BRAVO'S RHONJ

CHECK OUT LIVEOUTNJ HOSTS, 
ANDY PEEKE AND JESSICA SCHIRRIPA,
AS THEY SPEAK TO REALITY STAR FAVORITES 
ABOUT LOVE, RELATIONSHIPS,
AND FAMILY!


POSH BOUTIQUE FASHION SHOW
PRESENTS THE VERY BEST IN 
CHIC, NEW JERSEY FASHION!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMRr5ZWeryI

Giuliana and Bill Rancic - Love, Inspire, Strength, & Family

LiveOutNJ’s Jessica Schirripa was lucky enough to catch up with E! and Style Network’s Giuliana and Bill Rancic at a very intimate Meridian Healthcare “Paint the Town Pink” event, Saturday 5/4 in Manasquan, NJ. LiveOutNJ brings you nothing but the best with their debut A-List encounter!

“LiveOutNJ and myself, could not feel more privileged than to get the exclusive scoop with Giuliana and Bill! Giuliana gave us details on what being a new mom is like to Duke, with Bill at her side being a supportive husband. It was truly inspiring to hear them both speak of their new chapter! They were so easy to relate to and it was an honor to meet them.” - Jessica Schirripa

Who better to speak with than a woman who has been through it all. With many years in the spotlight, Giuliana has learned how to juggle her professional career, public struggles with fertility and breast cancer, and beginning her adventure as a new mom, finding the balance of it all.

“Duke saved my life!” Giuliana declared.
“How is she ever going to punish this kid? He is going to have that on her forever and always,” joked Bill.

In 2011, Rancic had announced she was diagnosed with breast cancer. This was discovered after beginning fertility treatments to conceive a child in 2009 and suffering several miscarriages. Confused and uncertain, a mammogram was performed then detecting the cancer. If one thing had not lead to another, outcomes could very well have been different. After radiation treatments, undergoing surgeries, and the precautions taken to conceive via surrogate, they welcomed Duke!

Giuliana and Bill shared their experiences in great detail. They spoke fondly of the importance of the respect and support they have for one another. Their evident connection speaks volumes and cannot be denied when you see how well they compliment each other. An absolute charming and a beautiful couple, they are on a mission to spread awareness and share their strength with others.

Giuliana stresses throughout the evening, how you have to keep living. The moments where you feel uncontrollable despair, are the moments you make a choice. You choose to keep living and not be brought down, as a woman, as a wife, and a mother!

Giuliana and Bill’s story, which has aired out extremely public, has been a true blessing in disguise! They throw their support to endless causes and use their celebrity to help encourage and inspire those around them.

PLEASE CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO OF PART OF THEIR INTERVIEW- TAKE NOTICE TO THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION QUOTE AND MY WILDLY INAPPROPRIATE SHOUTOUT!

OH WELL, BILL GIVES ME SOME STREET CRED! XOXO

                                                           I "Shawshanked" Bill Rancic!

To Preview a 2 minute clip visit:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=900403877065&set=vb.81403592&type=3&theater

MY COUSIN VINNY: A MEAL FROM VINCENT

In memory of my 24 yr old cousin, Vincent DeAngelo.


Although years and distance kept us a part for much of our adolescent youth, Vinny has left an imprint on me that I think about every single day of my life. We were very close in age which is a realization that hits very close to home. After his passing, I read every comment people wrote on his Facebook Page, I looked through every picture I had from when we were small... there is a light in his smile that can change any ones bad day. He was a hero all the way through. People just gravitated to him and had every reason to. 


I remember the very last time our entire family reunited for a day of debauchery. I will remember it always. We went to Atlantic City, started the day off just right, Harrah's Pool for some day drinking...(We are no strangers to some day time shots) We just did nothing but laugh all day with each other. The dynamic of us revolves around fun and love, and strength, and hope. I wish that day lasted forever. It was way too short. In my heart, I didn't believe that would be the last day I would ever get to spend with him. He was so happy and we were all so happy. I would have held on longer, a little tighter, and never let the party end. 

There are things in life that are not fair. Things we cannot control. We look for reasons to blame everything we can in order to make sense of it. We choose to move forward and take all the love he left us and turn it into something special. 


Cathy DeAngelo, has begun "A Meal From Vincent". Through this foundation, she not only keeps the memory of her son alive, but she carries out a plan to brighten up someones day in his honor. He was that kind of a person. There was no ray of light to dim. Light is light. That is the beauty of this program. It seems like such a small gesture, but you have no idea the lasting effects of making someone smile. Please read below as she tells the legacy he will be. 

"As a lot of you know Vincent lost his 3 year battle with leukemia on April 13, 2012. He fought this battle long and hard. He was very brave and he was my hero.He had a stem cell transplant at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida and went through a clinical trial at MD Anderson Hospital in Texas.He spent most of his battle at Memorial West Hospital in Pembroke Pines, Florida. This truly was his "home away from home". 


The oncology staff, nurses and doctors took such great care of him making him feel like he was their family. I can never thank them enough for this.He spent days, weeks, and months inside hospitals and always had a wonderful attitude. But my son had one complaint, Hospital Food. It's hard to eat hospital food day after day. Whenever he was having a bad day or didn't like anything on the menu or just needed a treat, I would go to get food from any of the outside food places near the hospital. 


I was fortunate that I could provide this for him. Just the smell of the outside food would put a smile on his face and for a brief time he would forget that he was in the hospital and he would enjoy his meal.Unfortunately being treated for cancer puts a difficult financial strain on many patients. Most of them can't work and have many bills to pay and simply cannot afford to to get a meal from outside.

In Vincent's memory I would like to donate as many food gift cards to these cancer patients and I want them to get a treat away from hospital food. I know in my heart that Vincent would want us to do this. It will be called "A Meal From Vincent"


Please View and SHARE <3 


http://www.facebook.com/groups/297513897045436/?fref=ts

Girl Rising

A different direction than my normal posts, this comes from a very special place...

I had the privilege to attend a viewing of a very important documentary entitled, Girl Rising by Academy Award Winning director, Richard Robbins. It has not yet been released worldwide and shockingly enough despite the film's number of Hollywood narrators and star power, it does not seem to have much notoriety behind it.

Girl Rising is a groundbreaking peak into the stories of nine girls (innocent children) from all around the world who have changed their life and the lives of those around them contrary to their upbringings of slavery, trafficking, (marrying girls off as young as the age of 7, just to ensure they have a chance...Can you process that for a second...) and other heartbreaking injustices that women around the world face.

I left the theater feeling blessed, feeling empowered, and yet still envious of these women and their stories. Envious???? That certainly doesn't seem like a normal feeling or the proper word to use after watching what they have been through. I chose that word because they have been through hardships I could never even begin to understand and regardless were still filled with astronomical amounts of strength, hope, and compelling voices that will not be silenced.  How can there possibly be no admiration there? It really got me thinking...

To the point that I am able to write my silly, little blog, and spend a life where I will never know what it is like to be truly silenced. Not only because that goes beyond anything I am capable of, but also because no one has ever forced silence upon me. I grew up in an Italian family for crying out loud, and with parents who are native New Yorkers. No one in my family knows silence, male or female. I grew up where females seem to know a little less silence as a matter of fact.

I can't even imagine the reality of that world no matter how many glimpses cinema can give. Some may feel this doesn't effect them or concern them. It is a cultural difference or just how their economy is structured. Period. But I ask anyone who believes in equality and education to give this film an opportunity to spark something within.

Men, if you think this is mindless or simply a "women's issue", I ask you to look at your mother, sister, or daughter, and imagine them being born into a life mirroring the ones portrayed. This cannot just be a women's issue. Things happen in our own country and we blissfully plead ignorance. We need voices! We need people to care about people again! Every person you reach is a stepping stone for a better opportunity and future.

"When girls go to school and get an education, they stay healthy. They save money. They speak up. They build businesses. Then they pass it all on...and poverty declines. Challenges become opportunities; progress happen." - Richard Robbins, the Girl Rising Director

For more information:
Check Out- Girlrising.com and Get with the 10x10 Girls' Education Fund!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies that Look like Chocolate Chip Cookies are the Reason I Have Trust Issues

Well, the post title says it all. We have all been there. Such a metaphor for life when you think about it. Something or someone that appears one way until we take a closer look or even worse take a bite and try it for ourselves. I am sorry but that is some deep shizz. How does one bounce back from this hurt, but to except it and chalk it up as a life lesson.

From now on stare at the cookie, analyze the cookie, before just going ahead and eating it. It seems a little intense, but for the sake of the argument, it will save you a lot of trouble and unnecessary disappointment if we all make sure we know the difference between a raisin and a gooey, delicious, chocolate morsel. We now enter every bake sale with a little more caution knowing the deception that lives inside the Oatmeal Raisin Cookie.

ENTER TRUST ISSUES...

Ode to the Work Boyfriend

Few may know what a "Work Boyfriend" is, however, ladies if you have one of these count yourself lucky. "Work Boyfriends" are the absolute bees knees. It is the guy usually one cubical over that for some reason beyond your understanding you can talk to about anything and laugh all day. He will always have your back when the boss is being a pain and he will not judge you when he asks how your weekend was and you begin to tell him all about how you drunkenly stole a loaf of bread from a vendor in NYC, singing Street Rat from Aladdin. He somehow finds it endearing... and itt somehow works both ways.

Why does it not turn into a romantic relationship you ask? Well for starters, we all know not to dip the pen in the company ink, we have to save it up for the not so sharp pencil that works 3 Floors below and 2 office suites over (Because that is always a good life choice and works out well...) Also, it never turns romantic because I mean, did you not catch on to the reference above...I stole a loaf of bread and ran down the street singing a song from Aladdin for crying out loud, and not even a popular song from the movie for that matter! 

It is an affectionate term for the guy friend we get to share everyday with. If you are single, your girlfriends insist someone has a crush, and if you are in a relationship, your boyfriend is probably sick of hearing his name and secretly hopes he gets the boot. Either way, they are so much fun to play with! I took my "Work Boyfriend" to the next level of commitment...He is now my "Work Baby Daddy". We share a stapler.

Eat, Pray, Love, HUh?

I wonder what it is about breakups that make everyone want to Eat, Pray, Love. I find it fascinating, I really do. Before the book was written and Julia Roberts got that 10 million dollar pay out to eat endless amounts of pizza...excuse me, fine, Italian cuisine, we all have thought about this after getting the big S word...Screwed, I don't mean it literally...This is all figurative.

You will notice I pay homage to Julia frequently ( My love for Diane Keaton, Michelle Pheiffer, and Jane Fonda will come into play soon, just wait it out. ) Anyone that can breakout as a prostitute, fly into the role of Tinker Bell, be a complete trailblazer in Erin Brockie, and then (SPOILER ALERT) still loose the guy at the end of My Best Friends Wedding, I mean I just have mad respect.

Anyway, back to the point at hand. The sudden urge to change my hair, maybe add some layers, or perhaps finally do that dramatic bob I always cut out of magazines but never quite have the balls to do, tells me it is now or never. Maybe it is defiance, or going against what is expected because life has served you just that, or maybe you just figure change is in the air, so you might as well go full throttle. Maybe it is a little bit of both...as Forest Gump once stated.

I just find it so interesting that we feel a vacation could suddenly bring us back to life and even more interesting that in most cases it does! It is just the medicine. We may not do it how Jewels does or Jason Segel for that matter. You probably won't get to go up a dress size like she, ( usually just the opposite, hit that CKO bag hunny, you're single again!) and still fall in love, but you do come to the realization that there is so much more that you haven't seen. So much unexpected beauty, and so much more room to find something else that makes you happy. The moment hits: You had a life before him and you will have a life after him!

The new hair though, I'm not quite sure what that inspires yet. I'm still figuring it out before I decide my next color and process. Maybe ombre, he always hated the ombre...Yeah, I think I'm gonna go with that.

Oh, I think I just figured it out! LOL