Somehow I managed to escape reading The Great Gatsby in high school and college. I’m not really sure how. I’ve always wondered about it, but when given a choice, I always selected different books.

With the movie out in theaters, I now had daily advertisements reminding me that I should check it out. So, this month, I finally read it. And quite frankly, I’m not really sure how I felt about it. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s style of writing takes a little bit to settle into. It’s full of metaphors, and sentences are strung together with long descriptions. Though it’s short, I found it hard to read and had a difficult time finding my rhythm.

That being said, it has stayed with me. I’ve thought about it off and on for the last few days, which I’d have to say is the mark of a really good book.

Any suggestions for next month? I’m really curious about Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald. Has anyone read it?

I’ve added two, new red wines to the wine list. One is a lovely Syrah and the other is a Cotes du Rhone. Try them this weekend with a perfectly grilled steak.

McManis Family Vineyards, Syrah, Vintage 2010 – Light and slightly peppery
Cotes du Rhone Heritages, Maitre Eleveur Ogier, 2010 – Absolutely perfect

I’ve run across some new beauty products that I’m obsessed with. The first is Benefit’s “They’re Real” mascara. I’ve been a longtime user of Maybelline’s Great Lash, but this one is smudge proof and gives your lashes great volume and length. I’ve also fallen for their Watts Up, highlighter. Smoothed across cheekbones and brow bones, it adds a subtle shimmer and light to your face. I’m completely smitten.

Last but not least, I got Josie Maran’s Coconut Watercolor Cheek Gelee in Poppy Paradise for my birthday from my mother-in-law (Thanks Kim!). The color is sheer, but has great lasting power. It will be perfect for a breezy summer look.

I picked a mix of vegetables and lots of basil in the hopes that something will succeed. I read somewhere that marigolds help keep critters away, so I planted a border of them along two sides. The husband also used his brutish strength to pull up the mint that has been trying to takeover the garden for years. I like having it on hand, so I’ve decided to keep a small planter of it on our patio instead. My thought is that it could live in Ellie’s playroom during the winter, so I picked a bright pink pot.

Anyways, the whole thing is very hopeful, and three diagrams later, I settled on this.

That being said, I am becoming increasingly more aware of my shortcomings in the flower department and have decided to dedicate one of my beds to mostly herbs. They seem to be one of the few things I can grow. You wouldn’t believe how big my sage plant gets. It’s seriously the size of a bush (or, roughly the same size as the dandelions I grew in the vegetable garden). We have plans to expand our patio this summer, which means my little bed with rosemary and chives is getting the axe. So, those have been added to the larger bed in the back.

Ellie had been living on a steady diet of purees for months when I knew she was ready to start eating more of our food. Even though she was ready, I was not, because I had no idea what to feed her.

I started by slowly including her in our dinners. When I made our weekly meal plan, I chose things she could eat. Ellie often got the deconstructed, Top Chef version of our meals. For example, when we ate fish tacos, Ellie had fish without the spicy seasoning, small pieces of tortilla and bits of mango and avocado.

We started to get the swing of dinner pretty quickly, but lunch had me stumped. Like most working adults, lunch is kind of an after thought for me. Picking up food or relying on boxed meals was how I survived, but lean cuisines weren’t going to cut it for her. And, now that I work from home, I was responsible for feeding us lunch five days a week, which seemed pretty daunting.

I finally sat down and actually developed a list of things I could make in 15 minutes or less. Everything can work as a finger food for Ellie, but is also something she and I would both like.

I’m guessing I’m not the only person looking for quick and easy meals, so I’ve added a new section to the site called “Feeding Your Family.” You can still find info on making your own baby food there, but I’ve added a page for “Big Kid” recipes. So far, it includes recipes for chicken nuggets, quesadillas and pita pizzas, and I plan to keep adding to it. Even though these are labeled for kids, I offer tweaks and options for more adult palates, so please check it out even if you don’t have any little ones at your house.

I settled on recipes I’d made before: Gywnnie’s rotisserie chicken, asparagus, clementine/almond muffins and mustard roasted potatoes. I also decided to try this recipe for rhubarb snackin’ cake that was delicious. You should definitely try it out.

If you want to make this dinner for yourself, here’s the schedule:

The Day Before:
Make the rhubarb snackin’ cake.
Set the table.
Purchase and arrange flowers if you’re putting them on your table.

The Day Of:
Three hours before – Make the clementine muffins.
Two hours before – Preheat the oven and make the potatoes.
One hour before – Put the chicken in the oven.
As your guests arrive – Roast the asparagus.
10 minutes after the start time – Put the potatoes back in and warm them through.

This book is perfection.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is an intricately woven story made magical with lush details on every page. Read it, like yesterday.

But, I didn’t. Quite frankly, the lyrics creep me out, which is ironic because I listen to some pretty scandalous rap music and have zero problem with it.

Well, I am pleased to say I am not creeped out about this one. As a matter of fact, I really like it.

This last week was a doozy. Both the husband and I came down with a nasty case of the flu, and then, this weekend we hosted Ellie’s baptism. All of that, plus  a heavy workload have kept me away from here. Luckily, we’ve both recovered, and things are starting to even out again, which hopefully means, I’ll be sharing news with you here. Because truthfully, I’ve had a lot of things I wanted talk with you about. A lot.

One of the first things is that we liked three more of the wines we picked up at Royal Liquor. I’ve decided to add a wine list page, where I can catalog all of these. I thought that might be easier than trying to sift through past posts to find a wine I mentioned on here. Here they are:

Milton Park by Thorn – Clarke, Shiraz, 2010: Light with peppery notes

Roc de Chateauvieux, Vouvray, 2008: Starts out sweet, but has a light crisp finish

Chateau de Campuget, Costieres de Nimes, Rose, 2012: Dry and crisp – a perfect spring wine – Not at all what I expected. I’m thinking of serving this one at a dinner party in a few weeks.

I have a weakness for basically any romance set in England, so it’s no surprise that I chose a Hester Browne book for March. I wanted something light and easy to read, because I knew work was going to be very busy.

The Runaway Princess was exactly what the doctor ordered. Dinner with princes and red carpet events are basically the polar opposite of my life right now (and really, ever). So, it was lovely to relax a bit while dreaming of castles and fancy dresses. If you’re looking for a little escape, I would absolutely recommend this charming story.

For April, I’m reading The Night Circus. I’ve heard so many positive reviews of this one and can already see why. I’ll share my official review when I finish it.

What are you excited to read this year?