Julie Powell) for a number of reasons.
1. The premise itself sounded interesting.
2. It's the basis for the new Meryl Streep movie, and she is my IDOL (no, really, I LOVE her. And not just because she shares a name with my mom. More on that later).
3. It was only $7.99 at Borders (actually, $6.99 with my Borders Reward card, courtesy of my roommate, Katie. Thanks, Boo!), and had a rave review from Entertainment Weekly on the cover, and they are my popular culture gurus and I trust them entirely.
4. Let's just face facts here: it was picked up to be a movie. And that usually means that, although the movie itself may not always match the book (case en point: 98% of movies based off of books), the book itself is pretty freaking good and has some sort of a following, so there's always SOMEone after the book is finished who is willing to discuss it with you.
5. I'm taking a cooking class this week. It's about cooking. BADA BING BADA BOOM.

Regardless of my reasons, it's a freaking fantastic book. Well written, moves quickly - heck, I know I'm a fast reader, but I'm still astonished that I managed to finish 215/390 pages through just reading in the car and in the few off moments I got throughout the day.

So why am I telling you all this? Because - bear with me, I know what you all are thinking - Julia Child was (a) AWESOME and (b) quite the independent woman.

She was a spy for the OSS during World War II in Europe, and met her husband by simply being herself. She was fearless, outgoing - everything a nice housewife is generally speaking not "supposed" to be in the 1940's. She thought and spoke for herself, and went to cooking school in france not to become a famous chef, but to cook for her husband - but not because he was making her, because she WANTED to. And then she went on and created a HUGE career for herself so late in life, after she got out of cooking school!

And as for Meryl Streep - she's one of the greatest actresses of our time, and takes on some of the most impressive roles - but always ones where the women she plays are strong, independent, and most of all, relatable. Because after all, aren't those qualities we all strive for within ourselves?

Julie & Julia. read the book, then see the movie when it's out in theatres Aug 7 - I sure hope it's even half as good as the book, and gives the same message!