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At one time, you could avoid sales tax by having items shipped to your home out of state. The Kleinfelds alterations department are admitted good but I would imagine that for standard bridal alterations, one could have them done at a high quality place in one's home state. I am not sure whether one could have alterations done at Kleinfelds and then have the finished dress shipped to one's home outside New York State.

That is a look that is in style now. Extremely shiny "glass" highlighter. Not all of them are using them. Dorinda has extreme highlights. If you look at their makeup, it is in those places which are theoretically supposed to catch the light - cheekbones most commonly although other typical places are just above upper lift - a bit on the nose and in certain places on the forehead.

As I posted, when I remodeled I installed a stacking washer and dryer in a closet. The closet is deep enough to accommodate it so when the doors are closed, no one would know it’s there. in my building, people install units in the guest bathroom or master bath or the closet. They are always installed in a cabinet so they are behind doors that match the rest of the cabinetry. As posted above, one can certainly do the same in the kitchen and have the units behind doors when not being used. I am amused by people who act as if having units in the kitchen is unsanitary in some way. I can’t figure out what the issue is. Are they afraid that dirty clothes contaminate the kitchen. Typically dirty clothing Isn’t strewn randomly on eating or prep surfaces but even so there are many dirty things which are brought into kitchen which is sny normal people wipe down counters and eating surfaces 😀

As I recall, when Bethany Frankel got married on her show, they had a segment where she was crouching over a pot with her bridesmaids holding up her wedding dress so she could pee.

I would much prefer a washer/dryer in the kitchen versus having one in the basement. A laundry room is theoretically nice but not having one is a minor compromise. It's not a big deal to put clothing in a basket and either fold on top of the units or bring the basket someplace else to fold if that's easier. I guess people who have that kind of horror grew up in a large suburban home and never dealt with either communal laundry rooms - laundromats - or urban apartments where you feel thankful that there is a viable place to put a washer/dryer. I live in a high rise condo and the laundry room was down the hall. I actually didn't mind that too much because it was closer to me than many people's machines might be located and it didn't service that many people on a floor so I rarely found it occupied. When I remodeled my unit I added a stacking unit in a closet which has a pull out shelf but generally I just drop the clothing in the basket and take it over to the bed to sort and fold.

I thought I heard the house was five miles inland.

I don't think Dorinda quit. She has nothing going in her life except for the show. Beyond the salary from the show itself, there are enormous financial benefits in terms of promotional opportunity. Not to mention the narcissistic satisfaction she gets from being "famous". The only housewives that have credibly quit have no financial need for the show's income and realize that they are heading for the point of having their reputations trashed to the detriment of their families and/or the business. Bethenny quit - Heather Thompson quit. Heather Dubrow quit. I am fairly certain that Carole Radziiwill quit. What do all of these women have in common - they value their "real" lives and don't need the show for financial benefits or the narcissistic rush of being a "star". Other housewives are allowed to say they quit because that is how in works in show business.

Which is kind of interesting since Brian Moylan wrote Erica's book. I didn't read it but I guess a ghost channels the *voice* of the "author".

Depends on what the arrangements are with the freebie apartment. She isn’t destitute so she could pay rent on the unit and she might have the free rent for awhile. It just illustrates how much of their lifestyle is due to the promotional stuff they get from being a housewife. Every time they post something in social media, I assume they are receiving some kind of promotional consideration for the post. That’s the value of having followers.

I have always heard granola type as describing someone who is into natural versus flashy. Depending on age, it couid also be aging hippie, earth mother type etc. I have never thought it to be derogatory I just thought it was pretty descriptive of what at least superficially Leah’s mother is she doesn’t seem to be invested in all of the stuff that the other women do in order to appear younger than their ages. She doesn’t dye her hair she doesn’t wear excessive makeup if any. Her hair is in a natural style and she doesn’t have extensions like the housewives use. Her clothing isn’t overtly sexual. She presents as the antithesis of the Housewives. Who really knows the dynamics of any family based on a few minutes of edited tape but Leah seems to be the spawn of a Melissa Gorga type. And who knows how badly Leah was acting out as a teenager in terms of being booted from the home at an early age That is an unusual move as more typically the parents will have the kids in treatment if some kind and don’t give up when they are that young unless they parents are really into a tough love type of regime

Right. She lived in the freebie rental and rented out the one she owned.

I wonder why Luanne didn't get the free apartment that Dorinda got. When Dorinda moved a few seasons ago, she was given her unit rent free in exchange for promotional consideration - e.g. filming in the apartment. The comparable units in her building rent for about $10,000 per month. She then rented out HER unit for about $10,000. That's a fairly substantial economic benefit - living rent free in a luxury apartment plus getting income from the condo she owns. And I would imagine that she got the condo as part the amount she got after her husband died.

And Whoopie Goldberg wore one to the Oscars years ago before everyone was styled professionally 🙂 I think the overskirt might be the *cheap* way to provide the two different dresses that brides seem to think is now necessary so they have the traditional ceremony dress and the sexy reception dress. Are those extremely tight dresses comfortable to wear all evening? It is one thing to wear a tight short dress but some of those dresses seem to be extremely constricting and appear to be uncomfortable to walk or sit in.

I am willing to spend money for clothing but I don't consider $60 to be inexpensive for a generic sweat shirt nor do I consider $29.95 to be inexpensive for a fugly t-shirt. I have no idea who would want to spend that for clothing that has MTTM on the front and the sayings or whatever lack any kind of wit or social relevance or otherwise contain a message that would seem to be something most women would want to "claim" as their philosophy. I really don't understand how one could make a living from a company selling these items - maybe an ETSY shop to bring in a few dollars for whatever limited market there is. But Leah has a relatively affluent lifestyle considering she lives in Manhattan with a fairly decent apartment and presents herself as self supporting - e.g. she doesn't claim to have received large amounts from the father of her child nor does she claim to have inherited money or be supported by her parents. Most of the women are pretty upfront about either having settlements from the exes or being born into wealth like Tinsley. Since Leah has her dysfunctional relationship with her parents as part of her story it would really be *fraudulent* if they were supporting her in some way because certainly that would be a major part of the parent/child dynamics if true.

I suspect people get ridiculous notions of the cost of remodeling from shows which bear no relation to reality. Once you remove a wall, you also need to deal with the flooring and repainting. Not to mention structural walls. And removing a kitchen wall generally eliminates a lot of storage especially in smaller homes with smaller kitchens. Painting kitchen cabinets is not simple and is expensive if done by a professional. You don’t simply slap paint on it as you would for a wall.

Is it actually possible to have a business that supports one selling ordinary sweat clothing and t-shirts with a company logo. It's not as if the logo itself is valuable - e.g. people will spend a lot of money for a Vuitton t-shirt with a logo. Who is the market for this except theoretically idiots who are Leah fans and will pay for the branded merchandise. It appeared that there were employees taking it all seriously at the meeting - a FIT MODEL for a sweatshirt which is probably ordered in quantity for a source in China and then having the logo put on. And was I the only one who noticed the bizarre group of people at the Century 21 opening. Apart from the Housewives, those in attendance seemed to be random people rounded up from the street. In NY, you can generally get hip looking people to attend any kind of event but these people didn't resemble anyone who would normally appear at any kind of opening except for the kind of book signings or whatever that attract rabid fans.

I think the segment for whatever reason ignored it because it went against whatever story they were trying to tell. I almost never find any of the towns appealing in terms of my wanting to move there. I generally get a real kick when someone has moved into a suburb or small town in the middle of nowhere and brags about all the wonderful things to do and places to eat. I don't have particularly fond feelings toward Binghamton but it is a major university center with the kind of cultural stuff happening on any major campus that elevates it from being a place in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do except go bowling. It's on the circuit for speakers, music groups - both pop and higher level etc. especially given its proximity to New York. I don't think anyone would move to Binghamton unless they worked for the university but given that a major university exists, it does provide cultural and intellectual for the community around it. It's not a particularly charming town - the climate is not great as it rains more than it snows in the winter. But economically it really has nothing going for it except the university. IBM had a major facility there from so long ago that it manufactured adding machines. And of course it's great claim to culinary fame is the spiedie which exists only in the Binghamton area. The dive bars used to run speidie specials where you could get cheap speidies and a pitcher of beer. It does have a lot of cheap housing especially that was built and not much gentrification going on because there really isn't a reason for anyone to need to live in a specific area as commuting is pretty easy and fast and not very congested. I lived a bit north of town and there are a bunch of homes that are under $100,000 for sale. And some for less than $75,000. So it's a pretty good investment to buy a place and rent it to students. https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/Chenango-Forks_NY I don't think any of the homes on this segment were particularly attractive or functional but I often think that I would have rejected all the options and continued to look. On my segments I really wonder if that is really the best they could do for the money but obviously it's all staged so I don't spend that much time thinking about it.

I went to college in Binghamton and it is a sad economically depressed area. There is a lot of cheap student housing though. It is a pretty large university so it has an economy and cultural center based around the university so it has the benefit of having the professors and administrative staff living in the area. There are actually some standard suburban areas especially in Vestal and beautiful large homes in Binghamton proper along the river which were built when it was a thriving industrial area. The shoe factory had recruiters to meet the immigrants as they alit and so there was a very strong Polish working class in thise sad little houses that were built for them.

And I felt a chill coming up from my basement so hell is obviously getting colder as well. 😀

Right. I forgot about the basement because I never went down there. My cousin had his drums down there and I guess it contained the normal furnace stuff of east coast basements. That is the horrible layout which was in the episode. I think everyone agrees that is a really undesirable layout. However it seems like in most places they are called split foyers as opposed to split levels.

I'll give them a pass on the stated reason for disliking split levels. I hate them because it FORCES me to go up or down immediately on entering. It just seems like a really undesirable floor plan as I imagine my normal way of interacting with my home or visiting people. On the other hand, my aunt lived in what I thought was a split level. If you entered the front door, you were on the level with the living room, kitchen, dining room and the sunroom. Half a level down was the family room which also led to the garage. Half a level up from the living/kitchen area were the bedrooms. That was a really comfortable house to live in because you generally weren't a long stairway from anything.

As an earworm, it beats It's A Small World. 😀

To be listened to with the appropriate mood enhancement elements - weed and/or acid; some patchouli incense and an Indian cotton bedspread for lolling on. 🙂

The Bird Streets are in the western-most part of the Hollywood Hills - essentially before it becomes the eastern most part of Beverly Hills. You are correct in that people buy there for the views which are why the new construction has architecture that is completely oriented to emphasize the views. And of course, the style itself is completely off the moment and will be passe in five years. Also they have a hipness factor because they are above Sunset Strip which retains its hipster creds although now it is rich hipster instead of rich hippie living there. I am not sure if it has been mentioned but The Beatles lived there and wrote some of their songs there including Blue Jay Way There's a fog upon L.A. And my friends have lost their way We'll be over soon they said Now they've lost themselves instead Please don't be long Please don't you be very long Please don't be long Or I may be asleep Well, it only goes to show And I told them where to go Ask a policeman on the street There's so many there to meet Please don't be long (don't be long) Please don't you be very long (don't be long) Please don't be long Or I may be asleep Now it's past my bed I know And I'd really like to go Soon will be the break of day Sitting here in Blue Jay Way

The Bird Street home being sold by Flagg would be particularly hard hit by the construction. It is a "modern" home from 2000 but it is in competition with a glut of "more modern" homes than are being over-developed in that specific area. It was a nice home but the buyer for that style of home in that neighborhood is fairly superficial in terms of their wants and so it has to be priced to factor in the cost and hassle of a huge renovation as well as it always being an older home. It didn't have the benefit of being a classic architectural statement because Flagg is always really good about pointing out how certain older styles are classic - even when they are "modern/contemporary" like the ones in Belair. This one was evidently just was built as a cookie cutter of modern home although that is probably more obvious when one actually sees it in person.