Kitty Deschanel | Food, Wine, and Travel Adventures Across the USA

Remember the waterfall house we nearly bought? The one with the bat skeleton and huge hunk of mountainside in the living room? At around $270,000 in our dream neighborhood, I thought it was a great investment opportunity. Sexy Nerd, however, thought it was a money pit. Today, it is listed online for almost $600,000. I'm not a fan of the remodel.  This home is in one of the nicest neighborhoods in Albuquerque, nestled up against the mountains. It is a unique home in a neighborhood of unique, million dollar homes. The waterfall house has been flipped with cheap, cookie cutter finishes and a mishmash of tacky 90's style. It had so much potential. The infamous waterfall, now dewatered and stuffed with fake flowers. Meh. The sagging balcony/roof, which was the deal-breaker for us, is still as saggy as ever. All of this used to be open to the 1st floor, below. I understand the genius in closing it off from an investment standpoint, but it had looked sooo br...

For fun ideas for your next trip, visit my post 6 Reasons to Love Washington DC . Sexy Nerd was in Washington DC for business last week and I jumped at the chance to join him, eager to escape the darn allergens  (my annual nemesis) at home. Unlike our last visit to DC , which was so brutally frigid I actually considered death-by-icicle rather than continuing to trudge along, the weather was sunny and perfect this time. On the day we flew home to Albuquerque, the daytime temperature plummeted down to the low 40s (30s with the wind chill - brrr!) so our timing couldn't have been better. We were supposedly too early in the year to catch the famous DC cherry blossoms in bloom, with the 2017 National Cherry Blossom Festival still several weeks away, but I can't help thinking this year's festivities may be mistimed. By the time visitors arrive to see the cherry blossoms, they're all going to be gone! You'd never know it from thi...

Another construction-crammed post already?? We're finally building our dream home. It's too exciting not to share! Unlike my previous post, I'll try to rein in my rambling on this one and just share photos. You can jump to your own conclusion on things, such as whether or not some of the windows appear to be tied with string. (They totally do. Ack!) Foyer View from the Foyer My Office Hallway Hallway Bathroom I know I'm supposed to be skipping the commentary, but it's worth pointing out that, yes, that is a curved floor to go underneath the bathroom vanity. It's a crazy house, so why not? Master Bedroom See the fireplace? It's going to look real, but won't actually be functional because YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE HOW MUCH A FIREPLACE COSTS. Seriously, it's disgusting. My Closet Sexy Nerd insisted on adding skylights to my closet, though I begged to remove them from the plan for months. He says they wil...

I think it's safe to say popovers are on my Top 10 list of favorite foods. They're a bit below chocolate, bananas, and Ramen noodles , but certainly ahead of cherries and the apple things I make. (While blogging this, I asked Sexy Nerd what he'd say are my favorite foods, to which he listed "smores, those apple things you make, cherries, chili cheese burritios, green tea, McDonalds Cinnamelts, and the burritos I make with couscous". No chocolate or Ramen? Really, Sexy Nerd? And tea isn't a food, my love!)   I came up with this recipe while trying to use up some leftover gouda cheese and think it's a real winner. Remember the last popovers I made, which were perfect with jelly? These are delicious, but the complete opposite of those. Popovers with Onion and Gouda are ideal for a dinner party or simply to elevate an average meal into something a bit more special. Sexy Nerd and I polished off all 12 within an hour. Start off by throwing 1...

Five months into construction, the windows were installed. I had to double check that last sentence after typing it. Has it really been only five months? We're so eager to get into our new home, it feels like Panorama Homes has been building it forever , with no end in sight. We broke ground at the end of June and the windows were installed right before Thanksgiving. That still doesn't seem right. Also, I am way behind on my blogging. Sexy Nerd and I went around and around on windows, waging a heated battle between Pella and Amsco. What's that? You've never heard of Amsco windows? Supposedly, if my husband and our builder and our foreman and dozens of Google reviews are to be believed, Amsco is far superior to Pella in every way. Still, it would have been nice to install just two Pella windows, purely for the sake of being able to say "Our house has Pella windows," without it being a complete lie. According to the Pella salesman though, their wind...