I Hate Jill Zarin Bethenny Getting Married? Lost Footage

I Hate Jill Zarin       Bethenny Getting Married?   Lost Footage                    August 14, 2010

We start with The Stroller Lessons, talk about neurotic, Bethenny is panicking because she’s worried about not being able to remember all of the different functions of the stroller and it is making her even more unable to pay attention to the lesson and gets nothing out of it.  OMG Pregnant Bethenny is loony!

Next we see Bethenny having lunch with her friends Lauren and Jake.  She tells us that it has been a crazy couple of months and it is nice to have just a normal lunch.  This would have been filmed shortly after the completion of the filming of RHONY and I can see why she’s relieved to be with true friends.  They briefly touch on schools and we learned with Alex McCord that you will need to apply to get into the school you want immediately.  The three friends also talk about a baby concierge to help with all of the different aspects of having a baby.  Bethenny scoffs at the idea.

In the next scene, Bethenny has a meeting with a Baby Concierge, with the baby in her arms, so obviously this is several months later,  they go over many of the different things that new mom’s who are businesswomen and know nothing of having babies need to know.   Cookie walks over delivering some tidbits of food to Bethenny and her guest, Cookie is covered with what looks like scrambled egg droppings?   It turns out Gina, the baby nanny from heaven may not be a wiz in the kitchen but enjoys eating. 

I didn’t completely understand why Bethenny was showing her apartment to prospective buyers, I thought that she and Jason purchased the apartment but based on the fact that she was forced to show it, tells me that she is renting.  I thought it was hysterical that she lifted her shirt and pretended to drink a beer but Julie’s brilliant idea of asking who in the building smokes weed was beyond genius!   It was all pretty rotten to do to the landlord, but really funny nonetheless!  We then learn it was Jason’s idea, that guy has a hell of a sense of humor, I can see why Bethenny loves him! 

Max and Julie’s small altercation in the Skinnygirl office seemed to me to be a senseless, they talked in circles and it seemed to me that was all for the camera’s.  Neither wanted to give any ground so as not to look bad on television.   In the end, Max needed to show a little more respect to Julie, she is so obviously the brains of the outfit.

I really enjoyed seeing more scenes from Bethenny and Jason’s wedding, it looked like a really fun party.  A formal wedding at the Four Seasons could have been a very stuffy and snobby event but with the fun guests that were invited, there was no way that was going to happen.  That dance floor was on fire.  We did catch a glimpse of Alex and Simon again at the wedding.

Did Shawn really call Bethenny and tell her that they can’t secure red roses for the wedding?  Who does that?  Red roses are one flower that is available all year long, maybe they all sold out for Valentine ’s Day?  Shawn, what are you thinking?

We then see a montage of Bethenny’s friends and I’m disappointed not to see Alex, I think the show downplayed Alex’s friendship with Bethenny.  They are very close and in fact speak on the phone almost daily and see each other frequently.  In any case this segment was actually about Bethenny’s very best friend, Cookie! 

Bethenny and Max enjoy a nice lunch together but it turns into a pop culture quiz for the diners next to them.  Max uses the term “wife up” as a reference to getting married and Bethenny had not heard that before so she asks the other diners if they’d heard it.  Let’s face it, there is no way Max is smart enough to have come up with that himself, it must be a new term that the young guys are using.  I will admit that I can certainly see why this scene was cut out of the original episodes, it was a bit over the top, even for Bethenny.

I was very interested to hear more about the telephone conversation between Jason’s mom and Bethenny’s mom.  It seemed during the season that it was merely a quick phone call with Jason’s mom simply informing Bonnie that Bethenny wasn’t home and that she was in labor.  In actuality we learned that it was a 20-minute phone call and Mrs. Hoppy filled B’s mom in on some details about her son. 

The tasting at the venue for the rehearsal dinner I had seen before, I think it was one of the bonus footage clips on Bravotv.com, but it was so nice to see Bethenny and Shawn laughing and joking together with no stress. 

How cute was the matching outfits that Bethenny got for her friend’s son and baby Bryn?  Without missing a beat Bethenny’s one liner of “He’s just not that into you” was hysterical when the little boy cried at the site of Bryn. 

I thought the lost footage was well worth the hour as we got to see more of the beautiful baby Bryn along with some really funny moments of Bethenny’s life.  It is so amazing that her home is full of love, laughter and good friends as well as the most wonderful husband and Bethenny deserves it all!

I do think that there will be a second season for a few reasons.  Bethenny sent a tweet out a few weeks ago asking fans what they thought the name of the show should be for Season Two, I don’t think she would have done that had she not been considering coming back for another season.  As for Bravo’s end of the equation, why wouldn’t they?  I would guess that it is substantially less expensive to produce Bethenny’s show than a housewives show, as there are less “stars” to pay the big money to and they’ve got a ratings hit on their hands so it seems like a no-brainer to me!  I look forward to a Season Two.

Don’t forget to check out a few other web sites:

http://thereallyoldhousewivesofmanateecounty.blogspot.com/

http://therhblogcentral.com/

http://www.realitywives.net/  This is a chat site that was set up by @real_housewives and Stacey opens it during the shows for anyone who wants to chat. 

Don’t forget to submit any categories that you have for the First Annual Housewives Twitter Awards, send to @followinyoazz on Twitter, beginning August 18 you can send her your votes in each category.  To view each category, you can go to @followinyoazz twitter page and look at her “favorites”.  Fun! 

Finally, I was sent this long article about the Michaele and her husband’s winery, Oasis, thank you to our anonymous contributor, she’s a great lady who reads the blogs but no longer comments …

Casey Margenau was one of the people who went on Larry King, Joy Behar, and other people to defend the DC S(a)Limeys (not to be confused with Slade Slimey) when the WH party crashing incident took place.

Margenau has a reputation as an angel investor buying the Oasis Winery out of bankruptcy for Tareq Salahi and 80 acres in Bealeton that he rents back to a church for a nominal sum to run a program for at-risk youths.

Margenau’s real estate license was put on probation for two years from February 3, 2009, and he was fined $2,800 by the Virginia Real Estate Board and ordered to attend ethics classes. The board charged him with unworthiness and incompetence.

The charges included that Margenau, without the consent of the owners, was renting out property that he was supposed to be selling.

According to Fauquier real property records, the Salahi parents still own the the physical property, together with the Salahi Family Limited Partnership. I don’t know if Tareq is included in the partnership or not. He and Michaele NEVER owned Oasis. He liked to say he did but at most he owned 5%. 

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As a teenager, Tareq Salahi grew up helping his father plant and cultivate the vineyard he started in 1975 on a postage-stamp parcel in Fauquier County. Salahi, 38, became enamored with the wine business, gaining apprenticeships at vineyards in Australia and Napa Valley, and helping to build Oasis Vineyard near Hume into an operation that sold 18,000 cases last year.

In recognition of his passion for making wine, his father pledged to sell the vineyard to him one day for a dollar, Salahi recalls.

Last week in a Fauquier County courtroom, a year long feud over the ownership and operation of Oasis came to quiet closure. During a hearing in circuit court Nov. 27, attorneys presented Judge Jeffrey W. Parker with an agreed order that all parties had approved N. Casey Margenau’s offer to buy the property and assets of Oasis Vineyard Inc. for $4.15 million.

Margenau’s offer apparently exceeded that of Tuscan Ventures LLC, a holding company widely believed to be controlled by Miami Heat basketball player Shaquille O’Neal, which bid $4 million.

“In a game of one-on-one I took Shaq on and won,” said Margenau, a McLean Realtor who is one of the top brokers on the East Coast. “This is not charity, but I am helping a friend. I’m just giving Tareq a vehicle to realize his dreams.”

Margenau, 48, acknowledged that what he knows about the wine business could “fit in Tareq’s pinkie,” adding that “if this vineyard left family hands, he’d be crushed.”

The new owner is a long time friend and confidante of the Salahis. Casey and his wife Molly introduced Tareq to his now wife Michaele at their holiday party in 2000, and both were in their wedding. “Tareq has spent 30 years of his life trying to make the vineyard something,” Margenau said. “Shaq liked his ideas so much that he tried to buy the vineyard without him.”

O’Neal’s manager, Mike Parris, did not return phone calls for comment.

This is not Margenau’s first angel investment in Fauquier County. He also owns 80 acres in Bealeton that he rents back to a church for a nominal sum to run a program for at-risk youths. He also owns two rental properties in the county. Much of his real estate business is in Fairfax County, where his ReMax-associated firm, Margenau & Associates, books an average $180 million per year in real estate closings. For the preceding five years, he was ranked the top ReMax agent in the world.

“Justice prevailed at the end of the day,” Salahi said. “My mom was trying to ruin it and there was nothing good about Shaq’s offer because it contained so many contingencies. Casey wants to preserve Oasis. We’re very grateful for his support.”

Corrine Salahi was not available for comment. “I’m not speaking with my mom,” Salahi said. “She wants to put my dad away in a nursing home and she has betrayed the whole family. She can’t be forgiven for this betrayal.”

Thus ended a family saga which Tareq likens to the soapy 1980’s television series, Falcon Crest. “My dad and I started side by side making the wines,” he said. “I planted my first vines when I was eight years old and this is the only thing I know … Bushogging and bottling all these years.”

The new owner has pledged to lease back the 108-acre vineyard for him to run. “To me this is a real estate deal,” Margenau said. “It’s more like buying a shopping center and leasing it back to skilled managers.”

A vineyard grows

After receiving a degree in business management and oenology from the University of California at Davis, Salahi became managing director of Oasis in 1994, helping to direct operations while his father Dirgham coasted into retirement and his mother Corrine ran a Montessori school in Alexandria. “My mother was never here,” Tareq recalled. “She’s only reappeared in the last two years.”

The younger Salahi created the vineyard’s vaunted Meritage line, which won Gold Medals at 1994 and 1996 world wine championships, and in 1998 he launched a Cuvee “Celebration” sparkling wine, which also garnered top awards. With a brand of enthusiasm that would make P.T. Barnum blush, the prodigal son criss-crossed the world promoting the Oasis brand, playing polo at Windsor Castle against Prince Charles and hosting the world polo championships last May at Morven Park, featuring the band “Journey.”

By last year, the vineyard was producing as many as 18,000 cases per year, and Salahi had launched a successful limousine business, as well as a wine distribution and bottled water business. Wine Country Tours eventually grew into a 12-vehicle fleet, with limos, sedans, vans and motor coaches that delivered the vineyard 50 percent of its traffic last year. “Tourism has become a big part of the picture,” Salahi said

He calls the Piedmont wine-making region “the Napa valley of the East Coast, and he has big plans for the vineyard, such as a high-end bed and breakfast and a culinary school. “It’s a very grandiose plan that could take in a lot of money,” Margenau said. “Tareq has been a brilliant marketer who has made Oasis the biggest brand in Virginia.”

Three Virginia governors were also impressed with Salahi’s plan to market Virginia wine to the world, naming him to the Virginia Wine Board and most recently, chair of the Virginia Wine Tourism Office. Over the past decade, the Virginia Wineway, Loudoun Wine Trail, Blue Ridge Wineway and Virginia Wineries Alliance were created, attracting 980,000 wine tourists to the state, of which 336,000 visited Piedmont wineries, according to a USDA study.

Baby boomers from the densely-populated suburbs began making weekend pilgrimmages to Loudoun, Fauquier and Rappahannock vineyards. Many saw the day trips as an affordable and quick escape. “We offer something for everyone at all price points,” Salahi said. “So we decided not to become competitors with each other, but to work together … Oasis became bigger and stronger as a result.”

A feud erupts

One day last June, Shaquille O’Neal, one of the world’s best-known athletes, showed up at the vineyard unannounced. Michaele Salahi, a former model who’d known O’Neal through charity circles, said, “I just said to him ‘What are you doing here? And he said, ‘I’ve been talking to Mrs. Salahi and I’m thinking of buying Oasis.'”

Neither said they knew the vineyard was for sale, which Tareq said was a violation of their family partnership, naming the parents as 70 percent owners and Tareq and his brother Ishmael as 30 percent owners. His father, 80-year-old Durgham Salahi, has Parkinson’s disease and suffers from dementia. “She listed the place without my authorization,” Tareq said. “But we felt Shaq might make a good partner for our growth plans.”

A meeting was arranged in which the Salahis shared with Shaq their “secret” marketing plan of building a luxury B&B, spa and hosting wine-tasting dinners. “We figured he’d be our secret partner at Oasis,” Salahi said.

According to court documents, O’Neal formed a company named Tuscan Ventures to buy the vineyard. However, Salahi said it eventually became clear that O’Neal planned to own and operate the vineyard without him, and it was possible he might co-opt his ideas. “We had positive, productive meetings with Shaq and his people, but then things went south,” he recalled.

Tareq blamed his mother Corrine Salahi for causing turmoil at the vineyard, claiming she “abused” vineyard employees with “bullying tactics” and “fabricated claims,” and even wielding a pistol at times. Mrs. Salahi did not return calls for comment.

Since January the Fauquier Sheriff’s Office has recorded 26 incident reports at the vineyard, six naming Corrine Salahi, according to Major Paul Mercer, the Sheriff Office’s Public Information Officer. “We have sent deputies out there quite a few times this year,” Mercer said. “These cases involved everything from simple assault, motor vehicle theft, burglary and assault involving a family member.”

According to court documents, allegations of fraud and embezzlement of corporate assets were made by both the younger Salahi and his parents since litigation began last November. In June, the court appointed Thorpe as receiver of Oasis Vineyard, and in a report filed in circuit court, Warrenton attorney T. Huntley Thorpe III Thorpe described operation of the winery as “contentious.”

“There was an ongoing battle between Tareq Salahi [and his parents} Dirgham and Corrine Salahi for control of operations of the vineyard which led to numerous visits by the Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office,” Thorpe reported. Things were so bad that Thorpe recommended that operations be suspended or that the business be sold to Florida-based Tuscan Ventures LLC.

However, Tareq Salahi’s attorneys argued in an emergency motion filed earlier this month that “the terms of the Tuscan LLC contract” were not “in the best interest of the corporation” and that their client’s offer to buy the business should be accepted instead. Both Margenau and Salahi said the bid contained multiple contingencies and would not close for six months, giving the buyer a chance to walk away from the deal completely.

The younger Salahi said his plans were to see Oasis grow, while his mother’s plans were to downsize. Margenau said the vineyard is losing between $100,000 and $200,000 per year and had taken on debt, which triggered the court to appoint a receiver. “The vineyard is losing money but its auxiliary businesses are doing well,” Margenau said.

This was not the Salahis first fight. For years Tareq Salahi had been feuding with neighbors over noise complaints at the vineyard, and two years ago the Fauquier County Zoning Office limited event activities to 12 wine tastings per year.

Michaele Salahi registered as a lobbyist in Richmond and helped forged House Bill 2643, which removes the power of county zoning authorities to regulate “customary or usual” vineyard activities, such as wine dinners or weddings. The so-called buy-right legislation went into effect in July. Then Hurricane Isabella hit, wiping out their crop.

“In between Fauquier County’s zoning abuse, Isabella and now this, we’ve gotten beaten up all around,” Michaele Salahi said. “It’s all conspired to rip us apart, but we’ve stayed strong.”

As for Casey Margenau, he hopes to close on the vineyard and the home owned by Dirgham and Corrine Salahi by the end of the year. Tareq and Michaele Salahi will hold on to the wine tour business, event planning firm and distributorship.

“I didn’t want to own or operate a vineyard, but I am in the real estate business and that part I understand.”

Thanks again for your contribution my anon friend! 

Until Next Time…..