Bravo?

I spent the better part of last night planted on my couch with a sleeping dog on my lap tuned into the TV station Bravo. The quality programming that Bravo had planned for me included The "Real" Housewives of Atlanta and The Rachael Zoe Project. I'm going to start with Rachael.

This is a woman who dresses people for a living. People of the celebrity variety, of course. She picks out their clothes for award shows, movie openings, magazine photo shoots... things like that. And I have to say, as I was sitting there watching her pick out a dress for Jennifer Gardner, I had to wonder... Our economy is going down the drain and yet this woman makes her living finding things to wear for other people. Is this really a necessity? Even for those who have money to flush like these celebrities she obsesses over for weeks before the Oscars? And the thing I find most amazing, is that no one every pays for anything! (so much for helping the economy...) Everything is borrowed from the people who design it and returned afterward. Right down to the shoes on their feet and the diamonds in their ear lobes. It's a continuation of playing dress up like we did when we were kids. Only instead of mom's old dresses from the '70s they are dresses designed by Oscar de la Renta. Well, here is my shout out to any designers that might be reading... I'd be happy to wear your clothes and then send them back to you! Call me! ;)

Then we move on to the Housewives... The "Real" in the title made me laugh! There is nothing real about their lives. Between the mansions they live in to the amount of money they spend on clothes, bags and shoes, the normalcy of their lives has long since disappeared. My favorite scene of the show was when they were showing one of the women getting her kids ready for school. She was complaining how her NBA star husband travels so much and is never home and that she feels like a single mom. A single mom with a cook, two maids and a nanny for each kid. That sounds real to me!

My other favorite scene was the mother who threw her 11 year old daughter a birthday party that cost $18,000. A sleepover in a hotel suite for 10 kids complete with a limo ride to get there and a fashion show at a nearby clothing boutique. And then the mother wondered if she was spoiling her...

Why do I watch these shows do you ask? Because as much as these shows drive me crazy, they are also strangely therapeutic. They make me realize how real my life is. And that makes me happy.