Kelly Ripa is First magazine’s cover girl. Inside the issue she talks about happiness, parenthood and how she manages it all. Here are some highlights.

On the importance of spending time alone: “I try to run everyday in the park. It’s crucial to know who you are and how you feel. I find that I’m a better wife and mom if I take a half hour for myself every day. It can feel selfish, but it makes a big difference. If you don’t do it, you’ll feel overwhelmed and resentful. You want people to feel they can count on you. I feel they can when I take care of myself.”

On her traditional family life: “Marriage and having kids really agrees with us. Mark helps with homework, while I’ll do a baking project for school. We look at each other and think, if our friends could see us now, they wouldn’t believe what we’ve become! We really enjoy what our life has developed into. I try to do it all, and I don’t do any of it particularly well. But at least I try. Sometimes the cookies get burnt, but what are you going to do?”

Regarding her passion and support of the OCRF: “I lost a friend to ovarian cancer, so that’s very close to me. When I do Super Saturday (an annual event Kelly cohosts to help raise money for the OCRF) and see an ovarian cancer survivor and she says, ‘Thank you for doing this. Maybe my daughter won’t have to know what ovarian cancer is’— that’s why I do it. If my job can improve someone’s quality of life, that gives me great satisfaction.”

The biggest lesson she’s learned from Regis: “Regis taught me that you’re nothing without your audience and so you should always be yourself. It’s so funny: When I first got the job, it was so foreign to me to be myself because I’d played a character on a soap for so many years that ‘playing’ myself felt unnatural. I still have a hard time looking into the camera. But I do it because I do love my audience!”

Remembering her well-rounded upbringing: “My mother was way ahead of herself in terms of creative expression. Mom thought it was important for us to have music and dance lessons. There were times when I told her that I wasn’t going to have time to do all my homework, and she would say, ‘Well, I think it’s more important that you’re well-rounded.’ She definitely struck the right balance.”

Catch the rest of the interview in the magazine available now.