Thought for Food

Lunch in Paris is climbing up the Amazon bestseller lists … and I spent a wonderful evening with the author, Elizabeth, last night. She’s an old friend of M.’s who lives in, yes, Paris, so this was the first time we met — though I’ve followed her envy-inducing blog (hello! she gets to have lunch in Paris EVERY DAY) and she’s checked in on mine, so she already felt like a friend.

My copy of her memoir has literally gotten lost in the mail, so I haven’t read it yet, but I can tell you this: Elizabeth is a joy, and wise. Our conversation ranged far and wide and deep; one thing she said to M. and I resonated like the bells of Notre Dame (I’m paraphrasing): We all have a life we think we should be living, the professional or romantic fantasy that we anxiously track and compare ourselves to. And why? You only get one crack at this. When she finally realized that, despite years of the “right” education and experience, she wasn’t going to be a (Painfully) Serious Art Critic — in fact she didn’t WANT to be — it was a step that led her to this, her first book.

Tuck that thought away somewhere safe, my friends. I will.