My family truly believes they are better cooks than I am. They see me as Giada, not as a celebrity chef. To them I'm just me - their granddaughter, niece, etc., and they're older and wiser. I like that because it keeps you grounded.

People say, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." Because people do wild and crazy things in Vegas that they probably wouldn't do any other time. Which is why I feel like, if you're gonna open your first restaurant, this might be the place to do it.

Opportunities present themselves and you have to enjoy the ride. All of us get so worried about the next step that we don't enjoy the moment we're in right now.

I write everything down. I e-mail the second I think of something, or I write notes in my BlackBerry calendar. I set up reminder alerts on my phone. And I have a notebook by my bedside so I can write down any last-minute ideas.

When I was a kid, for my birthday every year, my mother made me pasta bechamel, which is rigatoni with a white cream sauce.

I think you can tell the food is close to my heart, too, because I'm doing what I do best.

The holidays stress people out so much. I suggest you keep it simple and try to have as much fun as you can.