All about the newbies! While the majority of The Real Housewives of New York City’s seventh season has focused on original Housewives Ramona Singer, Sonja Morgan, LuAnn de Lesseps, and the returning Bethenny Frankel, the July 21 episode, “Awfully Charitable,” shifted focus to the group’s newer additions. Carole Radziwill, Heather Thomson, Kristen Taekman, and Dorinda Medley took center stage this week as they held a charity drive and later bonded over enduring grief. Just exactly did it all work out? Read the recap to find out!
The Ladies Move In to a New House, But They Don't Move On From a Feud
Homeless no more! After a season of complaining about being the richest homeless person in human history, Bethenny Frankel has finally found a place to put down some roots. She happily bounced around her new pad, showing off the place to Carole, who noted that Frankel had already painted her walls Skinnygirl red. Frankel still had tons of work to do, though, and joked to Radziwill that she was worried she would have to bribe people with sexual favors to get her place finished in a timely matter.
At that point, Radziwill decided it was time to recount to Frankel the second part of the “Don't Be All, Like, Uncool” saga. “The Countess is back,” warned Radziwill as she relayed de Lesseps’ accusations against her and Heather Thomson.
Bethenny pointed out that de Lesseps could’ve simply thought that Heather and Carole were trying to bust her by storming into her room with no warning at such an early hour, especially after all the drama that went down two seasons ago with the Johnny Depp look-alike pirate in St. Barts. But Radziwill claimed that they were doing nothing of the sort, and that it was ridiculous for de Lesseps to accuse them otherwise. After hearing all the facts, Frankel declared herself to be Switzerland, and decided to step back from this particular Housewife smackdown.
There's a Special Place in Hell for Female Entrepreneurs Who Don't Support Other Female Entrepreneurs
Kristen Taekman was very excited to lose her “charity event virginity” at a denim drive for SmileTrain. Taekman was convinced that the event would be a huge success because, in her words, “denim never goes out of style!”
The charitable spirit infected the rest of the Housewives, too, as Medley viewed the fundraiser as a chance to make up with Thomson after their numerous Turks and Caicos fights. Dorinda wanted to get back to the “pure” relationship they developed when they met back in the country, and Thomson was willing to oblige even though she admitted to being scared by the darker side Medley had shown on the trip. After an incredibly confusing talk that compared chaos and crayons, the women agreed to hug it out and move on.
As one truce was made, another fight brewed when Singer realized that her donation of True Faith jewelry was not being acknowledged by the event. She took this gesture as an affront to sisterhood and the female entrepreneurial spirit. But when she brought up the fact that her jewelry wasn’t mentioned in any of the press material, Thomson dismissed her concerns. With a roll of her eyes, Heather encouraged Singer to “take a walk” before ignoring her comments entirely. Thomson even refused to clarify her feelings in her talking head, dismissing the question with a stilted “Bye bye, Felicia!”
A Different Kind of Coffee Talk
A true Housewife understands the value of a good psychic. Therefore, a day after Vicki Gunvalson and the Real Housewives of Orange County talked to a medium, the New York Housewives tried to improve their own psychic health via a “Turkish Coffee Clairvoyant” who connected to the spiritual world by reading coffee grinds. But while the OC Housewives were skeptical of their spiritual help, the New York Housewives had much greater success.
Radziwill was first up to talk to the clairvoyant, who was convinced of the woman’s legitimacy thanks to a story about a scratch she received on her jeep around the time of her husband's death. While Radziwill was comforted by the psychic's ability, she was less comforted by the psychic's claims that the spirits of her late husband and her father (who is alive!) were always hovering around her. “Not all the time!” she hoped, claiming that it wasn't comforting to always be hounded spiritually by her nearest and dearest.
Thomson was up next, and the clairvoyant soothed her with comforting words about her son Jax's upcoming surgery to reconstruct his ears. She was in tears at the good news that everything was going to be okay for her son, who was already having a stellar episode since he received WWE SummerSlam tickets for his 10th birthday.
Medley was the last to go, and the psychic told her about her loves both current and past. All the ladies got and good chuckle when the psychic said she was being too hard on her boyfriend, John. Things quickly turned emotional as Medley spoke of the days after her husband’s death and how she found comfort in a red balloon that miraculously floated into the house. Medley was convinced that the psychic was the real deal, as the three ladies left her place in much higher spirits.
Guess Who's Being Talked About at Carole's Dinner
After ten years of living in her apartment, Radziwill decided it was time to throw her very first dinner party. Thankfully her younger boyfriend, Adam, was a chef and would be able to help her out with a lot of the work.
Radzi invited Thomson and Taekman over to partake in the evening because she felt comfortable around them, and the evening seemed to go over well as the hostess recounted her first big fight with Adam, who seemed to have no memory of the event. The ladies at the dinner party seemed to be enthusiastic about Radziwill's relationship, and Thomson said that the chemistry and life experience between them made them a good match, age difference be damned!
The subject changed to Radziwill’s late husband once Dorinda called to check in about their planned trip to London to collect his ashes. After their chat, Thomson asked how Adam was handling her status as a widower. Although Carole said she didn’t talk about it with him, she knew that he was reading her memoir, What Remains, about the loss of her husband. The discussion turned to Medley’s more recent loss, but Taekman lightened the mood when she accidentally said she was excited to meet the ashes of Carole’s husband. The three women laughed as Taekman realized her faux pas.
Eventually, it was time for Radziwill and Medley to jet to Europe. The pair bonded before boarding their plane by discussing the grief they felt when they lost their other halves, smiling when reminiscing about happy moments and tearing up when remembering the sad ones. The women grew closer as they found a kindred spirit in each other through their widowhood. In fact, the two got so wrapped up in their conversation that they nearly missed their flight! Thankfully, they caught the plane and embarked on their emotional trip together.
Tell Us: Did Carole and Dorinda reminiscing about their beloved late husbands make you teary-eyed too?
