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We have traveled many times to Italy and seen many beautiful cities, but Castiglione del Lago really stands out as a magical, almost fairy tale like in its vibe, with a real castle to boot! The first thing you notice is the majestic castle that is in the center of this little town overlooking a beautiful lake and situated outside of Perugia, Italy. Just getting the pronunciation correct in saying Castiglione del Lago gives you the sense you are really in the heart of Italy. This city is in the region of Umbria, known for some of the best Italian wines.

Castiglione del Lago immediately felt like home to us when we met third generation native, Mario Barbini who welcomed us with open arms into his beautifully restored 500 year old Palazzo Barbini apartments. Our two bedroom apartment was spacious, charming and had a beautiful view of the city and a private terrace. It also had the cutest kitchen that I was dying to cook in, but we were kept so busy with amazing dinners and lunches that I simply didn’t have time!  Ronn went to Castiglione del Lago to prepare the songs he would be doing for his first ever Italian music tour set for summer 2019. The music director lives in Castiglione del Lago and so we needed to be near his studio to go over all the music for the tour production, which required daily recordings and computer insertions for the video editor to coordinate and for the band to prepare to rehearse later next month with Ronn.

However, it didn’t feel like work at all for Ronn because we were having such a great time in between his creative process. The two weeks spent in Castiglione del Lago flew by and will forever be ingrained in our minds as one of the most special and unique places we have visited.  We also took some time to visit another charming city nearby called, Assisi before checking out the seaside of Abruzzo. Ronn made some rare personal appearances in these areas to meet with as many fans as possible and to check out possible venues for the tour.  It’s hard to believe we have now been in Europe for two months as this time has flown by so fast, and we are now relaxing in our beautiful Rome Loft situated in the center of Rome. We can’t recommend this place enough for anyone traveling to see the sights of Rome, as its a perfect location to walk just about everywhere.  We will now head to Belgium for a few appearances and preparation with Ronn’s “Bad and Beautiful” band for the next couple weeks before heading back to Italy for band rehearsals and more surprises to share later!

After an intense week of shooting “The Bay” we wrapped last Friday and I can honestly say; it will be the best season ever to look forward to! Ronn had a blast with John Blackwell and I think we will look forward to adding more Emmys to our mantel next year!

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 With Summer just around the corner, it was time for some Barbeques and that meant having a few friends over to celebrate the season finale of “Game of Thrones.” I kinda wasn’t feeling it most of the season and didn’t really enjoy it until I saw the last two episodes. The finale was an excuse for some of the die- hard watchers to come over to eat some meat and drink some wine. Ronn has his own goblet with a dragon on it, so he was pumped and ready!

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This month is also my birthday, so we decided to do one of our Potluck Jam Parties so that we can visit with many of our friends before Player starts their tour with Little River Band and Ambrosia. This will be a great way to kick off celebrating summer because there is nothing like great food and friends hanging out by the pool with barbeques and great music!

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Ronn and I enjoyed meeting author, Charles Dubow of the novel, “Girl In The Moonlight” at the home of my pal, Tina Hillstrom and it was also there that Ronn was presented with an original painting of John Lennon, compliments of artist, Josee Nadeau. If you recall, Josee was a guest on “Ronn’s Garage.” So we are looking forward to more gatherings this summer with friends as Player embarks on their tour, maybe at a city near you? In the meantime, you can keep up with us by subscribing to this blog or following us on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.

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We hope you will celebrate summer with your friends and family and a little bit of DevRonn at your next barbeque, because that’s what summer is really all about, right?

This past weekend was so much fun for Ronn and I. We took a rare weekend to ourselves and went wine- tasting with some friends in San Ynez, which is outside of Santa Barbara. San Ynez is simply gorgeous and known for producing some amazing wines! It was a warm sunny day and a fun time with my girlfriend Sue and our new friends, Cara and Kyle. Cara treated us to a private tour of “Grassini Vineyards” who only produce 3500 cases of wine per year, oh but what amazing wines they are!

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Grassini was also named a finalist for the best wine of 2014 for Santa Barbara. It’s always such a treat to taste a wonderful cabernet, especially when you can be a part of some of it’s first growths. I happen to know a lot about fine red wines and have experienced some great grand crus. Ronn and I spent a vacation a while back in Bordeaux and of course we have some wonderful friends who are very educated about the fine reds. So whenever we get the chance to experience a new one, it’s exciting.

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Our dear friends, Mike and Caroline Cusumano are very educated on small California vineyards like, Grace and Harland from the Napa Valley, so whenever we hang out with them; we experience some great reds and learn more about wines we have never heard of. If you are a wine lover like we are, then this is great fun. I’d like to think my pallet is a good one, because what is better than food and wine? We then had Jawn Star and Jimmy Carnelli over for some musical entertainment and an excuse for me to cook up some good grub! I make them sing for their supper, so to speak. This time supper consisted of appetizers such as, goat cheese, arugula and prosciutto, along with, slow cooked tri tip with Ronn’s Kickass BBQ Sauce, mashed potatoes and kale salad with fresh Strawberries.

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After a meal like that, we always retreat to the garage to listen to the boys jam out some tunes. This is always a great topper to a fun day and a great meal. After this amazing weekend, I got a call from my pal Kira Lorsch letting me know that our Bay Family has been nominated for a Daytime Emmy! We couldn’t be more proud of and thrilled for this amazing cast and crew. Creator and executive producers, Gregori Martin and Kristos Andrews are simply talented and this is so well deserved. To think in only a few weeks, Ronn and I could be Emmy winners as producers is mind- boggling.

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I was a bit surprised to hear the Daytime Emmys are being held on April 26th! That’s really earlier than the usual June. So I’m turning to designer Sue Wong for a dress to wear! I know how much you all love “The Bay” and if you are a regular viewer, you know how cool this series is! So we are all super excited for “The Bay” to bring home that Emmy!

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Some great things are on the horizon for John Blackwell is all I can say! Some great things are also on the horizon for Ronn Moss. More dates are being added for the summer “Rock The Yacht” tour with Player, Ambrosia and Little River Band. There will also be some more surprises to share with our DevRonn Fanclub Members only. So be sure to join the club and find out first what it is!

Rock the Yacht 

We want to wish you all a wonderful Easter and Passover weekend. This weekend is the 3rd Blood Moon and my feeling is that wonderful and positive changes are about to arise for all of us as a whole. Right now, Ronn and I are extremely grateful for the wonderful wine, Emmy and song we have already experienced and ready for what is ahead!

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With Valentine’s Day around the corner, love is in the air and we are celebrating it with KISS, Mel Gibson and Tom Jones for a benefit concert at the House of Blues. My pal Tina Hillstrom has been working for months putting this fundraiser together and it will be night to remember for sure. The benefit will be televised and is for Mending Kids. 

This wonderful organization brings surgery to kids in need of it around the world. Love is in the air for us as well as we release our humorous relationship book entitled, “My Husband’s A Dog, My Wife’s A Bitch” just in time for Valentine’s Day. It’s a funny look at relationships from our point of view and you will surely laugh alot reading it. I got the idea a couple of years ago to do this since I trained Ronn to make me cappuccinos every morning and joked that you must train a man like a dog. Ronn came up with the title and wrote his point of view of which he just showed me a few weeks ago. I laughed so hard I cried, so we hope you will enjoy it as much as we enjoyed writing it. Our first autographed copy is now up for auction on Ebay. Ebooks and audio books are coming soon!

My Husband's A Dog, My Wife's A Bitch

Love was in the air this past weekend when we joined former Housewife of Orange county stars Peggy and Micah Tanous for a weekend of wine tasting in Temecula as we joined them for the event, “Charity For Charity.”

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Our road trip to the beach towns of Northern California had wonderful moments of clean fresh air, great seafood and beautiful sunsets. We really enjoyed our stay at the West Cliff Inn in Santa Cruz and we plan to stay there every time we visit Creason. The West Cliff feels like you are staying at your own home. They have a wonderful breakfast variety of home made muffins, quiche, eggs, french toast and juices that is included in your stay. Afternoon wine and cheese along with home made cookies in the late afternoon and a great view of the beach.

West Cliff Inn

UCSC with Creason

We loved strolling around the campus of UCSC while Creason gave us a tour of their amazing library and the redwood forest. The shops and restaurants were lovely and we even found a great Cajun restaurant! As we made our way back home, we decided to stop in Monterey to see the aquarium and have lunch in Carmel. It’s so easy to fall in love with these quaint little beach communities and window shop in their cute little boutiques. We made our way back  south to Atascadero, which is outside of Paso Robles and stayed at the Carlton Hotel. This hotel is so adorable and is a mini boutique hotel that is very comfortable. 

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Since we stopped off in Paso Robles on the way up to Santa Cruz and had a great tour of the Opolo vineyard that was personally given to us by owner, Rick Quinn, we wanted to see Atascadero before stopping for lunch in Santa Barbara. I think if you are traveling by car for more than a couple of hours this is a great way to see smaller communities and experience a bit of their culture, plus it’s romantic and fun.

Opolo Winery & Rick Quinn

Although this was our first time visiting most of these Northern California beach towns, we now have our favorite spots that we will stop off and revisit more often. This was a special weekend for us for it was a lot of firsts for me. It was my first time in Santa Cruz, the first time I saw sea lions and my first visit to UCSC. Ronn and I are now looking forward to more road trips to Northern California and hope to make it up to San Francisco next time.

This past weekend to Paso Robles was a first for both Ronn and I. We were there for Player’s concert lineup on the Sail Rock tour along with Firefall, Orleans, Al Stewart and Christopher Cross. So Peter and Eden thought we should naturally go up a day early and do some wine tasting. The drive was a pleasant one and the weather couldn’t have been more beautiful. There are so many great wines from the Paso Robles region and for years our neighbors who own the wine, “Opolo” has invited us to their annual wine festival of grape stomping, music and BBQ feasting galore. But, somehow between Ronn’s schedule of work and travel, we have never been able to make it to the winery until this past weekend.

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We happen to also know the Hunt family which also produce a terrific wine from Paso Robles and stopped off at their vineyard for a tasting, along with the Ancient Peak, Cass and Tobin James wineries. Needless to say we had great time and I can attest to the fact that the wines of this region are amazing.

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The concert drew a terrific crowd that enjoyed the fair and the moonlit breeziness of the night since the concert was set outdoors. My girlfriend Sue and her friend Brenda had a great time and joined us backstage afterwards where we were hanging out with Al Stewart and his girlfriend Jill. As we were saying goodbye, Jill miss her step into the van and fell backwards in a hard fall that ended up breaking her finger! It was a quite a hard fall and a terrible freakish accident. We all felt terrible watching her finger swell as the ambulance came to take her to the hospital. She was remarkably calm and all she and Al could talk about was having us all get together for a dinner party at their place once the tour was over.

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Such a lovely couple that we are sending love and light to right now for Jill to have a speedy recovery. I don’t think any of us will forget our past weekend in Paso Robles for many reasons. Great wine, friends old and new, music and serene scenery made it memorable enough to say, we will be back!

Dev & Lori at the Tuscan villa

The past few days spent with our Italian friends who are very much family to us felt so surreal.  Our last days in the gorgeous countryside of Tuscany was set in a quaint “Eco-chic” Boutique farm , TENUTA CHIUDENDONE . Our host was Francesco Cavallini, owner of Emilio Cavallini who has been the premier fashion tights company to many designers all over the world since 1972. We got to tour the factory where they make them and was given so many designs to take home. Lori was in sheer pantyhose heaven and Francesco’s father is a true artist in the unique world of fashion tights.

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Francesco & Ronn

We were treated to the finest  Tuscan wines at a wonderful wine tasting compliments of, Varramista Winery  and then the highlight of our trip there was a visit to the local supermarket with Ronn. I wanted Francesco and his girlfriend Isabella to show me how to cook a whole fish Tuscan style, so we stopped at the market and even the butcher wanted a picture with Ronn! Lori and I laughed so hard at the reaction from everyone,  including grandmothers and children who seemed to be drawn to Ronn for photos. I will show you guys what I learned about cooking a whole Sea Bass later on Ronn’s Garage. We traveled Saturday by train back to Rome for our final two days in Italy so that we could spend some quality time with the lovely Laura Biagiotti and my Italian sister Lavinia.They always make us feel so at home at the Biagiotti Castle. We topped off our evening with champagne at the Biagiotti boutique. Katherine Kelly Lang joined us and then went back to the castle for an amazing home cooked dinner with Laura. It was such a pleasure to introduce KKL to Laura and turns out, it was a special holiday for Italy was honoring St. Raffelle. The moon was so bright and full that we all felt the aura of excitement and anticipation deep into the night as a flutter of rain drops softly kissed us. Soon a pouring rain storm washed away the smoldering heat and humidity of the summer, and a change of season seemed to happen before our eyes with the breeziness of fall that is so welcomed now.  I started to feel a bit of a cold coming on so I decided to rest in between lunch and dinner on Sunday. Ronn and Lavinia went for a walk and to my surprise, Ronn came back with a perfectly small heart shaped rock he found on the Biagiotti property from their afternoon stroll. I was so amazed and surprised to get this from him and took it as an omen to all the wonderful things that are happening in our lives now.

My Heart shaped Rocks

It’s my gratitude rock, a symbol of our rock solid love that has conquered so much in the past few months. As some you may remember, Ronn found a large heart shaped rock walking on the beach in Malibu a few years ago, so now I have that one next to me in our bedroom and this little one with me at all times. I showed Laura the rock and she said with great flair, “Now, let’s go find a Picasso at the flea market!” Because I admire so much Laura’s wisdom, knowledge and sixth sense, I knew our trip to the flea market was something special she wanted to share with us. And there I found the cutest outfit in the latest fashionable color of deep green for this fall that I will can’t wait to wear with pride. Lavinia wanted to take us to the wedding of chef Filippo La Mantia and his bride, Stefania, which was hailed the most elite party in Rome, and such a glamourous end to our  awesome trip. Lori and I got dressed up for the party and made quite an entrance with Ronn, who epitomized Rock Star.

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There we met some of the most prestigious people in Rome, including ballerina, Eleonora Abbagnato.  Lavinia grew up watching Eleonora dance and to meet her was an honor, especially since I’ve never seen a ballet. So she invited me to see her dance in Paris! Being at this party was like seeing a fashion show of the most beautiful people, each designer dress prettier than the next and the most delicious food. It was hard to move because everyone was coming to meet Ronn for photos, but Lori and I watched the whole scene in awe of every minute. Lavinia was so proud to introduce Ronn to everyone there and thus put a thrilling end to another memorable trip in our second home. This change of season is looking very promising and bright, so I’m sure another trip to Italy will be happening very soon!

 

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We attended a wonderful charity event in Temecula’s beautiful wine country to benefit Charity for Charity. This local charity gives a wish to a local family who has a terminal disease. We were invited by my gorgeous “Housewives of Orange County” star Peggy Tanous and her her husband Micah. Ronn really made Linda a happy woman as Linda is in stage 4 of breast cancer and was this year’s recipient.

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We all had a lovely evening and then went wine tasting at the local vineyards the next day .Although we were granted a balloon ride over the vineyards, it was impossible for me to get Ronn out of bed, so I had to just settle for all the wine I could drink. One of the local vineyards was “Cougar” and they are known for a wine called, “The Pink Cougar” which is a sweet Cabernet. Peggy and I couldn’t resist taking a pic in front of their sign. Ronn and I also discovered the best hamburgers just outside of Temecula in a little town called, Winchester.  We had a fun weekend filled with good food, friends and wine and we will happily participate in this wonderful charity again. 

Ronn and I now have our own collection of a great California wine, Windsor Vineyards. We have a Chardonnay, Cabernet, Merlot and Pinot Noir to choose from. My collection will be part of the exclusive Centerfold collection that will launch next week on it’s website. In the meantime, you may start collecting your wines here 683 and I must say they taste great! We also have a wedding collection of Champagne coming soon! Enjoy these awesome wines as much as we do. They are a great addition to any meal, dinner party or holiday gathering.

This is from our recent trip to the cutest little town called Bulgheri in Tuscany, Italy. We stayed in Bulgheri after I finished Ballando con le Stelle (Dancing with the Stars) and went to spend some time visiting my Italian dance partner, Sara Di Vaira, and her wonderful family. Sara grew up in this special scenic town. In this clip, we’re meeting Illia. She’s 92 years young. She’s the oldest person in Bulgheri and, as you can see, probably the most spry as well.[wpvideo 9dnenMkm]

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Our vacation so far has been very relaxing and the weather has been fabulous! Just what the doctor ordered for Ronn, weather that is in primavera and not too hot or cold. A trip to the Spanish Steps, The Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain was the start of our first day. Walking around Rome was grand and it was funny for the girls to see how many teenagers wanted photos and autographs with their daddy. . Our dear friends Laura and Lavinia Biagiotti hosted us in their apartment near the spanish steps, which was in the center of everything. Our wonderful guide Isabella toured us around the city as we walked all day long. We had the most fabulous homemade pasta, steamed artichokes and of course vino rosso. Our second day has been another private tour of the Vatican and Sistine Chapel, compliments of our friend Loreto. Our neighbors Steve and Sue and their kids were in Rome for a short while during a cruise and joined us on the tour and then we had a fabulous lunch. The girls then opted to walk around some more with Ronn, while I came back to blog and rest up for dinner. We decided to take the girls today to the Villa Borghese and had a private tour of Caravaggio’s amazing work and the President’s Palace before having dinner with Actress Nancy Brilli and her husband Roy. Plans changed and we decided to rest in the castle of Laura Biagiotti tomorrow before heading by train to Florence to see the “David.” There are so many people that we have decided to go to Venice after Easter. We will complete our Roman Holiday with one last day in Roma before heading home next week.

Susan Flannery organized a beautiful wedding supper to celebrate our recent nuptials at the gorgeous Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills. It was held in the private dining room off of the elaborate kitchen and guests included, John McCook and his lovely wife Laurette, Ian Buchanan, Katherine Kelly Lang and her husband Alex, Maria and Billy Bell and our gracious host Brad Bell and his wife Colleen. The menu was absolutely amazing and the private chef told us about each course before their presentation. We ended the evening wedding cake and more champagne. We have certainly had our share of that in the past few weeks, hahaha. Since this is Ronn’s second family, we were, needless to say, thrilled and grateful for this amazing opportunity to share our joy with them. Here is a clip of the evening.
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Dev & RonnAfter having some amazing tastings in the chateaus of LaGrange, Margaux and Lynch Bages in the Medoc region of Bordeaux and then experiencing some chateaus of the St. Emilion region, home of Petrus. Ronn was fascinated with the wine education he had and found we both loved the older wines from the Medoc, but still appreciated the Merlot blends of St. Emilion just as much. We bought a few bottles to keep for the future, as well as a few to drink now. 2005 was a great year for all of Bordeaux and we fell in love with LaGrange and savored a bottle in our room while catching up on emails in our lovely room we had in this 18th century chateau. So I can safely say, Ronn is very relaxed now and loving France. We both want to learn French and can’t wait to go to Loire Valley, which is so beautiful today. We will stay in another 18th century chateau and visit one more vineyard today there before returning on Friday for our final day in Paris. Then it’s back home on Saturday. So far this has been an amazing trip. We have shot lots of video and we are organizing the clips together for an edited DVD to share soon. Will try to take more pics to post later.

Love DevRonn