Red Room Where the Writers Are

A best friend handed me the best seller, Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, to read as my first summer book in Italy, where I recently moved. The author began her journey for happiness in Rome and captivated Italy's pride in knowing how to live beautifully and with pleasure. She expounded on the food, the sexiness of the citizens, the sensuality of the language, all of which are meant for pure joy. I moved to Italy this summer because my husband's job offered him an opportunity he couldn't refuse. People assume I married a business man when I tell them this, but that's not the case -my husband is a tattoo artist. We met three years ago at his work, because unlike him, I am in business and I had just started leasing a building behind his tattoo shop for my own new company. Two opposites that did more than just attract at first sight, we fell in love. The stress of owning a business started to affect my health after three years and Italy seemed like the perfect remedy. The only problem was, I didn't know how to relax, how to just be happy and live without the stress of working or the stress of living. Every single word of this summer read changed my life here in Italy. This summertime book made me realize it was okay to relax and feel pleasure in a new culture and in my new life. Eat, Pray, Love will remain on my bookshelf for years to come because I want to begin every single summer reading about Gilbert's year of pleasure.