Tagged: Travel

Of Emergency Travel Kits and Daydreaming

by Aida Mollenkamp —

Escape with Ghirardelli dark chocolate #escapewithdarkchocolate @ghirardelli

Daydreaming is an art – it truly is a special skill. My high school French teacher would disagree, as he wrote my daydreaming as off as lack of concentration, but I believe it’s the key to creativity. And, let’s be honest, it’s a coping mechanism for escaping from reality. Especially when your reality comes in the form of travel headaches like lost luggage, cancelled flights, and poor customer service.

I’d like to think I have pretty good travel karma, but really just it’s just a matter of time before the bad stuff hits. And, when you travel as much as I do, it hits pretty often. This winter I’ve been caught in a Nor’Easter, had luggage fly east when I was heading west, and clocked in time at airport cafés while coping with grounded flights. And, that, my friends, is when I daydream.
Continue Reading: Of Emergency Travel Kits and Daydreaming →

The Three Amigas On Repeat

by Aida Mollenkamp —

aida-mollenkamp-hummus-recipe

“I’m going on a road trip, I’m going on a road trip, X marks the spot!”

Ok, I know that’s not really how that grade school rhyme goes but this last weekend I was playing with my niece and nephews and I taught them the original game. Ever since then I can’t help but change it to “road trip” as I prepare for the trip I’m about to take.

But before I tell you what I’ll be eating while on the road (spoiler alert: it just might be this very recipe), let’s talk about the whos, what, wheres, and whys. Do you recall the Los Angeles-to-Texas road trip I took a few years back that I took with my friends, Lillian and Gaby where we proclaimed ourselves the Three Amigas? Well, we’re at it again and this time we’re heading from Los Angeles to San Francisco while en route to the IACP Annual Conference.
Continue Reading: The Three Amigas On Repeat →

Give & Gift Books – Win a Set of 10 Chronicle Books

by Aida Mollenkamp —

give-books

Once in a blue moon it happens: you find the absolute, positively perfect gift.

You’re in the throes of holiday shopping madness when suddenly, it’s there before you like your own treasure trove a la King Tut’s tomb (except you’re likely at the mall and didn’t have to excavate it). I do my best to will those perfect gifts — making mental notes of the giftee’s offhand comment of what they covet. And I am on a constant gift alert because sometimes that random day trip across the border results in some seriously perfect presents (heart-shaped Mexican mosaic paperweight, anyone?).

But, no matter how much I will it, those perfect gifts can’t be forced. This year, those perfect gifts have come to me in the form books and in a set of 10 — enough for (almost) everyone in my huge clan. Books are a very regular gift in our family — some of us dote over the design and craftsmanship, others crave a good read, and the littlest ones are still catching the literary bug. To celebrate the power of a good book and the pursuit of a perfect gift, I’m joining my absolutely fabulous publisher, Chronicle Books, to give the gift of books. It’s a community-driven campaign to support bookstores, literacy, and to Give Books! 
Continue Reading: Give & Gift Books – Win a Set of 10 Chronicle Books →