The Bachelor Party and Finale

Last night I had my first Bachelor party. And you thought bachelor parties were just for young crazy guys on the brink of getting married...not so. A bunch of thirty-something women can rock a Bachelor party too.

A few friends left before we could take the picture.

It was really fun last night and I loved watching the show with 13 women who love it as much as I do. I wish I had ended on the proposal and not with the awkwardness that ensued on ATFR. But I'll get to that later.

I loved seeing Brad's tears when he saw his family again. His mother was really sweet and southern and the brothers seemed nice. I kind of felt bad for the ugly brother. Can you imagine having to grow up in the shadow of those hot twins? But he did alright. Prima is a cute girl.



I thought Chantel did a great job winning over the family. She is totally likeable and personally, I would rather go to sushi and wine with her than Emily (that is if I liked sushi or actually drank wine, which I don't.) She is outgoing and fun and I really really felt bad for her last night. When Emily had her "meet the family" date, I just thought, Chantel is toast. How do you compete with Emily's story? You don't. Of course, the family fell in love with Emily and it was downhill from there for Chantel.

I could feel the awkwardness on Chantel's last date. The poor girl wore yet another ill-fitting outfit. She is a really pretty girl but she did not look good in her clothes. You've got to hand it to her though--she worked those ta-tas. When she came out in the wet suit, everyone at my party yelled "zip it up!" Maybe she couldn't zip it up. The "girls" looked like they were about to pop in that suit. They swam with the shark, blah blah blah, and then it was back to the room for the gift. At this point, Brad just started to look guilty. That's when we all knew it was over for Chantel. His mind was made up.



Emily's date didn't go much better. She forgot to wear pants on the helicopter ride. At one point, we rewinded the DVR because my friends were sure they saw Emily's bum cheek when the helicopter blew her shirt up. Seriously--I don't care who you are--who wears that on a date? (Especially a windy date!)



Brad was really sweet with her back in the room and told her again how he is ready to be a dad and step into that role completely. Then she totally blew it and kept asking him if he was really ready. Newsflash Emily: NO ONE IS READY TO BE A PARENT! Just like no one is "ready" to go to basic training for the military or start chemo. You just do it. You can't explain to Brad how it's gonna be. He has to find out for himself.

I have to say, the producers are sly dogs. In the previews, they made us think Brad was walking out on the date with Emily when he really just left the room to get a glass of water. Also, they spliced a piece of what he said to his brothers about leaving alone and made us think he actually might not pick anyone. Sneaky. I can see why contestants on the show are miffed about how they are edited.

I loved how they have both girls sitting around all day writing in their journals, waiting for the final rose ceremony. You could already tell that Chantel knew she was going home. She was extra weepy. I felt so bad for her.

When Neil Lane showed up to give Brad the ring, we all thought it was the therapist coming back. I was like "No Way Fleis flew him to South Africa." Thank goodness it was Neil bringing the bling. Gorgeous ring. Good choice Brad. I heard the ring was worth $100,000. Emily, you are an idiot if you don't close the deal just for the ring.



Chantel looked beautiful at the final rose ceremony. The black dress was her best outfit yet.



As Brad was breaking up with her, I just thought "I hate this show. Why do we do this to ourselves?" I was with her when she said "I just want to escape." And then the horrible, sobbing, drawn out ride in the limo. Poor girl. I wish she was the next bachelorette.



Did you hear the news? Ashley H. is the next bachelorette. We all saw it coming. What a blow.



Emily looked beautiful at the final rose ceremony too. I loved the proposal. Brad nailed it. She was gracious and we all cheered. My mom cried. It was good tv.

I wish it had ended there. I'm still confused about what happened with Brad and Emily. Like most relationships, it is probably complicated. Sounds like Brad needs to start seeing his therapist for anger management rather than commitment issues. Emily needs to get some self-confidence and shake her insecurities. It does seem like Brad is still totally in love with Emily. I really hope they can make it work but I'm not holding my breath.



I laughed when they trotted out Trysta and Ryan again. Those two are like Bachelor royalty. I still love Roberto and Ali. Jason and Molly totally suck. How is that for classy?

I do think Emily's hair looked a million times better at the ATFR (less playboy playmate!) Chris Harrison's hair was different too--more poofy? more blond? I'm not sure. I think Chantel had a good question when she asked Brad when he knew she wasn't the one. There is no way Brad was going to answer that because if he was honest, he would probably say it was much earlier than Chantel would want to know. She can't get mad though. That is the way the show works. You've got to have two girls at the end.

So what is the consensus? Do you think Brad and Emily will last? Are you going to watch Ashley as the bachelorette on May 26th? Do you wish you had come to my mom's house and had her mint brownies?