Kitty Deschanel | Food, Wine, and Travel Adventures in an Airstream Basecamp

Don't miss out. The wine event we look forward to all year is THIS WEEKEND. That's right - it's time for the Taos Summer Wine Festival ! 2019 is the third year of this annual dining and lifestyle experience and I promise you will have the time of your life. You'll probably even get to see a hummingbird moth and yes, they are as cool as they sound. Last year, a Taos ski gondola whisked each diner up the mountain to a scrumptious lunch. This is an upscale, luxury weekend getaway (at an affordable price!) in the gorgeous Taos Ski Valley. For about $250 per person, you'll enjoy gourmet dining (with wine pairings!) at some of New Mexico's top restaurants, a whole-hog BBQ party, yoga (with wine!), chocolate tasting (with wine!), stargazing through the largest telescope in the state (with wine!), and the option to enjoy many other premium activities (Horseback riding! Guided hiking! Fly fishing! Rock climbing!) at no extra cost. Did I mention there will be win...

Don't you love stepping into a luxury suite? You can't beat a hotel room that makes you feel like you’re enveloped in elegance. By incorporating certain elements, you can enjoy this same experience every time you enter your home.  From Marriotts and Hiltons to five-star boutiques, every hotel offers different amenities and perks for their guests, but they all adhere to the same basic interior design rules to create a calm and consistent feel.  Whether you’re ready to style your whole home like a bed-and-breakfast or just want to focus on one specific space, these ideas will help create the relaxing feel that is popular in hotels around the world.   It need not cost a lot - r earrange, refresh, and re-frame the way you think about your house and what you already have. Now that these interior design secrets from hotels are out, y ou'll be living like Eloise at The Plaza! 1. White Linens Nothing feels quite as luxurious as slipping into bed at night in a ...

You know what pairs perfectly with a buttery chardonnay, a fruity malbec, and an oaky tempranillo? The crisp, clean air of the New Mexico mountains. My favorite time of the year is only a few weeks away. It's wine festival   season! Grab a glass and join the fun at  the  Wine & Wagyu Weekend  in Angel Fire, followed by the  Taos Summer Wine Festival . All-you-can-eat gourmet food? Check. Fun activities, like cooking demos and dancing and bacon? Check. (Yes, bacon counts as an activity. Ask anyone.) Bottomless glasses of fine wines? Check. This year, the Wine & Wagyu Weekend is held August 15-18th and the Taos Summer Wine Festival is August 23-25th. They're only a week apart, so it's a great idea to plan a trip that includes both.  I highly recommend overindulging in wagyu beef sliders (and wagyu pastrami fritters and wagyu short rib street tacos and wagyu smoked brisket...), followed by a round of golf at the Angel Fire Resort and ...

If you're in Hobart on a Saturday (make a point to be in Hobart on a Saturday), there's no better place to fulfill your foodie dreams than the  Salamanca Market . Skip breakfast - you'll be glad you did. Ooh, and go with someone you can share with so you can try twice as many things! Salamanca Market Admission is free. Parking can be an issue, as the Salamanca Market is Tasmania's most visited tourist attraction, but you can avoid any hassle by staying at a hotel within walking distance, such as the St Ives Apartments. We spent two nights there and found it to be clean and comfortable. Hate crowds? (Who doesn't?) We were concerned about this, so we arrived right when the market opened. It was the day before Mother's Day, which seems like it should be especially busy, and practically had the place to ourselves.  Allow 1 to 2 hours to see (and eat!) everything. Prices were reasonable, at least by farmer's market standards. You may only get one oppor...

Our little Pica puppy would have been 14 on October 19th, 2019. She seemed fine. I still can't believe it. She was a sickly puppy when she came to us, full of worms and ear mites. The veterinarian placed drops in Pica's ears, covered both sides, and shook her little head back and forth. When we got her, I was 21 and SN was 23. We were just kids back then. We were living in a rental house. Pica was there for all our biggest milestones, like graduating college, buying our first home, and getting married. We even built our new house with her in mind. She was having trouble navigating the stairs, so it's a single story. Pica and Biscuit have their own bedroom. Everything in our life is Pica. Even on our recent 3-week vacation, a day didn't go by that we didn't talk about her. Her little paws and her stubby tail and her spots. Her rolls of flab and her hairy mole and her floppy ears. Guess what? Pica butt. Pica has bee...