Monthly Mercies: March

On Leap Day, beloved re-reads, and 54 cakes in the shortest month of the year

Hello, friend.

It’s March!

As you probably know, yesterday was Leap Day. The elusive February 29th. A whole extra day on the calendar. What an exciting prospect.

How did I spend my Leap Day, you ask? (Let’s pretend you asked). I guess if I had thought about it, I might have tried to make something special of it. Maybe I would have accomplished a task I normally feel I don’t have the time for or treated myself to a fun meal or lunch or experience. But, well, I didn’t.

On Leap Day, I cleaned my bathrooms. I sat on the floor and played Duplos with my two-year old. I went to Aldi and Dollar Tree. I draped wet laundry across kitchen and dining room chairs to dry because the dryer is broken. I sent Joel lots of memes and reels that made me laugh. I comforted my five year-old with a belly ache and asked my eight year-old how her new gifted program schedule was. We talked about the new paint in the hallways at school. I had some of my favorite people over for Book Club and laughed a lot.

It was a normal day.

And you know what? I’m not sure I can think of a better “extra day” than one filled with the things and people I love the best.

Wishing you a March full of the same.

In his mercy,

Amy

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February Reads

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Little Women is one of my all-time favorite books and I decided it was time for a re-read. I listened on audio for the first time and enjoyed the ways that helped me appreciate the story in a new way, particularly the dialogue. I took my time on this read-through and really savored it. I’ll love the March sisters forever!
My Goodreads rating: 5/5 stars

Old Crimes: And Other Stories by Jill McCorkle
This book has just what I love in a collection of short stories: weird vibes, some overlap in characters, and a variety of circumstances and POVs. This was a fun collection that I’m glad I picked up!
My Goodreads rating: 3/5 stars

Everyone on This Train is a Suspect (Ernest Cunningham #2) by Benjamin Stevenson
Last summer I read and loved Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, so I was eagerly awaiting this second installment in the series. In this book, Ernest Cunningham is on a train journey with other mystery writers for a writing festival, so obviously someone is getting murdered. This book held the same breaking-the-fourth-wall charm as the first and while I didn’t find the story as compelling, it was still a very fun read!
My Goodreads rating: 3/5 stars

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants #1 by Ann Brashares
Well this was an EXCITING re-read. I don’t even remember how it came up, but we were talking about Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants at book club last month and I happily volunteered to host a discussion of it. I loved this series so much as a teen, and was thrilled to find that they still resonate with me, although I was drawn to different characters more as an adult. Can’t wait to keep working my way through this beloved series! (And watch the movies, obvi).
My Goodreads rating: 4/5 stars
(Ps- I just remembered that I *think* SOTTP came up because we were talking about the Oscars and America Ferrera. Books club pals, feel free to weigh in on that.)

The Ugly History of Beautiful Things: Essays on Desire and Consumption by Katy Kelleher
My friend

Shannon Williams

mentioned this book in her monthly book round-up and I was immediately intrigued. The Ugly History of Beautiful Things takes a look at the darker side of the beautiful things we love, like mercury poisoning in the crafting of ancient Venetian mirrors, the ethics of silk production, and much more. I loved the deep dive into these categories, even as it was a bit dry at times. It’s a fascinating look at consumption and the things we’ve deemed beautiful and valuable.
My Goodreads rating: 3/5 stars

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February Bakes

At the beginning of February, we got to celebrate the baby shower of a dear friend. I made this pink ombre cake to pair with the floral decorations! This was a gluten-free chocolate cake with chocolate ganache filling and peanut butter buttercream, finished off with a final coat of vanilla buttercream. So so good.

My Valentine’s Day cake pop-up was a big success! I made 47 cakes in three flavors: 1) chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling, fresh raspberries, and chocolate ganache, 2) toasted sugar champagne cake with strawberry filling and champagne buttercream, and 3) a heart shaped red velvet cake with pink cream cheese buttercream. It was such a fun weekend!

These cutie little cakes were for a joint birthday party and were basically fraternal twins. One was chocolate with strawberry filling and the other was lemon with strawberry filling!

Photo cred: Becca Dolly :)

Listen. I have wanted to make a Barbie dress cake for a LONG time. So I was thrilled when I was asked to make this cake for a Barbie Galentine’s Day party. This was a vanilla cake with strawberry filling and vanilla buttercream. Did I feel like a fashion designer piping that dress on Barbie? I absolutely did.

February was the month for floral baby showers! I LOVED making this floral vanilla cake with berry filling and decorating the outside with buttercream flowers.

Joel’s birthday was February 18th and I was excited to try something new: a Bananas Foster cake! It had banana cake layers, Bananas Foster filling with a caramely, cinnamony, banana rum sauce, and a very vanilla buttercream. I didn’t flambe it because my kitchen torch is out of fuel and also I was a little scared to do it. But this turned out to be a really interesting and tasty (albeit *quite* boozy) cake!

The last cake of the month was this cheerful 40th birthday cake! It had lemon cake layers, raspberry filling , and lemon buttercream. Perfect combo.

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February Words

I shared my poem from Issue 9 of Part-Time Poets on Instagram!

This was poem I had been thinking about for a long time and finally got down on paper for Valentine’s Day.

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February Favorites

This essay by my friend Molly for Coffee+Crumbs about mice and about marriage and enduring uncertainty together was so lovely and relatable (and not just because we live in a 130 year-old house prone to uninvited tiny guests).

I adore Bess Kalb’s writing and unsurprisingly, she can create delightful children’s literature as well. We’ve been having a blast reading Buffalo Fluffalo. It’s a hit with all three Grass kids, which is really an achievement!

This piece about a financial advice columnist getting majorly scammed is WILD. It’s a long read, but you know when an article opens with “On a Tuesday evening this past October, I put $50,000 in cash in a shoe box, taped it shut as instructed, and carried it to the sidewalk in front of my apartment, my phone clasped to my ear,” you’re in for an interesting ride.
Side note: earlier this week Joel and I received calls and a text about a fraud situation from our bank and we were very hesitant about it because of this lololol. It was legitimate.

My friend

Lorren Lemmons

is doing a book concierge series on her Substack and I was like a kid on Christmas morning when I saw that my request for recommendations was included in the first edition! Can you guess which one is me?

As you know, I love Please Don’t Destroy on SNL. I also love Mike Birbiglia and his podcast. Wellll the two came together this week when the PDD guys were on Working It Out. I loved getting a peek into their dynamic, writing process, and background. Also they’re just very funny. Delightful episode.

Listen. I just cannot get TEXAS HOLD ‘EM out of my head. I’m not mad about it. Also I have watched this video probably 20 times.

Another essay by a friend about marriage and parenting that made me feel so seen.

Rachel Nevergall

just gets it.

On and on the eras tumble, one after the other, the love story of where we’ve been. Every stumble, every mishap, every shift in the routine, we learned to weave our way back to each other, to draw in close. There is no choreography for this dance we do, no fancy technology or perfect harmony. None of it looks graceful or effortless. But still, we knew, and we know, all we have to do is stand real close, nod our head, and we’ll find the beat to keep going. 

I was reminded of the Ages & Stages episodes of the Raising Boys & Girls Podcast last month and listened to the episodes on the elementary years. It was a such an encouraging reminder that much of what kids experience and express is developmentally appropriate. I’m grateful for the practical tips and gospel-centered approach this podcast always brings to my parenting! You can find the episode about “who they are” here and “what they need” here!

I made this edible cookie dough for Book Club last night and wow it is delicious. Big recommend.

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🎶This month's newsletter was written while listening to: 
Olly Olly- Penny and Sparrow
Harry’s House- Harry Styles

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I'll see you back here on the first Friday in April! Until then, you can find me on Instagram.

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I hope your March is full of new mercies. Take care of yourselves, friends.