Eat, Pray, Love for the Underprivileged

Unless you've been seriously not paying attention, you know that the new Julia Roberts film Eat, Pray, Love just opened in theaters. I have not seen the movie yet or read the best selling novel it is based on although I plan on at least doing one or the other. I have however read articles in Entertainment Weekly as well as online reviews and critiques. So that's basically where my expertise in this subject lies.

After being slammed with numerous ads, trailers, teasers, and promotions (and getting that awesome Florence + The Machine song stuck in my head), I decided to check out what others were saying about the phenomenon. This "journey" of mine lead me to an article from Bitch Magazine called Eat, Pray, Spend, Priv-lit and the new, enlightened American dream which criticizes the novel as being part of the costly enlightenment industry which for the most part seems to be focused towards women. Having of course not read the novel yet, I'm not sure if it does indeed deserve this criticism or not however I'm inclined to think that the Bitch does have a point. I would love to spend a year traveling to Italy, Indonesia, and India but alas I can't afford it.

So, I'm going to do this staycation style and over a shorter time frame...

EAT

My new journey to enlightenment will begin of course with Eat and I have have to say this is all perfect timing for the Iowa State Fair and Des Moines Restaurant Week are upon us. Last night I made my first stop at Stam Chocolaterie on Ingersoll. For those who don't know, this European candy store does have a hidden night life on the weekends. The patio/garden on the side on the shop has a stage for live music which is played every Friday and Saturday and there is a full wine menu which features Sangria's and wine and chocolate flights (samples of four different wines paired with four different types of chocolate). I tried the Chocolaty Dutchman - wine with Picket Fence Creamery chocolate milk garnished with a dark chocolate medallion. This sexy drink is as good as it sounds. I paired it with a small bag of chocolates. Not the best dinner but I not ashamed to say that it was very satisfying:)

To Be Continued...