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

I love my new Chevy Volt! How much? Well, not quite enough to be bothered to take a sexy photo of it outside, but still a lot. No hitting the garage wall for this Volt! Her name is Stealth. It was almost Zazzles, because she's so zazzy, but Sexy Nerd didn't get the reference. (It's from Big Bang Theory. Come on, Sexy Nerd.) When you get into the driver's seat, the Volt plays a tune and welcoming graphic to greet you. Preparing for lift off... 2013 Chevy Volt Pros and Cons PROS: I've driven over 500 miles and have used 2 gallons of gas. TWO! It recharges as I drive, resulting in an average electric range of about 50 miles before changing over to gas. When the Volt does make the switch to gasoline, it's completely seamless. You can't tell at all. There are 4 different driving settings to choose from. I can command the car to do cool things with the voice recognition feature, like tune to a specific radio stat...

What a week! I lost ALL MY FILES, including our photos from all our last trips (Australia included). I tried everything to get them back, gave up, cried, and tried more online suggestions that did nothing. My last ditch effort, a little free app (Photo something?) was able to save the day, albeit with one tiny problem. All my photos are now mixed and matched across 50 or so random folders. When we're talking about over 10,000 photos that had previously been carefully categorized, it's a huge mess. Still, at least I have my photos!

Forget October. Apparently, everyone is already geared up for Christmas. My local Lowe's has featured a mixed display of creepy haunted house decor and electronic reindeer for several weeks. Most telling of all, my silly snowman cookies post has jumped to the #1 spot on my blog. Feliz Navidad from  Señor Marshallito ! Today seems like as good a day as any for Christmas cookie baking. Ooh, and maybe a little bit of cake baking too. It's Saturday at 6:38am and I'm dreaming of sugary treats. This might be a very high calorie weekend!

Yes, two exclamation marks in that title. My new car is just that awesome. I impulsively bought it last Friday. $0 down and no interest for 5 years. Best of all? I've driven it over 200 miles and have only used 0.1 gallons of gas. Not a typo! Does anyone out there have a guess about what kind of new car I've purchased? Love it, love it, love it!

Yaaaaaawn! Just another sleepy weekend, killing time on Pinterest.

Sometimes, I wonder if instead of trying to get a grip on my social anxiety , I should perhaps embrace it wholeheartedly. The man at the Royal Garden Inn front desk was quite friendly, chatting with Sexy Nerd and helping us get settled in Waikiki.  He asked if we've been to Oahu before and Sexy Nerd said yes, about 5 years ago, to get married. The conversation and check-in process continued. Hotel Clerk, looking at me and talking to Sexy Nerd: Well, since you've been to Hawaii before, you can show her around the island. Sexy Nerd: She's been here before too. *Awkward Pause* That's who I married. And there I was, my mind flooded with thoughts along the lines of "DUH!" Out on the Royal Garden Inn balcony, my hand to my forehead as I recall that bizarre social interaction.

I had a terrific time in Santa Fe last weekend, especially at the farmer's market. I'm glad I got off my lazy rear and actually ventured out of the house. Perhaps this weekend will involve another fun adventure...even if it means leaving Mr. Lazy/Crazy Sexy Nerd at home!

Okay, so this is probably not going to sound "adventurous" to most people, but for me, it's huge. While in Brisbane, I ate several calamari and one prawn. In Perth, I ate salmon, in actual salmon form! No tarter sauce or anything. I've never been a seafood person. I think I deserve a few kudos for venturing outside of my picky eating bubble. Don't you agree? Calamari = Disturbingly similar appearance, taste, and texture to the rubber bands used for my braces Prawns = Not the same thing as crawfish, which is what I was expecting to be served (super relieved, as I'd already agreed to try one!) Extra bonus that their creepy eyes had been removed Salmon = Convinced myself I was eating chicken. Not bad this way! Accidentally flipped over the skin underneath the salmon to reveal iridescent fishy scales. Gave the rest to Sexy Nerd  This handsome fella (love the nails!) tried to steal some of our picnic lunch in Perth. Our American ...