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

While designing our custom mountain home, our biggest fear has been that we might build something boring. I mean, we don't want to end up with a crazy, zero resale value house, but what's the point of going through the hair-graying experience of building if we're just going to end up with something everyone else has already done? The design process has taken a looooong time for this house! There are 3 bedrooms and each is connected to its own bathroom. We still have a few tweaks to make before finally breaking ground, but here are our bathroom floor plans so far: Guest Bathroom/Mudroom Bathroom   I'd like to have a stunning mural behind the shower, framed with real curtains. The floor to ceiling window is going to be stained glass, which will reflect in the mirror across from it. Guest Bathroom/Hallway Bathroom Whether you have the door open or closed, it's impossible to see the toilet from outside the bathroom. There is going to be a river rock s...

Open shelves and glass cabinet doors are popular right now, but the stress of keeping them tidy can be a deal breaker. A great solution is to create a display that won't change often. Think fine china instead of everyday dinnerware. Cookbooks instead of your go-to coffee mugs. My favorite idea ever? A delicious wall of candy and sprinkles! We're going with an all-white kitchen in our new home and a colorful display like this will be perfect ...as long as I put everything out of reach. I had to take a break from posting this to go grab a cookie! Feeling sentimental? How about a wall of sand, each jar a reminder of a fun vacation. As soon as we're done building our mountain dream home, I'll be dreaming of a beach house. (Who am I kidding. I'm dreaming of it now!) These neat photos, along with scrumptious desserts, are from bakerella.com .

Hmmm...do I dare risk the job I love to poke fun at my boss? Yes. It's just that funny. Here she is throwing my painstakingly organized charts to the ground, while grinning like a Cheshire cat. I put them away shortly after taking this photo. She has since pulled them all out again, several times. Anyhoo... My boss was trying to tell us about a movie sequel that is coming out, but couldn't remember the name of the movie. She said "They made the 1st one a few years ago. 4 or 5 years, I think it was. It's based on a book." Knowing her, my first guess was correct. Waiting to Exhale. The only thing I remember about this movie was that I snuck out of bed to secretly watch it after my parents rented it. 5 years. 15. Whatever. My boss continued. "It was written by a black author. Oh, what is her name? I saw her on Oprah. Uhh... Toni Braxton ! That's who wrote Waiting to Exhale. And now Toni Braxton is working on a sequel." I laughed so ...

A while back, Sexy Nerd and I had the opportunity to purchase a unique house in our dream neighborhood, Glenwood Hills. It had a charming bridge to the double front doors, incredible views of Albuquerque, and an interior practically glowing in natural light, but also a few flaws. The cosmetic fixes, such as a new kitchen, new bathrooms, new walls, new everything, we could tackle, but there were also severe structural issues. After much debate (and finding the skeleton of a bat inside the house), we decided it wasn't a good fit for us. Still, I wonder if we made the right choice. We drive by it sometimes and see that the new owners are slowly destroying it, little by little. They cleared every living thing from the yard, leaving just a wasteland of hot dirt, and replaced the garage doors with ones that are super-boring. The house is crying out for a modern, contemporary face lift - boring garage doors are all wrong! We should have just purchased it. I mean, where else are you go...

Monday, June 15 Albertsons grocery store Despite their marketing claim of "3s a crowd", there were only 2 cashiers open at Albertsons, resulting in a choice between a long line and a slightly longer line. I opted for the latter, as it was the express lane. You know those stereotypical seniors who ramble on about everything, Grandpa-Simpson style, just to have someone to talk to? That was the express lane cashier. My ice cream was frozen when I put it on the conveyor, and melted by the time it rejoined the basket. Yes, I do like ice cream. No, I do not want to discuss the other flavor options I passed up or how I decided upon this one. That's a great story about how you won at the casino last year even though you hadn't been paying attention to the slot machine as you played because it was only $20 worth of quarters which you'd happened to be carrying and were just happy to be able to get rid of because of their weight in your pocket and I can believe you wer...

There's a crazy wildfire burning and we're getting the smoke and even some of the ash here in Albuquerque. Sexy Nerd and I have been stuck inside every night for the past week and have been advised not to run our swamp cooler or open our windows. It is HOT! To compensate, we're being extra lazy lately. Ahh, what could be more relaxing than kicking back with a big glass of iced tea, a cool salad, and a magazine? But, did you know that the tasty salad you're looking at has a SECRET? Are you intrigued? That big, crunchy, delicious crouton in the corner? It's not a crouton! Photos like this aren't going to make me any friends at Tastespotting. It's actually fried tofu ! Now, if you're anything like Sexy Nerd, you're thinking that this new information is just about the most revolting thing you've ever heard. As you can see from the photos, even Kitchen Pig wouldn't endorse this one. But hear me out! Tofu takes on the fl...