Nick Lachey looked mighty cheery on the set on NBC’s Today show on Monday morning, July 3. And there’s plenty of reasons for that! The 32-year-old singer is officially a free man — his divorce from Jessica Simpson, 25, became final three days earlier. He’s promoting a hot new CD. He was on stage in the middle of a huge crowd — including a lot of adoring female fans. And his latest love interest, TV personality Vanessa Minnillo, 25, welcomed him to NYC.

 “It’s a relief. A little sad, but now I can move on with my life,” Nick told an eyewitness who asked him about his divorce as he arrived at Today’s outdoor set on Manhattan’s Rockefeller Plaza.

Later, in an onstage interview, Nick told Today co-host Lester Holt that he wrote eight of the 12 tracks on his new CD, What’s Left of Me, himself. “It is very personal. Writing it was very therapeutic.” While admitting that his life with Jessica “was a huge part of my life, personally and professionally,” Nick reiterated to Holt that, “life moves on.”

And it sure looks like Nick is doing just that! He arrived in NYC about 11:45 a.m. on Sunday, July 2, pulling up to The Peninsula New York hotel on Fifth Avenue in a black GMC Denali. Nick appeared to be in a very good mood when Star spotted him. As he walked to the hotel’s front desk, carrying some dry cleaning, he was laughing and joking with his burly bodyguard.

About 45 minutes later, Vanessa, who’s a reporter for Entertainment Tonight, arrived with a girlfriend at the Peninsula’s lobby bar, where they spent about 30 minutes chatting over tropical mojito cocktails. Around 1 p.m., Vanessa, 25, paid the checked. She and her friend headed to the guest elevators that Nick had taken to his room not long before. What a welcoming committee!

For more on Nick and Vanessa and the new turn in their relationship, see the new issue of Star on newsstands beginning Wednesday, July 5.