Lydia McLaughlin: It Does Nothing for Me to Have Women Fight

This episode is full of emotions! We start off still at Ava's birthday party again, and as the video clearly shows, Shannon storms off without hearing what I was trying to say and without letting me explain myself. Tamra does explain to me where Shannon is coming from, and how even hearing Vicki's name upsets her... however, she tells me this AFTER Shannon is already upset with me. After I have already brought it up and the damage is done. She doesn't keep asking me to stop talking about it, so I kept bringing it up. That's just not what happened as you can clearly see. I say, "lesson learned," and I try to learn from this experience with Shannon. I don't want to ruffle any feathers or cause drama. I even advise Peggy before dinner not to mention Vicki's name.

It has been insinuated by some of the other ladies that I was trying to stir things up. This couldn't be further from my heart. I was trying to smooth things over and advocate moving forward. It does nothing for me to have women fight. It upsets me. Why would I want someone to fight? That is an attack on my character and I am offended by that. If I could do it over again - would I mention Vicki to Shannon? Of course not! However, hind sight is 20/20 and you will see I don't continue to talk about Vicki to Shannon.

I am excited that you get to see Doug and I working together on NOBLEMAN Magazine. This is something I am very proud of and a huge part of my life. That day, we were coming against a lot of deadlines and I was stressed out. Doug is pretty much always calm, cool and collected. He is great at calming me and we make a good team as we balance each other out. Launching a new brand takes an incredible amount of work. Anytime Doug does, he does it with perfection and makes sure it is amazing. I’m excited for you to see more of us working together.

Choosing the cover for the magazine is one of my favorite parts of the process. For that issue we got an exclusive with Matt Damon. This was a dream for us, and a huge moment for our team to have Matt for our cover. NOBLEMAN was the only print publication granted an interview with Matt for the season. You can see our photos and interview in the Spring 2017, Matt Damon issue, currently available at www.noblemanmagazine.com. When I'm not at that office, I'm working on my jewelry line, Lydia M, which you see me wearing throughout this season. You can check it out at www.oclydia.com.

I love getting to see insight into Peggy and Diko. Her story is so powerful, and I am grateful that she is using her voice to inspire others. When Diko says Peggy is his soul mate, Doug and I both looked at each other and smiled while we were watching. They have such a sweet marriage and I am glad we all can watch them and remember what is truly important.

Kelly's Low Blows

The Quiet Woman was out of control. I was so happy Shannon and I made up and started over. Shannon mentions in her previous blog that I quickly judged her the first time we met. Well, again my actions speak loud and clear. Even after she stormed off on me, I still decided to meet with her and have an open mind and try to become friends. She can be very funny and we were having a lovely girls night. I do regret not apologizing to her when she apologies to me. At the time, I felt I was misunderstood and felt I didn't do anything wrong. But, I could have apologized for upsetting her. I am sorry about that, and that was never my intention.

When Kelly walked in I knew there would be trouble. I obviously invited Kelly and she had said no. I didn't feel the need to tell the girls I invited her because she wasn't coming. She was on a boat in the middle of the harbor! When Tamra said she saw Kelly walk in the door, I quickly got up to go to Kelly and ask her why she was here! Unfortunately, I didn't get to talk to her in time and she was already in a confrontation with Shannon in the bathroom.

I was very impressed that Tamra kept her composure at the QW. She was upset with Kelly, just as Shannon was, but Tamra was able to control her emotions. I still left that dinner embarrassed and sad for everything that happened.

As you can see from my reactions, I just wanted everyone to "hug it out" and have a toast and move forward. Watching it now, I realize there are a lot of issues going on between the women that I had no idea about. I really haven't been in the loop the past few years, and I wish I had understood in the moment what I understand now.

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