Frick and Frack
Sonja shares how she felt about Ramona's comments and how she feels about her interns.
Film for long enough and you are bound to see good friends have a tiff!
Firstly, I didn't blow off Ramona, Carole, and Aviva for lunch, I was sick. I was sad to miss such a beautiful lunch with goody bags! Ramona is always so thoughtful and goes out of her way to make her girlfriends happy. She takes you to lunch and brings a gift! I would think anyone would be appreciative. I'm staying with her this weekend in the Hamptons, and I am sure that my stay will be nothing short of spectacular!
Ramona and Lu always have tension between them, exclusive of me and all else! I love to tease both Ramona and Lu because it confirms to me that we are real friends that I can play with like that.
I spend a lot of time in Europe and have met plenty of royalty as Lu has, so I enjoy joking about her crown at dinner. In Europe, a title like Lu's means a lot, is stressed often, and is aaaaallllways made known in an introduction. I know in America it isn't, but believe me it is in Europe! I am here in Venice, now as I write this, and I can tell you every title has been made known at every lunch, dinner, and occasion. One's heritage and roots is something to be proud of and cherished. I think that is why placement seating at parties is so popular here. "Placement" is where they put a place card with your name in front of your plate so everyone knows your full name (including title if you have one). Sometimes just the last name says it all. Especially if it's Windsor, Malbrorough, or Borghese. It's not quite like Cheers!
It pains me to see Ramona trying so hard to be friends with Heather because Ramona has hundreds of amazing well-earned friends. I didn't realize until I saw this scene how much Ramona wants to be included. I am such a loner that I didn't catch it! As public as I seem with all my charity parties and entertaining, I actually spend a lot time in solitude and need it! Why Ramona would want to be included on Heather's trip is strange, because they are so uncomfortable together. But Ramona is still oblivious at this point that her and Heather are not on the same page.
Interns can be hard on me and I'm hard on them. They have no experience and I have little patience when they don't know how to address an envelope or can't put a date in the calendar properly (I mean literally, like with the right floor number or proper cross streets). But we need each other! They want a safe place to live in New York and to learn from the experiences of an old bag like me (they learn from my mistakes), and they get into the swing of NY instantaneously through the contacts I've built over my many years!
We work hard but we enjoy ourselves too. I have taken the interns to the most fabulous private apartments with art collections one would never typically see in a lifetime, movie premieres, galas, backstage at concerts, top restaurants, and top resort areas around the world. At the same time they learn to manage a calendar, finances, and all the comings and goings of a busy household of a single mom. Priceless experience I could have used ages ago! Oh, to have learned from someone else's mistakes. We go on fabulous trips as well! I took an intern when my dog Millou was nominated for a Golden Collar Award in Hollywood and another when we went to Palm Beach for my daughter's spring break! Despite the ups and downs, I still couldn't possibly manage all that I do without my team. Interns can train to do personal assisting, production assisting, styling, makeup, hair, PR, catering, social media, to legal assistant in this house! Believe me, we cover the gamut.
Millsaps is very loyal, caring, and is wonderful to have in the family. My daughter loves her too! Everyone does! Do we drive each other crazy? Yes! We learn as we go. No one is perfect. We are part of a team. Sometimes the team is lacking a key member, but that's life! When we aren't nose to the grindstone, we know how to enjoy life and know what's in important in life -- building meaningful relationships that last! We have the summer in the Hamptons, and me to St Tropez and then Millsaps leaves to go back to school for her Masters! She will be missed terribly! She will always have a place to stay in NY with us and she'll definitely get a great reference!
Being on the cover of Social Life magazine was a great honor for me! Justin Mitchell, the publisher (who is movie star handsome), and his editor Devorah Rose are experts at what they do (speaking of meaningful relationships built over the years). Their magazine is very high quality and is distributed in THE most exclusive vacation enclave to Manhattan (The Hamptons), so you can see why I was so honored to be on the cover.
I did invite Prince Lorenzo Borghese to my cover party, so of course Lu would mention him and they were having dinner afterwards. Lorenzo is an old friend and he and I do animal charity work together so he came to support me on my special night.
That moment with Ramona actually made me cry. Because I know Ramona doesn't really feel that way about me. She was really hurt that she was not included and displaced her anger on me. Not sure why because she doesn't know Heather well but that doesn't change the pain Ramona is feeling. I didn't know she had a miff with Heather either. However Heather has no obligation to invite her regardless of how hurt she feels.
I'm not invited on every trip that Ramona makes. Nor she with me. It was Ramona's loss to leave such a great party! She should have been there for me that night and these feelings she has about being excluded should have been discussed at another time. Really, her issue is with Heather and I'm always there to listen, but not at my cover launch party with all my other friends and associates in attendance. I was blindsided!
Being friends with Ramona means knowing how she is and how she operates. One has to accept the way that she is or not be in a relationship with her. It doesn't make her a bad person. Rewarding bad behavior doesn't work either. If Ramona rants and raves and tries to control the situation in order to get invited, that doesn't mean Heather has to bow if she is not comfortable sharing her trip abroad. One has to draw boundaries with Ramona. That's why Ramona and I are still good friends and respect each other in the end.
Ramona knows that I don't blow with the wind. I make my own decisions and I don't sweat the small stuff. When Heather asked me to go to London, I didn't ask who else was going. I was going to be with Heather -- to form a new friendship and to be in London again!
I have a full plate right now with no divorce settlement, meaning everything in limbo. My business is my priority. I saw a window to take off and enjoy a new friend and I wanted to take it! I think once Ramona gets over the fact that she wasn't invited, and her feelings, she would be happy for me. I need a break -- to have fun, laugh, and not be judged. These girls seem like they want to have fun too!
Shall we tune in next week to see how "Frick and Frack" handle this tiff? What happens with the trip? Can the trip be fun without my sidekick? Everyone thinks Ramona controls me. Does she? Do I stay for Ramona in the end? Or does Ramona win and get invited? She always wins! What do you think?
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