The Craft

I'm not sure how to start this blog, so I will begin with how I still can't get out of my head Teresa saying that she doesn't like the way cumin tastes. Lucky for her there are so  many other "ingrediences" to choose from. She's so funny! Anyway, congratulations to Teresa! I'm so proud of her for making another successful cookbook! It has more Fabulicious recipes, beautiful pictures of her food and her family, plus stories from memory lane and a few ball-busting, Teresa-like comments that we will discuss later. Ahem. Next...

I never used to fully believe in psychics. It started off as a fun, silly girl thing to do with my friends, but when I met Tia at The Craft in Midland Park, New Jersey that all changed. Of course some things that Tia says are general, but she has also has predicted several events down to the detail which she has been right about. It totally blew my mind. She has told me things that she couldn't have known or that I could have ever predicted. She has predicted the same for some of my family members and friends. It's a gift that she has. Just when I thought Teresa had survived it all, now Tia tells me that Teresa has daggers coming at her from all angles and that this will be going on for some time. How much can one woman handle? Teresa has amazing strength, but she's still human for godsake. Time to sage Teresa's house. I get my protection bracelets from Tia. I suggested to Teresa that she get some too. (Actually, she wore some the last time she was on Andy Cohen's Watch What Happens Live with me.) Tia's website is www.Thecraftbytia.com.

For those that keep asking -- I got my fertility bracelet from ZenJen at www.Zenjewelz.com, and I will have both of their websites on my website. Www.JacquelineLaurita.com. It should be up soon. A lot of you have asked me where Ashley got her three jeweled ring that she had on in the diner scene. She got that fromwww.Valou3cap.com.

The boys are so blessed to be able to move into that apartment in Hoboken. The views from their apartment are spectacular! They are having a blast there. Chris and I gave the boys a couch, table, drinking glasses, a throne, and a stripper pole. Haha! I got it at www.flirtygirlfit.com. They are single guys. To be very honest, I think that pole would be a huge turn off to a lot of girls if they saw that in their apartment, and they should get rid of it! I think they already did. It was really meant to be a big joke! (Stripper carwash? Single guys?) Sorry if nobody got it. We were just trying to be silly. I also gave them Gas X, a plunger, 1,000 flushes, Febreeze, toilet paper, butt wipes, etc. You know, things boys need. Moving on...

So you met Greg Bennett, the boys old college/family friend and new roommate. He's a cutie and he's really funny. Follow him on Twitter @GreggyBennett if you want a good daily laugh. You also met Dolores, Greg's rescue dog from a puppymill. With all of them living together, this ought to be a riot! Stay tuned! There are webisodes of them on Bravotv.com, and I wouldn't be surprised if they got their own show. They should!

You now have a little bit of back story on Ashley and I. You also saw an old photo of Ashley's dad, my ex-husband, Matt. Didn't we look like kids? That's because we were. It puts everything into perspective, doesn't it? We were too young to start playing house. We still had a lot to learn and needed time to grow into who we are today. As much as it hurt back then that it didn't work out between us,we both moved on, and I have no anger toward him. I felt bad for Ashley for a long time that I would be raising her without her dad in our home. That's when I started to overcompensate out of guilt to keep her and myself happy. I tried to do it all. I did what I thought was the best for me and my daughter. Of course I made mistakes along the way, but it was part of my learning experience. It was a long, hard road, but it's the path I chose. Matt and I maintain a great, healthy relationship. He now lives in Texas with his beautiful wife, Jody, and their four handsome boys. Ashley has six brothers! Matt and Jody may turn up again sometime this season. We'll see. 

It has to be hard for Ashley to divide her time and holidays between two families. That's three if you include my family in Las Vegas. I realize that Ashley's upbringing was different than mine, but at some point she needs to quit feeling sorry for herself and look at the positive side of her situation instead of only focusing on the bad. She has more family for her to love and turn to when she needs somebody that will always love and support her. She should feel blessed. She should appreciate all that she has surrounding her and all the people that care about her in her life. She needs to show respect to the people who only ever wanted the best for her and that have worked very hard to give her a good life, good advice, and the tools for success in life to bring her happiness. (Ahem... Like me and Chris, her grandparents, etc. to just name a few.) I will always love my daughter no matter what she does in her life, but I want her to love herself too. I want her to want the best for herself and be proud of herself for making it where she wants to be, because I know that she has what it takes to make that happen. We all have faith in her. We are just waiting for her to have faith in herself. That's all I have to say about that right now. XOXO!

I understand why Kathy felt the need to reach out to Caroline. I think she wanted to make a good first impression on Caroline but instead was disappointed and embarrassed with the scene that was made at The Brownstone and realized Caroline was not very pleased with her or the whole situation. I think that was unsettling for Kathy. I think Kathy just wanted a chance to explain her side of the story and apologize for the commotion while making it clear that it wasn't her intention for things to escalate so quickly and go that far. She just wanted Caroline to make a fair judgement on who she believes she really is and not have Caroline's impression of her be jaded by what she saw at the fashion show or by the things Teresa may have told Caroline about her. 

Although I have to say that I don't think it was fair for Kathy to blame Teresa for her first impression on Caroline. How you choose to react to things or people is your own choice and nobody else's fault. People can always try to pull you in, but you don't have to engage. It's a tough struggle. I get it. I go through that with Ashley at times. Sometimes I choose to disengage and walk away, but other times I allow myself to get sucked in and choose to battle. I know it's hard to walk away sometimes. With every choice, there are consequences. I did realize how quiet Kathy got after she saw how upset Teresa got by her comment. She seemed a little mortified that it was unexpectedly brought to everyone's attention after she tried to keep it contained to the back room (and for all the viewers to see, of course). She just wanted to clear the air with Caroline. I also felt that it would have been better if Kathy would have also gone to Teresa's house as well to explain and do the very same thing. Maybe Kathy felt it was too raw and too soon to have that talk with Teresa and feared it would only end in another argument without a positive outcome. Who knows.

Bottom line, Caroline just doesn't care to know or want to get involved in their family business. She drew her boundaries firmly. Good for her for being strong enough to put that out there and put a stop to getting involved in their family feud right away. I admire her for that. She was being a good friend to Teresa too. It's very easy to get caught up in the fray, and she was not going to allow herself to be sucked into it. She feels it is not her place. Caroline is very wise. My problem is that sometimes I will sit and listen to everyone vent, and I will try to put the pieces together to help solve the problem even when it's got nothing to do with me. I honestly have all good intentions and just want to help. Maybe Kathy feels the same way. I don't like when anyone is hurting emotionally. I try to sympathize with them and at the same time get each of them to see the other person's point of view on the whole situation. Sometimes in doing that people will either get mad at me for not taking their side completely or they will sometimes try to twist my words to hear what they want to hear and then later try to use it to their advantage by repeating it out of context. Don't get it twisted, I'm on everyone's side! (I'm teasing Lisa.) Seriously though, I want everyone at peace. I want us all to get along. I don't like seeing my friend hurting, but I'm not going to add fuel to the fire by taking one side over another by encouraging and feeding into their anger. I want everyone to understand and respect each other. I want their family back together and for everyone to be happy. That is my wish for them.

Writing a letter to Teresa's brother was a great idea. It's good to get your thoughts on paper and be heard without someone speaking over you. It is also very important that it should be done in a constructive way and not in attack mode, which will most likely invite a negative response. Remember your goal for writing the letter. Is it to fuel the fire or to try diffuse it? Be careful with your words.

The "letter" took a very long time. It was important to Teresa to say the right things without saying too much. I helped her the best that I could. Teresa is set in her own beliefs, and no matter what advice I gave her she would only write what she wanted to write. It's her family and she knows them better than I do. I understand what Teresa is feeling, and I feel bad for her because I know she's hurting, but I was just trying to get her to be open to understanding what her brother may be feeling as well. He's hurting too. Something has obviously got him very upset, and it obviously started before the christening, whether or not Teresa intended to make him feel that way or not. That scene was funny to me. So typical of me to be talking and nobody listening. Why do I bother? I feel like I give great advice, but it seems like nobody ever values my opinions. I'm very in tune to what other people are feeling. I tend to over analyze things, because I look at every side of a situation. It's just something I do. I love helping people. I get satisfaction from it. Maybe it's because I can't seem to solve or control my own issues. A million pages later, the letter ended up being short and to the point. I was proud of Teresa for reaching out to her brother. It was a good letter. Did anyone notice that the envelope was addressed "To my little bother" instead of "brother?" LOL! It wasn't intentional, but it was very funny. The point is Teresa extended an olive branch. Will Joey accept? Keep watching.

Joey Gorga, lay off the Viagra! Holy crap! Adorable as he is, he's like a horny dog that tries to hump your leg all day. I understand that his wife is a hottie and he has an enormous sex drive that is apparently hereditary, but sweet compliments and a little foreplay would get him much further. I think guy's handle stress differently than girls. Girls like to vent, boys like to, uh, release. I think that it was a situation many couples will probably relate to. I thought it was funny. The "zit" metaphor visual was probably something I could have done without. I think they are a cute couple, you can tell they are also good friends.

Did anyone else notice how Joey and Teresa handle things the same way after a big blow up? When Joey saw Joe at the gym for the first time after the christening he said hi to him and acted like normal as if nothing ever happened. That's exactly what Teresa does. She handled things the exact same way with Melissa. Am I right? I think the more you care about someone, the harder that is to do. I also think that the more you sweep the issues under the rug, the more the dirt will just build up and keep resurfacing until it's such a big mess that nobody wants to clean it up. Eventually, they will need to get to the root of the problem and forgive each other to completely put it to rest and be able to move forward without the same issues reoccurring. 

I was very glad to hear Melissa encouraging her husband to communicate with his sister to help fix things. It didn't sound like she was fueling the fire there. That was good. At least she was trying to put aside her differences with Teresa and allow her husband the freedom to do the right thing for himself and their family. It's up to him whether or not he chooses to have a relationship with her. Let's watch and see if he tries to work things out. I know he wants a relationship with Teresa. I think he just wants reassurance that Teresa genuinely wants the same thing. I believe she does, but they both are stubborn and hurting. They both feel jaded about each other. I'm interested in seeing the way they communicate with each other. When one is speaking, I hope the other one is listening.

Until next time. XOXO!