Summer is an invitation to pure delight. It's sleeping a little later, reading a little longer, calling an old friend for a spur-of-the moment lunch. It's frogs croaking and crickets chirping. It's fresh fruit and vegetables, and the kinds of salads you see on these pages (along with a few other shots of life around my house). It's a season for long hikes, letting your hair do its own wild thing, and basking in the beautiful August light from a rocking chair on the front porch. It's sitting down with a glass of rosé at the end of the day and not really knowing where the time went. It's a wake-up call to all your senses—particularly your sense of pleasure.

The Glamorous Life

The dogs all have their own individual bed, but if I make the slightest move—a yawn, a blink, anything—they consider it their duty to say "good morning" by jumping on my bed and letting me know that they're ready for a walk...which means my day begins with poop patrol.

Sometimes on a summer morning, I like to meditate by the pool. But if I come for the meditation, there's a pretty good chance I'll stay to read the newspaper. First I tune in to myself, then I tune in to the world.

After the paper, I'm ready to get breakfast together. That means either a green smoothie or a boiled egg with baby spinach and avocado, followed by a mug of chai.

I've never planted a lettuce I didn't like. In Chicago, I'd toss leftover greens, but when I grow something, I feel an obligation to either eat it or share it with the neighbors. You get such an abundance of produce from even the tiniest little plot. Every leaf of kale is a thrill, so why not spread the joy?

You can follow a recipe and usually have it turn out well, but a real chef cooks with something else—I guess I'd call it soulfulness. My chef, Sonny Sweetman, puts his soul into everything he does.

Meet Javier Ramirez, gardener extraordinaire. Not only has he been keeping things growing at my place for 14 years, but he took most of the candids here with my iPhone 6!