After spending two weeks in beautiful Italia, it was good to sleep in my own bed. However, the jet lag this time really hit me hard and took a good week to get back on track. I think it’s because we barely recouped from Bora Bora and then took off to Italy. So it feels like we have been traveling for months. I felt disoriented and then had a bit of a health scare when we arrived home. I needed to rest and totally get back to normal. I even made a mistake on a spice order and Ebay order by sending the orders to the wrong people! This is something that I just don’t do and I guess it didn’t help that they both had the same name! Nevertheless this is the time of year that starts to get even busier for Ronn and I. Summer parties, events, charities, award shows, kid related things and friends visiting help make our weekends jam packed. I’m not complaining because we have a fun and full life, it’s just hard to keep up with it all sometimes. And having a quiet day with nothing to do is always rare and appreciated. This past week two of my longtime girlfriends are in town visiting. One from Houston, Laura and one from Chicago, Stacey and both are always fun to catch up with . We find ourselves talking our heads off about old times til the wee hours of the morning and having lots of laughs.
It was also my friend Lori’s birthday so we celebrated by taking her limo to the “American Idol Finale” compliments of Aerosmith’s drummer Joey Kramer and his wife Linda. Poor Ronn had a long day at work, so long that he slept in his dressing room due to an early day the next day. So Lori got to be my date and we had a blast with terrific seats right up front and center. Then last night my girlfriend Stacey visiting from Chicago invited us to “The Mint” to see some live music which is always something Ronn likes.
Turns out it was a small standing room only venue and Johnny Depp was playing drums! Johnny Depp on Drums is just something you don’t see or expect and I must say he was pretty good! We were with drummer Frankie Banali and his girl Regina Russell so it was a surprise treat for them. As exciting as my week as been so far, it’s not over. We still have the kids coming over today and a couple of BBQ parties to attend so by the time Memorial day is over, I’ll need another few days to recover to get back on track! Don’t get me wrong, I look forward to each and every day that is spent healthy and enjoying life so that I can blog about it and share it with you!
We are back from Puglia and a bit jet lagged still, but the memories will linger for a while. I had never been to southern Italy and must admit was a bit excited to see this region. We stayed the first few days at the Masseria San Domenico which was where B&B filmed. The food was absolutely amazing, fresh home grown vegetables were so great that’s all I wanted to eat there. The weather was a lot like LA with sunny warm days and cooler nights. A few miles away from the Masseria San Domenico is another newer hotel called, Borgo Egnazia and both places are owned by the same people. The Borgo Egnazia is so romantic and beautifully decorated with an award winning spa. The cast and crew were made to feel at home at both places since some of the crew were staying at the Borgo Egnazia. We were treated to complimentary massages, facials and body scrubs and the whole atmosphere felt like heaven. 
Two other location days were spent at this gorgeous little town, Alberobello, where all the homes have cone like roof tops and the town of Polignano a Mare. Both places were a must to see and the people are so nice. Puglia provides 70% of the world’s olive oil and has so many amazing olive trees everywhere. They also provide 10% of Europe’s wine and pasta. 
At the end of the B&B shoot, Ronn and I moved over to the Borgo Egnazia to stay in one of the 3 bedroom private villas that had it’s own pool. The villa was like our own private little mansion. We invited some of our European friends like German artist Michael Mobius and designer Lavinia Biagiotti to come and share it with us. Ronn and Katherine Kelly Lang did a commercial in Bari after the B&B shoot was over, so this was an added treat to our final day there. Puglia has become a very special place for us and we will surly return. An upcoming special “Ronn’s Garage” episode will be dedicated to our experiences there, truly a magical place for us! [wpvideo LyQZiAbV]
It’s been over a week that we have been in our beloved second home, Italy. As always, we feel the love instantly especially with Ronn, as he has always had a big love affair with beautiful Italia. It seems since, “Ballando con le Stelle” he is more recognized as Ronn instead of Ridge, which is quite nice. After all of the press he did for his PLAYER album with Peter Beckett, we celebrated the release of Lavinia Biagiotti’s book, which is a cute and colorful book that displays tips on fashion.
Lavinia is like my sister and she and her mom, Laura always makes us feel at home with them. I’m happy to announce that I will be helping them bring back the beloved fragrance, “Venezia” to America.
The fragrance has many fans and requests in America and right now isn’t currently distributed there. I love the smell and right away started getting compliments since I’ve been wearing it. Jacqueline MacInnes-Wood who plays Steffy on B&B fell in love with it instantly also. So we are excited to relaunch “Venezia” in the US now. Since we have said goodbye to our friends in Rome, we are now in beautiful Puglia among the olive groves, which feels like heaven. There is an amazing spa that I’m looking forward to trying and the food has been spectacular. Seems like the vegetables are so fresh and flavorful that is all I want to eat right now. The seafood is also amazing and so is the wine. Needless to say we never go hungry in Italia.
The B&B shoot is going very well, quite relaxing with gorgeous days and beautiful nights spent with the cast and crew. There are more of our Italian friends coming later this week to visit with us and Ronn and Katherine Kelly Lang are shooting a cute and funny commercial at the end of the week. Italia is always busy for Ronn with shoots, press and trying to fit so much in with friends in such a short period of time. But, we love Italia and their culture and really do think of it as our second home. A home we hope to spend more and more time in future years.
Here are some of the links to the press that Ronn and Peter has done so far in Italia.