A Brewing Feud

Ohhh boy, welcome back! Filming this season was a wild ride, and I for one can't wait to see what it's going to look like. So much drama, so many poignant moments, so many times when I felt like my heart was so full it might burst ... or was that my head and eyes?

In between seasons, Simon and I wrote a book together, Little Kids, Big City, which comes out April 6th. It’s about the craziness that goes along with raising young children in the city, with the good, the bad and the downright ugly. We go to places few parents do when it comes to speaking frankly (and sometimes sarcastically) about the frustrating but rewarding full time job of being parents.

When you last saw me (filming the Season 2's Reunion Special), I had been recently laid off from Victoria's Secret corporate, and I felt the newly jobless panic that so many of us did. When you lose your job, the fear and anxiety is overwhelming, regardless of your circumstances. I was one of the lucky ones – I received a good severance package and went into business for myself. These days I work with retail clients doing everything from graphics and event planning to merchandising and store fixtures. Right now I am planning the March opening party for Second Time Around’s newest location in Philadelphia, and running the in-store renovation for Willoughby's Camera, which includes new showrooms for Leica and Pentax. After balancing corporate America with home, family and shooting the show, I’m thrilled to be able to set my own hours and work from home often, though my friends will tell you I definitely work longer hours now!

Over the summer, Simon and I ran into Ramona and Mario several times -– their ice and our apathy had begun to thaw a bit, so when she invited me to join her for a day on the boat I accepted, and we decided to start afresh. Almost the moment we left the pier the drama began, though not with me…yet. Ramona brought out her newest jewelry pieces and Jill and LuAnn were offended -– not sure why. I dove in and tried things on; why not play with sparkly things on a gorgeous day? The group quickly divided in half, and after I had my fill of wine and jewelry I threw on a bikini (thanks, Jennifer!) and went to lay out on the bow. I was almost asleep when suddenly Jill and LuAnn popped up on either side of me like one of those “whack-a-mole” games, to fill me in on the brewing feud. Apparently Mario made a sly comment about LuAnn that wasn’t very nice. LuAnn wanted Ramona to apologize, and refused to confront Mario about it. That’s where she lost me. I get really frustrated when people tell Simon something meant for me, and vice versa. We have a very close relationship, but we’re not interchangeable! Neither are Mario and Ramona. If a guy ever does something to annoy me I take it up with him directly, not his wife.

Eventually everyone settled down and LuAnn and Ramona smoked a peace pipe, or rather downed a peace shot. We had a great lunch and afternoon, during which Jill brought up that she and Bethenny hadn't spoken in months and weren’t getting along. I had heard bits and pieces of this before, but hadn’t seen Bethenny all summer myself. That afternoon I kept an open mind – in the moment it seemed like both "sides" had reasons for the way they felt; how wrong I was. Stay tuned for more on that...