Naomi

I'm 48, I've been a dentist for almost twenty years, and I'm mom to two teenagers who think I'm much less funny than I actually am.

I was born in Japan and moved here in my twenties for school. I never really left. My cooking is a mix of both places: my mother's recipes, plus everything I picked up at two decades of neighborhood cookouts.

Last year I got divorced. It was as calm as these things can be, and it left me with something I hadn't had in a long time: evenings that belong to me. I'm still working out what to do with them. So far the answer is cooking far too much food, saying yes to more weekend hikes, and finally learning to use the grill that came with the house. I've also started traveling again, on my own this time: Madrid, Paris, and a week on the Amalfi Coast I still think about.

Most weekdays start at 5:45 with coffee and a quiet kitchen. I'm at the clinic by 7:30. I genuinely like my patients, even the nervous ones. Especially the nervous ones, actually. Evenings are dinner, homework negotiations, and maybe one episode of something before bed.

I'm quiet until I'm not. I'm 5'0", so every top shelf is a group project. I'm very organized at work and a complete mess in the kitchen. My friends say I'm a good listener; my kids say I ask too many questions. Both are probably true.