Rachel Does Dallas…and then Spain.

A couple of housekeeping things before getting to the Bachelorette recap:

1. I’m not participating in What’s Up Wednesday today since I’m doing the Bachelor recap, but there’s still a link at the bottom of the post today for you to participate.  And even though I’m not participating, you need to make sure you go check out what Shay and Mel are up to this month!
2. My friend Melanie‘s new book, The Church of Small Things, has it’s e-book version on SUPER SPECIAL today only!  Click HERE to get it!  I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy myself.  Y’all know I don’t read, yet I read Sparkly Green Earrings, The Antelope in the Living Room, and Nobody’s Cuter than You with a smile pretty much plastered on my face throughout each one.  The only time I wasn’t smiling or laughing, I was wiping away tears.  Melanie is an absolute doll in real life, and she has an incredible gift for writing.  You’re going to want this book, so you might as well pick it up at this amazing price!
3. One more thing.  I keep getting questions on if there are going to be restocks on popular Nordstrom Anniversary Sale items.  Unfortunately, if an item hasn’t been restocked yet, I’m thinking it’s not going to happen.  HOWEVER, if there’s an item you want, keep stalking the site for returns.  Returns will start hitting, and if you are diligent, you will probably be able to grab the item you are interested in!  There have been either partial restocks or returns on the following:
   1. Vigoss jeans HERE
   2. Cashmere poncho HERE
   3. The stacked heel Vince Camuto booties are available in popular sizes again!
   4. My favorite necklace of the sale is somehow still available!
   5. And I know a lot of you are sad because you missed out on the hooded bladigan.  🙁 I suggest you check THIS link several times each and every day.  And keep your fingers crossed the one you want will become available! Last night at a little before 11:00, I saw that the cocoa hooded blardigan either had returns in all sizes or had been restocked in all sizes!  In the words of Nemo:  Just Keep Stalking Swimming.

UPDATE:  I’m adding this to the post Wednesday morning, because so far, the stock of the hooded blardigans is still holding!  Lots of people will only wear theirs at home (but they will wear it every dang day).  I however will wear it at home (every dang day), but I will also wear it out of the house too…styled something like this…

hooded blardigan /plus size hooded blardigan / blush tee / gorjana earrings / articles of society jeans / booties/ embellished tote

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If you missed last week’s recap, make sure you click HERE to go check it out.  Eric’s cousin got ALL SORTS OF FANCY for the hometown dates, and I decided I wanted to be her bestie. Anybody who can rock sequins, hot pink stretch pants, and an updo in the middle of the day is somebody that I want to be friends with.

So, let’s get to this week’s Bachelorette!  I know that everybody was expecting FANTASY SUITES  tonight and to hear the word “forego” several times…and we’ll get to that soon enough…..

But first, the 3 remaining guys went to Dallas, TX to meet Rachel’s family!

Rachel explained to the guys that her sister was 8 months pregnant, so she couldn’t travel to the final destination to meet the final two in several weeks.  So, they changed up the format a bit, and all 3 remaining guys were going to meet the family in Dallas.

Peter was up to bat first.

Peter and Rachel headed to a baby store to get Rachel’s sister’s son and her soon to be baby some presents.  Peter was cute in the store while browsing for baby items, and I realized I could really see these two together, doing normal things like shopping!  (FYI:  Chris and I have been together since our junior year of high school, and we have NEVER been to the mall together.  Seriously.)

After shopping, it was time to head to Rachel’s parent’s house to meet the fam.  When walking up to the house, Peter and Rachel sat down outside for a little convo.  But before we get to the conversation, let’s talk about how Peter’s salt and pepper hair seems to be a little more heavy on the salt than it was at the beginning of the season.  I wonder how long till he becomes a full blown silver fox?

Peter wanted to be clear, so he told Rachel “I want you to have confidence in us.  I AM falling in love with you.”  And Rachel responded with “I am falling in love with you too.  Just in case you didn’t know that.”  It was cute.  I’d be over the moon about all of the love admission, but if I recall, she said the same thing to Dean last week, so……….

They walked in to meet the family, and we got to see Kathy (mom), Constance (sister), Alex (Constance’s hubby), as well as a cousin, an uncle, and the uncle’s wife.

Let’s go ahead and put it out there that CONSTANCE DON’T PLAY.  And I like it.

So there were lots of family members.  But guess who was nowhere to be seen?!?  That’s right, people.  Judge Daddy. You know he loves his daughter to pieces, but HE’S A FEDERAL JUDGE.  So you know he’s all “Oh, hell no” when they try to schedule the t.v. day.  I of course understand why he’s not there, but DANGIT I WANT HIM THERE!  What can I say, the heart wants what it wants.

They all sat down at the dinner table together, and Peter wasted no time.  He talked about how his parents only knew each other a short time before getting engaged, but that they had been married for 36 years.  When talking about getting engaged, he said, I’m not quite there yet…but in the next breath he said “I realized that I’m not ready to lose her.” I thought there was a very real thing to say, and the family really seemed to appreciate his honesty and candor.

I mean, as far as I’m concerned, IT’S TOTALLY OKAY that he’s not there yet. In fact, I would like to point out that not only is it okay, but we should be praising this moment of sanity in Bachelor world!  YOU DO YOU, PETER.

Rachel sat down with her sister, and things went well

Peter sat down with the brother-in-law, and things went well.

Rachel sat down with Mama, and things went well.

Peter sat down with Mama, and things went well.

And do you know what I learned from all of it?   PETER. IS. REAL.  And he’s serious about the sanctity of marriage.  Which I happen to appreciate.  AND RACHEL SHOULD APPRECIATE IT TOO. He even told Mama that he’d been trying to decide if he should ask for her blessing in case there was an engagement at the end of this, but that he wanted to wait.  He wanted to make sure it was going to progress to that before he asked.  Mama liked what she heard, as did I.

Peter told the camera, “I can see myself being a part of Rachel’s family at some point, and really enjoying it.  And that helped me move forward in our relationship as well.”

I’m back to being on Team Peter.

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The next guy up was Eric.  Eric is my dark horse.  I never really paid him any mind the majority of the season…except when I was annoyed when I felt he was being a whiny baby…but now I kinda love him.  He is obviously smitten with Rachel, which is so cute to watch.  And I do respect that he grew up in a not so traditional household (without a lot of parent involvement), and yet he turned out to be a nice young man that wants to create a traditional family of his own.

They headed to Reunion Tower.  (FYI:  Reunion Tower was where Chris and I went to dinner for our first date…which happened to be the Favorite’s Dance our junior year of high school! #memories #wewerebabies)  While there, Eric had the biggest bowl of fruit salad I’ve ever seen in my life.

Eric was super nervous to meet the family (I don’t know if you’ve heard, but he’s never been in love and met a girl’s family), but I thought he did a great job! Rachel’s uncle immediately asked about Eric’s family, and Eric did not hold back.  He was very forthcoming about his upbringing, but he made it clear that he desired a strong family unit.

When talking to Constance, Eric made a good impression.

When talking to Mama, Eric congratulated her on 38 years of marriage.  He then said, “What you have, it’s what I desire to have.  Where no matter what, we stay together.”  I thought that was very sweet.  Eric asked Mama for Rachel’s hand in marriage.  She said she would give her blessing if Rachel decided to go that way because she trusts her.

Back at the Anatole (FYI:  The Anatole is where Chris and I spent our wedding night….that’s right, OUR FANTASY SUITE), Peter and Bryan were sitting on the couch together talking about things.  Peter busted out to Bryan with “I don’t want to be sitting here with you right now, I’m not gonna lie.”  Again, I heart Peter.

Also, this is really a story for another day.  But at about 2:00 a.m. the night of our wedding, the fire alarm went off at the Anatole, and we had to evacuate our rooms.  As you can imagine, I was not dressed for the occasion.

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Finally, it was Brian’s turn! Rachel showed up to grab Bryan, and Eric immediately noticed that not only was Bryan wearing his watch (like he had been since receiving it), but so was Rachel.  Eric NO LIKEY this turn of events.  He was so cute when explaining it wasn’t a big deal when he saw Bryan wearing the watch.  He was all “I’m not mad at ya.”  BUT WHEN HE SAW RACHEL WEARING HERS TOO.  It was like a dagger to the heart.

Peter also had a bit more commentary on Bryan.  He is clearly not a fan.  He made a dig that Miami has lots of fake boobs, fake butts, and fake cheeks.  Which was clearly a reference to the fact that people think Bryan has cheek fillers.  Again, I like Peter.

Rachel took Bryan to meet a couple of her girlfriends.  On a rooftop somewhere.  Obviously.

But why was Bryan the chosen one that got to meet the friends?  WOULDN’T IT BE PETER THAT YOU WANTED TO SHOW OFF TO YOUR GIRLS?  The friends liked Bryan and said that he had a confidence similar to Rachel’s.  They thought they would work well together.

Bryan and Rachel headed to meet the family.  And Bryan’s swagger was on FULL DISPLAY.

And within approximately 2.3 seconds of him opening his mouth, Constance was all….

Her side eye gives me life.

She was NOT buying what he was selling.

Bryan made a couple of different comments about his love for his mommy (that seemed a bit much), and Rachel’s mom piped in and asked Bryan if his wife and his mom were butting heads, where would his loyalty lie?  He said with Rachel.  But Constance still gave this look.

YOU. GO. CONSTANCE.

Hysterical.

You could tell that Rachel was not pleased with the line of questioning for Bryan.  In fact, she claimed she was “low key annoyed.”

They headed to the dining room for some “lunch”, although you know nobody was actually going to eat.  And they asked some more questions.

It wasn’t long before Bryan asked if he could be excused.  When he was gone, Rachel let the family know that she wasn’t pleased with their behavior.  Mama explained to Rachel that she was living in a bubble and that the family was just trying to get clarity.  It was incredibly awkward, and hard to describe.

I feel like the family’s time with Bryan can best be described through a series of screenshots.  If this was an art installation, it would be titled, “Go Home, Bryan.”

Just kidding.  She wasn’t there.  But my goodness, her look fits right in with the theme of the art show.

And don’t you worry, all of the awkward wasn’t about to keep the uncle from chowing on lunch.  I’ve gotta be honest, I’ve got all sorts of respect for that man.

After lunch, Constance basically called Bryan out during their time together.  She straight up told him that he was hard to believe and that she definitely had reservations about him.  She didn’t believe that Bryan that Rachel was his girlfriend on the first night, she didn’t believe that he could truly already be in love, and she certainly didn’t believe that he already loved the family.  It was about this time that I felt like Constance might need a low key bodyguard the next several weeks.  I imagine that Bryan’s mommy was NOT happy with Constance’s assessment of her little boy.

Mama then let Rachel know that she too wasn’t sure if Bryan was being genuine either.

But when Bryan asked Mama for Rachel’s hand in marriage, she basically said yes.  But it was a low key annoyed yes.

In summary, I’ve never really been a Bryan fan, but I’m not a Bryan hater either.  I do think he’s a bit of a player and he thinks he’s charming (it’s totally different to just BE charming without thinking you’re charming), which makes him come off a little smarmy.  I have a hunch that he’s not actually smarmy, he just needs to work on how he presents himself.

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ON TO SPAIN, Y’ALL!!!!  TIME FOR FANTASY SUITES!

Eric was first up.  If Rachel were to love Eric just 1/2 as much as Eric loves her, I think they could live a long and happy life together.

All you really need to know about their date is that Eric is sooooo far gone for Rachel.  The boy has got it bad!

Looking all sorts of dapper in a pea coat, he finally told her that he loves her.  Not that he’s falling in love…..or can see himself eventually loving her….BUT THAT HE LOVES HER RIGHT NOW.  Look at his sweet face!  He is going to be absolutely crushed if he’s not the last man standing.  Although I want it so badly for him, I want somebody to love him just as much as he loves them…and I’m just not sure Rachel does.

And then it was Peter’s turn…

They headed into a wine cellar, where this adorable little old man serenaded them in Spanish.  I DO NOT enjoy when people sing directly to me.  It basically makes me wish for the floor to swallow me up whole, but Rachel and Peter handled it in stride.

They were given a little space in the wine cellar all their own, and when they emerged, they started talking about him meeting her family had gone.  He was beginning to tell her the things he had said to her mom, but a darling little girl came up and interrupted them.

She took them to go stomp grapes.  Where they made wine.  And made out.  #seewhatididthere

That night, things did not go according to Rachel’s plan AT ALL.  RACHEL WANTS UNCLE NEIL TO VISIT, SHE WANTS THE LAST MAN STANDING TO GET DOWN ON ONE KNEE, AND SHE WANTS A RING ON THAT FINGER.

In the words of Beyonce, “If you like it, then you shoulda put a ring on it.”

Beyonce did NOT say, “If you like it, then you need to continue to date for awhile to see if if you really do like it.”

It makes way more sense, but it’s not nearly as catchy.

That’s when we saw the big ol’ fat TO BE CONTINUED flash across the screen….and that’s when all of Bachelor Nation became low key annoyed.

Next week is The Men Tell All, which is always my favorite episode of the whole season!

Don’t forget to link up to What’s Up Wednesday if you want to!

Filed Under: The Bachelor 30 Comments