eat.pray.love…..repeat.

This must be the 4th or 5th time I’ve read this book and I still can’t get enough. Each time I read it I have to remind myself to read slowly and enjoy every sentence of each page… even though in my mind I am already excited and anticipating the next part of Elizabeth’s journey. I love how she writes without trying to impress anyone. Nowhere in the book does she try to be politically correct… “Say the right thing” or try to appease any specific audience. In fact, at the beginning she calls out to anyone who might be offended of her use of the word God to close her book, and peacefully put it back on the shelf.
I feel like Elizabeth Gilbert and I are in our favorite coffee shop (you know, the one with art hanging on every wall… the smell of pumpkin spice coffee brewing… my favorite Frank Sinatra style song playing softly in the background…sitting on couches instead of chairs… nobody speaking above a ’12 inch voice’ or talking on their most trendy mobile device.) So there we are, sitting in our lovely little coffee shop and she is telling me about her year abroad. The year she spent on herself…finding herself. The year she spend doing exactly what she wanted to do. It doesn’t matter that we haven’t seen each other in ages… she still tells me every detail. She doesn’t paint herself to be a rosy white angel with wings and bells on. Instead she tells me everything that brought her to where she is now.
As I am listening to my bff Liz tell me her beautiful story, I can’t help but be pulled in and wonder where I would go. What I would do. What would I look for and what would I give up to find it? Would I ever take that leap of faith? I’d like to think I’d be able to, but I’m not so sure. …So back I go, listening to Liz go on about her adventure. And I’m transported to Italy. Ahh… Italy… the land of pasta, pizza, Italian men… and the most wonderful assortment of gelato available in the world. Turns out, gelato is a perfectly acceptable breakfast in Italy! Can I move there yet? Her description of authentic Italian foods will rival any New York Times foodru (that’s foodie and guru put together)… any Paula Dean cooking show, and will come fist to fist with the guy on Diners, Drive In’s and Dives. She keeps talking about visiting different towns in Italy and Rome and instead of museums and shopping and Churches… it’s where to find the best pasta, seafood or dessert. Usually, she is given a piece of paper with an address scribbled on it by a local… leading her to a hole in the wall restaurant that just so happens to have “..the fluffiest ricotta in all of Italy…” *sigh* I want to go there too… my heart keeps saying… Someday… my head says back.
I’m going to go back to listening to this story. India is coming up soon… and then Bali is next. I can’t WAIT to hear what happens in Bali.
Come over to our coffee shop. You’ll love this story. Liz would love to meet you and tell you everything. If you can’t make it, she wrote it all down. I’ll let you borrow my copy.

xoxo, Clementine.