GLOSSING OVER IT

fiction. fashion. food. frivolity.

In Defense of Gatsby

I went to see the The Great Gatsby a couple of weekends ago, and I loved every over-the-top second of it. (No spoilers here, by the way, even if you’ve never read the novel). I know it’s been skewered in reviews. The Washington Post gave it two stars. Ouch. CNN called it garish, and The [...]

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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, [...]

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The “YES” (in other words, agented!)

I have a quote, framed and printed on a letterpress card, next to my desk. It’s a reminder to help me through all the “nos” and the “maybe ifs” that come with being a writer and putting my work out into the world. Today, I’m here to attest that it’s true. That after the final [...]

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Why I Won’t End Up on Hoarders

I’ve been spending quite a bit of time with my new friend, Helga. She doesn’t have much of a brain, but she’s got a killer bod. Helga is a dress form mannequin. Yes, I now own a mannequin. And I named her. Let me tell you, doing Google searches for mannequins ends in some creepy [...]

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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 And you’d probably get the same answer from an unpublished teenager who taps away at a computer [...]

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A very vintage holiday

The holidays are a nostalgic time, so vintage touches fit right in with the spirit of the season. Some of my favorite tree trimmings are beaded bell ornaments made by my grandmother, and mod foil balls I picked out from a dime store when I was a kid. Nearly everyone in my dad’s family has [...]

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What Oscar Wilde and Dolly Parton Have in Common

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” — Oscar Wilde I’m not usually in the business of providing inspirational quotes on this blog. My cynical nature, further honed by law school, prevents me from getting jazzed up over “Just Do It”-type mantras (in fact, sports analogies actually unmotivate me). However, I came across the Oscar [...]

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