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

My plan for today was to share a long, detailed Seattle story with you. However, I'm still sick (aaaargh!) so that post has been switched out with one that's shorter and faster to write so that I can get back to bed. A few days ago, I had a fever of almost 103F. Now, I have vertigo. It's worse than that though. It feels like I'm seasick (!!!) even though I haven't been anywhere near the ocean since last Sunday. The water wasn't even rough on our cruise. This is getting ridiculous. Anyway, Sexy Nerd and I love Seattle. Despite its rainy reputation, we're always fortunate to have the sun shining when we visit. We walk everywhere in Seattle and enjoy the unique shopping, museums, and restaurants. Albuquerque just doesn't measure up. One thing we do not love about Seattle, however, is the overwhelming number of homeless people. That's a very hard thing to write without seeming mean, but hear me out. There's someone passed out or panhandl...

Sexy Nerd and I spent last week as guests on the Holland America Oosterdam, sailing roundtrip from Seattle with stops in Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan, and Victoria. By the way, the name of the cruise ship is pronounced like 'Oh-sterdam', not 'Awst-erdam', like we'd been telling everyone. Whoops! We're cruiseaholics. This was our 8th cruise in the 5 years since we got married. The first thing I did when we got back home? Kiss Pica and Biscuit and look online for new cruise deals. The best part of taking a cruise? The food!! Here is how each day typically went: 8:30am - 9:30am : Breakfast in the main dining room My everyday order was juice, coffee, a chocolate croissant or two, an English muffin, a greek yogurt fruit parfait, a sliced banana with blueberries and, depending on how hungry I was, an omelet with all the fixings, french toast with strawberries, and/or a breakfast sandwich. The waiter would usually suggest I get some ham, bacon, and hash browns ...

We're overdue for a trip to Costco. While craving the sweet and salty yummyness that is s'mores with pink Himalayan sea salt , I opened our pantry door and discovered a horrible, terrible thing. No graham crackers! (As the very person who'd polished off the graham crackers a few days earlier, you wouldn't think I'd have been so surprised, but what can you do?) Instead of ignoring my s'mores craving in favor of, say, a stalk of celery, I improvised and created a new kind of s'more. Some (Sexy Nerd) will tell you it's better than the original. Others (me) will tell these new s'mores that they're cute, and even that they make a tasty snack, but not to bet on a recurring role in my kitchen. My heart belongs to graham. Pretzel S'mores Recipe Ingredients: (self explanatory, but I'll get questions if I leave this out!) Mini pretzels Chocolate chips Mini marshmallows Peanut butter (optional - this way is Sexy Ne...

Thanks to everyone who offered recipe ideas for Sexy Nerd's birthday! I was having a tricky time deciding what to make, but luckily a great idea occurred to me. I asked him what he wanted! It's such a simple concept, right? Pretty! Do men appreciate pretty when it comes to their food? He said anything would be fine and that he's sure whatever I made would be delicious, which is sweet but also so very not helpful! After a little pestering, he decided on green chili chicken enchiladas. Here is the menu: Chicken Enchilada Casserole I plan to make the enchilada casserole using fresh green chili (one of the perks of living in Albuquerque) and this chicken recipe: Shredded Chicken for Enchiladas, Tostadas, Tacos... Chips and Black Bean and Corn Salad Dip Cheddar Chive Scones Which will be served with Super Easy and Delicious Zucchini Butter I was going to make these sweet potato fries as well, but sweet potatoes were not on sale t...

I've been meaning to write a new blog post for a few days. With everything going on in my life right now, there's simply no time. By "everything", I mean the exact same routine as always. That sounds so much more lazy though! We did recently have our move to Omaha plans squashed (boo hoo) and my insomnia has been worse than usual over the past week, so I think I can get away with a blogging repost this week. No? There's never an excuse for a repost? But it's such a funny one! At least I'm being honest instead of trying to pass it off as new material. (The darn date on the picture gave me away!) As mentioned before, Sexy Nerd gets up insanely early every day (See the time written on the photo? INSANE!) By the time Zombie-me makes it out of bed, he's been at work almost 2 hours. When I came downstairs the other morning, there was a doggy-related message waiting for me on our chalkboard door. Where's the "All of the Above" op...

First, I'd like to begin this post with a traumatic TMI story. The other night, I was in the bathroom (TMI?) and a spider FELL FROM THE CEILING, landed ON MY BARE LEG, and - this is truly the stuff of nightmares - BIT ME! (!!!!!!) Now my leg is itchy. Okay, on to the meat of this post. Are there any bug enthusiasts out there? (You people are CRAZY, but to each their own, I guess.) We have this weirdo moth/fly thingy in our loft and I've never seen an insect like it before. Geez our windows are dirty. The last time they were cleaned was...by the previous owners of our house (I assume). Also, what is this thing??

I just used our new Vitamix to make a peanut butter, banana, blueberry smoothie. Yum, right? It also contains flax seed, grapes, spinach, cranberries, cucumber, chia seeds, strawberries, raspberries, and nectarines. Now, I'm just kicking back and relaxing with my refreshing beverage, courtesy of my own clever Vitamix recipe. Actually, that's a bit of a lie. A more accurate description would be "my own Vitamix recipe for disaster". It tastes horrible! Just because you can use the Vitamix to blend everything, doesn't mean you should. Also, I didn't have any peanut butter, so I just threw in a bunch of nuts. You can do that with a Vitamix, right? I honestly thought you could do that with a Vitamix. I'm too much of a cheapskate to throw this out. If only I hadn't made 8 cups! The Vitamix container is so large. It beckons for me to fill it. It's so healthy. I really should drink it, especially considering that my breakfast today was Red Vine...

*Be sure to also check out my Cheesy Chicken Ramen recipe , which is a spin on macaroni and cheese. Yum! Let me start this post with a confession. I am a chocoholic, one who puts other chocoholics to shame. At work, I've developed an unfortunate reputation as the girl who pigs out every time another office sends us anything chocolaty or whenever an employee restocks our candy drawer. (Betcha never thought your kid's dentist had one of those!) Those dozen Mississippi Mud cupcakes that were just here? I ate them. You knew I was working today so if you didn't get in there and get one, it's your own silly fault. What does any of this shameless chocolate-talk have to do with today's recipe? As much as I love chocolate, I love Ramen Noodles even more. Just look at them: Hey there, gorgeous! I will always remember "The Noodles That Got Away", otherwise known as when my mom threw my bowl of just-made noodles down the sink in 4th grade. I don't r...

*Update* I just posted this, but afterward I continued browsing through all the adorable adoptable pups and found one that I just have to share:   Alan is very serious. He is available for adoption in San Jose, CA. Look at his little doggie tie!!! Okay, back to business. Today, I have some fancy Google maps to share with you. The first shows all the places in Albuquerque where you can adopt a dog and the second is for cats. Find Albuquerque Dogs & Puppies Find Albuquerque Cats & Kittens These maps are listed at adoptapet.com . It's a great site for finding a new family member. With 2 dogs (not just 2 dogs - 2 dogs who are insanely jealous of other dogs!) we aren't in the market for a new addition any time soon. It's still fun to browse through all the cute widdle doggie faces on the site though. Sexy Nerd says I'm tempting fate. Whatever. I have enough self control just to puppy window shop. Though, I'm pretty sure Fluffy belongs ...

This article has been updated! My new chemical peel post, which includes pricing, Jessner peel before and after photos, product recommendations, and a helpful timeline for scheduling your treatments, is at the bottom. My original Jessner peel post (one of the most popular on my site of all time) is at the beginning. Original Chemical Peel Article Considering a chemical peel? I recently underwent my first Jessner peel and thought I'd share my results, post a Jessner peel review, and answer some frequently asked chemical peel questions. (I'm guessing that "Does a chemical peel hurt?" is a biggie!) I'd been planning to order an over-the-counter peel when we were in Iceland , but my computer led me a different direction. I decided to do this on a whim after Groupon greeted me one morning with a great $40 chemical peel deal. Now, I can read your mind. You just gasped in horror and thought  You trusted your face to a  discount  chemical peel?!  You're won...