diadochokinesis

Never said that there was anything wrong with being a tourist. What is wrong is a woman wearing a keffiyeh desert-style. That is offensive to the local population. Dubai is a very popular tourism destination and that’s fine. But it is like people coming over and being publicly drunk, cursing, and kissing in public. It is against the cultural norms (and often illegal). Do some research on where you are going and be appropriate to the culture.

Sonja was also in Dubai. She has pics on her Instagram from it. Don’t know how to bring the picture in or else I would show them but if you go there, they are on there. She went to the Jose Eber salon, Burj Khalifa, Cipriani, and the desert. She hashtagged Platinum Heritage (a tour group) so I’m betting they heavily discounted for her.

Ugh, this is really a difficult topic to speak on. Wearing the thobe itself is fine over here for guys. However, the keffiyehs could be objectionable. If it was a plain white one, that would be fine. However, a red checked keffiyeh (also known as a ghutra) means that you are Sunni Muslim and have gone on the hajj. Which is a HUGE deal in Islam. So, that becomes problematic. That said, I see tourists frequently over here (including women) who have the keffiyeh worn desert-style (wrapped around their head) which I just always roll my eyes at because it marks them as a tourist. Abayas (the long, black flowing garment that women wear) is actually commonly worn by women regardless of religion or nationality. If you go into Saudi, you have to wear an abaya. When I lived in Qatar, we frequently wore abayas because of the modesty rules. You see it less in Dubai but some women will wear them as fashion statements here. I can wrap a hijab and will do so if I go into a mosque (I’m Christian but they will open them up to us to tour but you wear an abaya and cover your hair). TL,DR: Is it cultural appropriation? Yes and no. It is a difficult answer and I would venture to say it is more of cultural appropriation on the men than it would be if the women were wearing abayas and hijab/sheylas.

It doesn’t seem to be anything official. LOL is no more. Caroline Stansbury lives out here. Sonja didn’t come with the others. I’ve heard that Adam and Scott are here with Tins and Carole though.

Yep, they are here. Sonja is apparently here too. They are staying at the Burj al Arab which is probably the best and most exclusive hotel in Dubai. It is on its own private island and you can’t get on it without a restaurant or room reservation at the hotel. Weirdly, the restaurants are on The Entertainer (like Groupon where everything is BOGO) so that’s always humorous. I would love to see that they go actually do some stuff outside of Jumeirah but I’m not hopeful. I did tweet at Tinsley and told them a couple of places to go visit that are more local.

Hey, that story made the news over here! LOL! They love wacky American stories.

I’m fine with the way the girls (all of them) are dressed. It is her body and she should be able to dress how she sees fit. Breasts aren’t things to be ashamed of, made to feel bad about, or shamed about. She shouldn’t feel like she has to cover up because other people might have a problem with it. She has breasts. Great. Most women have breasts. If she wants to pop out some cleavage, fine. That’s her choice. I have a lot of friends whose daughters just did prom and her dress would fit in with the others. I’m Southern and prom is huge here. Everyone wears long formal gowns and the boots would have been a no-go.

Hah! Ramona: I notice less camaraderie between Bethenny and Carole and it’s getting painful to watch.” This said AFTER she brings up B not inviting Carole to PR and why didn’t B do it.

I could see this. You also have the issue that a lot of the higher end designers don’t allow their stuff to be sold at TJ Maxx, Marshalls, etc because it devalues their brand (which is part of the reason why Saks and Nordstrom have their own in-house outlets). I worked at a higher-end department store when I was in grad school and we would have Lilly Pulitzer and some of the other higher end brands that would rather sell their stuff for $5 at our department store than liquidate it to a “second line” retailer and be associated with that.

I also loved that she walks over and says that she just wants to leave with her jewelry on and that she is wearing the real stuff and not the fake stuff while making a gesture towards the display. How obnoxious. This party was at Henri Bendel which is an extremely nice store. It isn’t like a Sears or JCPenney’s.

I figured Dorit brought leftovers. LOL.

The face is what I’m shocked about. Maybe it is the angle but geez Louise. I’m seeing shades of Mama Elsa in the face.

There’s also the Britney Spears costume that she wore for the Halloween party. She took that from the Lip Sync set. She claims she begged for it because she didn’t have a Halloween costume but sources from the show said that they don’t let celebrities keep the outfits.

Is that supposed to look like Carole? Egads! Looks like a cross between Mama Elsa, Marysol, and Carole.

Actually, for people with certain mental illnesses, marijuana doesn’t relax them. It will actually result in violent episodes.

From just what little I’ve seen of him on the shows, I’ve always liked him. He has seemed really close to B and she seemed to confide in him a lot.

But Sonja doesn’t talk about her ex-husband. She talks about the lifestyle and frequently references it as if it just happened. Yes, some divorces suck but come on, this was 12 years ago and she is stuck. She talks about partying on a yacht with John John like it was last year and he died in 1999. We all threw a bit of a side-eye at Lu when she was engaged to Tom and she said they were a perfect match because they both enjoyed skiing. She didn’t talk about how he made her laugh, how she fit in his arms, the normal lovey-dovey stuff. Someone else (was it you?) made a comment about beating up on a possibly mentally ill person. Here is my thing with Sonja... I don’t think she has a true mental illness BUT just because someone is mentally ill doesn’t mean you give them a pass on saying hurtful things or being a horrible person. Supposedly she has anxiety. That doesn’t justify her behavior. Whether or not you are mentally ill, you need to be held accountable for your actions. If you say something hurtful, you apologize. If you are living in delusion world, you need to be called out on that. Giving them a pass on everything makes their situation worse, not better.

Wait, isn’t that her driver and not her bodyguard?

His voice was bugging me. I need to take another closer listen but his articulation was off. Hated the Gucci sweater too but I hate most things Gucci is coming out with lately. I get that their design style is excess but come on, TOO MUCH. Ooh, because she totally said at one point that she would not have left the marriage and then 15 minutes later said that she had no choice but to leave him. So, which one is it? Does she even realize that she is full of lies at this point?

To me, there is a difference between making occasional references to your husband (that are following the topic of conversation) and really only talking about your previous marriage that has been over for 12 years. Most of my friends who are widowed will still talk and reference their husbands in conversation. For them, the marriage isn’t really over because they didn’t choose for it to be over. It isn’t like a marriage where you make a choice to sever ties with that person—especially one like Sonja where they don’t even communicate anymore. I was loving B’s snarking but I couldn’t help but wonder how Carole was going to react on her blog and Twitter about it. I see it being spun as another way Bethenny was attacking her when B was also commenting on her own outfit being awful. Dude, my husband runs marathons. I think the most I’ve done was tell him to take out the garbage when he got back. Whoops. LOL. I’m not a fan of the slut shaming either. There are plenty of legit criticisms of Sonja. Her inability to stick to an argument. She talks about how amazing her marriage is but then says she doesn’t miss her husband, she misses the lifestyle. She says Tins didn’t buy the gift card but then says she might have but who knows where the money comes from. She says Tinsley’s money comes from her mom but dude, where is Sonja’s money coming from? She refuses to see where other people are coming from. She only acknowledges her pain, her suffering, her perspective.

Disclaimer: I’ve just finished the episode but haven’t read any comments yet so I might repeat things. I really need someone to ask Sonja that if her marriage was so amazing then WHY ARE THEY DIVORCED????

I haven’t watched the episode yet (work and now waiting for my 6 year old to go to sleep) so this comment is literally all I can comment on. LOL. This is the only song of John Mellencamp’s that I know. LOL.

Yep, it is petty. Like, they are grown women and need to act it. This isn’t middle school. Maybe it is hypocritical but I’m cool with Dorinda going off on Sonja but I get the motivation behind it (though I worry about her drinking and emotional state). I just hate the stupid, immature, petty crap when friendships fall apart.

I’m not sure if someone else mentioned this but I’m wondering if part of the reason why B didn’t want Carole staying with her is because Brynn and Dennis were staying with her. Not because of it being a crowded house but you know that if Carole was staying with her, Bravo would want the cameras there. Brynn isn’t allowed to be filmed so that creates some issues (and makes it feel not homey and relaxing for Brynn). I know Dennis is supposed to be on tonight’s episode but I’m wondering if he isn’t really wanting to be a major part of filming that having the cameras there would entail. He’s fine with just a one-off dinner but not for an entire weekend. As for the whole Carole thing... I like her but I feel like she is being a bit immature about how she is acting. Is she mad about the talking heads? There was an interview where she insinuated that after hearing Bethenny’s talking heads last year, she felt like B was duplicitous. But I never got B’s comments about Carole as being malicious. She’s sarcastic (so am I) but I never felt like it was malicious. The safari outfit comment is the main one that sticks out in my head. Plus, just how she is still talking about it and how she continues to deal with it... Just strikes me as petty. If you are done with the friendship then just ghost her (except for Bravo events). OMG. I can just imagine her talking about it. She’d have her head cocked off to the side with the hand gesture towards her chin that she does and the sly smile. “Oh! You didn’t hear? Page Six was talking about ME! The most horrendous things! It is hard being married to JPM and everyone wanting to be me! MILLSAPPS! I need my toilet facial now!”

That was hilarious. I love a lot of what Vogue is doing on the digital end (check out Reese’s 40 questions) but they really tapped into a great part of Ericka, IMO. I think she is funny and probably plays up the drama for the show but if you were her friend and hanging out with her, you’d get more of the Vogue personality.