I Laughed, I Cried, I Cringed

What a roller coaster ride watching this week's episode was for me! I laughed, I cried, I CRINGED! How about you? I am really intrigued by Stacie's story and how it is unfolding. I know it has been a work in progress for her over the last few years. I have deep empathy for her quest to find her birth mother and father. Until I heard Stacie's story that was something I definitely took for granted, it made me appreciate the gift God has given me with my own parents. I also loved seeing Stacie with her "real world" girlfriends from Howard University. I may have been born and raised in Virginia, but even I know what a huge event the Howard Homecoming is to its Alumni! It was nice to see how supportive and encouraging they are of Stacie. I had mixed emotions watching the scene at Contemporaria in Georgetown. It's one of my favorite places and happens to be owned by Deborah Kalkstein, an incredibly talented Peruvian born classically trained architect and interior designer who is one of my dearest friends. I was slightly mortified when I threw out an idea about black walls and Cat and Jason had some rather caustic words of opinion. I was actually proud of myself by expressing to them the need to show respect and also loved watching myself continue to laugh and have fun with them dealing with the issue and moving on. A true friend will speak the truth, express honest feelings and deal with issues with no hard feelings. The three of us have that deep of a relationship and mutual respect that we can keep it REAL and honest. Believe me, I have been on the other end when I have done something unintentionally offensive to Cat and she was honest and truthful about how I had made her feel. I so appreciate her openness, honesty, integrity as a treasured true friend. DC is NOT "Hollywood for Ugly People!" I get offended by that statement! We have highly intelligent and motivated achievers here! The DC Area's diversity isn't shown as much as I would like so far in the series. I have been fortunate enough to get to see a lot of different sides to our city and the people who live here- I enjoy all of them. Congressmen, Senators, Lobbyists, Generals, White House employees, etc. They aren't just Republicans and Democrats to me, they are neighbors and parents with kids who I went to school and church with.From National to local level politics,from charitable events to local PTA's, DC is about people to me, not about what policies they are promoting or fighting. I love interacting with people with diverse opinions and attitudes on a real and human level. Thankfully there is no shortage of that here in DC! I only hope our leaders across the Potomac can adapt a less partisan way of operating and affect positive change for our great nation! Off that soapbox and onto the Oasis Winery Grape Stomp! It is a spectacular piece of land and you can tell it was designed for entertaining. The "Thompson Seedless grape stomp" was actually fun! I was glad, (and a bit jealous in retrospect) when Cat and Jason B left, as I was relaxed and doing what I love to do, being present and making the best of a beautiful day, no matter who, where and what is the situation. Believe me, I did my best! The end of the evening was tortuous to say the least, and difficult to navigate around Michaele's defensive and distasteful comments throughout the evening. The truth is, Michaele has known Lynda for years, has been a guest at her home, and at one point had a professional relationship with her as well. I do want to also clarify that I in no way intend to be judgmental about anyone when it comes to their choice of career. EVER. I honor and respect all people who work hard at any profession. Unfortunately, I appear to be a bit catty when sharing with Cat in the car ride out to for our polo lesson that Michaele sold me cosmetics at Nordstrom in the 90's. For this I humbly apologize for appearing judgmental. It was merely me stating the facts about how I know Michaele. I have fond memories of Michaele from back then, she was incredibly talented as a makeup artist and remember her fondly being the bubbly, happy and gorgeous tall blonde as you entered the store! Virginia horse and wine country really is spectacular in the fall, (if you ever have a chance to visit, make it happen!) The drive out reminded me of visiting my Grandfather in that area as a child, the rolling hills always made me think there was an ocean on the other side of them and I love how quickly you can be from DC to the country. It's pretty unique and I have always enjoyed taking the kids to pumpkin patches, mazes, farms and cider stands. Seeing it makes me excited for sweaters, boots and jeans and crisp Fall mornings in DC! The ride down gave us a chance to hear about the Black Caucus dinner incident involving the Salahis with Jason and Ted in tow. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it! All I know is that Jason B was blowing up my phone with text messages at the event in complete shock and disbelief at what he was witnessing. I would never crash a party, much less something the President was scheduled to attend. I couldn't imagine many people who would, so perhaps there is a credible explanation coming up.... It was obvious the Turners couldn't make heads or tails of anything either- I think it was definitely curiosity that led all of us down there. I loved Jason T's line about it being "tantamount to Stacie crashing a Daughters of the American Revolution" party! Too funny! I will choose not to address the very upsetting and absolutely made up and false accusations of the Salahi's about my daughter and will take the high road here on this, knowing the truth as I do. My daughter, Lolly is the furthest thing from a criminal and while I certainly don't consider myself or my children perfect, I was outraged at their ludicrous and shocking allegation, but enough on that for now. The fact that I have made a very personal decision to create a barrier for my daughters and my closet is not due to any mistrust in them in any way shape or form. Simply, its a matter of convenience to keep track of my belongings and allow my girls to borrow anything their hearts desire, teaching them the principle of respecting others and asking appropriately. I love my girls to look great and they know very well they are welcome to anything and everything, just on my terms of "asking first!" I love to share what I have been fortunate enough to afford, especially when it comes to looking great and being stylish, particularly when it comes to my gorgeous girls! The Ted Gibson scene made me smile. I can't help myself, I LOVE Ted Gibson.Ted and his husband/business partner Jason are just like any old married couple that likes to laugh, and poke fun at each other. I know the deep love and commitment that they share for each other and spending time with them makes my day! I didn't like how I seem to suggest that I was introducing them to "all the important people in DC", as that job is well above my pay grade and social connections, I just wanted to introduce him to people who could benefit from his incredible talent of making a woman of any age feel beautiful. I'm excited that you will see more of Ted and Jason and their talents as the season progresses. They were so generous with their time and resources in showing support for my charity Labels for Love as we hosted the Modus Union event. Check out our website www.labelsforlove.org for our next event coming on November 4th! Thank you all for your support and kind words over the last weeks! This was an enormous risk to throw myself and my family out into this "reality" world. As a family, we jumped into this for all positive reasons, mainly to promote our charity work with an opportunity to help others on a larger scale with exposure as well as sharing our story of being a family. I am very proud of my family and its refreshing to hear about how many of you relate to us as a family. Keep up the positive feedback, we are all loving it! Thank you for hanging in there with us! As I believe with all my heart, the truth WILL prevail!