• coffee,  family,  kids,  neuroses,  seasonal,  wisconsin

    The Real March Madness

    My husband says that waking up on the first day of the NCAA tournament is like Christmas morning for him. But I’m familiar with the real March madness, and basketball has nothing to do with it. The real March madness is the feeling you get when you watch the thermometer on your car dashboard drop from fourteen to eleven to five degrees Fahrenheit. It’s the first day of spring getting bitch-slapped by winter, year after year. It’s devouring gallons of coffee and carb-loading with baked goods because winter will never end and you’ll never need to wear a bathing suit again. It’s straitjacketing your toddler into his parka and boots…

  • coffee,  creativity,  desserts,  food,  local,  seasonal,  sweets

    Of Creativity and Cupcakes

    This fall, Edible Madison editor Jamie Lamonde contacted me to ask if I was interested in writing a feature on Bloom Bake Shop and its owner, Annemarie Spitznagle, for the winter issue. Bloom is a small-batch dessert bakery in Middleton, Wis. that uses local, seasonal, and organic ingredients.  Of course I wasted no time in saying, “OH MY GOD, YES!” I mean, who wouldn’t love to sample and write about cupcakes, whoopie pies, and to-die-for French press coffee?   The afternoon I spent at Bloom was about so much more than cupcakes, though. Annemarie and I talked about goals, determination, and finding the place where work and passion intersect. You can read the…

  • art,  coffee,  poetry,  writing

    Is there a place for poetry?

    April, what T.S. Eliot called “the cruelest month,” is National Poetry Month. And, in our modern world of clamor and clutter, I have to wonder: is there a place for poetry? I’d like to think the answer is yes. I have dozens of poetry books on my shelves that have not been opened in years. But it does not matter. I can go about my days, and the verses still sit there, poised inside those pages, ready to spring goosebumps to my skin if I only take time to remember, and read. Today, April 26, is “Poem in Your Pocket Day,” first created by the City of New York in 2002…

  • blogging,  coffee,  creativity,  writing

    Why We Write

      Ask any writer why he or she writes and you are likely to get the answer, “Because I have to.”  You’d probably get this answer from a bestselling author who’s on deadline to deliver her next manuscript. And you’d probably get the same answer from an unpublished teenager who taps away at a computer in her parents’ basement. One makes money from writing, the other doesn’t. At least not yet. So money doesn’t explain the need they both feel to write.  I recently read an article by Ann Lamott that, for me, explains this need. She says, There is nothing you can buy, achieve, own, or rent that can…

  • coffee,  green living,  handmade,  upcycling

    Coffee & Cuteness

    I am friends with a bunch of coffee fiends. Our shared addiction is most evident on group camping trips. As we unload cars or canoes and set up camp, someone always poses the question: “Who has the coffee?” Panic spreads as the person who was supposed to have it inevitably empties her bag and can’t find it. The next twenty minutes are spent flinging around sleeping bags and rain gear, frisbees and bags of chips until someone–THANK GOD–finds the double-ziplocked bag of freshly-ground coffee beans. In the morning, the earliest riser takes on the painstaking process of building a fire and setting up the special coffee pot over the flames.…

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  • blogging,  coffee,  fiction,  style

    Seven Secrets

    Glossing Over It is thrilled to accept the Stylish Blogger Award. Thank you to The Chick Lit Bee for the nomination. I am an unabashed lover of chick lit, as well as many other kinds of fiction, so I enjoy the honest and thoughtful reviews over at The Chick Lit Bee, run by four fabulous writers. Along with the award comes the request to pay the compliment forward as follows:  {1} Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award. {2} Reveal seven things about yourself. {3} Nominate ten great bloggers for the award. So here are seven things about me: (1) I tried on a jumpsuit last…

  • cheese,  coffee,  green living,  local,  recipes,  restaurants,  writing

    A Winter Pick-Me-Up

    When I opened my February 2011 copy of Food & Wine magazine, an unusual picture caught my eye. A band of adults and kids, all of them clad in bright parkas and clutching broomsticks, were captured mid-sprint in a game of broomball on an ice-covered lake. The scene looked like a modern Norman Rockwell painting. It also looked vaguely familiar. As I turned to the article that went along with the photo, I realized it looked familiar because it was familiar. The article featured Madison’s own chef Tory Miller, of L’Etoile and Graze restaurants, and the photo was taken on Lake Mendota. As pointed out in the article, which was…

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  • art,  blogging,  coffee,  decor,  design,  wine

    Feels Like Home

    I’m thrilled to have the talented blogger and decorator Doreen Creede from Style Maniac guest posting today on Glossing Over It about interior design. Decor is something I admire and enjoy, but I don’t have any background in it, so I was thrilled when Doreen agreed to say a few words about her own approach to a designing a room: Candlelight glows against the soft brass of my vintage coffee table; its mirrored surface gleams with glasses of garnet wine, platters of creamy goat cheese, and bowls of savory sundried tomatoes.  Shoes have been kicked off, pillows smushed behind backs, lights dimmed low, music turned up high. Flames lick against…

  • coffee,  fashion,  vintage

    Come See Me at Style Maniac

    Today I’m guest posting on vintage fashion over at Style Maniac— a blog by the fabulous Doreen Creede about decorating, dressing, reading, eating, and entertaining in style.  Hmmm, all of my favorite things… it’s no wonder I read it religiously. I love how the internet makes it possible to collaborate on projects with creative people everywhere, whether they’ve been to your home or just your home page. So, as Style Maniac would say, kick off your leopard print flats, pour yourself a glass of wine (or a cup of coffee, depending on when you’re reading this) and check out my guest post.

  • booze,  coffee,  food,  recipes

    Plummy Rum Blackberry Buckle

    When stone fruits are in season, I can’t help buying them in bulk. The problem is that they don’t last very long. Even at the rapid rate I gobble them, I can never finish all of the purchased peaches or plums. The solution? Bake with them, of course. This “buckle” cake is delicious either as a dessert with ice cream or whipped cream, or with coffee for breakfast. Plummy Rum Blackberry Buckle (try to say that 3 times fast…) Modified from a Bon Appetit recipe 1/2 cup whole, unpeeled almonds 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted…