I don't want to sit around and hope good things happen. I want to make them happen.

I'm such a profound believer that timing is everything; I would tattoo that on my arm.

Apparently vodka helps flowers last longer when they're dying. But you can put vodka in anything and it'll make it better.

My mother and I split ways when I was very young and have never really reconciled.

When you've been locked up in a mental institution, people are going to ask questions. It was OK, because I didn't have to act perfect all the time.

I'm such an avid magazine reader - music, art, beauty magazines - and I found that food and restaurants were pouring into everything I cared about. Whether it was the pop-up concept, or some mysterious mini-mall restaurant, I got swept up in the sexy romance of the food movement.

I know what the intimidation level of high school is. You're on a hamster wheel, running, running, running, trying so hard to fit in. It's all about how you deal with what you're given, feeling OK with being the odd man out before you're finally successful.