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

It's a risky game I'm playing. With all the talk of the Mega Millions jackpot exceeding a billion dollars (and maybe even hitting two billion - crazy!), even my frugal-minded self couldn't resist the siren call of the lottery. I mean, how else am I ever going to have a shot at becoming a billionaire? (My husband was quick to point out that with hard work, anyone can become a billionaire and that it's still a possibility for us. Okay, Pollyanna. He sees the world through very rosy glasses indeed.) Like every American the last few days, I was instantly consumed with how I'll spend my theoretical winnings. I would take the annuity rather than a lump sum, which would be more than a million dollars per month for the next 29 years, after taxes. My future self, the billionaire, was going to use the money to hire someone to wallpaper our master bedroom . Heck, she was going to hire someone to wallpaper the entire house! She might even have replaced some of the tile on ...

When SN and I bought our first home in 2007, we loved that it had an open floor plan, a two car garage, and was on a large corner lot in a desirable part of Albuquerque. We also loved...well, that was about it. Ours was just another plain box in our cookie cutter neighborhood, featuring the same white walls and not much else as all our neighbors. We spent the next few years upgrading our home and, when we sold it last year, the result of our effort was a 4-way bidding war. We were just poor college kids back then. Here are a few of the affordable improvements we made. Budget Interior Design Idea #1 Swap out some of your mirrors. More photos of our Budget Master Bathroom Remodel See the fancy mirrors above? Everyone thinks they're from Ballard Designs. Ours are actually from Michaels, which marks all of their mirrors down 50% every few weeks. These were about $35 each. We followed this same design rule for the mirrors in our new luxury home , forgoing the exp...

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Mmmm, I'm eating the best lunch right now. It looks so indulgent, doesn't it? Side note: The beautiful table this plate is on? SN made it! I mean, not the trunk of the olive tree, obviously, but the rest of it. I really need to update my site with more New Home blog posts. He has been busy! Surprise - it's (almost) healthy! I cooked up a big batch of collard greens in the Instant Pot (lots of great IP collard green recipes online, plus my own below). You can also make them the conventional way, but I love that I can just throw everything in the Instant Pot and forget about it. Spread the cooked collards in the bottom of a baking dish, top with a layer of cottage cheese, then a layer of mozzarella, and finally top everything with slices of pepperoni. Broil it for a few minutes.  Collard Greens Instant Pot Recipe Southerners will probably cringe at my bastardized collard greens. Everyone else? Enjoy! Collard pizza lasagna? SO GOOD! Collard Greens Instan...

The Taos Summer Wine Festival is our favorite event in the world, hands down. I don't care if you live in another country - this is worth traveling for! The New Mexico mountains are calling your name. Here's a taste of some of the fun you missed at the 2018 Grand Tasting event: Just follow this van for a good time. The live entertainment was so enthusiastic and had everyone dancing. I can't help wondering if the secret to their success lies with all those cans of Santa Fe Brewing beer!  Here's a funny story for you. SN and my dad were having a great time at the Taos Summer Wine Festival, but they lamented that the samples of beer were too small. I left the table and returned with two entire cans of beer for them, much to their astonishment.  "Oh, I just flirted with the vendor a little bit," I told them (COMPLETELY JOKING). The next time my dad went for samples, I told him to be sure to flirt. He pointed out...

Hello, bloggy friends! Although SN and I still recommend Amerisleep mattresses (more than ever, actually, now that our original AS3 bed is almost 7 years old and still like-new), I'm writing this post to share exciting news. After being gone all year, the extra $50 discount is back! To receive $250 off any size Amerisleep mattress, rather than just a wimpy $200, visit Amerisleep through this promo code link and enter coupon KITTY at checkout. You'll also receive free shipping and, if needed, free and easy returns. WAIT! I can do better than that. Want to save $275, which is a better promo code than any other Amerisleep mattress reviews website? Just check out the extra discount details on my original review . Still not sold? Visit my  mattress comparison chart . It even features a video of yours truly with her dress way too high in the air. Take that, Tempur-Pedic! Amerisleep makes me jump for joy. No, that's too corny. Amerisleep...ummm... You try coming up ...