Rockin' the Runway

Hello everyone!
Thank you all for your comments. I read each and every one (I read all of my Twitters and Facebook comments too, so follow me @Teresa_Giudice!). You guys are the best! Your comments are so sweet and I love hearing about how your families are like mine.

Thank you all so much for embracing my book Skinny Italian too! I’m hearing that it’s sold out at Target and many other places, but if you’re looking for it, try Borders, Barnes & Noble or Amazon. I love, love, love seeing pictures of recipes you guys are making, and hearing about your kids loving to eat healthy food. Cooking for your family with love… is there anything better?

And for those of you who haven’t gotten it yet, but are thinking about it, it’s not only over 60 healthy recipes for delicious, easy-to-cook Italian food, but there’s also tons of other information in it: how to buy olive oil, how to dress sexy, Six Rules for Loving Your Food and Having it Love You Back. You will LOVE it, I promise. Now, back to our show…

We’re already at Week #3. Gia rockin’ the runway at Fashion Week! First, I have to say, all of my daughters are beyond beautiful and talented and funny and special. Just because Gia is being filmed right now and getting to have these opportunities doesn’t mean I don’t think they all have just as much potential to be whatever they want to be. I love, love, love all my girls more than I could ever say!!!

So, let me set some things straight.

The Shopping Trip
The store we went to – Stage Left in Franklin Lakes, NJ – is owned by one of my good friends Rosanna. Her daughter is Brittany, who Gia hugged. The girls are comfortable running around there because we go there all the time. It was exaggerated on camera of course, but Milania didn’t really wreck the place, Gia didn’t get everything she wanted, and I didn’t spend that much money (trust me!) And Gia saying she was too pretty to work is a family joke. Danielle said that last year all the time, and we laugh about it because 1) if you want money, you’d better work (I worked in NYC until the day I had Gia…) and 2) Danielle is not pretty.

Dina Not Being at Gia’s Show
Dina couldn’t come because she had a scheduling problem with Lexi, who is her main priority. I know how much she loves Gia and wished she could be there. Sorry Dina, of course I knew why you weren’t there. Xx

Gia & Her Dad in the Car
As I said at dinner, Joe, like most dads, teases the girls all the time. They know he’s joking. You can see how much he loves them and how much they love him. (Wasn’t it so sweet when he got home late and Gia was all worried about him looking so tired?) There was more to the car scene though that made Gia cry. Joe didn’t just come out and call Gia ugly. Here’s what happened: Gia had headphones in and was singing along to one of her songs. We kept asking her to stop singing and she wouldn’t. She was acting like she couldn’t hear us because of the headphones. So Joe made a joke and said, “Gia, you can do everything but sing.” Of course, she could hear us and she got sensitive and started crying. Then we couldn’t get her to stop crying and we had to show up for the fashion show! We were trying to tell her you can’t go down the runway crying, and Joe said if she kept crying, she would have to walk on the “ugly runway” for kids who were crying. Not that she was ugly, but she was making her face ugly with crying. It sounds bad when you pull out just that sentence, but you know how it is with kids. Gia was 8. Kids throw fits and they cry and they ham it up in front of other people. Sometimes you do just want to “put them on the roof” of your car! And of course, at the show, Joe told her how gorgeous she was. He always does. You can clearly see that Gia does not have any self-confidence issues!

I was glad they showed a typical dinner at our house. Me cooking up a storm, the girls setting the table. We eat dinner together every single night. It was great to have Caroline and Albie come over. We pulled out the fancy plates, my Gucci dinnerware. My mom got it for me for my bridal shower. Love! I cooked veal, by the way. Very easy, very healthy, very delicious. The recipe is in my book.

I make the girls call Caroline, Jacqueline and Dina and any adults that are close to our family “Auntie” as a sign of respect. It was wonderful to see “Auntie Caroline” and “Auntie Jacqueline” at Gia’s runway show. I didn’t start crying until Jacqueline did! And then I teared up again watching the episode on TV. It was just such a great day. It was so much fun. I was just so happy for Gia.

Let’s see, what else? Jacqueline sending flowers to Christine and painting with Nicholas shows yet again what a wonderful mother with a wonderful heart she is.

Oh yeah, and Danielle… To answer some of your questions, no, of course I don’t want to talk about Danielle. If it seems like I’m going out of my way to comment on her, it’s because I am. I don’t want to, but I’m on a show with her. I have to talk about her on camera, I have to see her when I would rather not, and I have to blog about her. That’s the point of the show. We’re all on the show together and we interact. If we all got along all the time, it wouldn’t be real and it wouldn’t be fun to watch, right?

So, let’s get it over with and talk about Danielle. Yet again she was oozing crazy all over her kids. It makes me so sad to see how she talks to them like they are her age and have all her hang-ups. They are kids. Let them be kids! Don’t force them to sit and listen to your crazy, insecure voicemails.

I thought the sibling rivalry between Christine and Jillian was very cute, how Christine didn’t want to admit that Jillian looked like her. I think they look alike and they are both VERY beautiful. It’s hard to look at their mother and see how they could possibly be related. Their daddy must be a really good-looking guy!

It was really hard to watch Christine’s walking lessons. Danielle was glaring at her like the Evil Stepmother in a Disney cartoon. And did it rub anyone else the wrong way when Danielle said as soon as she saw Christine come out on the runway that she “threw up in her mouth”? You say that when something disgusts you. How about saying you “had butterflies in your stomach” because you were excited and nervous for her? Or how about just saying you’re happy for her?

And as for wishing she was a fly on the wall when I saw Christine’s magazine cover for the first time. You got your wish, Danielle! You did get to see me see it for the first time. And my reaction was genuine: I was super happy for her, showed Gia, and told Gia how pretty she looked. I do truly wish Christine and Jillian all the best. God Bless. Kiss, kiss, kiss!

Finally, everyone always asks where to get the hair bows and jewelry and t-shirts me and the girls are wearing on the show, so I decided to sell them myself. You can find them at www.teresagiudice.com under the “Shop With Me” link.

And my book, Skinny Italian, is on sale in bookstores everywhere. You can see photographs, the table of contents, a list of the recipes and read an excerpt on my website as well.

Baci,
Teresa