Tough Love Blog

After Episode 2

SPOILER ALERTS – READ ONLY WATCHING OUR SECOND EPISODE

Hello Cupcakes,
So this week, Steve’s lesson was about communication. Yup – the big C. This is something that we should always be learning about for the rest of our lives.

We kicked off with workouts in the gym—and yes you didn't see us all but we all did work out. Check the video extras at toughlove.vh1.com to see the feedback we all received. And then Terrence thankfully helped me escape the zapper dates. Thanks Terrence!!

Everyone seems to be rooting for us. We’ll see what happens. And I do promise that I said much more about him than how cute he was – superficiality alert!

I clutched my pearls when Steve ripped up my Dating Score List! Lol ;-) And come on… So did you!!

Don’t be so hard on my roomie Stasha. Confidentially, I told her that she should not just say that she was a Playboy Playmate, but give her full status – Playmate of the year, baby. Twice! And trust me, she has the brains to back it up. The girl read Kafka every night.

The top two emails I receive are from women wanting to know more about the Goddess Dream Book and the Tiara! The Goddess Dream Book is actually a Vision Board in Book Form. There are sections for Education, Wealth, Health, Spirituality, Happiness, Friendships, Career, and of course, Love, Sex and Relationships. You then make a collage in each section for what you envision for your life in these areas. For me it has worked in every area except romance – that means that I am blocking myself. Some of my vision boards are on my flickr.com/abiolatv.

The tiara is just a symbol to represent that no matter what we should remember to hold our heads high! I am proud of the fact that our show is inspiring so many discussions on women and body image—particularly in the media. Our boot camp is just a microcosm of society. Check out this blog post I did some time ago: http://www.abiolaabrams.com/id205.html

I have to say that the most enriching lesson for me was when Steve gave us tips on text messaging men. He says that my “hi” messages and smiley faces are a no go!! This was new information to most of the Tough Love viewers who were DMing, live tweeting with me on Twitter, and chatting on facebook as I will do every episode. Maybe I’ll even tape the watching parties I have at home so that you can see what the Goddess Factory looks like.

Ok. We are still at the beginning of our journey. What will happen? Watch and see…
xoxo,

Abiola
www.twitter.com/abiolatv

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SPOILER ALERT!! READ ONLY AFTER YOU WATCH OUR GREAT 1st EPISODE.

Hey Cupcake,
It’s Abiola! Your Tough Love Goddess AKA Miss Picky. So we’ve watched the 1st episode, along with you, and how do I feel? Wow. Raw. Naked. Excited. Exposed. Courageous. And Terrified. I write about love, sex and dating for a living. So HOW and WHY am I so supremely bad at my own relationships? We’ll see…

We are at our very 1st week in boot camp. One week or 168 hours of our lives boiled down to 45 plus fab TV minutes. Whoo Hoo! ;-)

You've met a snapshot of each of us: Steve, JoAnn, Abiola, Arian, Jacklyn, Jessa, Jody, Stasha and Taylor. Speed dating was fun until STEVE confronted us and we took our first challenge—The Poolside Reverse Walk of Shame!

Confession: I know who I am and I LOVE my body but there I are times I feel better and times I feel worse! Just like you. So a couple of months before boot camp I was so fed up with DUDES that I stopped working out as much, not caring anymore what I looked like to men. The problem? I should have been working out for me not MEN to begin with!! And plus as a TV corresepondent my looks are unforuntely work related.

Then we had the party challenge and I rocked it – so did Arian, actually! Yay! But Boot Camp is just beginning. We all have 8 weeks to go and this is going to be tough. You’ve heard your first Jody-ism: “Glory Whore.” Love her! You’ve seen the tiara I sport to remind us that we are always wearing a crown – and should hold our heads high. We have our seatbelts buckled and we’re ready. Or at least I hope we are!

Will Jacklyn ever recover from the hot seat? Will Arian trust Steve? Will Taylor return? Does Jessa stalk any new men? Does Stasha, my roomie, really become a Serbian vampire? Does Natasha get noticed? What new Jody-isms are to come? And most importantly, will I get to see Terrance again? Is he Prince Charming?

Fingers crossed! Keep watching. Stay tuned…

Fabulously yours,
Abiola

P.S. To see my answers to your viewer comments, check my official video blogs coming soon. Call me at (917) 267-2607 or hit me on Twitter.com/abiolaTV where after episode one I will be live tweeting each episode along with you.

Dream bigger – and love yourself!

March 1, 2009

Hey Cupcakes,

As you know I am proud to be a shameless romantic- your very own Carrie Bradshaw meets Oprah Winfrey who will do anything for love. You can catch me from March 15th to May 3rd on VH1's new reality show TOUGH LOVE trying to fix and remedy my love and dating errors. Scandalous! As usual, your girl puts her business in the street just for your understanding, entertainment & hopefully empowerment! Hahaha! ;-D

Stephanie, a reader from DC, asked how I became so comfortable putting my stumbles and missteps out there in books, films, videos, blog posts and now a REALITY SHOW. Goddess Steph, TRUST me, it is a MAJOR challenge learning and sharing lessons at the same time. Sharing my flawed life is SCARY! I am just you with a pen and a microphone BUT I do it because of you, and other readers & viewers like you. I do it because I'm a natural cheerleader, not a guru or a preacher. This is my calling. It's about learning to live perfectly with our imperfections. I do this work because my beautiful MESS is my beautiful MESSAGE.

SO ANYWAY, you've heard of the film "He's Just Not That Into You"? Well now Drew Barrymore presents a related TV show. They say love is a battlefield, and Drew Barrymore is taking that motto to heart. The new series Tough Love, a dating reality show she’s producing for VH1, the He’s Just Not That Into You star has cast the drill sergeant of dating.

Steven Ward, co-owner of Master Matchmakers, a Philadelphia dating service, will be co-starring with Abiola Abrams, Arian Mayer, Jacklyn Watkins, Jessa Faye Settles, Jody Green, Natasha Malinsky, Stasha Kravljanac, and Taylor Royce to break us of our destructive mating habits. Eight gorgeous women living and dating together in Los Angeles. He'll then build us back up with the tools we need to be dating machines and find true love. Steven learned his matchmaking skills from none other than his mom, JoAnn Ward, who will also appear in the series.

Come laugh and cry with us. Look for Tough Love to march on the airwaves Sunday, March 15 at 10 p.m. on VH1. Eight episodes wrapping on May 3rd, so check it out.

xoxo