Throughout my upbringing just outside Pasadena, CA I always felt compelled to create! From a young age I was doing crafts, hand-sewing clothes for my stuffed animals, playing the piano, or getting dirty in the garden. Both my parents had their own forms of creativity –– my dad expressed himself through writing, leatherwork, woodwork, calligraphy and tending to the garden. I still strive towards his level of green thumb. My mom has been a nurse for over 40 years and claims she isn’t creative, but in the obvious sense she has always been creative in the kitchen!


That’s where my love of food was born! My mom made homemade meals often, always bringing people together for holidays around the dining room table filled with dishes she put all of her love into. Also, my dad packed me a handmade lunch throughout my school years complete with a handwritten note.