Be Brooklynized

Brain dead. That would be me tonight. Very long day, but when you see the reunion special on May 12th it’s going to be amazing. I can’t wait to see it myself, and I was there!! But enough about things I can’t talk about; let’s get onto the business at hand…

Happy Halloween! I enjoy episodes like this one when it’s obvious that the events took place a few months ago, to give people an idea of the lead-time from filming to airing. Someone emailed me last week to congratulate a fellow Aries on the birthday earrings, and this Libra was momentarily confused.

Opening night at the opera was September 22nd, and I was very happy to wear the FEED corset that Simon bought for me at the Go Green Expo last year. Designed by Maggie Norris, a great couturier, the corset was made using 3 FEED bags. Part of the donation Simon made that night went to the Amazon Rainforest project , and the balance went to feed 176 children at school for a year. See http://www.wfp.org/node/404 . Maggie paired the corset with a nifty little water bottle holder that she created using found objects; leather from a pair of boots, buttons from a military jacket, etc. What a great way to send a message to the world – and different than a t-shirt or hat. And yes, the opera that night was amazing! Renée Fleming was as fabulous as ever, and it was the first time I had heard anything from Manon live, which was exciting.

We had a fabulous time carving pumpkins with the boys Halloween evening, and you can see the beginning of the costume I wore later. We had to get the boys out of their costumes momentarily as they were superheroes, which couldn’t be cleared for filming. This was the first year both boys could actually hold the knives – it’s fun to see the different stages they were in. François was actually able to carve out part of his, and Johan did a little poking with the knife and a lot of scooping with the spoon. I was just happy we did both pumpkins from start to finish while we filmed!! In our neighborhood there’s a big Halloween parade and real, door-to-door trick-or-treating just like I remember as a kid. Everyone sits out on their stoop with candy, so it’s kind of like a big multi-block party. It was so much fun! I did jump up on my pro-Brooklyn soapbox; I just can’t help myself. Would I trade our experience for going door to door in a high-rise apartment building? No. Do I think everyone in Manhattan should move to Brooklyn? Absolutely not; that would ruin it for those who live here. Brooklyn is incredibly diverse with many neighborhoods that are very different from one another. The area we live in, Cobble Hill,or BoBoCa (Boerum Hill / Cobble Hill / Carroll Gardens) has great schools, restaurants and shops and is a wonderful place for young families. I really love living where we do.

Once the kids were situated back inside with their treasure (ahem) candy, we headed out to a few parties. Second on the list was Kelly’s party. We arrived, later than most as we had spent lots of time with the kids and been to another party. I was worried about us being overly late, but when we arrived Kelly wasn’t there yet. Traffic was crazy, but if you’re the hostess, you should be there. We went upstairs, saw the gang and Simon immediately started to overheat in that Moose costume. Fun factoid – Simon’s costume was the same one used on the infamous Saturday Night Live skit and had just been returned by them when he picked it up. Guess there’s only one moose on the loose at a time in this town. Anyway, after leaving the Dream hotel we headed to another party downtown – it was a great night.

Bethenny and I had lunch to catch up and touch base about the logo. She remarked that I seemed to “get” her and her sense of humor. That’s true; I do. The only time I ever have a problem with Bethenny, or anyone else for that matter, is when things are said behind my back that are 180° from what was said in person. Call me whatever you want to call me, but have the consistency and gumption to do that face to face. She raved about what I’d done at that meeting and I have an inkling she (and you) will see the finished version before the season is out. Let’s see what she says then and whether it gels with her recent blog comments.