Good Morning Vietnam!!!!

Juan Pablo and the 11 remaining ladies jet off to Vietnam as we begin Week 5 of this “amazing journey.”

Renee gets the first one-on-one this week with a date card that reads “Are we the right fit?”

Renee and JP rent bicycles in Hoi An and spend some time shopping. Juan Pablo gets her fitted for a traditional Vietnamese dress and they have a great night together. I think Renee is my favorite from the season, she is so sweet and down-to-earth. It becomes more obvious every week that she could do so much better than Juan Pablo. JP still refuses to kiss her and she seems okay with it. Despite the fact that he obviously isn’t that into her, Renee still gets the rose.

Back at the hotel, the group date card arrives for Kat, Clare, Cassandra, Danielle, Alli, Andi, Sharleen, Chelsie and Kelly. It reads “Can you go with the flow?”

They girls meet Juan Pablo for a boat ride down the river in a Vietnamese boat. The boats only fit two people each and since Clare didn’t have a teammate she got to ride with JP. So after he doesn’t kiss Renee last night (because of Camila) he has no problem making out with Clare on the group date.

Kelly and the rest of the ladies aren’t happy that JP is basically having another one-on-one date with Clare right in front of them. She wore the Stella & Dot On the Mark Necklace ($59):

They stopped for lunch at Tra Que Village and to do some work on the farm…not really my idea of a vacation. Sharleen wore the Stella & Dot Maya Pendant ($39):

At the cocktail party jealousy is flying as JP asks Clare for the first alone time of the evening. Andi is really put off by this, along with the rest of the girls. Andi wore a pink maxi dress and the Pave Duo Necklace ($32) from BaubleBar. This Go Jane Coral Maxi Dress ($28) is similar:

Clare is on a high with Juan Pablo, he has paid her special attention and even invited her back to his private suite for a swim. She wore a bright blue maxi dress with her trademark Believe necklace (see Week 2). This Maxi Tank Dress ($69.99) from The Limited is similar:

Sharleen’s up next and she wants JP to see her as a panda in a room full of brown bears. Unfortunately, I think that might be a little too deep for him. She is also great at rocking the backless dress, this black and white striped one is fabulous. This Stripe Maxi Dress ($141) by Eight Sixty is a great match:

Kelly wore an Alexis Bittar Spear Necklace ($155) and deep purple maxi dress. This Royal Grapevine Dress ($48) is similar:

Much to the dismay of the other women, Clare gets the group date rose, but that doesn’t stop her from continuing her group date high. She sneaks out of the hotel to meet up with Juan Pablo. They end up having a very steamy swim in the ocean. There was a lot of controversy around this and I don’t think they had sex in the water. You can read Clare’s People interview on the topic here.

Previous contestants and even Reality Steve doesn’t think that they did it in the ocean. As I’m writing this we are at the end of the season so I think it doesn’t really matter anymore – she obviously slept with him at some point, so does it matter if it was in the ocean or in the fantasy suite. I think Clare was on a high on this date, this was probably the peak of her journey on the show and she went for it…I can’t blame her for that. Everything he did on that date led her to think that her attention was warranted. In this situation, JP is the textbook definition of leading someone on.

Nikki gets the final date card that reads “Let’s have a hell of a good time.” Juan Pablo gives Nikki her surprise, which is rappelling down into a cave called “Hell.” She is terrified, but totally impressed me with her courage. I would not have done that date, but she didn’t go back and forth about it. This is the best I’ve seen Juan Pablo so far, he was very supportive of Nikki and genuinely helped her overcome her fear.

Until he tells her that he didn’t sleep well last night – which we all know is because he stayed up late with Clare. They end up having a great conversation and JP gives her the rose.

At the cocktail party, JP sets the tone by telling the women that he plans to let three people go. Andi is insecure about where she fits in, so JP distracts her with besitos (kisses). She wore the sold-out Naven Heartthrob Dress. This Amanda Uprichard Madison Tulip-Skirt Dress ($77.35) is similar:

Renee finally gets her kiss from Juan Pablo and their relationships finally seems to be moving forward. At this point I wasn’t sure if they had waited too long and she would get stuck in the friend zone. She wore a soldout Gianni Bini Becca Strapless Colorblock Dress. I found this BCBGMAXAZRIA Kira One Shoulder Colorblock Dress ($186.99) this provides a similar style:

Then things totally blew up when Juan Pablo decided to take back his ocean rendezvous with Clare and tell her that he made a mistake. I really don’t understand what the point of this was. There was no problem and he had to make a problem. In my opinion this was the beginning of the decline of their relationship. She wore the sold-out Nightcap Belize Victorian Lace Dress in Hot Orange. This Ellen Tracy Women’s Cap Sleeve Belted Lace Dress ($42.33) was the closest I could find to match this look:

At the end of the day Juan Pablo sends Danielle, Kelly and Alli home. Juan Pablo seemed really upset about it at this ceremony. He was actually more upset than the girls.

Next week the ladies and JP are off to New Zealand!

For this week’s deleted scenes we have Sharleen and Juan Pablo talking about their must-have qualities in a significant other:

The second clip is Juan Pablo and Kat talking about The Bachelor experience:

For the last video we get to hear what Clare really thinks of Nikki:

What did you think of this episode and what was your take on the Clare/Juan Pablo ocean rendezvous?

I enjoy reading Bachelor spoilers and if you are interested in finding out what happens in advance you can check out Reality Steve for more information. He also has great behind the scenes details on which cast-offs are dating and who is going take the final rose this season.

If you missed Week 5 you can watch it online here.

Juan Pablo posted his Week Five Bachelor blog on People that you can read here.

Chris Harrison posted his Week Five Bachelor blog here.

Last season’s Bachelorette, Desiree Hartsock posted her recap here.

To catch up on Jason & Molly Mesnick’s podcast, click here.

To read Trista Rehn’s Bachelor blog, click here.

For more Bachelor posts, click here.

This week on The Bachelor, the ladies and Juan Pablo travel to Seoul, South Korea. Chris Harrison kicks it off, letting us know that there are only 13 girls left.

Once the ladies arrive in Seoul, there is a group date card waiting for Elise, Danielle, Cassandra, Kat, Chelsie and Nikki that reads “Pop.” Nikki is less than thrilled to be going on a group date and her attitude permeates the entire date.

For the date, Juan Pablo and the ladies get to be backup dancers for one of the top Korean Pop (KPOP) groups, 2NE1. Kat is thrilled to be on this date, because she’s been a dancer her whole life. Nikki again is not thrilled because she is a terrible dancer.

The song turns out to be pretty catchy and most everyone has a great time (minus Nikki). At that evening’s cocktail party, Kat really opens up to JP. She wears an orange body con dress. I found a similar tangelo Gemma Knit Sweater dress from BCBGMAXAZRIA ($79.99):

Elise makes a rookie mistake and starts her time out by talking about the other girls. Never use your one-on-one time to talk about other girls. She looked great in her blue lace dress though! It looks like it was the Nicole Miller Fair Lady Dress, which you can rent for $40 on Rent the Runway:

The ladies weren’t happy when Nikki ended up receiving the rose. Juan Pablo seems to really like her, much to everyone else’s dismay.

Back at the hotel, the one-on-one date card arrives for Sharleen and says “Will you be my Seoul mate?” Clare wears the Forever 21 Free Spirit Natural Stone Necklace ($10.80) and has a weird edit from a few weeks ago wearing the white sparkly top, which was probably taped then and shown now. There are probably a ton of those, but I just noticed that one because I remembered the top.

Insert gratuitous shower seen with JP as he gets ready for his date with Sharleen. They explore the streets of Seoul together, try some weird food and then have a weird conversation at a traditional Korean tea room. The only thing I can figure about these two is opposites attract. They just don’t seem to fit together, but she keeps coming back for more.

During the evening portion of their date, JP convinces Sharleen to sing for him which I think makes him like her even more. This girl is a mystery to him and he can’t get enough of her. She wears a sexy black lace dress – I found a similar Eliza J Ruched Lace Dress ($158):

At dinner, Sharleen reveals that she really hasn’t thought about kids and that she isn’t too excited about the idea of having to raise someone else’s child. Despite that revelation, JP still gives her the rose. Whatever she is doing it is working for JP.

The next group date card arrives for Renee, Andi, Alli, Clare, Lauren and Kelly. It says “Let’s get Krazy in Korea.” The girls kick off the date at a karaoke house, followed by paddleboating. Then they all are treated to fish pedicures, which is sort of a weird date activity, but when in Rome…

Juan Pablo cannot contain his excitement about making Clare try octopus, he has been waiting the entire date to spring this on her. She eventually tries it, but after a lot of dramatics. JP seemed to love it and was proud that she tried something new.

The evening portion of the date was interesting as JP decided that he didn’t want to kiss anyone because he didn’t want his daughter to see him kissing 27 different women. Renee was the first one to get turned down. Girlfriend is just too nice, she needs to go for it already. Then Lauren was up next, she tried to kiss him and his reaction was to say “I have a daughter.” This is where I got really annoyed with JP. He keeps using Camila as an excuse for not kissing someone, but it is obvious that he just doesn’t want to kiss the girls he doesn’t like. I wish he would just be honest and not kiss them instead of using Camila.

He has no problem kissing Clare on this date, but she is mad when Andi receives the group date rose instead of her.

The rose ceremony was held at an ancient Korean palace which was pretty cool. Right at the start, Sharleen lets us know that all of the girls have agreed if they already have a rose they won’t interrupt other girls’ time with Juan Pablo. This is the perfect intro to Nikki interrupting Clare’s along time with JP.

Clare wears a sold-out Bebe leatherette keyhole tank dress. I found a similar dress from Shani ($280):

Kelly wears a sold-out BCBGMAXAZRIA One-Shoulder Sequin dress. There are a number available here on eBay.

Kat wore a black sequin Rebecca Minkoff off-shoulder sequin dress ($295). You can also find the gold version here:

Lauren and Elise were sent home this week, which was probably for the best as Elise was the worst dressed at the rose ceremony. What was she wearing?

Next week the ladies travel to Vietnam with Juan Pablo.

For this week’s deleted scenes, we start with JP talking about their first international trip:

The next deleted scene shows Clare, Renee and Kelly talking about Nikki’s personality:

The last deleted scene shows Juan Pablo’s first deliberation with Chris Harrison. It’s sort of obvious here that he is really into Nikki:

What did you think of this week’s Bachelor?

I enjoy reading Bachelor spoilers and if you are interested in finding out what happens in advance you can check out Reality Steve for more information. He also has great behind the scenes details on which cast-offs are dating and who is going take the final rose this season.

If you missed Week 4 you can watch it online here.

Juan Pablo posted his Week Four Bachelor blog on People that you can read here.

Chris Harrison posted his Week Four Bachelor blog here.

Last season’s Bachelorette, Desiree Hartsock posted her recap here.

To catch up on Jason & Molly Mesnick’s podcast, click here.

To read Trista Rehn’s Bachelor blog, click here.

For more Bachelor posts, click here.

Week Three of The Bachelor kicked off with the Bachelor Love Stories special, which included Trista & Ryan’s vow renewal. I loved watching Trista and Ryan – this was so touching and made me think of my own marriage. I can’t wait to look back when we’ve made it to 10 years!

I LOVED Trista’s dress for her vow renewal, it was stunning! The silver sequined dress was designed by Pavoni from Spring/Summer 2013.

Picture from Trista’s personal Instagram page

I was looking for a similar dress, but ended up finding this dress by Patra ($199) that I thought would work well for a vow renewal:

Now onto Week Three with Juan Pablo…

The episode kicks off with Chris Harrison bringing the first date card. What was up with his two-tone shirt? I couldn’t decide if I loved it or hated it. Cassandra gets the one-on-one date – her card reads “Love is a wild ride.” They kick off the date by hopping into a Jeep-like car and in true Chitty Chitty Bang Bang style they drive it right into the water! It’s a water car! Who knew?!

Cassandra ends up getting a kiss on this date pretty quickly…I guess Camila wasn’t watching this episode…I find it funny that he won’t kiss Renee out of respect for her son, but he has no problem playing tonsil hockey with Cassandra who also has a son. Hmmmmmmm…

For the second part of the date, they go back to Juan Pablo’s place for dinner. They have some dinner, do a little dancing and seem to have a good time. JP gives Cassandra the rose, keeping her around for another week.

Back at the mansion the second date card arrives for Kelly, Renee, Sharleen, Danielle, Alli, Lauren, Andi, Kristie, Lucy and Nikki that says “Let’s kick it.”

They meet up at a soccer stadium so JP can show the girls his soccer moves.

The girls break into teams to play for more time with Juan Pablo. I think the red team won the game but it wasn’t really clear. Juan Pablo decided to take everyone back to the cocktail party to spend some extra time together.

Nikki gets some along time with JP and they seem to have a good conversation. He must really like her, because he didn’t even kiss her and she ended up getting the group date rose. This surprised me because he got pretty hot and heavy with Andi in the kitchen.

They start cueing up the drama back at the mansion and Elise thinks Chelsie is too young and immature to get the next one-on-one date with JP. I find this funny because if you read Reality Steve’s column you can see the nice adult video that Elise has under her belt. But no-no Chelsie is the one that isn’t mom material…go figure. So of course Chelsie gets the final one-on-one date card which reads “Chelsie – do you trust me? -Juan Pablo.”

Sharleen gets some extra special alone time with Juan Pablo on the middle of the soccer field. This would have been fine, but they had sort of an awkward looking first kiss that all of the other girls saw. That always seems to raise tension and puts a target on Sharleen’s back. I don’t know what to think of these two, their conversations always seem awkward and disjointed – I don’t really see the attraction. Also – Sharleen has some great lipstick because it did not move a bit during those kisses! I checked out Sharleen’s Twitter account and she mentioned it was the Cream Lip Stain by Sephora in Always Red ($13). Sharleen’s backless white dress is super sexy. This lace mini Jump dress ($99) is similar:

Chelsie gets ready for her one-on-one with JP, much to Elise’s dismay. I like Chelsie, she seems super fun and laid-back. They begin their date with some car dancing followed by an authentic Venezuelan meal. He then takes her to go bungee jumping off a bridge. This seems a little odd to do after eating, but to each their own. Chelsie isn’t sure if she wants to take the leap with JP, but she ends up doing it in the end and they have a great kiss hanging upside down. If this was me I would have told Juan Pablo to take a hike – thanks for the memories – I’m outta here! I never understand that, but it happens every season, they always convince someone to do something that they are afraid of with a complete stranger. I am pretty confident that I wouldn’t even bungee jump with my husband so what makes someone do it with a complete stranger?

For the second part of their date, Chelsie and Juan Pablo have a dinner at City Hall in Pasadena. That was a beautiful setting. I also have to commend Chelsie for not using the word “amazing” and changing it up with “epic.” He gives Chelsie the rose and the two of them are then treated to a private concert by Billy Currington. Chelsie wore a white and black colorblock dress. I found a similar dress from Kensie ($79):

The next day, Juan Pablo sneaks in to make the girls a traditional Venezuelan breakfast so he can surprise them and see them with no makeup on. Kelly discovers him first because she has to let Molly outside. Renee just goes for it and starts helping him cook. He announces to the girls that instead of a cocktail party, they are going to hang out all day and have a pool party.

Kat monopolized Juan Pablo for most of the pool party annoying the other girls. I think she was smart, considering she didn’t have a date this week. This especially upset Sharleen and Clare. Sharleen got upset and opened up to JP about it. She got a kiss out of it so that worked for her.

Clare got really jealous and had to be talked out of the bathroom by Renee.

In the end, we make it to the rose ceremony and Christie and Lucy get eliminated. It’s too bad for Lucy, because she looks the best she ever did at this rose ceremony in her Herve Leger Metallic Bandage Dress ($1350). This BCBG MaxAzria Dress ($183.20) is similar:

I also liked Kat’s embellished one-shoulder dress from Shoshanna. I found a similar Calvin Klein Beaded Dress ($86.99):

For this week’s deleted scenes, we forgot about Lucy’s birthday – but Juan Pablo had a special surprise for her:

The ladies get ready for the pool party in this clip:

Renee finds out that JP kissed Sharleen in this clip:

What did you think of this week’s Bachelor?

I enjoy reading Bachelor spoilers and if you are interested in finding out what happens in advance you can check out Reality Steve for more information. He also has great behind the scenes details on which cast-offs are dating and who is going take the final rose this season.

If you missed the Bachelor Love Stories special you can still watch it online here.

If you missed Week 3 you can watch it online here.

Juan Pablo posted his Week Three Bachelor blog on People that you can read here.

Chris Harrison posted his Week Three Bachelor blog here.

Last season’s Bachelorette, Desiree Hartsock posted her recap here.

To catch up on Jason & Molly Mesnick’s podcast, click here.

To read Trista Rehn’s Bachelor blog, click here.

For more Bachelor posts, click here.

Week Two of The Bachelor is here! Sunday began with a Behind-the-Scenes special of Monday night’s episode. There wasn’t anything too crazy, but I thought it was cool to see how they set up some of these awesome dates.

Chris Harrison and Juan Pablo crashed some Bachelor viewing parties and it puts my two-person viewing party to shame. Maybe I’ll work on something bigger for the finale. I did feel bad for that poor girl Avery they interviewed at the end who said that The Bachelor shows that love and happiness do really happen. I had to laugh because while I think those things are true, I don’t know if I would use this show as an example of that.

We learn right away that Clare is going to get the first one-on-one Winter Wonderland date. Juan Pablo got to take his daughter, Camila to play in the Winter Wonderland before his date with Clare, which was really sweet. On the drive there Camila mentioned that she likes surprise chocolate (me too Camila…).

The second part of the special showed the women moving into the Bachelor mansion and then we get to see what happened to the women who didn’t get a rose. Sean and Catherine visit Juan to give him some advice (and to promote their upcoming wedding). Then Chris Harrison comes out to explain how the show works for anyone who didn’t know. I LOVED Clare’s white sequin tank! She mentioned on Twitter that her necklace says “Creer” which is the Spanish word for Believe and that it is the Gold Bar necklace by James Michelle ($58). She also has amazing hair – I have hair envy. I also found a similar white sequin tank top from One Hip Mom ($36):

Clare gets the first one-on-one date – the date card reads “Clare – Let’s Chill – Juan Pablo.”

We also get to take an in-depth look at the women who create all the drama in tonight’s episode, Victoria, Lucy, Elise, Amy and Clare. Could Lucy please keep her clothes on for one episode. Spraying herself with the hose was just ridiculous…did we really need to see this ABC? Clare has a touching DVD that her father made before he died for her husband to watch. I hope that she doesn’t show this video to Juan Pablo, but you know that the producers are going to try to ask her show it to him at some point this season.

Now, on to our dates…

Juan Pablo drops by the mansion to pick up Clare for the first one-on-one date. She wears a great sold-out IRO shearling leather jacket. Neiman Marcus has a similar jacket for $395:

JP blindfolds Clare and takes her to the Winter Wonderland – hot tub included! Clare opens up to JP and tells him about her father passing away. She also mentioned why she keeps her necklace – to remind her that there is something out there. It doesn’t take much for JP to give her the rose. Clare sort of reminds me of AshLee Frazier – I feel like she is going to get her heart broken just because she is falling so hard so fast. To close the date, they get a private concert by Josh Krajcik (not sure who he is, but the Internet says he was on the X-Factor). She also gets the first kiss from Juan Pablo.

Back at the house, the second date card comes and reads “Kat – I can feel the electricity – Juan Pablo.” JP picks her up and they jet off in a private plane to Salt Lake City for the Electric Run. For having no idea what she was doing I have to commend Kat for jumping right in and going with the flow. I thought this was a great first date for someone like Kat. Kat gets the rose on this date, so she is safe for next week.

The group date card came for Chelsie, Christie, Kelly, Cassandra, Andi, Renee, Lauren, Alli, Chantal, Nikki, Elise, Victoria, Lucy and it reads “Say Cheese – Juan Pablo.”

The girls arrived at a warehouse for a photo shot for Models & Mutts to raise money for the Best Friends Animal Society. This means that they are all going to have to dress in awkward costumes that they aren’t comfortable with – but with dogs. Elise and Andi are told that they are going to be naked for their photo shoot. I felt bad for them until I read Reality Steve and found out that Elise isn’t really a first grade teacher and she pretty much takes her clothes off all the time (see the link at the bottom of this post to read more about that at Reality Steve). I was impressed that she traded her outfit with Lucy though – that was a genius idea.

According to Andi’s Twitter she wore nude undergarments for her part of the naked photo shoot.

After the photo shoot they move on to the after party at the Watermarke Tower in LA. Cassandra gets some one-on-one time with JP and we discover that she’s a Michigan girl! She also is Rodney Stuckey’s baby mama (for those of you that aren’t from MI he plays for the Pistons) and she is 21 (so young!).

Then the drama begins with Nikki pulling Victoria aside to tell her that she is drunk and needs to slow down. Well – my if my sorority days have taught me anything it is that the more you tell a drunk girl to cool down, the more defiant and drunk she is going to get. She ends up having a meltdown and Renee decides to try to reason with her, but we all know how that turns out.

Kelly ends up getting the group date rose, probably because she had to wear the worst costume during the photo shoot.

The producers get Victoria a hotel room for the night so she can sleep it off. Juan Pablo comes to see her the next morning and she goes home.

Moving on to the cocktail ceremony, Juan Pablo gets to spend some more time with Sharleen, who looked awesome in her Haute Hippie draped dress and Jessica Matrasko Natasha earrings ($195). I found a similar Vince Camuto Dress for $64.99:

I really like Sharleen, I have the feeling that the producers wouldn’t get her to do anything she wasn’t comfortable with. It makes me wonder why she came on this show – maybe she thought it would be good for her career or something.

Cassandra is feeling uncertain about JP’s feelings for her. He reassures her that as soon as he doesn’t feel it he will send her home because she has a son to get back to. My favorites from the cocktail party were Cassandra’s earrings – I LOVED them! I sent her a tweet to ask her where they were from and surprise – they are from Cache! They don’t seem to have them in stock anymore, but I will continue to scour eBay because I want them for myself. I did find this similar pair from Max & Chloe ($125):

I also liked Andi’s Parker magenta tiered dress. It was sold-out so I found this Laundry by Shelli Segal tiered dress ($69.99) that is similar:

I also liked Chelsie’s light blue lace mini dress. I found a similar Kay Unger Metallic Sheath Dress ($450) to recreate it:

At the rose ceremony, Amy L. and Chantal don’t receive roses this week and were sent home.

There were some great deleted scenes of Kat’s date with Juan Pablo – apparently they went on a picnic before they went to the Electric Run.

I enjoy reading Bachelor spoilers and if you are interested in finding out what happens in advance you can check out Reality Steve for more information. He also has great behind the scenes details on which cast-offs are dating and who is going take the final rose this season.

If you missed the Behind the Scenes special you can still watch it online here.

If you missed Week 2 you can watch it online here.

Juan Pablo posted his Week Two Bachelor blog on People that you can read here.

Chris Harrison posted his Week Two Bachelor blog here.

Last season’s Bachelorette, Desiree Hartsock posted her recap here.

For more Bachelor posts, click here.