I always believe that if you feel good and look happy, you're always going to be beautiful. My one actual beauty trick is pretty cliche: Never, ever go to bed with your makeup on.

I was very skinny and very lanky and kind of awkward. In Puerto Rico everybody is a little more voluptuous, with these beautiful bodies and there I was the skinny lanky girl.

I do an international beauty pageant called Queen of the Universe for UNESCO, and what we do is we build kindergartens around the world.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year because it reminds us to give thanks and to count our blessings. Suddenly, so many things become so little when we realize how blessed and lucky we are.

Pageants were a platform for me, and they helped me get to where I am today. You suddenly stop being just another girl, and people want to listen to what you have to say.

'Housewives' are a million times cattier than pageant girls! I know pageant girls have a reputation for being catty, but 'Housewives' are even cattier. But I do think that it's a total different world, and it can't compare.

My one main secret I did right after my pageants days, is I only wash my hair once a week. I tell everyone, 'You have to stop washing your hair so much!'