Day 169 - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? (pt. 1)

Day 169.

Guess who's coming to dinner, everyone! Hint: It's not Judith Jones. She is 87 years old.

Judith Jones couldn't make it on account of her being fucking ancient.

So about a month ago, I got a really nice email from a young blog reader named Sophie K. Now, not to brag or anything, but I get a lot of really nice emails from a lot of readers. But as I started reading, I slowly began to realize that this one was different.

Hello Lawrence,
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Sophie. I am thirteen, to be fourteen in June, and I am a BIG fan of the blog. I first heard about you on Good Food, yes that podcast interview you bombed (and let me say, your radio personality is very different than your blog personality, I was quite surprised.) I know you must be thinking that I am a little strange, I listen to a food podcast, and by the way I happen to LOVE Julie & Julia, and I am only a teenager. But let me get to my point. I happen to live in Evanston, Illinois. So, I was wondering if you could have a Evanston fans viewing party. (If it was in your dormroom, my dad said my mom would have to come with me.) But instead of it being me, you, and my mom, maybe you could do a big screening, and invite people to watch with you. Or you could even come to my house.  Anyways, that is what I wanted to say, so thank you for your time.

--Sophie K.

My initial response? "What the fuck? 13-year-olds read my blog!?! Shit! I didn't know that! Dammit, I swear way too much to be read by 13-year-olds! Fuck! Did I swear that much when I was 13? Shit, I think I did. I'm a fucking terrible role model. God, I sure as hell hope I'm not anybody's role model. Ass!"

But then I reread the email and went "Awwwwww" like a rational person. "Thassss so sweeeet" (in a not-at-all creepy voice). Anywho, I didn't give her invitation much thought at first, because, well, what kind of college kid invites 13-year-old girls to come to their dorm to watch a movie with them? Soon-to-be-incarcerated college kids, that's who. Then Sophie sent me this:

In a follow up to my previous email, my mother said she would prefer you come to my house and she would cook you a nice dinner and you could watch the movie with my family, It would be very fun. Please take it into consideration.

--Sophie K.

Collective "Awwwwww" from everyone reading this. But there was still some trepidation on my side. I mean, the email could not be more adorable/obviously written by a 13-year-old, but maybe it was too adorable... you know, this could easily be some sort of trap set by one of those internet predators you hear so much about, right? Again, what kind of guy would willingly go to the house of someone he's never met and who he's only communicated with via email? Oh, wait.

THIS GUY.

Now, for your viewing enjoyment, I present to you the first part of a video diary of The Lawrence/Julie & Julia Project's first reader visit, entitled "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?"



Check back later for Part 2 - The Dinner! (to be posted sometime in the near future)

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Julie & Julia Quote of the Day: "Well, since no one guessed my mystery guest, I'm going to have to tell you all."