We all scream for ice cream

My theory about ice cream (and most desserts) is that if I’m going to consume all those empty calories, I want it to be reallllllllly good and worthwhile. I’m really lucky, because one of our friends works for Häagen-Dazs and is very generous sharing ice cream with his friends. But my family really enjoys making our own.

Food tents

To be honest, I didn’t know food tents like this even existed. The first time I saw anything like this was on “Oh My Venus.” One of the characters makes food for her boyfriend and leaves it under a small food tent for him. I thought, “What a great idea!” And then I forgot about it. I’m not sure how durable these things are yet. But, if and when it breaks, I will come back and report what made it snap.

Go Away With … Tanya Zuckerbrot

“You don’t have to give up carbs to lose weight,” says celebrity dietician Tanya Zuckerbrot. “I try to impart on my clients that fresh, unprocessed food and smaller portion sizes have a huge impact on healthy weight management.”

Go Away With … Steve Hely

An avid traveler who has written for television (“American Dad,” “The Office,” “30 Rock”) and received an Emmy nomination (“Late Show with David Letterman”), Steve Hely also hosts the popular podcast, “The Great Debates.” His latest project is “The Wonder Trail: True Stories from Los Angeles to the End of the World,” where he writes about his adventures traveling from his home in Los Angeles to Patagonia.

Go Away With … Lauren Conrad

We first met Lauren Conrad when she was a teenager on MTV’s reality series, “Laguna Beach” and its spinoff series, “The Hills.” Since then, Conrad, has translated her on-air popularity into the real world. A best-selling author (“L.A. Candy”), she has launched beauty and fashion lines, including Paper Crown. Her latest endeavor with co-founder Hannah Skvarla is The Little Market, an online store where the entrepreneurs promote fair trade for the artisans who provide their handmade products.

Family bonds locked in time at Seoul tower

The main characters in K-dramas often demonstrate their love by attaching personalized padlocks on a fence on the tower’s observation deck. Tens of thousands of “love locks” can be found here. It’s a trend well established in cities such as Paris and Prague, but the tradition has taken on an added dimension in Seoul. While couples still attach locks to declare their love for one another, the fence has become a popular spot for adoptees and their adoptive parents to leave padlocks honoring the day they became a family.

Go Away With … Cameron Mathison

“Entertainment Tonight” correspondent Cameron Mathison says that living in California makes it easy for his family to take mini vacations throughout the year. “We have so many options for an easy weekend getaway,” says the 46-year-old actor. “We have the ocean, mountain, forest and desert choices — all within a few hours.”

Go Away With … Joanna Going

Asked to pick a favorite destination, Joanna Going didn’t hesitate: Newport (Rhode Island), where she grew up. “When I was 18, I took it for granted and was eager to move on to the bigger cities like Boston and then New York,” says the Los Angeles-based actress. “But I’ve been to enough places to have gained a greater appreciation for the beauty and rich culture of all of Rhode Island. I am grateful for all that it offered during my childhood.”

Go Away With … Allison Amend

Author Allison Amend took her first trip as a baby, studied for a year at a Barcelona high school and came home speaking Catalan and then — after graduating from Stanford University — moved to Lyon (France) on a Fulbright Teaching Fellowship. Now based out of New York City, Amend, 41, counts the Big Apple, Chicago and Barcelona as three of her favorite cities. Her latest book is “Enchanted Islands” (Nan A. Talese, $26.95).

Go Away With … Andi Dorfman

Andi Dorfman, formerly of “The Bachelorette” says, “My best vacation memory was eating at a hole-in-the-wall Korean barbecue restaurant in Seoul, South Korea. It was one of my favorite meals. My worst memory has to be when I got food poisoning on a trip to Mexico. That was my first and last time drinking tap water there.”