First Wives World productions brought "Hot Flashes," the FWW-exclusive fictional blog by television-alum Mimi Schmir (Grey's Anatomy, Shark, Felicity) to the people on Thursday — and the people raved. A-listers from both coasts mingled at NYC hot-spot Ultra, gathering to listen to film, television, and theater's finest actresses read excerpts of Schmir's take on the rollercoaster that is menopausal life through the eyes of her heroine, Esme. "As we had hoped, Thursday night became a true convergence of emotions, connections, and industries," says FWW partner Jonas Neilson.

Amy Brenneman (Private Practice, Judging Amy), Kim Raver (Lipstick Jungle), Daphne Rubin-Vega (Rent), and Jessica Hecht (Friends) brought Esme to life as they read episodes of the first-person blog. Neilson explained that the second official reading underscored what Business Week described as "Broadway to Broadband" (and now potentially "Broadcast") as never before.

"It was a wonderful event showing what 'Hot Flashes' represents, and it was interpreted wonderfully by the great performances of our actresses," notes First Wives World's Antonio Martinez. "They gave it a new life that just exploded from the page."

Adds Neilson: "It's one thing to set out to build a social network for women to connect with women; it's another to have them connect emotionally with a fictional character and narrative in such a new, innovative way. Seeing the crowd laugh, emote, and join in Esme's journey was a quite a moment for all of us."

Curious? Check out "Hot Flashes" here.

(Photo: Frank Siciliano)

Back by popular demand, "Hot Flashes" is hitting Manhattan!

First Wives World productions is preparing to bring "Esme" to a live audience tonight in a second reading of "Hot Flashes," the FWW-exclusive fictional blog by television-alum Mimi Schmir (Grey's Anatomy, Shark, Felicity). Hollywood's hottest will gather over champagne and hors d'ouevres to read excerpts of Schmir's take on the rollercoaster that is menopausal life through the eyes of her heroine, Esme.

Broadwayworld.com aptly summarized the unique opportunity within "Hot Flashes," explaining that the blog is "venturing into a subject area that has yet to be explored on television: Menopause as mid-life reinvention."

FWW's premiere reading took place in Los Angeles in February, with actresses Amy Brenneman (Private Practice, Judging Amy), Dana Delany (Desperate Housewives), Kathyrn Morris (Cold Case), and Natasha Henstridge (Commander-in-Chief) reading portions of the true-to-life blog to an intimate gathering of television and film professionals.

Amy Brenneman will resume the role of Esme tonight; Kim Raver (Lipstick Jungle), Daphne Rubin-Vega (Rent), and Jessica Hecht (Friends) will join her in bringing FWW's favorite heroine to life.

The reading will take place today, Thursday, April 24th, in Manhattan. Check back tomorrow for full FWW coverage!

A recent CNN article highlighted divorce parties — and made a strong argument for the growing trend. Much like a wedding ceremony, a divorce party celebrates a pivotal transition in life. In fact, L.A.-based Christine Gallagher runs The Divorce Party Planner, a company devoted solely to planning such events.

Gallagher says divorce is a part of life, yet it's the only major milestone for which there is no ritual.

One divorcee that was interviewed agrees, adding that something as simple as a toaster, a common registry gift, means much more after a split than on the wedding day and recently set up a divorce registry for a friend. (Especially after hefty legal bills.)

Another ceremoniously reclaimed her maiden name. Former beauty queen Shanna Moakler held a Vegas bash, complete with a knife-wielding-bride cake topper. The groom? Dead. (The miniature one, of course. The real groom, Travis Barker, is alive and well.)

We're pro-divorce party. What better way to usher in a new perspective on life than with your closest friends and family.... Out with the old, in with the new, right?

Click here for more.

We've written before about wedding ring coffins, a tiny coffin, perfect for giving your ring a proper send off and perhaps for giving some closure to your divorce.

Did you purchase a wedding ring coffin? Do you know someone who's having a divorce party? Are you planning a ring burial? Well, if you do/are, be sure to bring your video camera.

The people at weddingringcoffin.com are now giving you the chance to win $1,000 by demonstrating what the wedding ring coffin is all about.

Here's what you do:

Make a video — less than two minutes — that includes the wedding ring coffin and what it means to you. You can be funny, serious, overjoyed, depressed — whatever, it's all up to you. Then upload your video to YouTube and send it in. For more information and to register click here.

The best part is, you don't actually even have to purchase a wedding ring coffin to participate as the company has made images available on their media page for just that purpose.

So, have an idea to send that ring packing? Could you use an extra $1,000 to boot? Give it a try, you might just get lucky!

There has been some speculation as to whether Hollywood celebrities take marriage as seriously as the rest of us "normal" folk, and not only that, but some also speculate whether they use marriage/divorce to gain publicity.

I think that, like everything else in life, there is probably no black or white here. There are probably some celebrities who do take their marriages seriously. There are probably some celebrities that divorce and go through the same motions and emotions that all of us "normal" people do.
And there are probably those that don't.

Case in point: I think anybody would be hard pressed to say that Britney Spears's first marriage was something that she thought seriously about. And how about the marriages of Angelina Jolie, Pam Anderson, and Renee Zellweger? Probably not something they took too seriously, considering the outcomes.

But then there are those that do or did. Paul Newman, Johnny Cash, Will Smith, amongst others. Get my point?

I don't like judging people, even when those people are celebrities, and if I've learned anything thus far it's that we all have our own set of circumstances that have brought us to where we are.

Not being a celebrity myself, I can only imagine how hard it is to maintain a "real" relationship under such scrutiny. I wonder how I would feel if it were my boyfriend or husband plastered on the cover of US Weekly under a headline that proclaims "Is He Cheating?!" I wonder how I would feel in a relationship having virtually no privacy and knowing full well that — at the very least — the media can't wait for us to break up.

And, if celebrities do use breakups to gain publicity, well then one might say, good for them. I mean, we do buy it.

The husband-and-wife team of Anton and Nataliya Popazov, performers in the Moscow State Circus, have been married for 20 years — and performing their daredevil act for many of those.

Make that "former husband-and-wife team." The two are currently in the throes of a divorce, yet they must fulfill the remaining eight months of their contract with the circus. The result? As part of their performance, Nataliya will continue to shoot an apple off of Anton's head with a crossbow.

As Anton told The Times of London, "I still trust her because Nataliya is very professional. It's not every man's cup of tea to have his ex-partner firing arrows at him every day, but the show must go on."

We can think of more than one divorcee who would love the chance to "perfect" her aim...

Click here to read more.

Chances are even greater that you have at least one tragic dating story. I think on average we each have about a dozen. A friend of mine joked the other day that it would be nice if all men had a computer chip inserted in their wrists that stored all of their relevant dating information, like how many kids he has, whether he pays his child support, whether he's ever been married, whether he's still married, whether he's a cheater, liar, alcoholic ... you get the idea. We would all be armed with scanners and when a man approached for a date — or vice versa — we could give them a quick scan, read their stats, and make an informed decision. Ahh, if only it were that easy, huh?

Well, it just might be. Enter Don't Date Him Girl, a social network consisting mostly of women, where you can find advice on all things regarding sex, love, relationships, dating, marriage, etc. But that's not all. Perhaps the best part of this site is their "search" feature. It's kind of like Google, but better. You can search for men by name, location or keyword and see if another woman has had an experience with him and posted a reason, or in some cases numerous reasons, why you shouldn't date him. The profiles range from sad, like this one to hysterically sad, like this one and there are even a few celebrities in the mix. Click here for Jude Law.

Forget about those Santa Ana winds. Oscar's embers blew directly into Ann Blanchard's house Tuesday night as Hollywood honchos, TV execs, first and second wives, along with various and sundry well-wishers gathered for a reading of Mimi Schmir's fictional and hilarious "Hot Flashes" blog...

The confab, masterminded by the former William Morris überagent who's now with Mosaic Media, drew Hollywood's finest TV and film actresses who read selections from the blog which chronicles the rollercoaster antics of Schmir's heroine, Esme, a late 40s-ish divorced mother of two. While I wasn't in Ann's parlor experiencing the "Hot Flashes," faux and for-real, firstwivesworld.com's intrepid correspondent reports the evening was a scorcher. Yes, HOT or you know, HOT!

Actresses Amy Brenneman ("Private Practice" and "Judging Amy"); Dana Delany ("Desperate Housewives"); Kathyrn Morris ("Cold Case"); and Natasha Henstridge ("Commander-in-Chief") each morphed into Esme as they read portions of the edgy blog that began on firstwivesworld.com. And they say there aren't any good parts for women?? Huh?!

Schmir, a writer for TV hits "Grey's Anatomy" and "Shark," was feted for her fiesty and comedic portrayal of the daily exploits of a pre-menopausal late 40s mom who's trying to move on with her life after a divorce in which her husband leaves her for a younger model (surprise, surprise). "Hot Flashes" just may be the next "Starter Wife" but there's a difference: "Hot Flashes" started on firstwivesworld.com, yes, the Web baby, and is destined for episodic television.

Oscar's afterglow may be fading but man-oh-man is it gettin' hot in here or what? Nah... it's just those damn "Hot Flashes"! Yeah, baby...

What, you say, am I talking about? Well, it's a reading of Mimi Schmir's fictional blog "Hot Flashes" that's getting firstwivesworld.com all hot and bothered. Mimi (pictured here) and a whole bunch of first, and most likely second wives will gather Tuesday night in Los Angeles to hear actresses Dana Delaney (ABC's "Desperate Housewives"), Amy Brenneman (ABC's "Private Practice"), Natasha Henstridge ("Dirty, Sexy Money") and Kathryn Morris (CBS' "Cold Case") read selections from the blog.

The reading, presented by First Wives World Productions along with the fabulous, Ann Blanchard, will feature the renowned actresses channeling the adventures of "Esme," Mimi's alter-ego, as she goes through a variety of pitfalls, hilarious escapades and twisted sexcapades. "Hot Flashes" appears once a week on firstwivesworld.com. Mimi also wrote for ABC's hit series "Grey's Anatomy".

There are more fictional series and episodic Webisodes planned on firstwivesworld.com. Now how's that for hot...?

If you follow the path of a "normal" wedding, you probably have fond memories of selecting and eventually eating your wedding cake. But one Floridian baker, Larry Bach, has found a new niche market — the divorce cake.

It started when a woman entered his store and asked him if he remembered her. He didn't, but he guessed that he must have made her wedding cake. She confirmed, quipping "it was the best part of my marriage". After the break up, she decided to invite her bridesmaids to join her in a divorce party, complete with cake. So Larry baked her a wedding cake, built upside down with the smallest layer at the bottom and largest layer at the top. As the piece de resistance, he added a tiny little groom pinned underneath the cake.

While he would prefer if he never had to bake a divorce cake again, Larry things a divorce cake is a good idea. "I think it's a healthy thing. You have to go with the end of something bad and the beginning of something good. That's probably cause for celebration." There may be a fine line between healthy and cynical, but anything that can help you laugh and enjoy time with your friends in the midst of one of life's hardships can't be all bad.

Click here for more.