“Reflecting on where I came from helps me to appreciate and balance what I have now.”

For work, I wear art; in real life, I wear clothes.

I like it when a man puts thought into the kind of restaurant we’re going to. That doesn’t mean it needs to be fancy – some of the best meals of my life have been having a taco on a street corner.

I love getting into people’s brains and understanding the creative impetus for something.

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.

If we treated ourselves as well as we treated our best friend, can you imagine?

I’ve never wanted to be a lady who lunches – I’ve always wanted to be a woman who works.

As I’ve gotten older, I like longer dresses, but my legs come up to my ears, and I’m not very tall, so when I wear a short skirt,I’ve got to be really conscious.

My mom is a yoga instructor: 100% black with dreadlocks.

When I get ready to go out, it’s half hour and we’re out of the door. I don’t want to waste time getting ready: I want to go and have fun.

I pride myself in figuring out how to elevate a dish with a little preserved lemon or, then, a sprinkle of Maldon salt.

My parents always told me if I believed something was wrong, I should try to fix it.

You have to take care of yourself so you can manage the workload of a very, very full plate.

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 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.

Once you develop a comfort level with someone, that translates on camera.

I never want to lose touch with reality. I won’t push $100 candles just because. I realized that I could create a hub of positivity and affirmation.

The overwhelming number of police officers in Chicago are doing good work under difficult conditions. They put their lives on the line every day in situations none of us can fully comprehend or appreciate.

I think people who grow up in one particular environment, like the Alabama-Auburn game, they don’t ever get the same appreciation for the Ohio State-Michigan game or the Michigan State-Notre Dame game or the Michigan-Michigan State game, the Browns and the Steelers.

All of these things can occur with or without God. I do not believe in the existence of God, but I consider myself a spiritual person in the manner I have just described. I call myself a spiritual atheist. I would imagine that many people are spiritual atheists.

For an understanding that our immediate actions have long-term consequences, and for an appreciation that there are different ways of knowing and understanding situations.

I remember back when I was a kid there was a comic strip called Plastic Man. His body was elastic and he could make his extremities as long as he wanted. As a youngster I didn’t fully appreciate. But I’m now thinking Plastic Man was probably pretty popular with the ladies.

And they didn’t spend years painting your soul into masterpiece-like existence for you to waste it on someone who doesn’t appreciate you.

My darling, he is just a boy. How can he possibly begin to appreciate the constellations you leave in your wake, or the stardust in your bones, when he has yet to realize just what it means to be in love with a girl like you?

And the appreciation of fans can refuel your spiritual tank in those situations. But until you’re famous, people don’t realize how difficult that is.