Help For What?? RHONY Reunion Part 3

Part 3 of the reunion starts off by reminding everyone that Kelly has just walked off set and Bethenny has just likened her to Humpty Dumpty. I thought that I would provide the following visual comparison. It definitely made me laugh.

Everyone pretty much realized that it is pointless to say again and again that Kelly is crazy. I assume this is partly because Kelly has no idea what they are talking about anyway, and the other part that it’s just plain stating the obvious. They move on to Jill’s surprise visit and how it intertwined with the Kelly drama. Ramona reiterates that she hates surprises and sort of flies off the deep end cussing and stomping at Jill. I agree that Jill’s visit was rude and all self-serving, but Ramona just came off looking like a lunatic to me. I guess she figured she could act as crazy as she wanted, since next to Kelly, Anna Nicole Smith looks sane (God rest her soul). Bethenny and Ramona tell how they each made phone calls to Jill explaining the seriousness of Kelly’s situation and asking her to meet crazy at the airport for support. If Jill is the “on your team” friend that she claims to be, wouldn’t she be there for Kelly in that moment. Well, not if it meant that she wouldn’t get to make her “surprise” trip for extra camera time. She tries to claim that she thought Kelly was still there, but that is shot down when she admits to seeing her at the airport. So in true Jill fashion, she plays the victim card when her excuses don’t work. She begins talking about how humiliated she was in front of Bobby to be kicked out and how all the ladies were completely terrible to her. Funny moment courtesy of Sonja… “Ramona got up from her pedicure to come see you.” The other ladies got a good laugh out of that. When asked by Andy if she thought it was rude to ask Jill to leave, Sonja had an excellent response. She simply said that the rude thing was Jill showing up unannounced in the first place. The focus shifts back to Kelly a bit, who begins babbling about how the women are all bullies. Sonja asks her to provide an example of how she had bullied Kelly, and Kelly apologized for including her in the group. Then, she claimed that Sonja was a drunk the whole trip two sentences later. Umm? Hello? Maybe you should make up your mind. This brings me to the next topic of conversation, Kelly’s contradictory words and behavior. Bravo rolls some footage where we see this in action. She says she doesn’t eat processed food, yet she loves gummy bears. She says she’s a Peta advocate, yet she eats meat and wears fur. She says that she’s modest, yet poses for Playboy. You get my drift here. Even her friends LuAnn and Jill couldn’t help her out here. I’m not too sure I understood her explanation for this. I think she just basically confirmed that she is crazy, especially by saying that the other ladies should just celebrate her contradictions. In the next sentence she says that the other women are unpredictable and dangerous. When asked by Andy if she got help after the trip, she replied, “Help for what?” Ladies and gentlemen, the crazy train has left the station. At this point in my blogging, I’m just exhausted. For this reason, I’ve decided to skip to the end. All the ladies are asked if they would return to the show. They all give vague answers, most of which involved conditions. My prediction is that any of them who are offered a paycheck and some airtime will show up for season 4 with bells on. Bethenny and Jill have a tearful moment and hug at the end, so we are left with the cliffhanger of whether or not they will rekindle their born on TV friendship. Guess we’ll all have to wait for season 4 to get more drama. Oh, wait. What’s that? You’re going to drag this out into ANOTHER show with unseen footage. I’m a huge fan of the show, but that’s just pushing it. I probably won’t blog about that last show, so for one last time I would like to wish you all satchels of gold!!

It's that time again for me to highlight a couple of my friends. Today, I am going to talk about my friends Kayla and Lexie. I will also be doing a sequel to my post about Stephanie. I've been made aware that I didn't do her justice the first time around.

Kayla

My friend Kayla is just about as sweet as they come. She’s such a little mom to every one of our friends. When I met her freshmen year, all I knew was that she was a small town girl with some pretty big dance moves. As I’ve gotten to know her, I’ve realized that there is so much more to her. She is such a great daughter, big sister, cousin, friend and person. I’ve had the privilege of hearing about Kayla’s wonderful mom throughout our friendship, and I don’t think she even realizes how much she’s like her. I know that her mom is really proud of the person that she has become. Speaking of parents, Kayla has also won over someone else’s parents, mine. She works at University Christian with my mom and dad, and they absolutely love her. In their minds, she’s the best thing since sliced bread! I’m really glad that they have gotten to know the special person that I’ve known for about 8 years now. I see nothing but big things for her future and a long friendship ahead for both of us.

Lexie

Next up, I’d like to talk about my friend Lexie. Lexie, or “minnow,” as I like to call her is really one of a kind. I was fortunate enough to be next-door-neighbors with her in the Phi Mu house, where I forced her to get to know me, probably a little better than she would have even liked. I even had the fortune of embarrassing myself to death in front of her grandmother once. I won’t go into that story, though. Lexie is so funny. She has one of my favorite kinds of humor, dry. She says things sometimes that I don’t even think she realizes are as funny as they are, and she does the best impersonations of Martha Ruth. I can’t think of anyone I know who is exactly like her. She is a teacher and lives in Brandon. If I were an elementary student, I would love to have Ms. Gosselin. (I’m pretty sure there’s no relation to Jon and Kate.) I admire Lexie in so many ways and I’m really glad I’ve gotten to know her these past few years.

Stephanie (Pippa) Continued

I noticed (or it was called to my attention) that in Pippa's first post, I did talk mostly about how funny and crazy she is with little mention of why I love her so much. Well, this will have to be my web redemption (hope you all watch Tosh.O) for that first post. Pippa is definitely all of the nice things that I said before, but she is also a lot more. One, she's a really great friend. I've always been able to talk to her about anything, and she has helped me through some really hard times in my life. Two, she's extremely honest. I think honesty is one of the best/hardest qualities to have. She always tells you the truth, especially when you really need it. Her wedding was my first time to be a bridesmaid, and I can honestly say it was the first time I "got" the whole wedding thing. I'm so glad I got to be a part of such a special time for her and John. It's obvious that they're totally in love. They now have the cutest/most beautiful little girl, Maddy. Pippa is such a great mom, but still knows how to relax and have fun with her friends. I hope that if I'm married with kids one day I can be like that. I really admire her in that way and love her to death!!

Adult Spring Break on the Beach

I just got back from the beach with some of my best friends from college. This trip happens once per year, and we all look forward to it. The trip was scheduled for Friday through Monday, but someone (Pippa and Jennifer) decided it would be a good idea to head down Thursday night and try to get into the condo early. Of course, we all went along with the idea like it was the best one we’d ever heard. Well, turns out it wasn’t that great of an idea. We pull up to the condo, which we already had the key to, only to realize that some lights were on. We were scared to just bust in, so we had to make a plan. The plan was that Jennifer and Kayla would knock on the door to see if someone answered. This seemed like a great plan until someone actually did answer, and Jennifer had to say, “Oh, this isn’t the Johnson’s condo?” The woman was not too thrilled since it was about 1 AM. So, here we were in San Destin just hanging out with no place to sleep. We decided we had to get a room for the night, but no hotels had availability. Well, one place (The Ramada) had some rooms, but I wouldn’t call it a hotel as much as I would a motel. The carpet was damp and sticky, so we had to wear our shoes at all times. The beds were broken and dirty, so we all sunk to the middle. This place was gross to say the least, but we all survived. It actually turned out to be a pretty funny story. The rest of our days were filled with lying on the beach doing pretty much nothing. We had a couple of birthday/engagement parties for Whitney. We danced at Rum Runners and The Village Door. We did a little shopping at the outlets. I made everyone eat a Dave’s Dog. They are delicious, and I would recommend everyone trying them. Another thing I would suggest for your next beach trip is eating at Mitchell’s Fish Market. Ali suggested this restaurant, and it exceeded my expectations. We were greeted by a friendly hostess who asked us about our trip and gave us a pager for our wait. Once the pager went off, we made our way to the tables, only to realize that they had given us a private room. This was actually better for them than it was for us, since we tend to get a little loud at times. When we sat down at the table, we realized that our menus had been personalized with the date and “Girls Beach Party Getaway.” We were thrilled. The food was delicious. They also comped us several desserts for Whitney’s birthday. Jennifer would like for everyone to try the shark fin. She thoroughly enjoyed it. On our last night, we decided to have dinner at The Red Bar. This was delicious, of course. Afterwards, we thought we’d just grab some champagne and head to the beach to talk. This was such a fun idea until a sand/rain storm hit us, and we were forced to evacuate the beach as fast as we could. The trip ended with lots of hugs and promises to see each other more often. I truly enjoy being around these girls, and they make me so happy. I was so glad to get to spend some much needed girl time! Here are some pictures from the trip…

all of us on the beach

We ordered Whitney's cake in her wedding colors and Phi Mu colors.

We took a break from dancing to pose for a picture. I know that I'm making a disgusting face here.

all of us in the waiting area at Mitchell's Fish Market

our personalized menus

the private room they gave us

dinner at The Red Bar

nighttime beach party before the storm

Friday Friends!

Becky

My friend, Becky, is one of today’s Friday Friend. Becky and I have been friends for a while now. We didn’t get as close during college as we have since, but I’m really glad that we finally did. Becky is one of the smartest people I know, but she’s also really cool. She’s one of the most well-rounded people I know. I’m talking about a 4.0 in college, can play and talk sports, super pretty and a great sense of humor. Gosh, this is starting to sound like a personal ad. I’d say that mine and Becky’s friendship really started when she had a small hair crisis our freshmen year that involved a brush being thrown. She had gotten a really short hair-cut and was not too happy about it. Being the high school pageant lover that I was (I know, embarrassing!), I simply grabbed my unusually large collection of bobby pins and got to work. Ten minutes later she had an up-do for formal and was pretty grateful. Becky is also such a fun friend with a really good heart. We’ve had some wild times and some pretty deep heart-to-hearts. I’m so glad that we’ve become closer over these past few years and thank God for putting someone like her in my life!! Love you, Bec!

Kelly

Sorry, I had to cut Caleb out, even though I do love him!

As with most of the Friday Friends, I met Kelly during my freshman year of college. (Ok, I admit it was our senior year of high school when I asked if she went to Crazy Eight’s. I’m officially humiliated to have admitted that on the web.) We used to study together for a history class that we had, but it seemed like we never studied as much as we did eat Papa John’s. I swear we kept that place in business. I think I got to know Kelly on a whole new level, though, when I decided to go on Monaghan family vacation, SB ’04. We headed out with the whole Monaghan clan for 3 days before meeting all of our friends in Destin. Kelly and I also shared a magical summer on Jackson Street, where there were too many stories to go into. Either that or I’m too embarrassed to go into them. Kelly is such a kind, sweet friend. She would be one of the first people there if you ever needed anything. She has the incredible gift of empathy, and you can tell she really means it when she tells you she cares. She might be the only person I know who really appreciates the work and talent of Lady GaGa as much as I do. Despite her obvious weirdness, Kelly and I both know there’s a secret little monster in all of us. I would also hate to fail to mention that I have actually walked down the aisle with Kelly’s husband, Caleb. I was Kelly’s proxy-bride at her wedding, and Caleb and I had a lot of fun with it. They really are such a cute couple and have such a happy marriage!! I am so thankful to have her as my friend!

Hope everyone has a great weekend. I will be at the beach!!!

Systematic Bullying RHONY Reunion Part 2

I was very surprised that part two aired on Tuesday, as I expected it to take 3 weeks for all of the drama to unfold. I was happy, though, to be getting it over with. The episode opens up with a good ole’ Jill bashing. Even I thought this was a tad harsh, but most of the things said were true. I’m glad that they addressed how she jumped on Ramona for not gossiping to her about Bethenny’s father’s death. Of course when faced with video evidence of the things she did, Jill just apologized and said she wasn’t perfect. At first, I thought this was a little cowardly of her not to explain herself further, but then I realized that apologies are really all she has left at this point. Well, I guess she had apologies and claims that her mean comments were just an attempt to be funny like Bethenny. Oh, so you’re mean and not funny. Ok. They bring up her trying to sabotage Bethenny’s show again, which she admits again. Andy talks about how Jill used to be a favorite but really took a hit with the fans this season. I have to agree with this. In the first season, I absolutely loved Jill. In the second season, I started to see her flaws and inconsistencies, but the third season just plain out made me no longer a fan. I guess I can stop beating a dead horse and move on to something else now.

The next segment is where Sonja comes out. Let me just say that I am so glad that Sonja has been on the show this season. She provides some much needed comic relief, and I just absolutely love her lighthearted attitude. Sonja talks about her upbringing and her active sex life. I love how Kelly claimed to be offended by Sonja because she was so conservative. Didn’t you just pose for playboy?? I was glad to get to hear from Sonja, and I think that most of the women reacted pretty favorably to her joining the cast this season. I was also glad that she was brought out on stage to be a witness to what happened on Scary Island, which brings us to our next segment.

Crazy Kelly Petron Bensimon has to respond to her 3 episode meltdown that was St. John. Bravo rolls the clips of her acting possessed. Once it didn’t work to claim that Bravo forced her to go on the trip, she provides her explanation. Well maybe it wasn’t an explanation as much as it was a public service announcement. Apparently sometime during all of this craziness, Kelly has become the official spokesperson for “systematic bullying.” I’ve been hearing this defense from her for a while now since I follow her on Twitter. Since she has now decided that was her official defense and that she is the official spokesperson, I took to the internet to find out exactly what this was. I could not find a very clear definition and would love for any of my readers to provide one, but what I found didn’t seem to fit. The stuff I found says that this is using the system to bully someone. An example I found would be a fraternity hazing members and claiming that it was because of the rituals of the organization. I’m pretty sure this is not what happened here. If I remember correctly, Kelly dished it out pretty hard on the ladies. Sure, there were more of them to dish it right back, but bullying does not seem like the right term to me. Point blank, Kelly has some screws loose up there and isn’t rational. She probably realized that her craziness was exposed and found a term that she thought would fit. She not only used it as an excuse, she claimed to be crusading to end it all over the world. More power to you, fruit loop. The other ladies couldn’t even take it! The show ends with Kelly storming off, and I love how Bethenny says it’s like talking to Humpty Dumpty.

Another thing I would like to mention is the clip package with the most memorable one-liners from the season. A few of my favorites are listed below.

Bethenny – “Diarrhea of the mouth is not a real ailment.”

LuAnn – “I may not be Madonna, but I may be the female Barry White.”

Kelly – “I was kind of like Rapunzel, stuck in the Hamptons. I want to fall in love. I want to Robin to someone’s Batman.”

Kelly – “You guys are making lemonade out of lemons.”

Bethenny – “That means you’re making something good”

Kelly – “Not necessarily.”

Bethenny – “Exactly, ya dumb drag queen.”

Dahhhling! RHONY Reunion Part 1

I would like to make a correction to my earlier statement about the reunion episodes being split into two parts. Obviously, Bravo wants to give us three parts, which I am absolutely not complaining about. I just can’t get enough of this season. I will say though, that part one wasn’t quite as dramatic as I would’ve liked. It’s almost like they could have taken that small amount of content and spread it out into the other two episodes.

I think that the set they’ve chosen for the reunion this year is beautiful. It was definitely a hit, not miss for Bravo. Another hit in my opinion, was the wardrobe and hair/makeup for the cast. I really loved most of what the women had on. I thought Alex looked absolutely beautiful from head to toe! Ramona’s Zac Posen dress what a little matronly for me, but I thought her hair looked great. I wasn’t a huge fan of Bethenny’s dress, but thought the shoes were fabulous. I am never a fan of Jill’s “Elvira” do, but her dress and shoes looked really great. I can’t figure out if I like Kelly’s dress yet, mostly because it looks like it’s made out of gauze or something. Kelly’s hair and makeup looked great, but she is a very pretty girl and looks good most of the time. If only she could get her mental state to look that good. LuAnn looked good, but didn’t really shock me with her one-shouldered look. That seems to be a staple for her this season. (Really mean side note: Does LuAnn look like a man to anyone else? I’m sorry, but I had to say it!)

On to the actual content of the show…

Andy greets the ladies, and each one of them seemed to give him an overly fake or awkwardly sexual response. I guess they wanted to start off with some happiness knowing what was probably about to ensue. The first topic of discussion was Alex’s new-found backbone this season. I am one fan who was glad to see her stick up for herself and say what she really means for once. The clip package focused mostly on her season long battle with Jill and the statement that she made about Jill being in high school while she was in Brooklyn. A lot of the bloggers and other media have ripped this comment to shreds, saying that it made no sense and made Alex look unintelligent. I personally thought that most of the media took it out of context. When quoting her, most media cuts her off right as she says she’s in Brooklyn. She actually said that she’s in Brooklyn trying to work hard just to support her family. I think that she meant that she didn’t have the time or patience for Jill’s petty behavior. As she tried to explain this on the show, Jill defends herself by saying that they were never friends. Now everyone that reads my blog knows that I am not Jill’s biggest fan and find her to be a walking contradiction. This is just another time that she proves it. Right as she is saying that she and Alex were never friends, she goes into how she felt like her friendship (Wait. I thought you were never friends??) had been mended when Alex invited her to her home and fashion show. By the way, Jill completely trashed talked Alex and the entire Brooklyn fashion week while she was there. To me, it seems that Jill either considered them friends at that point and still talked about her (as she did Ramona at her renewal), or never considered them friends and went as a fake gesture. Honestly, I just think that Jill comes up with whatever defense she thinks will work for her at the time. It was just more convenient to say that they were never friends than to attempt to defend her actions. I love how she claims to be changed and not want the drama, but she can’t just give Alex a sincere apology. That’s odd to me.

I’m going to quote another blog that I read…

“When Alex politely snapped at LuAnn with, ‘Let me finish, dear.’ I was half expecting LuAnne to jump to her feet and break into an Auto-Tune laced song with lyrics like, ‘Dear doesn’t make you chic’ or ‘A lady says dahhhling, my friend.’”

I couldn’t have said it better myself. I was laughing out loud when I read that.

Ramona gets a segment showing all of her funny and crazy moments from the season. She obviously has to respond to those crazy runway eyes. She simply says that she is now laughing it off. This is another opportunity to point out Jill’s rudeness this season. She had nothing good to say about Ramona, Alex or Brooklyn Fashion Week all together. She just acted like she was too good for it and had to leave immediately. Now, I know that she says that she’s never been friends with Alex, but doesn’t she claim to be best friends with Ramona. Oh yeah, she talks about everyone. Back to Ramona’s segment, I am so glad that the comment she made to Bethenny on the Brooklyn Bridge was brought up. It was completely uncalled for, and her apologies seemed sincere. Another example of how Kelly is not even on our planet is when she asked Ramona why she wouldn’t take back the comment about her being stupid instead. This woman is delusional.

We move on to a little commentary on Jill and Bethenny’s fight this season. Bethenny starts by explaining what went down. I feel like the viewers got some information from this explanation that had not been given during the season. To me, and again I say that I do not claim to be objective, I think Jill is simply jealous of the success of others. She admitted to wanting to sabotage Bethenny once she found out that she was getting her own show. I do feel like she has been ripped to shreds by everyone this season; but when you dish it out, you should be able to take it in return.

This is the ending to part one of the reunions, and I’m really ready for part 2. We will get to see Sonja, who will no doubt provide some much needed comic relief. We will also finally get to see Kelly’s attempt at explaining her out of control behavior on “Scary Island.” This week my blogging will be a little different, since I will be leaving for vacation on Thursday night. I am going to try to post my reunion part 2 commentary tomorrow. I will post Friday Friends a day early on Thursday. Next week’s Monday Top Ten will not be posted until I return on Wednesday. Hope you all have a wonderful day, and satchels of gold for everyone!!

Can't Get You Out of My Head!!

For today’s top ten, I have decided to make a list of the top ten songs that I tend to get stuck in my head at any given time. We all know these songs. You hear them, and you’re like, “Ugh, not this song again!” The next thing you know, you are singing it in your head everywhere you go. Sometimes, I even accidently sing them out loud (like in line at Kroger), and people just stare at you. After a while, you may actually start to like the song. I’ve taken the liberty of typing out some of the lyrics, so you can have them stuck in your head too. You can thank me later!

1. Jamie Johnson, In Color – “If it looks we were scared to death like a couple of kids just trying to save each other, you should seen it in color. A picture’s worth a thousand words but you can’t see what those shades of gray keep covered. You should have seen it in color.”

2. Train, Hey Soul Sister – “Hey Soul Sister, Ain’t that Mister Mister on the radio, stereo. The way you move ain’t fair, you know.”

3. Kesha, Tic Tok – “Wake up in the morning feeling like P Diddy. I grab my coat. I’m out the door. I’m gonna hit this city.”

4. Lady GaGa, Just Dance – “Red Wine, Konvict, GaGa… Just Dance!! Gonna be OK, da da doo doo mmm. Just Dance!! Spin that record baby, da da doo doo mmm JUST DANCE!!.”

5. Vanilla Ice, Ice Ice Baby – “Stop, collaborate and listen. Ice is back with a brand new invention. Something grabs a hold of me tightly. Flowin like a hawk, daily and nightly. Will it ever stop? Yo, I don’t know. Turn out the light’s, and I’ll glow.”

6. Pit Bull – I Know You Want Me (Cale Ocho) – “One, Two, Three, Four. Uno, Dos, Tres, Quatro. I know you want me. You know I want you.”

7. Spice Girls, Wannabe – “If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends.”

8. Zac Brown Band, Chicken Fried – “You know I like my chicken fried, cold beer on a Friday night, a pair of jeans that fits just right and the radio uuuuuuuuppppp. I like to see the sun rise, see the love in my woman’s eyes, feel the touch of a precious child and know a mother’s looooooovveee.”

9. Rihanna, Rude Boy – “Take it, Take it, Love it, Love it… Tonight I’m a let ya be the captain.”

10. La Bouche, Be My Lover – “Wanna be my lover, wanna be my lover, La Da Da Di Da Da Da Da.”

Having a baby!!!

Before you all start calling, I am not having a baby; however, my sister, Kacey, and her husband, Matt, are expecting baby number two in January. Now, anyone who knows me at all knows that I am extremely in love with their little boy, Myers. I cannot tell you how excited I am that he is going to be a big brother. I can't wait to meet the little brother or sister and see how Myers acts around him or her. I'm so ready to find out the sex, so I can start buying things and throwing a shower. I could not be happier for Matt, Kacey and Myers!

Congratulations!!!!

Friday Friends!

Ok, I've decided to go back to doing a couple of friends per day. I started thinking about everyone and realized that I have a few more friends than I thought I did. That's a good thing! I'm pumped that I get to do this little shout out to everyone! Oh, and I have to mention that I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing what's in everyone's bag!! Thanks Alicia, Alison and Brittany for sharing!! Now, on to the friends...

Alicia Weeks Write Wright

(I have no idea why I wanted to spell that wrong!)

Isn't she beautiful!! I love that picture of her. I remember when I met Alicia freshmen year of college. All I could think was, “That girl has some really cool highlights in her hair!” We used to go to this place called Cheers a lot, and they had black-lighting. (Classy, I know.) White clothing and highlights stood out pretty well in that place. I got to know Alicia a lot better our junior year of college when someone decided to let the two rhythmically challenged girls in lip sync. Now, Alicia is a lot like me on this one. We may not have great dancing skills, or coordination for that matter, but we dreamed of getting to be in a lip sync, theme night, derby dance, etc. (Ok, derby dance is really pushing it!). This was our chance, and we were going to make the best of it. Let’s just say a Kenny Loggins/Mystikal mash-up has never looked so interesting. We were completely decked out in black face paint, hair gel and caution tape; just waiting for our moment. “Revvin’ up your engiiiinnnneee, listen to her hoooowwll and roooaaarr!” I wouldn’t have wanted to share that with anyone else. Alicia and I shared another funny moment when we decided to go get our nails done before our friend Alison’s wedding. The man doing Alicia’s nails used his own dirty daggers (fingernails) to push back her cuticles. Alicia had the most horrified look on her face, and all we could do was laugh. That’s one thing I love about her. She knows how to laugh at herself. She is now in medical school and living with her awesome husband, Patrick, in Memphis. I must also say that she’s a reader of my blog, which gets her extra friend points in my book. I went back and forth on whether to share this video, mostly because I'm humiliated by my dancing skills, but you have to be able to laugh at yourself. Right??

Alison Taylor Alexander

Ally and I met freshman year of college, but got really close during our junior and senior years. We actually lived together during my fifth year/her first year of grad school. She is such a sweet friend, and she gives the best hugs. You can talk to her about anything, and she always makes you feel better. We had a lot of fun times living together, including the time that I accidentally locked my dog, Bentley, in our bathroom. Ally called me panicked, so I headed straight home. We concluded that only logical thing for me to do was to climb out of my second-story bedroom window and hop across to the bathroom window. At that point, I guess the plan was to pray the window was unlocked and save the dog. I climbed out still dressed in my good clothes, while the neighborhood watched below. Ally’s job was to hold on to my dress until I made the jump to the other window. It took us about 20 minutes, because she was so scared to let go of me. Bentley, Ally and I were all fine, but this story just shows the kind of friend she is. She’s willing to go on the adventure with you, and she’s going to be there with you every step of the way. Other facts include: she’s a math genius, the best partner for a taco bell run, she’s extremely good at golf and she always makes me laugh. I really miss and love her a lot!!

Stephanie Rahaim Mayfield

(I have no idea why I'm getting so formal today with full names.)

That's such a cute picture of her with her little girl! Stephanie, or “Pippa,” as our friends call her, is one of my most interesting friends. There are so many cool things about her. First is her hair. Pippa has very curly hair, and she always wears it in a bouffant. If you don’t know what a bouffant is, it’s a teased up-do. Well, Pip really doesn’t have to tease hers too often; it just has a lot of volume. The next fact is that she used to have possibly the worst vision of anyone on Earth. Well, I’m assuming that from the pictures of her glasses that she had when she was younger. Those things were coke bottles. She has the best childhood pictures of anyone I know! This girl also REALLY loves cheese… Man, does she love cheese, kind of like a mouse. She has a really high booty crack that sticks out of any pants that she wears. She’s also a mommy to the cutest little girl, Maddy Mayfield. From what I’ve heard, Maddy did not inherit Pippa’s crack, though. She’s also very funny. I love hanging out with her, because she says and does some of the funniest things. I have to say that out of all the people I’ve met in my life, I’ve never met anyone quite like Pippa. I really do love her to death and hate that I don’t get to see her more often.

Twice In One Episode? Really??

We’ve finally had our last episode of Real Housewives of New York, and similar to the one before, it seemed to be relatively low on the drama. I’m sure that these last two episodes were kept semi-calm to prepare the viewers for the explosion that will be the reunion shows. That’s right, two of them. I love that it will be drawn out into two hours. On to the recap…

We kick off episode 14 with Ramona’s final preparations for her vow renewal. She and Avery go to the salon to have their hair done for the event. I thought this was a sweet moment for the two of them. You can tell that Avery is in that stage where she can’t decide if she thinks her mom is totally un-cool or not. By the way, their hair ended up looking great. I haven’t really been a fan of Ramona’s short cut all season, but it was nice to be able to see how it’s supposed to look all fixed. I know better than anyone that you can never get your hair to look like it did when you left the salon.

The next scene takes us to Jill’s and Bethenny’s “reconciliation” lunch. This was the part I was waiting for, because I just couldn’t wait to see how Jill would approach this. When Bethenny enters the restaurant, Jill hops up and greets her with what, to me, seemed to be an overly friendly welcome for someone you have been in a year-long argument with. Oh, and by overly friendly, I mean fake and forced. I found Bethenny’s response to be appropriate, with a standoffish hug and quick answers to Jill’s many questions. I know that I am very anti-Jill, but hey, I never claimed to be an objective journalist. I’m just a blogger with strong opinions, as I’m sure many of you also have. Back to the lunch, Jill begins by telling Bethenny how happy she is for her pregnancy and marriage. I do believe that she is sincere about this, but it seems to be a too little/too late situation. I think that the whole reason Jill wants to reconcile is because she is jealous that the other ladies get to be a part of this time in Bethenny’s life. She simply feels left out. She wasn’t too interested in a make-up when she was surrounded by Kelly and LuAnn and felt like Bethenny was all alone. As Jill begins to explain that she feels her only apology should be “not being ready” to make-up when Bethenny earlier tried, I really admire Bethenny’s honesty. She tells Jill that she has a lot of changing to do, to which Jill says she cannot change. They go on to compare the ending of their friendship to a divorce. Bethenny says that Jill was not there for her during the most monumental events in her life and that she has accepted that their friendship is over. Side note: we all know how this is. Sometimes a friendship has simply endured too much to rebound. Jill obviously did not hear any of that, because she goes on to ask her several times if she wants to rebuild the friendship. When Bethenny all but tells her there’s not a snowball’s chance, she still acts as if it is a possibility. I do believe that her tears were real, but only because she is finally realizing that her instigating ways have cost her. I also wanted to mention how Jill accused Alex of being a toxic person right after saying that she has realized the err of her ways. I love that Bethenny pointed out that Jill also called her toxic at one point. The lunch ends with civil goodbyes and what seems to be closure for Bethenny.

I’ll give a short mention to LuAnn’s album release party. The only thing to be said here is “WTH???” Let’s be honest, I’m no Celine Dion or Jennifer Lopez, but you don’t see me trying sing and dance in front of a full room of people either. I’m going to be mean for a second. This song is terrible. Her dance moves are more terrible. Those snakeskin, sequin pants are just plain wrong. It’s funny to me that Kelly says she doesn’t talk about people, but she talked bad about LuAnn’s “boyfriend” the second she met him. Jill once again initiates some drama by joking as if Ramona was ridiculous for asking her to leave the Virgin Islands vacation. I think it was very respectful of Sonja to interject and state that Ramons was completely justified in asking Jill to leave.

There is a very sweet scene with Ramona and Avery getting ready for the ceremony. I must say that I loved Ramona’s dress and thought that Avery looked like a beautiful young lady. I love that even though she was never the biggest fan of the renewal, she had such sweet things to say to her mom right before. Jill shows up to be the center of attention again! Ok, maybe she was just trying to be sweet to Ramona before her big event. I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt.

As the ladies start arriving at the ceremony, the cattiness begins. Kelly, who never talks about anyone mind you, arrives and starts talking about how “manufactured” she thinks it is and how 17 years isn’t really a reason to celebrate. I mean, if you don’t share in the happiness, why even come?? Oh yeah, you need some air time where you’re not completely out of your mind. I’m sure she had some lollipops and jelly beans tucked away somewhere in that dress. I think it’s extremely rude to talk about someone at their own event, which is why I wanted to slap Jill (who by the way, just had a moment with Ramona where she claimed to be extremely happy for her; benefit of the doubt out of the window!) and Jen (she’s such a random anyway) when they were talking about how tacky it was not to have food before the ceremony. Jen also made that really rude comment about the event planner and had to be forced to even speak to her. Who do you think you are? That was plain tacky in my book, and I really hope they’re not setting her up to be a new character next season.

The ceremony begins and the venue is absolutely beautiful. (Question for my blog readers: Was that Bethenny’s dog that was in the ceremony??) I thought that the personal vows were very sweet and sincere. Ramona’s signature crazy eyes did not go without being noticed, but that’s what makes her funny to me. Mario and Ramona are announced renewed, and the reception kicks off. I thought it was a completely unnecessary gesture for Ramona to ask LuAnn to entertain with her song. In fact, it could be considered torture to her guests. I, for one, thought it was a little mean of Bravo to make the viewers endure that twice in one episode. I definitely could have gone my whole life without even hearing it once. The episode ends with a small blurb about what’s going on in the lives of all of the women. I loved Kelly’s. Clearly even the producers realize that she’s insane.

I can’t wait for the reunion, and I will definitely be blogging with all the details that I can remember. I will probably have to watch them two or three times to collect my thoughts and jot down all of my opinions. Until then, satchels of gold!!

I will leave you with a picture from Bethenny Getting Married?, which I am very excited about.

What's in your bag?

**This had to be re-posted, because it messed up the first time.

Since my sister tagged me, I am now writing a post about what's in my bag. First of all, let me say that my first reaction to the tag was fear. I thought, "What IS in my bag???" Well, luckily it has been cleaned out pretty recently, which is a feat for me. We'll start with a photo and a little extra info on my bag.

The Bag

I bought this "The Sak" bag about a month adn a half ago for a little over 100 dollars. The Sak has been making leather goods for a little while now, and I figured they're a prety reputable brand. Well, what you don't see is the back straps are unraveling. The store (Dillard's) won't take it back, and I don't have the original tags or receipts. Basically, I can't do much about this one, but what I can do is tell all of you not to buy this brand. Save yourself the anger. Kacey, I may be needing that loaner from 2 years ago back after all!

Now on to the contents...

The Wallet

This is your basic Fossil wallet that I've had for about two years now. To anser your questions... No, white wasn't the best choice. It's nice and dirty with stray pen marks everywhere. Yes, I want a Hobo but just haven't been able to let myself spend that much on a wallet. And no, I'm not nude in my license photo.

The Electronics

1. My Camera - Well, only the case, since I had to use the camera to take the photo.

2. My Blackberrry

3. My Phone Charger - This is not usually in my purse, but since I've been traveling so much, I've had it with me.

4. My Camera USB Cord

5. My Camera Charger - I hate a dead camera.

6. My Flash Drive

The Paper Goods

1. Receipts Keeper - This is for when I travel for work, but it ends up holding much more than receipts.

2. A Post-It List - These can be found in my purse, my room, my car, etc.

3. Stride Gum - Not sure why this is a paper product.

4. Grated Parmesan & Crushed Red Pepper - From Soulshine Pizza, still need to throw those out.

5. My Business Cards - Bound with a rubber band to keep it classy.

Miscellaneous

1. A Couple of Random Pennies

2. My Work Keys

3. Burt's Bees

3. Revlon Lipstick and Gloss

4. Chapstick - Justin bought me "Refreshing Mandarin," interesting choice.

5. A Bracelet

6. A Pen

7. Generic Sleep Aid - For when I'm out of town... Sometimes I get scared in hotels alone, and I can't sleep.

8. A Now-N-Later & a Peppermint

Now I need to tag some friends...

Alicia Wright - Because she reads my blog and will have a really OCD purse

Alison Alexander - Because I miss her

Brittany Wilson - Because I LOVE her blgo and it will be cute/funny

Brittany Ridgeway - Because I want to know what's in a "Miami" purse

Also, anyone else who reads this. I'd love to see yours!!

Monday's Top Ten

Since Summer is my absolute favorite time of year, today's top ten will focus on my top ten favorite things to do during summer. Spoiler Alert: Most of these things will either involve the sun, being lazy or both.

1. Going out on the boat is one of my favorite summer times. Who doesn't love this?

2. Going to the beach with my friends is also up there on the list. In fact, we're going next week. I can't wait!!

3. I love to relax in a hammock. This is another one that everyone loves!

4. Riding in the car with your windows down is a must during the Summer months.

5. Laying out at the pool is necessary if you're not going to be out on a boat.

6. Summer is a great time to go to a festival. There are a lot of them on Saturday's, you just have to be looking for them.

7. Slip-n-Slides!!! Ok, I don't do this very often, but I'd definitely like to.

8. I love to play with Myers during the Summer. Well, I love to play with Myers any time of the year, but he's just so cute in a swim suit.

9. I love a good Summer read. This Summer, I'm reading all of Chelsea Handler's books and possibly The Help.

10. Nothing! A Summer weekend day is the perfect day to do absolutely nothing!

Here are some pics from the weekend...

I got to see some old/still friends at the wedding.

Amanda, Otinma, Allison and Jessica

How beautiful was the bride!!

The handsome groom.

This was the only funny face we could think of.

One of my little monster, Myers, who I got to keep Sunday morning! He's getting to be such a little man!

Rubber Ducky

For my new tradition, Friday Friends, I have decided that I will only highlight one friend per Friday. This way, the tradition can last a little longer. Hey, I never said I had a million friends, just great friends. So, on to today's friend...

Jennifer "Ducky" Farris

How do I explain Jennifer in a nutshell? Well, there is honestly no way to do that, so I will just give you some fun facts about her. I met Jennifer my freshmen year of college, and the first thing I thought was, "Man, that girl's lipstick is PINK." We have so many memories since that time, but here are a few that stick out. I once made her do back handsprings all the way down the dorm hall, because I thought her talent was the coolest. She's always willing to share a dance move or "Brittany" someone off the dance floor. We once had a little incident at Wendy's when I told the cashier that she had a gap in her teeth after she was rude to Jennifer. I mean so what if she wanted a happy meal and you don't have those?? Jennifer is so much fun and the first friend to be up for doing something with you, but she's also a very caring, loyal friend. She once packed up my apartment in Hattiesburg, signed me up for somewhere to live in Starkville and got me transferred back to MSU in one day. All this because she knew I wasn't happy where I was. She's a truly great friend, and she has the best duck face and beautiful weave I've ever seen. If you don't know her, I'd definitely recommend it!! Love you, ducky!

Shunburn!

I've finally seen and had the opportunity to write about the newest episode of Real Housewives of New York City, Shunburn. This seemed to be one of the more tame episodes of the season, but still provided us with some pretty good drama. By the way, isn't watching drama on television so much more fun than experiencing it in real life!! On to the breakdown of the episode...

At the start of the episode, we realize that Kelly has decided to fly home early for obvious reasons. She absolutely needed to get out of there and see someone. This is the first time on this trip that the other ladies actually seem to be having a pleasant, fun time. Sonja decides to treat them to a spa day, where they all get massages and mani/pedis on a beautiful deck by the water. They sure needed some time to debrief after the previous days of pure craziness. Seems calming enough, right? Well, that is until the screeching sound of Jill's voice fills the air. "Hiiiiiiiiiii... Ramona, surprise!" Let me just say on a side note that it is my opinion that surprising someone by showing up unannounced on their vacation is not a good idea. I think it's actually a pretty selfish idea. What a way to make it all about yourself, especially knowing that you'll also be surprising several others who do not enjoy your presence. I do, however, feel that Alex did overreact a a little with the whole shaking bit, I can't say how I would react having just experienced the tornado that was Kelly "Satchels of Gold" Bensimon. I did think that Jill kissing Sonja and saying hello to Bethenny like they were best friends without acknowledging Alex's presence was pretty catty. I mean if she was just saying hello to everyone to be friendly, then she should have included Alex, but if she was just trying not be fake, why speak to Bethenny? Jill is a walking contradiction. The ladies obviously did not take Jill's surprise well, and thinking of her guests, Ramona asked her to leave. This upset Jill, understandably, but she went on her way with Bobby.
Next we see Jill, LuAnn, Kelly and random friend having lunch back in New York. At this point we get to hear Kelly's skewed view of how the trip took place. As I already know that she is one color short of a rainbow, it comes as no surprise to me that her version of the events are completely off from what we all saw happening. First, she says that she was completely attacked the entire time. My take on it involved her being the instigator. She also said that Bethenny admitted to sabotaging her in the press, which clearly did not happen. Jill seemed to feed into most of the story since she was also hurt by the girls, but she and LuAnn did notice that Kelly did not seem to be making any sense. The way she kept trailing off from the story to talk about candy was just plain odd. LuAnn did interject when she mentioned calling Bethenny a ho bag. Um... LuAnn is completely right. Who even says that? The lunch moves on with the ladies agreeing that Kelly should never have gone in the first place.

The next scene, I have to say, was more disturbing to me than Kelly's meltdown. You may be wondering what could be more disturbing than that. Well, Jill in an ice skating uniform could definitely be more disturbing. I get that she used to like to ice skate when she was eight, but I liked Captain Planet when I was eight. You don't see me running around dressed as Linka trying to summon the spirit of Earth through the powers of nature. I really loved that show! Anyway, this was Jill's holiday party, and most of the girls were in attendance. Highlights of the party involved Ramona and Jill making up. Ramona apologizes for hurting her feelings, and Jill accepts. Then, crazy decides to confront Ramona about how she was attacked by "systematic bullying" throughout the trip. Ramona tries to dodge the drama, but realizing it is inevitable, gives Kelly a forced, patronizing apology. By the way, if you don't follow Kelly on Twitter, you should. The girl is all kinds of crazy. After this goes down, Jill decides that her holiday party is the perfect opportunity to call Bethenny to ask her to lunch. Bethenny accepts, which leaves us with the cliffhanger of what will go down the next week during said lunch. I, for one can't wait. Until then, please load up on SPF. Shunburn is rough!

Memorial Day Top Ten

Sorry this is a day late, but I was having way too much fun yesterday to blog. I figured for this week's top ten, I would do the top ten things that I am thankful for in this life. Here goes...

1. All of the people that have given their lives so that we can live in a free country! Memorial Day is a fun holiday, but we can't forget the reason behind it. I want to thank all of the people who have served our country, present and past. You are truly appreciated!!

2. E-mail, Text Messages and all the other things that make our lives so much easier every day. These inventions have helped me keep in touch with some of the most important people to me.

3. CHI Flat Irons, because without them, I would look like a hot mess daily. Anyone who wasn't born with perfectly straight hair knows that these babies have made life a million times easier, not to mention made us look so much better. Does anyone remember what their hair looked like before the invention of the CHI? Well, I do. Sure, there were cheap imitations before the CHI came out, but my hair just looked like a fluffy wreck at all times. Anytime I start taking my CHI for granted, I need look no further than a trusty photo album from around 9th or 10th grade. If you know what I looked like back then, enough said!

4. Having all of my family living in the same area is something that I am EXTREMELY thankful for every single day. It's something that I'm not sure I would be able to live without. It's so comforting to know that the people who love you are never more than a few minutes away.

5. Diet Coke, Coffee and pretty much all caffeinated beverages (or beverlies as I now like to call them) keep me going each day. Never underestimate the power of what a nice, cold Diet Coke can do for your morning. I know it does wonders for mine!

6. I'm so thankful that God gave us the ability to smile. Imagine what life would be like if we didn't have the ability to brighten up our face, show some teeth and spread a little happiness to each other. Whether you're laughing, thinking of something that makes you happy or just trying to make someone else happier, a smile is right there for you. It doesn't cost a thing, and everyone's is unique. How awesome is that?

7. Everyone has those friends who can just pick up right where you left off with them, no matter how long it's been since you've hung out. Sometimes we all just get busy, so thank goodness we've got true friends who understand and are ready to jump right back in there with you.

8. Cameras!!! If you know me at all, you know that I have a mild form of the paparazzi disease. I absolutely love taking pictures. I want to capture every moment and remember it forever! So for number 8, I am thankful for John Strognofe, the inventor of the first camera. Thanks for the memories, John!

9. Flip Flops :) I'm not sure who invented these puppies, but all I can say is a big fat "THANK YOU!!" I can't think of one bad thing about flip flops. I mean they're comfy, convenient, cute... The list could go on forever! Each year, I can't wait until it gets warm enough to break out the old Rainbows. I even wear mine around the house during the colder months. They're just plain fabulous!

10. Being able to spend time with people that I care about is one of the biggest things that I'm thankful for these days. Just being able to have a relaxing, carefree day with friends is amazing. Yesterday, a bunch of us went out on the boat and spent the day not worrying about anything but our tans. I can't tell you how great that felt. Here are some pictures from the day...

Justin knee-boarding (I didn't get any shots of the wake-boarding or skiing)

I know we look a little gross in this one, but it's the best we could do.

All the girls right before we left