Empress1

Andy’s poor son has been sitting around lobbies and parking lots and having to play shrink to his dumb-ass dad. Poor thing.

I have a trusty wooden spoon I cook with! I think it was my grandmother’s, so it’s been around a while. I think it’ll hold up.

You don’t understand what’s going on? You’re a trick. There. Now you know.

I watched that episode in under 20 minutes. There was no reason for it to be that long. Lydia and Milton … I … guess? “I love you because you chose me” is not saying anything, but okay. Well, actually, it’s saying “I want to get married and I don’t care who it is.” Stacy and Izzy weren’t a surprise. I think she thinks she’s too good for him and she just expected that he’d fall in line, and she seemed surprised that he didn’t. He was pissed - “this is why you’re 33 and single…” ouch! The real MVP is Izzy’s mom. What a warm, kind person.

I have - well, “marriage is a contract,” which it is. I think more of us should factor that into our thinking when marrying, in addition to the romantic and religious (if you’re a person of faith) aspects. The big ticket compatibility topics should include finances. Stacy isn’t a nice person and I don’t agree with most of what she does, including some of her attitudes about money (e.g. “the man pays”), but I was with her in that conversation.

One of the women (Renee?) was wearing a bikini top (I know it wasn’t designed for swim, but it covered the same amount) to go gown shopping. She had on a similar two-piece outfit (bra-ish top & matching pants) at the party, but that’s a party. I had a similar argument with my sibling when we were roommates as adults. I 100% would not marry someone without doing a deep dive into their finances (I’m talking pulling and swapping credit reports), and I also wouldn’t marry someone who had different financial habits than I. “He’s bad with money,” well, we are incompatible. I continue to think Stacy is out. That conversation was really awkward - it was a scary mommy/chastened kid scenario. Izzy even said something to that effect, that he’s scared to upset her. That was driving me nuts. Somebody asked Coco Gauff on IG Live what she was going to do with her winnings, was she going to pay off debt? And she said she had no debt, and she pronounced it the way Izzy did - the social media joke was that she was so removed from debt that she didn’t even know how to say it. Izzy is clearly not in that category though! And I agree - $3500 is not bankruptcy debt, so what’s really going on? ”You don’t leave twice. When you leave, you’re gone.” I would not have guessed that Milton would be my favorite, but here we are.

“Do you not look at people’s stories that you’ve been fucking? ‘Cause I do!” DEAD. He wasn’t even looking at Uche for most of their conversation. You can tell Uche wanted to play this big brother role to Milton and Milton wanted nothing to do with it. Same with Izzy and Chris. Y’all aren’t friends! I’d have gotten up and left. “Think what you want. Best of luck in your marriage.” And Stacy and Izzy were still yammering on about Johnie when they got home. Y’all are engaged! Go to a cake tasting or something. Stacy will always make Izzy feel like he’s not enough. Also who has time to be scattering rose petals and shit every day? They have jobs. He’s in a new job, which may mean longer hours while he gets acclimated and proves himself. What does SHE do for HIM? When he told her he was hurt and felt unappreciated she was like “do more shit for me.” Even when she was telling him what she loved about him, it was all about her. She’s really self-absorbed. I don’t think she’ll say yes. He seems to love her; she seems more undecided. I liked Izzy’s mom a lot. She clearly loves her son and just seems very kind. She’s not really here for Stacy, I don’t think, but she’s trying. What Stacy wore is … not what I’d wear to meet a boyfriend/fiancé’s parent (she dressed a LOT more conservatively and formally to see her own family, down to a preppy headband). Her whole comportment was kind of too casual, from what she wore to how she was sitting. (No shade to the crop top - I have one that size, spaghetti straps and all. I just wouldn’t wear it to meet a parent for the first time.) Lydia had on a crop top too but her midriff was covered and her pants were at least dressy. Milton’s face when his sister was talking about their mom’s Googling was hilarious. (Milton’s mom is not here for any of this. Neither is his sister. That business analogy was savage.)

Yeah, Stacey is a snob, but like … Izzy, they sell plates and flatware at Target. It’s not that expensive. You grown; you had a job that presumably paid a decent wage (that was a pretty nice apartment); buy some plates. If she’d been like “ew, Target?” when she saw his flatware, that would be one thing but it’s not weird to expect that an adult would own plates. Lydia’s brother knows his sister. “So it wasn’t a discussion, you just said it was gonna be that way?” That was unnecessary drama and immature on Izzy’s part. I don’t think I’d go back to Johnie if I were Chris, but he’s an adult and made that decision - and Izzy wasn’t taking up for Chris anyway, he was trying to jump bad. I did like when Izzy said “if I can give you advice…” and Johnie said no, she didn’t need his advice. I don’t know if it was edited in but the Black woman’s “yikes” face when Uche showed up was hilarious. Yep. Compared with them arguing over IG stories (“I don’t know Instagram’s algorithm!”), Milton looked much more mature.

NO YOU DIDN’T

Who think he’s ridiculous already, and he’s just proving them right.

Y’all, this birthday card has me tearing up. I treasure the cards I have from my dad and grandparents and great aunts and uncles (we’re a big card family).

I mean, I took my late grandmother’s bed after she died - it’s a nice piece of furniture. My dad had his parents’ bedroom set. But, like … we aired things out first! Threw out the sheets!

Precious! I HATE when these people drag their kids into their bullshit.

Holy shit - this chick doesn’t know who Swaee’s dad is?! GIRL.

I have friends who work in restaurants - they say the same.

This guy Anthony sounds like he just got out of prison. I think there was an In Living Color sketch about it; he sounds like that.

Here! I’ll catch up!

Yikes!

Yeah. He wasn’t saying “you’re beautiful without it but you do you,” he was forbidding her from wearing it, which is gross. I’m on the record as thinking she looks better without it and/or with less of it, but she’s an adult and as she says, if she wants to wear makeup, she’s gonna wear makeup. He doesn’t get to tell her she can’t. I can see him being very popular with a certain kind of woman. The fireman/good ol’ boy thing is very appealing to some. I just realized I don’t know what Izzy is short for. ”I could pawn [the ring] and buy a few more rugs.” I fell out! Milton is funny. He and his roommate are adorable nerds, and their friendship is very sweet. Izzy and Stacy’s money conversation was interesting. 50/50 on a mortgage for a home he has no equity in (right, since it’s a premarital asset?) doesn’t seem like a good deal for him. Neither does Izzy footing the bill for all their entertainment.

She does look better without it though. So does Stacey. They both wear too much, and the wrong colors. Stacey looked much fresher and younger fresh out of bed. JP is boring as hell, and does everything he owns have a flag on it? Milt and Lydia are like a three-month casual non-exclusive thing. To Milton’s credit, while he does look young (he’s so gangly!) he’s got a sharp wit and can give it back to Lydia. I don’t see marriage for them though.

Kerok’s mother is going through chemo (she said in a previous episode that the chemo is causing discoloration in her skin, which is why she covers her face), so I cut her some slack. I really really REALLY hate Raneka’s wig though.

I’ve said this before but Louie’s mom really is an asshole. I was taught to respect my elders, but she would not speak to me the way she speaks to Melissa. Or parenting. I hate when these people drag their kids into their fuckery. Her son is adorable; her making some dude he’s never met his new dad is not. I was thinking “Mikey is really hard-looking,” and then they said he’d had two strokes and I felt bad. I do think it’s very sweet that he learned to sign. ”Well, that was awesome!” DEAD. That PI might be one of my favorite secondary characters.

Hi y’all - just popping in to say I’ll miss y’all tonight. I have a REALLY early day tomorrow and am going to bed early. Have fun!

Good for Chris, having some self-respect. He did the right thing. None whatsoever. They’re not a match at all. I was mad at Uche. Gave Aaliyah so much shit about her cheating and then waited all this time to tell her about Lydia. I was glad that Aaliyah had her own self-respect and bounced. Izzy and Stacy … I … guess? I don’t really like her so maybe that’s clouding things.

I found Johnie’s talk with Chris to be so cringe and if I were Chris I’d be insulted. “You’re the safe choice, you’re not exciting.” Ouch! She was like “I’m here because we had the most fun,” girl, stop. You’re there because you got dumped by the guy you really wanted. I commend Chris for saying that he didn’t want to be the safe choice, he wants to be the love of her life. I don’t think I’d have entertained the conversation. Stacy is really hard-looking and I think it’s partly because her makeup is … bad. Her foundation is a shade too light, her blush is too dark … she needs a makeunder. Everybody seems to go to Lydia for comfort. I wonder if that’s tiring for her? Neither JP nor Taylor is particularly attractive to me, and in the way you say. JP is, as you say, a regular-looking guy; Taylor is a bit too done, and could also use a makeunder. Lydia crying when Aaliyah was hugging her and saying how much she loves Uche takes on a whole new level when you learn that she dated Uche!