Friends say Lopez, 36, is doing a lot of laughing these days. It's a bliss born of not having every mood covered in the tabloids, coupled with a slower, more domestic pace she has adopted since tying the knot with Anthony, 37. These days Lopez enjoys sharing french fries with her husband or belting out "Hit Me with Your Best Shot" on karaoke double dates at least as much as she does attending premieres. And she's reveling in the knowledge that as her second anniversary approaches, she has defied cynics everywhere. "When you prove everybody wrong," says her friend Ichaso, "it's so satisfying."
After all, it wasn't so long ago that gossip wags were declaring Lopez's union with Anthony as the latest in a line of turbulent romances (two brief marriages, along with those paparazzi-chaperoned relationships with Ben Affleck and Diddy). And Anthony's own split with wife Dayanara Torres was all too painfully public. No wonder the woman who had a hit with "Let's Get Loud" is joyful that her love life is anything but. Andy Hilfiger, cofounder of Lopez's Sweetface Fashion Company, says the pair "are a real team." And Lopez? "She's glowing." But don't read anything into that: Her rep denies a spate of pregnancy rumors (see box).
Instead, the two are looking forward to another milestone: their second anniversary June 5. With this marriage, the hard-driving Lopez "no longer fears being tied down," says a source close to her. "She's come to grips with 'This is what I want, and I'm okay with this.' She's more comfortable with who she is." That means spending less time in the spotlight and more time hanging out in the couple's colonial Long Island manor, watching TV with Anthony or goofing around with friends like actress Leah Remini and her husband, Angelo Pagan. "We do double dates. They're normal people," says Remini of the couple. "They get each other. They laugh a lot; they play a lot." As Lopez said last fall, she and Anthony love to kick back "just like anybody else. We make everybody go away for a little while and just lock ourselves at home."
Not always: On May 8 the pair snuggled and sang along to a Paul Simon performance at a TIME magazine bash in New York City. And on May 7 Anthony received the Celia Cruz Award for Excellence in Music at the ALMA Awards in L.A. "I would like to thank my beautiful, glorious bride," he told the audience. "I love you so much. I wrote every one of those songs for you."
Their bond has extended to Lopez's professional life as well. "They drive what projects they're going to do next," says Chris Bender, who produced Lopez's 2005 film Monster-in-Law, "whether it's together or apart." With Anthony's support, Lopez has continued her solo ventures, starring in the upcoming drama Bordertown and shepherding her clothing and fragrance lines. But she is most excited about El Cantante, a bio of salsa singer Hector Lavoe she is coproducing; Anthony plays Lavoe and Lopez his wife. (Neither movie has a set release date yet.) "This," she said last fall, "is my baby."
At least until Lopez fulfills another dream: having a child. (Anthony has two kids—Cristian, 5, and Ryan, 2—with Torres, and a daughter, Arianna, from a previous relationship.) Until then, she and Anthony are making the honeymoon last. "That giddiness and excitement is still there," says David Naranjo, a former Anthony publicist. "All the other relationships they both had were the rehearsal, and this is opening night. This is the real thing."
- Contributors:
- Kathy Ehrich Dowd/New York City,
- KC Baker/New York City,
- Jed Dreben/Los Angeles,
- Brenda Rodriguez/Los Angeles,
- Linda Trischitta/Miami.
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