Always prepared

"Coming full circle?"

My mom equipped my sister and me with the plastic-lined, no-drip, handbags far before anybody ever thought about leaving a restaurant with a bag for your pooch or tomorrow's breakfast.  Gwenn was Out There.  And we were hungry.  Not living-on-the-streets hungry but we definitely appreciated the once-a-year Free Food Fest that became a part of our family tradition for as long as I can remember.

My Dad worked in Chicago as an FBI (or CIA/longer story) agent specializing in Russian Espionage.  For whatever reason/we never asked/he would spend time bumming/literally dressed incognito/in the city. In the process, he scoped out some pretty good restaurants. 

Periodically we would hop in our Studebaker and head north for dinner.  Our goal: To pack our purses with as much buffet food as possible.  We quickly learned that you could stuff food in other places as well.  Such as coat sleeves.  I distinctly remember shaking down and scarfing up cream puffs as we drove home.  What better way to end a meal?

It's only natural that my life would come full circle so that I'm now toting plastic purses myself.  Everywhere.  But not for leftovers.  For kids.

Kona kids, specifically. 

More on this tomorrow.  Or the next day.