Marlee Matlin

The actress will appear at the Art and Soul opening ceremony Friday at the Watercourt.

Sushi: If I’m working on the Westside, I always make sure I have to eventually go through Laurel Canyon to get back to the San Gabriel Valley. That’s because it drops me off at my favorite place, Teru Sushi. The grandfather of L.A. sushi, it beats all the glitzy wannabe sushi places that come and go. Fresh fish, the best edamame (steamed, salted soybean pods) and the friendliest people. And they have soy paper for my sushi rolls.

Sweat: My favorite alone time is working out, busting my butt with my trainer Jesse Flores. No fancy private training gym or megaplex for me. Here’s a guy who works me out hard so I can fit into slinky Escada or Armani dresses--and he does it each time with a smile. I also love to run. I happen to live in a neighborhood with wide streets and great vistas of the snowcapped San Gabriels, so I can run for miles and not be bothered.

Kid Food: There are two types of weekends for us. “Did we get a sitter?” or “Not?” kind of weekends. Seriously, we love to spend time with our daughter at Domenico’s, which has restaurants all over the San Gabriel Valley. They’re not fancy, but remember I’m a Chicago girl and I live for real food. They have the best veggie pizza, bar none. And for those romantic getaways, when our daughter is fast asleep at home, my husband and I love to dress up and head into the Hills of Beverly and indulge in our favorite crab legs (with garlic and butter) at Crustacean.

Away From It All: Well, we already live away from it all, so we have a jump on everyone else. We go to the local parks, bike trails or the L.A. Zoo with our daughter. She loves it outdoors--she’ll have none of those fancy indoor play studios. We also have a second home up near Mammoth; our daughter loves skiing (unlike her mommy) or we’ll all go hiking. And believe it or not, if I’m not away, I love to crawl the aisles at Target--real people, real prices and enough stuff to do to keep a mom like me busy for hours.