A special delivery from Giada De Laurentiis

An autograph with a personal touch

Giada personalized the piece to “Scott” and added “XO” along with her signature. Seeing my design come back with that personal touch is such a great feeling. The collage was already a tribute to her; now it’s a signed keepsake for my collection.

This is what I enjoy about TTM—through-the-mail autograph collecting. I send a letter and one of my designs in the hope of receiving a signature, and every envelope that comes back has the potential to make my day. This one certainly did.

A career built around food, family, and Italian tradition

Giada is an Emmy Award-winning television personality, chef, cookbook author, restaurateur, and entrepreneur. She trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and worked in Los Angeles restaurants, including Wolfgang Puck’s Spago, before building her own catering and private-chef business.

Many people came to know her through Everyday Italian, followed by shows including Giada at Home, Giada in Italy, and Giada Entertains. Her work has helped bring Italian cooking into everyday kitchens, with an enthusiasm that makes food feel welcoming and worth sharing.

Her career also reaches beyond television through her cookbooks, restaurants, and Giadzy, where she shares recipes, Italian ingredients, and inspiration for cooking and travel. There’s a lot of dedication behind a career that spans so many different ways of connecting with people.

Someone MaeLeigh and I both admire

MaeLeigh and I have a great deal of respect for Giada and what she has accomplished. We admire her talent, the passion she brings to her work, and the way she shares her love of Italian food and culture. She’s someone we’re both happy to celebrate.

That shared admiration makes this return especially meaningful. It’s a piece connected to someone who matters to both of us, and it gives me another reason to smile whenever I look at it.

With this design, I wanted to capture that warmth and love of food—the Italian scenery, the ingredients, and the joy that runs through her work. As with all my custom collages, the goal was to create a tribute that celebrates the person I was sending it to.