Some women are able to wake up looking effortlessly chic - as though a bevy of fashion fairies twisted their low-lit locks into a messy chignon while they slept. They choose a frock from their exceptionally curated closet and leave a trail of custom fragrance and perfection in their wake.
On a normal day, I love a shift dress with flats and a little cropped jacket. That, for me, is my travel wear if it's not too chilly - you can throw a scarf over your legs if it's cold on the plane!
At the start of each week, I generally cook a box of quinoa, and while it's simmering, I saute onions, garlic and any veggies I have on hand in a separate pan. I season the vegetables with Spike, a seasoning blend my mom always used when I was growing up, or a little Bragg Liquid Aminos. I always add crushed red pepper and chopped fresh herbs.
My mother was a free-spirited clinical therapist, and I had the most hard-working father, a television lighting director by trade. My mum raised me to be a global citizen, with eyes open to sometimes harsh realities.
I have always loved watermelon and relish any opportunity to eat it, whether plain or diced up with feta and mint and tossed with a little olive oil. It makes me think of summertime. On set and at home, I try to always have a container of watermelon sprinkled with cinnamon because it elevates the flavor just a notch and makes it feel special.
I'm consistently asked how I keep a foot in two contrasting worlds - one in the entertainment industry, predicated on wealth and indulgence, and the other in humanitarian work. To me, it's less of a question of how can you do this, and more a question of how can you not?
Mom cooked a lot of turkey when I was growing up. Turkey meatloaf, turkey burgers, ground turkey shepherd's pie - my childhood was the Bubba Gump of turkey. You'd think I would be sick of it, but when I find gems like Gwyneth Paltrow's turkey meatball recipe, it's as though the fowl is no longer foul to me.
Food makes travel so exceptional, because you get to taste what it's actually supposed to taste like. To eat the real Pad Thai or finally have a proper curry is something pretty amazing.
Be able to delegate, because there are some things that you just can't do by yourself.
Just as black and white, when mixed, make grey, in many ways that's what it did to my self-identity: it created a murky area of who I was, a haze around how people connected with me. I was grey. And who wants to be this indifferent colour, devoid of depth and stuck in the middle? I certainly didn't.
To describe something as being black and white means it is clearly defined. Yet when your ethnicity is black and white, the dichotomy is not that clear. In fact, it creates a grey area.
I'm a California girl, right? I grew up with that farm-to-table dining before it was sweeping the nation.
I grew up with that farm-to-table dining before it was sweeping the nation. I do think there's some value to really throwing yourself into food and embracing where it comes from.
If you have an Ina Garten-level roasted-chicken recipe, it's a game changer. I bring that to dinner parties and make a lot of friends.
For dinner parties, I love making an easy cioppino using shrimp, mussels, clams, and a hearty fish that won't fall apart easily.
I do think there's some value to really throwing yourself into food and embracing where it comes from.
I think you have to make time for yourself so that work doesn't become the end-all be-all.
My dad's a lighting director. Growing up in Hollywood, I was around the entertainment industry all the time. I knew I'd end up in show business in some capacity, eventually.
Granger & Co - hits the spot for brunch every single time.
Tatcha Face Moisture Mask and a facial by Nicola Joss, who literally massages your face from inside your mouth! Insane, right?
