Read My Life in France. Julia Child is an inspiration. When she was just a cooking naïf, she spent weeks finding the perfect mayonnaise recipe, only to find that none of her friends or family really cared. Even though I don’t really like mayonnaise, I can relate. Writing this book, I’m obsessed with phrases and character descriptions. Of course, in the end, no one should know that practically every word was difficult to choose, just like Julia Child never told her guests about what went wrong in the kitchen. The great success that became of Julia didn’t come naturally. She worked very hard, and for a long time, it didn’t seem that Mastering the Art of French Cooking would even get published. As she received rejection letters, she decided making the cookbook was worth it, if only because she loved making perfect recipes so much. Toward the end of the book, she and her husband Paul are building a second home in France. She mentions that they had their own bedrooms because she was a snorer and her husband was an insomniac. But her husband had a full bed so they could cuddle in the morning. To me, this is a great lesson on love and compromise. And before he blows up, I’m saying now that I love the actor playing Julie Powell’s wife in the movie. His name is Chris Messina. You may remember him from Vicky Christina Barcelona and the last season of Six Feet Under. Or maybe not. I doubt he’s ever been linked to Jennifer Aniston. Still, he’s one of my favorite actors.