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

Thank you to everyone who entered my Mushroom Kit giveaway ! The lucky winner of this unique prize is... Congratulations, Kendra! I've forwarded your email address to the nice folks at Back to the Roots , who should be contacting you shortly.  And if you didn't win, don't despair. I have another giveaway coming up very soon! It involves cheese. Mmmmm, cheese . Bwah ha hahahaha! Even all these months later, that still cracks me up.

Revlon Frost and Glow Alternate Title: Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Grouch? AAARGH! You know those days when bad things simply pile up, one on top of the other?  I set our "away" message at work before the holiday weekend and realized this morning that I said we'd be back Monday instead of Tuesday, which is not the kind of mistake my boss tolerates well.  Also, I have a bug bite on a non-bug bite friendly area and it itches but can't be scratched without attracting crazy looks. I ironed. Me! Ironed! This is not an activity I ever, ever do. I needed a new black skirt and was super lucky to find a perfect, practically brand-new one at the thrift store. With so much free time on my hands, I decided to iron the skirt, despite having just a few teensie wrinkles. Remember, I do not iron, ever...and now my perfect skirt is ruined! I melted the fabric and now it has permanent iron marks, without me ever even wearing it. *Sigh* But worst of all... Darn you, ...

I'm going to make you smile. Remember how I told you the other day that it's a challenge to walk Pica , our Jack Russell terrier, due to her constant desire to race crazily down the street? This weekend, I captured a photo that sums Pica up. Keep in mind that this was taken in the "action" setting of my Canon Rebel T1i camera, which claims to capture 3.4 photos per second. Photographing a dog *inside* the house should be no problem at all, right? Hind legs flying, ears flopping fun This photo makes me smile. I suspect it will have that effect until the next time I'm left running frantically and screaming as Pica darts into traffic, leash dangling behind her. "Look mom! Look at me! Take my photo! Mooooom!" I love Jack Russell terriers. Am I as crazy as my dog?

Happy loooooong weekend, everyone! I had today off as well, so I expect to cram in maximum laziness before I return to work on Tuesday. If you're feelin' lazy like me (clearly, adding the 'g' at the end of the word is just too much effort) you'll appreciate how simple it is to link up (end of this post) and how easy peasy it is to vote for the winner of the Best in Show award (right sidebar). The fantabulous nominees are: Moore Minutes Pinch of This, That, & the Other Say It With Thread Fakin' It   MeiJo's JOY Lolly Jane Boutique La-Dee-Da Creations Pintucks and Ruffles The Princess and the Tot Cooking with K The $500 Wedding Readers, I sincerely hope I haven't crashed your computers from all the snazzy tabs you certainly just opened. And as for my impressive nominees, I hope you'll give yourself a pat on the back for your blogging awesomeness and take a button: Voting (right sidebar) will run through the end of the week. Now, fo...

1. The Not "Baaad" Linky Party will be up and running tonight, along with the nominees for the latest Best in Show award! 2. Did you see my comment from the Albuquerque Library (!) on the latest Sexy Nerd Quote of the Day post? I hope I didn't freak them out too badly by saying that they're a bunch of scammers. And you can bet I loved their book recommendation! 3. My Mushroom Kit Giveaway ends Monday. Time is running out if you haven't entered yet. 4. Yesterday's silly post, Funny Father's Day Gift Wrap Tutorial , is featured below my BlogHer ads today. Woo hoo! 5. What are your long weekend plans? We're going to make cherry ice cream and drink soda (I almost never buy soda!) I'm hoping there will be plenty of walks with the doggies too (we almost never walk them! To be fair, Pica tries to bolt every time I walk her, which I'm told is a common trait of Jack Russells.) That's all I've come up with for this weekend, so I'm...

If you've clicked onto this post in hope of elevating your already gorgeously wrapped packages to new, sparkly heights, I'd better warn you that this is an idea for people like me, with no gift wrapping skills whatsoever. The expensive paper, the darn tape that sticks where it doesn't belong. I just don't see the point! You can find an example of my mad anti-wrapping skills here: Thrifty Cloche Decorating . To my fellow anti-wrappers, I say that if you're going to embrace the anti-gift wrap lifestyle, you may as well go all out. My hatred of creating fancy packages has evolved over time into something downright fun. If you were Sexy Nerd, this is what you would wake to find on Christmas morning: Oooh! Fancy, right?  Ta da!  Why, yes, that is an old tag from an old gift dangling from that old ribbon. Whyever do you ask? And bubble wrap! Beautimous. I've made a joke out of my trouble wrapping gifts. In addition to all the scrappy-looking...

I'm blogging over at Bl ogHer today, with a post featured in the BlogHer book club!  My review of A Jane Austen Education by William Deresiewicz . And, yes, I'm aware that my reviewer photo is horrible and blurry. Methinks I'll need to correct that before my next review. If you've read A Jane Austen Education, I'd love to hear your opinion on it!

Before we get to linking up and revealing the results of the very close and exciting race for the Best in Show award, I have a little announcement. LambAround is up to 899 FOLLOWERS! Okay, who here isn't following LambAround yet? 900 sounds like such an amazing number...though I will, of course, begin hounding everyone to reach 1,000 immediately after. The joys of blogging! So, wondering who won? There were so many impressive bloggers to choose from last week. Inspiration & Realisation and Teddy Bear Princess were neck and neck most of the time, with one taking the lead only to be outdone again, and so forth. The blogger who ultimately won, a mere 3 votes ahead of the competition on Saturday night, is the one who posted this: A detailed, easy-to-follow tutorial on making your own Sailor's Belt and: Bows Everywhere ! Isn't this such a fun DIY shirt? Congratulations, Donatella at inspiration&realisation ! I have created an award for you. Now, let's link ...

There are many reasons to attend a blogging event like Camp Blogaway and many people would argue that the swag bag is not one of them. To these fuddy duddies, I give an enthusiastic "CHECK OUT MY SWAG!!"  Hey, I didn't wear pajamas 2 nights in a row for nothing. Let's begin with the Camp Blogaway swag successes: Spuddy Buddy! There was actually a trivia contest at camp where I could have won a life-sized Spuddy Buddy from the Idaho Potato Commission. I just don't know enough potato facts. Also, a 6 foot tall Spuddy Buddy sounds slightly creepy. I would have insisted on it sleeping in our bedroom just to mess with Sexy Nerd. The California Avocado Commission was also present. The insulated shopping bag, the high-quality avocado slicer, and, of course, the avocados - I loved everything about this! And the avocados led to a yummy new recipe, Avocado and Egg Salad . Whoever came up with this swag idea at Wilton was really thinking. It's everythi...

1. Remember when I posted about listening to Anne of Green Gables while I drive? None of you warned me that Matthew Cuthbert was going to die. I appreciate you keeping that little spoiler to yourselves (which, I realize, I just blurted out) but he died when I was driving to work. My mascara was a mess! 2. I have a post scheduled for next week that will make you laugh your butt off. Sorry for the unpleasant image, but it will. 3. Tomorrow morning I'm posting a giveaway! Yep, a lot of fun things are coming up on LambAround. A recipe for cookie dough cupcakes (soooo insanely yummy!) and my BlogHer book club review for A Jane Austen Education are all right on the horizon. 4. Sexy Nerd has been away on a business trip all week (in LAS VEGAS, the lucky duck!) and should be home any minute now. Thank you for humoring me while I pass the time, my wonderful blog readers! Oh, I love you all so much! I know it's cheesy, but it's true. 5. The voting for the Best in Show aw...

Here is the best cottage cheese dip recipe EVER. Cottage Cheese Dip Step one: Mix 2 parts cottage cheese with one part salsa. Step two: Grab some tortilla chips and eat. Ahh, now wasn't that easy? I have a fancy camera now, so why am I still taking photos with my cell phone? I'll admit that it's not the prettiest cottage cheese dip in the world (and, to be honest, whenever I tell someone about this dip, the practically unanimous response is always "EEEEEW!")(they haven't even tried it!) but it really is tasty, especially when you're looking for a quick snack. Quick, easy, and cheap. Healthy too, if you don't go crazy eating tortilla chips (next to Funyuns, tortilla chips are my favorite, so that's not going to happen around here.) What's not to love?

I posted this last week right before The Great Blogger Fiasco. Although Blogger is back, this post returned with the title changed and all the comments missing! Most annoying of all, Blogger still has not resolved the ongoing problem where all the blogs I am following vanish. Most mysterious of all? I now have a duplicate category for my posts. Oh, and the new one starts out with Chinese! Did anyone else out there have control of their blog returned to them with a little Chinese thrown in? I promised you some hot, naked action in my last Camp Blogaway Sleeping Arrangements post ( Click here if you missed part 1 ). Okay, maybe not quite as exciting as that. Geez, can you imagine the Google results LambAround is going to come up in after this? Oops, maybe I shouldn't write "come up". There are going to be some very disappointed perverts out there. At camp, I found it difficult to fall asleep. Being cramped up inside a sleeping bag is not my style, especially when you th...

Sexy Nerd was playing around with my fancy new camera the other night. What you are about to see is not (really can't stress that enough) the way our house usually looks. A certain someone, who is not shown in the photo, had been brewing and bottling beer and thought it best the save the mess for the next day. "Something to do tomorrow," this someone had said, fiddling with a camera that he had never shown any interest in up to that point. There's a trash can on the counter. And cheese right next to it! This goes against everything I ever learned as a restaurant manager. Showing a photo of myself in my fabulously frumpy pajamas (which I bought on our honeymoon - sexy!) also goes against everything I ever learned, but here we are. I'll post my trashed kitchen and I'll post my trashy jammies, but I really do need to draw the line somewhere. So, what is the point of all this? Take a closer look at the photo. If this were a restaurant manager scenario, I...

*Reposting due to crazy Blogger screw up last week* I entered the Kenmore Genius Tips contest on Facebook. Right now, I'm in the top 4 ! If you can spare a moment (possibly a moment per day, as you're allowed to vote once every day) I'd really appreciate it if you vote for my tip. Ooh, and spread the word! Yeah, I know you're awesome ;) ***Click Here for Lamb's Fabulous Tip, CHEAP MOLDING & MAGAZINE PAGES! *** Wondering if my tip is worth your time? Here are my tip-related photos, taken in my downstairs guest bathroom: Unimpressed? Clearly, you need to see the Before photo. Before (Blech!) Sexy Nerd did all the work, but I'm enjoying basking in the credit. Thank you for voting!