Why Julia?

My mom started it. Her boyfriend found a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking in a dumpster when she was 18. Julia has always kind of been there, in the back of my consciousness. We saw her kitchen at the Smithsonian in October of 2002, and here and there my mom and I would watch an episode of The French Chef (link to The Omelette Show). However, I wasn't really inspired by her until Mom and I saw Julie & Julia on August 11th, four days before Julia's birthday (link to the movie poster, link to the blog, link to the book cover). :) The movie really struck me-partly because I loved the scenes of Paris. 


My dad went to school there for a while when his dad worked in Paris, and our family took three trips to the area when I was thirteen, fourteen and seventeen months old. (Did I mention that we went to Hawaii when I was two? I'll probably find out Mom went to the moon when she was pregnant with me.) I've always wanted to go back, inspired by my dad's stories about having fresh baguettes and French cheese for dinner, and the little apartment he and my grandpa had (65 Rue de Lourmel, 75015 Paris, France). 


Back to the movie. When I stumbled out of the theater, slightly dazed by the light, I wanted to learn how to cook. However, once I got home and settled back into the routine of daily life, the only effect Julia had on me in the cooking department was to inspire me to add a dash of cinnamon to my soup. I was about to say that Julie inspired me to get a blog, but I just checked that and it turns out I got my first blog on July 27th. Oh well. Julie did inspire me on the blog front, even if I was already a blogger.  


Anyway, even though Julia didn't inspire me to learn how to cook right now, or, rather, right then, she left a little pinch of her behind. That pinch has been itching for a while, demanding that I learn more about Julia. When I finally got my writing teacher (hereafter referred to as the tenacious vine) to turn blogger and start a research blog session, the itch got bigger, and by the time I got My Life In France, Julia's memoirs, for Christmas, I was hooked. Now I'm in the middle of not only My Life in France, but a biography, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and soon I'm going to start Julie and Julia, the book. I picked Julia because I've always wanted to know about her, and this seemed like the perfect way to transform that want into existence.
Bon Appétit!