amarante

It was about putting her girls in a car every morning and afternoon for them to get to school as well as probably not being particularly close to their classmates. She indicated that except for school she essentially had to drive for other errands. I didn't find her entitled as I wouldn't want to subject young kids to a 45 minute commute to their pre-school either. Since they could afford three bedrooms why not? Sometimes the requests on the budgets make no sense but in this case, a three bedroom was affordable. I don't begrudge kids having their own bedroom and it does simplify things for parents - sick kids - different schedules etc. Also, if family visits, it's easy to free up one of the kid's bedrooms as a guest bedroom. Space is always better unless you can't afford it.

I wonder how Emily wound up going to Thomas Jefferson Law School. If it is the one I am thinking of it's located in San Diego and just lost its ABA accreditation. California is notorious for having fly by night law schools which is the reason the Bar failure rate is higher than normal. When you adjust pass rates for people who attended "normal" law schools, it's in line with other states. I took both the California and New York Bars and they were pretty equivalent. The only wrinkle was that I needed to learn specific New York statutory law and then specific California law but basic law principles are the same. New York didn't have the Multi-state exam when I took it so I had to retake for California.

I also assumed the parents were helping with the purchase as it was a bit steep for a college Professor and a worm farmer. I thought all the choices were terrible for a multi generational family. They should have looked for a home with truly separate quarters and not just a bedroom. I grew up in a two family home with my mother’s parents in the downstairs apartment but that enabled each family to have privacy. My grandmother was really tactful about respecting privacy so it worked well since she was my caretaker from an early age and then in her later years my parents were able to take care of her when she became less physically fit.

I didn't expect the T&E attorney to give Kenya a discourse on exactly how one sets up a Trust to protect the corpus. I just really interpreted it as being advice that one needs to select a Trustee that one trusts because there are lots of ways a Trustee could circumvent the intent of the Trust. Because the bottom line is that whatever the Trust says, the beneficiary of the Trust is dependent on the honesty, integrity and even the financial acumen of the Trustee. Someone like Kenya would actually have a bit of a dilemma in terms of the Trust because she doesn't have anyone in her life that seems to be trustworthy and has some degree of financial acumen.

I interpreted it as meaning you want to select a trustworthy trustee who doesn’t violate their fiduciary duties. While a trustee is supposed to act in accordance with the terms of the trust and the law, there are many instances of dishonest trustees who drain the Trust and so there is no way to get the money back if and when it is discovered. And the Trustee of a so-called Living Trust is the person who set it up and they can do whatever they want until they do including revoking, spending the entire corpus and changing the beneficiaries. The other Trustees if any can only use the money for the benefit of the owner until death when the corpus belongs to the beneficiaries.

Are people able to not provide maintenance for their minor children in Georgia? I understand being able to disinherit a spouse but what is the statutory justification for cutting off financial support for minor children?

I don't recall the third home as having tile but I think it had to do more with the era in which the homes had been built or last renovated and not a specific style of Coronado. My experience in California is that the only homes which don't have solid surface of some kind (quartz, marble, granite) are Spanish Colonial homes in which tile is used because the owners want to preserve the authenticity of that style. And even in Spanish Colonial homes which are lovingly restored, there will very often be solid surface because it is so much more functional in a kitchen than tiles.

Astounding that the Seattle Seahawks couple came off as one of the most balanced and down to earth couples on the show. I suspect that their net worth is actually far above almost any HH we have seen and yet they chose a home that was not particularly expensive for the Seattle market and really was just a very nice family home. If they had wanted to show off I am almost certain they could have "afforded" a much more expensive home but then - as others have pointed out - I am almost certain that we will not read about him in the bankruptcy courts in five years. One of my very dearest friends has great wealth and similarly chose a nice home that was well below what they could theoretically afford. Of course, since it's in Los Angeles, it's a multi-million dollar home but it's quite modest as it was originally built for a nice middle class type of family :-). What is true about my friend - and from what we have seen of this Seattle HH - is that these kinds of "modest" living standards generally carry through in terms of how children are raised. Obviously they are privileged but there is a huge difference between parents providing excessive lifestyles with everything that money can buy and having a lovely life that isn't financially excessive. In my experience, the kids turn out better as the expectation is that they will have to achieve - e.g. do well in school - look towards college and career - versus a lot of the neer do well spawn of rich celebrities.

Kelly had a breast REDUCTION which is why her breasts look so natural. Many women who have breast augmentation look strange because their bodies were never meant to have the size of the fake breasts so there isn't enough subcutaneous fat to make them look natural. Hence - the fruits that look bolted on the chest with the tell tale gap between the two breasts. Breast reconstruction after a mastectomy is completely different than cosmetic breast augmentation. The first is attempting to return the body to what is was before disease and most women don't want to walk around with no breast at all so the alternative is removable bra inserts or reconstruction. Insurance companies pay for breast reconstruction so it is viewed by just about everyone as medically necessary. My opinion is that breast augmentation is done to fulfill society's idea of what an ideal woman should look like. I would never want that kind of surgery - and I am relatively small chested and could easily afford implants if I chose. I actually find the benefits of being relatively small to be positive - definitely more comfortable physically :-).

It is an oddity of Southern California that people want their cosmetic work to look obvious. There is a real difference in terms of the kind of work most people want in Los Angeles versus New York. I needed a lot of dental work and my concern was that the new teeth NOT look like Hollywood teeth. My prosthodontist was really talented so I left the aesthetics to him after I made sure that we were on the same page. When I was having my work done, there was an article on the prosthodontist who evidently did Princess Kate's teeth and is a famous European guy. His thing is to have the new teeth look perfectly imperfect the way really good nose jobs also shouldn't look "perfect".

The issue isn't really whether you actually read and appreciated Hemingway in high school. I had a memorable class episode when I was supposed to actually report on a Dickens' book which I hadn't read and attempted to bluff my way through it. My English teacher actually complimented me in a way by laughing about it. He left teaching a few years after that and became a rather renowned YA author (Richard Peck) who claims to have been influenced by the kids he taught. Ironically I think I even managed to wring out a decent grade because I was the kind of student who applied herself but was rebelling against the idea of being forced to read a dead Victorian novelist :-). The Three Amigas claimed to have never HEARD of Hemingway and I would imagine that you had heard of Hemingway prior to this episode :-). It is that level of completely ignorance that is shocking.

All of those homes close to the water will be impacted by climate change within the next 20 years. It's already an issue in terms of some places. There was a recent article on how the cost to keep a road in one of the barrier islands above water would exceed $170 million. The other issue is insurance as the costs of insuring homes within flood zones (and flood zones are expanding) is becoming increasingly expensive. And do we as taxpayers want to subsidize people who willingly choose to live on ecologically untenable land?

It's hard to believe that anyone didn't read Hemingway in high school. What exactly was your English lit reading? I don't particularly like Hemingway but I have read all of the basics. For a writer of the so-called "Lost Generation", I prefer F.Scott Fitzgerald although all the movie adaptations are awful. His prose is beautiful - Hemingway's Uber-machismo doesn't wear well - at least for me. Unfortunately much high school reading is wasted on those too young to appreciate it. I loathed Dickens in high school and then rediscovered him and savored his books after college graduation. Similarly, Jane Austen is best appreciated, I think, by those with a bit more real life experience than high school Still I find it astounding that Shannon never heard of him - didn't understand his cultural significance in terms of Key West and wasn't embarrassed to display such ignorance - whether feigned or real. I do believe that Tamra has never heard of Hemingway as I doubt she has ever actually read a book - she is a stupid woman. I am on the fence about Vicki as I also find her to be an intellectual pygmy and she did not go to college and probably slithered through high school classes absorbing as little as necessary. I doubt she has opened a book for pleasure in her entire life. The lack of intelligence and cultural sophistication of these OC women is astounding. I remember when they went to Napa Valley and literally spit out the food at The French Laundry = all of these theoretically incredible experiences squandered by idiots.

I suspect it is an old episode but was there some credible back story on the woman from Queens with twins who buys a vacation home in Iceland? I never understand why people who claim their lives are too busy feel the need to buy a place requiring one to fly a significant distance but this scenario made zilch sense even judged by those criteria. How could it be easier to shlep two young children overseas so they could enjoy nature versus getting a place somewhere close to where she lives. I know she said she hates to drive but you could be in the Catskills or somewhere on Long Island in the same time it would take you to get from your apartment checked through on a flight - international requires being at the airport at least two hours ahead of boarding.

I believe that Delores also said that Jackie had been raised with a "liberal" background. I have no idea what the hell she meant by that.

If someone can afford a beautiful kitchen, I have no problems with that anymore than I have issues with someone wanting an aesthetic bathroom or other living spaces. My issue are the idiots with a tiny budget who expect their small budget will get them a kitchen that belongs in a million dollar home. Of course there are also the idiots who wants four bedrooms and are shocked that the rooms are small in that 1500 square foot home. Of course the real idiocy is that most of the homeowners have no real idea what constitutes a high quality kitchen. The standard builder grade kitchen is now white Shaker style cabinets but the configuration of the cabinets (with no lower drawers) is still a builder grade kitchen - albeit one that was built to suit the mass market tastes of 2019 versus golden oak or faux Tuscan from previous builder grade homes.

I think it's just the nose which is drastically different and the weight loss. Her lips are probably the same but they are carefully lined in the after photo and she isn't grinning. The other differences are because the current photo is posed and she has a massive amount of makeup done by a professional. It also looks as if it was photoshopped. The "before" photo is a candid photo which also catches her in a completely unflattering facial expression.

The experience of not knowing how to clean is pretty universal among lots of kids - most common when they move out for college which is the first time they have to do any cleaning. I was never expected to actually "clean" so I had to "learn" how to actually clean. Theoretically I was supposed to clean my room - i.e. hang up clothing - but my mother gave up the battle as there were more important battles to be fought so she just kept the door shut LOL. Riley just appears to me to be a very average teenager. I had no charisma when I was 16 and would probably have been viewed as lumpish and lacking personality as well. Riley - at least as far as I can recall - isn't being exploited as nothing intimate or negative is being shown on camera versus other housewives who have really exposed extremely negative behavior and traits of their spawn. I think Todd is pretty admirable for wanting his daughter to NOT be the recipient of Kandi's money. She doesn't seem to be hurting for money and I would bet that she is subsidized so that she isn't lacking necessary stuff and he would provide her with tuition for example so she wouldn't need student loans. I got the sense that he didn't want her provided with stuff that HE couldn't afford to give his children. I don't think it's really the same dynamic as a stepchild who is raised from a young age with disparate care. If anything the hard part for his daughter would have been being raised in a divorced home with not as much access to her father versus the two kids being raised (for the moment) in a two parent home but both she and Riley are going to have those same issues and Todd was much more present for his daughter than Riley's completely non-present father. One episode they met but there has never been a follow up in terms of whether they have any kind of relationship at this point.

I completely agree regarding Kandi's parenting versus most of the other housewives who have raised neer do wells. My close friend is extremely wealthy - let's say worth at least $50 million. Her daughters have obviously been raised with privilege but they were also raised to achieve well academically. One graduated law school. They were also given the same kinds of experiences that Kandi is giving her her daughter. There is actually a way to parent wealthy kids so that they don't become wastrels and it appears that Kandi is taking that path. Compare the spawn of some entertainers who far less talented kids attempt to make it in show biz. Riley wants to be an entertainment LAWYER (or at least is thinking about it) versus thinking she should sing or act or blog or do some other kind of fame whore occupation.

I don't think the "pain" or the "morphine" made the father say those things. In vino veritas - morphine might have acted as a disinhibitor just as alcohol does so that one lets the "real" person out. However, in my experience, if one is about to die and is morphined up, one is not lucid so one is not going to make that kind of very direct angry focused speech. What I don't understand is why the parents felt the need to reconcile with Shaun. This wasn't at all like the standard slightly dysfunctional household. But then I am not really a "fan" of death bed reconciliations as I don't think anyone solves a lifetime of true dysfunction; forgives or has closure through one conversation.

Except for the car which is ridiculous for a kid. It's not the money per se but the worst kind of car to give a kid as the first car is something sporty and it is inevitably going to get into an accident. Or an SUV which is actually more difficult to drive well than a sedan because it is top heavy. My friend's kids went to an expensive private school in Los Angeles and the kids almost all got very expensive cars when they started driving and they all got into accidents. There was even a fatality (not in my friend's school) where a first time driver crashed his large SUV because it was too hard to handle and he over shot something. My friend gave her kid her old Lexus sedan - the kid got into an accident of course but since the car was a beater nobody cared. The other stuff she is funding seem to be experiences. I think she mentioned doing a summer course at UCLA. My cousin's daughter did that and it's a great summer school experience - it's basically summer camp for an older teen. And she mentioned sending her to Europe during a summer which is again an experience which is not uncommon among affluent parents who aren't over the top. It seems as though she is raising her to do the college type of thing versus some rich celebrity parents/housewives who are raising their kids to be wastrels. The apartment wasn't in Manhattan - it looked as though it had a view of the East Side of Manhattan so it could have been Roosevelt Island which is an odd choice. I would imagine it was a fully furnished sublet so the price for a full service two bedroom wasn't out of line.

Doesn't he live some distance away? I would imagine that he doesn't actually work in the office especially since whatever business they actually do really isn't a desk job anyway.

I was commenting on a previous post in which the poster used the term approaching $800

I think a comment that $800 approaches New York rates is bizarre anyway you slice it or dice it because no one comments on rental costs based on what someone who is lucky enough to be living in a rent stabilized apartment who moved in 25 years ago is paying. I don't live in NYC anymore but I moved to Manhattan after finishing law school many years ago. I had a wonderful loft (newly renovated) on a high floor with an unobstructed view of the city looking north (it was in the Village) and my rent - adjusted for inflation would be approximately $1800 which would be a steal because the building has now been converted to coops where my apartment sells for $1 million dollars and comparable rentals would have $4000 or $5000. Some of my friends who weren't making as much as I was at the time lived in the Village for prices ranging from $335 (for an apartment on St. Marks Place) to a West Village one bedroom for $628 - both amounts adjusted for inflation. The apartment rents were affordable - or at least not in the realm of completely unaffordable - for people starting out unlike today's NYC rents which are essentially unaffordable because no one wants to live in a living room or a walk in closet for any length of time.

The $640 unit available for rental is an office space in a relatively undesirable area. The next least expensive unit is $800 for an attic apartment in a fairly undesirable area - shared kitchen AND bath - in order words renting a room. While an "average" rental is not a perfect way to measure rents, don't forget that there are a number of apartments in New York which have rents below - A LOT BELOW - current market rates because they are either rent controlled or stabilized. But if you are in the current market you are probably going to be paying OVER the average unless one wants to rent in Staten Island - the Bronx (which I believe has the least expensive housing but still not $700 for an apartment) or in the nether reaches of Queens where there is very poor public transportation - e.g. no subway lines.