Since giving birth 8 years a go, I generally make it to the movie theatre about once every year to 18 months. At first, I missed the smell of movie theatre popcorn, the big screen, the latest new releases. I've become accustomed now to waiting til something appears on DVD, popping our popcorn, and sitting down to our own home theatre system. Most of the time now, I don't even miss the theatre -- our couch is more comfortable and there are many fewer cell phones going off.

That said, I've actually made it to the movie theatre twice in the past week to see new releases and have really enjoyed seeing a movie when others are still buzzing about them. I went with Christopher for special mommy/son time to see the latest Harry Potter flick last weekend. Well done -- my least favorite book, but they did well with the movie. It's hard as the 6th book because you're just waiting for the events of book 7 --book 6 by its very natures seems to be a "place holder." Christopher was surprisingly only scared a little bit -- some of those CG images are pretty gruesome, but the fact that we had read the book first helped prepare him. And I love that he always comes out every movie based on a book saying "The book is so much better than the movie." I've done something right as a mother.

Last night, Lisa and I took time out to go see "Julie & Julia." We had both read both of the books that the film is based on. One is the real life story of Julia Child and her time in France. It's a marvelous book that makes you dream of sitting in an outdoor plaza drinking french red wine and munching on a cheese platter. The other is the story of Julie Powell who set out to cook her way through "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" and blog about it over the course of a year. I found the Powell book less intriguing -- the concept was good, but I didn't find the author's voice as compelling. I felt the same way about the film. The Julie parts were ok, but the sections focusing on Meryl Streep's Julia Child made me want to whisk off to Paris immediately. They make you want to have Julia Child at every party you host. It makes you want to try that Boeuf Bourginonne recipe pronto. Fun night out.