Kitty Deschanel

I found a great deal on Groupon for our recent visit to Salt Lake City. For about $30 per person, it included admission to 12 attractions, including the Clark Planetarium, Red Butte Garden, Hogle Zoo, and the Tracy Aviary, as well as a tasty lunch at The Lion House Pantry Restaurant. One of the activities we redeemed was for tickets to an educational IMAX movie. There were many options to choose from and, knowing my Sexy Nerd, I was surely going to end up watching Hidden Universe 3D (the most educational-looking one of all.) Imagine my surprise when he wanted to see Island of Lemurs, suggesting it with so much out-of-character enthusiasm that I at first thought he was being a sarcastic punk. We received our tickets, picked our seats, and waited for the movie to begin. "You're not just watching this because you know I'll like it, are you?" I asked. "No," Sexy Nerd assured me, smiling. "I love lemurs! Who doesn't love lemurs?" The lights

Sexy Nerd and I actually cleaned our house last week. It has been said that our home cleanliness standards are "below average", which I would take offense to, except that it's 100% accurate. (Also, we're the two people who have been going around saying this. We have no shame.) What do you do after cleaning your house from top to bottom? You take photos and document it, of course! From now on, whenever I'm feeling down about the dishes piled on the counter or the muddy paw prints across the floor, I'll just look at these photos. Sooo much easier than cleaning again. We removed about two dogs worth of Pica hair from beneath our kitchen island. If I were craftier, I could stuff a set of throw pillows. Note the fresh roses on the island. Damn, we're fancy. Do not note the giant wooden giraffe, whose head is chopped off by the dining room light fixture and who is not fancy.

(A recipe for lazy people.) Have you noticed every blog has posted a Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice Latte copycat recipe lately? This one is different. I promise! It's so good that I've been making a regular one with my breakfast each day and another decaf pumpkin latte every evening. At work, I shared the recipe with two patients last week! When those pumpkin latte recipes started popping up, I couldn't wait to try them. They all had the same problem though - too much time and effort. Ummm, I want a pumpkin spice latte recipe that I can actually pull off before work in the morning, when my brain is still mostly asleep. Have you seen what some of these other recipe creators expect you to do? Boil down 3 cups of sugar until you have a simple (yeah right) syrup, shave fresh cinnamon from the stick you got from the farmer's market this morning, and have a unicorn spit into the mixture. Who has time for all that? Easy Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe (for LAZY people!)

I looove hot apple cider! It's so easy to make, it makes your house smell amazing, and it seems fancy if you serve it to company, especially in a charming mug with a cinnamon stick. This is wonderful to drink in cold weather, which makes it perfect in our house, which I keep at a brisk 60 degrees during the winter. (Sexy Nerd adores  60 degrees - our agreement used to be 50!) I make this every time Sexy Nerd puts up our Christmas lights. He's starting early this year. It seems a bit unfair to Thanksgiving, but here we are. Our $5 Crock Pot is working hard! The Best Slow Cooker Hot Apple Cider Recipe (approximately 8 servings) Make a simple syrup by bringing 1/8 C water and a 1/4 C sugar to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and add 1/8 tsp each of allspice, cinnamon, and ginger . Whisk well and let simmer for 5 minutes before removing from heat. In a separate pan, bring the following to a boil: 2 C water , 1 can frozen apple juice , 1 cinnamon stick , 9 allspi