"Joe and I are Great."

Last week I dedicated my blog to all my fans and let them take over talking for me. (If you missed it, you can read it here. I didn't just do that for the fans though, I also did it for the haters. Before you judge any of us, think about this:

More than half a million people follow me on Twitter. (I know they don't all love me, but that's OK. I love the ones that love me, and I respect everyone's opinion.) With all those followers, and lots of people who don't even follow but still talk about us, it's a good bet that there are hundreds of thousands of comments about me and the RHONJ show on Twitter, right? They all exist. They're all real. But there are too many of them for me to put them all on my blog.

I only have so much room for my blog each week, so I had to pick and choose which tweets to use. There were thousands of good ones and thousands of bad ones, but I chose the ones I chose because I had something to say. I was sort of telling a story. I wanted to point out certain things I thought were important or interesting or funny or ridiculous -- things I thought would make for a good blog.

I'm sure if I had 10 different people pick out tweets for me, I would have had 10 totally different blogs. You could chose tweets that make me look great, or tweets that make me look bad. Can you see where I'm going with this? Welcome to TV!There's only so much room to tell the entire story of a group of people's lives in just 45 minutes, so a lot gets left out. Before you hate on me, or hate on any of us in front of the camera or behind it, remember, you're only seeing a small part of the whole thing.
Thousands of tiny things, good and bad, make up all of our lives. There were so many fun and hilarious and even boring things that happened in our lives last year that you didn't see. (Don't miss the Lost Footage episode next week because you'll get to see some of it, including our big Campout Cook Off!)

But if you want to get to know who we really are, try and look at the whole picture. Meet us at appearances, read all of our blogs from day one, see how we interact with people on Twitter, and you'll see who you can relate to, who you wish you lived next door to, and who you can't stand. And just like your friends IRL, sometimes you'll get mad at us when we're having a bad day, but that's OK too, because none of us are perfect.I've found that the people that are my true fans, who stick by me, encourage me, and have become part of my new extended family aren't blindly part of "Teresa's Army" -- it's actually the opposite. They're the ones who've taken the time to look at the whole picture and know a real person isn't just one catchphrase or comment or scene or mistake. Thank you all. I am YOUR loyal fan!

And so our season is over! Thank goodness! It was a rough one, at least for me. (Again.) It does make me sad that the other women on my show all wanted to get together to try and take me down. But I guess it's nothing new. Every city seems to have a Housewife that the other cast members suddenly stop getting along with -- Bethenny, NeNe, Lisa -- but they shake it off and keep being successful. So at least I'm in good company! I'm not proud of how I let the other women get to me at the reunion, how I lashed back and said things I regret now. I wish I had more control, I tried to stay in control, but I had just let the entire season of them saying things behind my back and plotting against me get to me. It's hard to shrug off when it's family. It built up, and I didn't handle it perfectly. I wish I had. I wish I was perfect, but I'm not. But I'm not going to beat myself up about it, and I'm not going to let the bad get me down.

It's been a year since we filmed all the bad stuff, and it's been a really great year. I have more blessings than I can count or deserve! I just shot the cover for my 4th cookbook: FABULICIOUS ON-THE-GRILL: Teresa's Smoking Hot Backyard Recipes! It will be out in Spring 2013: http://amzn.to/RtCq8e. And no, no Housewives or their kids or pets or car washes were harmed in the production of this cookbook! Milania Hair Care and my Fabellini are doing amazing -- we're adding new retailers all over the country every day! My Juicy Joe and I are great. He's still my best friend and my rock. One of the best things about him is that he just doesn't care about the B.S. You need people like that in your life, especially if you work in the B.S. Industry! And my girls, my beautiful gorgeous girls, are great! My baby Audriana just turned 3, can you believe it? And my Gia is almost 12!My heart is still broken for my brother and his family. Only time will tell what the future holds for us. Right now, I just can't look back.

You know, there was this movie when I was kid in the ‘70s called The Gumball Rally where these guys were all racing across the country and Franco, the Italian guy, says, "And now, my friend, the first rule of Italian driving," and then rips off the rearview mirror from his car. "What's behind me is not important," he says. I always loved that scene, and it's true. We have to keep looking forward to move forward. I've ripped off the rearview mirror. The road ahead is so exciting, and I hope you'll stay on it with me!

Follow me on Twitter @Teresa_Giudice or visit my website at www.teresagiudice.com for more information on my appearances, where to buy Fabellini, Milania Hair Care, and PearlBrite!

Tanti Baci,
Teresa xx