I interrupt my silence on this blog to walk you through the greatest three days of my life. This is probably the only event for which I’d skip all meals (including two dinner reservations) because the thought of leaving the BravoCon venues and potentially missing a Bravoleb sighting sated my hunger. Before I walk through the day by day details, I wanted to outline my high-level thoughts / background information:

BravoCon was split into three venues: Union West, Skylight Modern and The Manhattan Center, home to both The Hammerstein Ballroom and Grand Ballroom. Events transpired all day at different locations and we were often forced to forgo particular photo ops and panels in order to see something else. I knew this going in, so I obviously spent upwards of 40 hours force ranking what I found most valuable. Luckily, my mom and I reserved a hotel room near The Manhattan Center; however, getting to Union West / Skylight modern was a massive struggle if we couldn’t find a cab. Completing a one mile walk in 20 degree weather in Jimmy Choos is not something I had wished for myself, but knowing that Teddi Mellencamp and Kyle Richards were waiting for me on the other end made the pain magically subside.
For the most part, the Bravolebs are genuinely kind and down to earth. Outside of the designated panels, we’d frequently run into various cast members at each of the BravoCon venues. Bravoleb random run-ins included: Tom Schwartz, Tom Sandoval, Ariana Madix, Dorinda Medley (who wasn’t wearing makeup and looked absolutely fabulous), Kyle Cooke, Carl Radke, Braunwyn Windham-Burke’s husband, and, the absolute MVP of BravoCon, Craig Conover.
I am incredibly lucky that I was able to get a General Admission ticket considering it sold out in less than one minute. However, SVIP / VIP is definitely the way to go. Shorter lines for pictures and better seats at panels. That said, my mom and I were able to get amazing seats at certain events by buttering up security. In terms of securing photos at designated photo ops, I had to ensure I was at the front of the GA line each time. This takes both skill and endurance. The photo ops began after each panel concluded; however, viewers could only line up for a picture after the panel ended. This created mass chaos as elbows were flying and middle aged women were toppling over one another to reach the line. I had to strategically find the optimal spot in the audience and compute the distance to the line while eyeing security guards to find the correct moment to dart from my seat to the line at the exact time the panel ended. I honestly could be a physicist after this.
Don’t plan on eating. When we first arrived at BravoCon on Friday at 10:00am, we were displeased to see the only food options were clam chowder and an odd twist on Mac and Cheese. It is unclear what the rationale was here. This was probably the only “Fyre-Fest” motif I found through the weekend. Because the schedule was not released until the week prior and nearly all of the details were kept secret, many of us were concerned this whole event would be a flop.
Aside from living my best life amongst Hollywood’s finest all weekend, I feel like I made lifelong friends. It’s very comforting being in a place with thousands of people who share a common interest. Most people in my life don’t understand it quite like the people I met at BravoCon. I should probably invite them all to my wedding.

Shout out to Shelley (I have no clue how to make this photo smaller but here ya go)But if you like my dress it is: Dress the Population Lolita Sequin Mini Dress (unfortunately, this is not a paid ad but I looked great it in mostly thanks to the Span… — Shout out to Shelley (I have no clue how to make this photo smaller but here ya go)
But if you like my dress it is: Dress the Population Lolita Sequin Mini Dress (unfortunately, this is not a paid ad but I looked great it in mostly thanks to the Spanx)

Friday - Day 1:

As soon as we dropped our bags at the hotel we headed to our first event - a photo op with Kyle Richards and Teddie Mellencamp. At the same time, we had to forgo an OG Housewives Panel, which was set to include Adrienne Maloof, Caroline Manzo, Jeana Keough, Jill Zarin and Kim Zolciak-Biermann. I concluded that this event would be incredibly popular so I chose to get a photo with some of the ladies from RHOBH. It’s important to note that Friday was the least crowded day of the event by far. Only ticket holders with a three day pass were able to attend - one day passes were available for Saturday and Sunday only. We arrived at the photo op right at 10:30 and the line was very short. Teddi and Kyle got stuck in traffic and were 20 minutes late (nobody tell Dorit that Teddi was late), but we were able to get a bunch of pictures. While we were waiting in line, Ariana Madix casually walked by. I was starting to feel that I would not be disappointed by BravoCon after all. I was relieved this would not be the next Fyre Fest.

Anyway, my mom and I got a few group shots and some solo shots, which is something the other photo shoots would not allow (they got crazier and stricter). As soon as we got up to take our photo, my mom said, “So, Kyle. How many people so far have said it to you?” Kyle responded, “Goodbye, Kyle? Almost everyone” and we burst out laughing. They were both super sweet.

Shout out to Teddi for wearing high heels whilst pregnant

After the photo, we made our way to the Bravo Bazaar, which was attached to Union West (the location of the photo op). The first people we see are Kyle Cooke and Carl Radke from Summer House. They had a stand where they were selling Lover Boy, a sparkling hard tea with zero sugar. My mom did not hesitate to run up to Carl and exclaim, “I always liked you. You’re very nice to your mother!” She went on about how nice Carl is in front of Kyle for about five minutes until Carl finally said, “Kyle is nice to his mother too, they just don’t show it on the show as much.” My mom looked at Kyle and replied, “Well that may be true but she was mad at you on the show.” (My mom was referring to when Kyle cheated on Amanda and his mom was pissed). I’m sure you can imagine how embarrassed I was in this moment - mainly because it was 11:15 am and the bar wasn’t opening until noon.

At first, my mom didn’t realize they were wearing shirts to market their product. She whispered to me, “I don’t get the shirt. I don’t think people would buy that, like, could you see Cooper wearing that?” When she realized it was for marketing purposes she was okay with it. She was not a fan of the tea. I thought it was pretty good - I had the peach flavor. For zero sugar, 10/10 would drink again.

After parting ways with the lover boys, we headed over to The Grand Ballroom for a Southern Charm panel. When the moderator asked if any of them had hooked up with another Bravoleb, Kathryn, Shep, Austen and Craig all raised their hands. Apparently they hooked up with people from the cast of Summer House but they wouldn’t name names, unfortunately. After this panel, there were two separate lines for pictures and the audience is not sure which cast members would be on which side. I desperately wanted Kathryn, but I luckily ended up with Craig, Cam and Shep.

Luckily for me, this wouldn’t be the last time I would encounter the Southern Charm cast as I purchased tickets to a semi-private Southern Charm brunch for Saturday. This would be the highlight of the weekend.

Because it’s so freaking cold in NYC right now, we decided to skip the Million Dollar Listing panel at a different venue and stayed for my new obsession, Below Deck. I started watching Below Deck and Below Deck Med about a month before BravoCon (shout out to @annefederico and @s_bleier for the rec) and sailed through all 11 seasons super quickly. It is Bravo’s most underrated show. The panel included Captain Lee, Captain Sandy, Colin Macy-O’Toole, Joao Franco, and Kate Chastain. A few things:

Colin brought his mom, Robin, as his plus one and he is so sweet
Captain Sandy said if she could poach anyone from Captain Lee’s boat it would be Kate
Essentially everyone loathes Hannah and Sandy said she wouldn’t work with her again
It was Captain Lee’s 70th birthday and we sang to him
Joao is a captain now but would still work as a boatswain with Sandy (so hopefully he will be on the show again)
Kate and Hannah are not friends (she also revealed this on WWHL a few weeks ago) because a producer told her that Hannah was talking shit

Similar to the photo op after the Southern Charm panel, we were not sure which cast members would be on what side. I was praying for Kate and Captain Lee, but I was fortunate to snag a photo with Sandy, Joao, and Colin.

After the Below Deck photo op, my mom and I sat our asses down really close to the front as we waited for the RHONY panel. Luckily we were already at the venue RHONY would be in, because a lot of people were turned away at the door after the Grand Ballroom reached max capacity. The panel included Dorinda, Luann, Ramona and Tinsley. We’d learn at WWHL later that evening that Leah McSweeney would join the cast for the 12th season, but that was technically not revealed at this point (even though she was seen filming with Tinsley in August). The panel was hilarious. They are truly the same in person as on TV. They basically just screamed at Ramona the entire time. Ramona also redid her infamous Ramona Runway Walk from nearly 10 years ago. I also think she called herself an iconic pop icon? Not not true…

Tinsley announced she was back with Scott and everyone booed. I felt bad for her. I mean I obviously booed too. She is very nice to fans though, and, unlike Ramona, actually likes when fans approach her for pictures because she is truly grateful. There were rumors floating around a few months ago that Tinsley quit the show and moved to Chicago to be with Scott, but I still believe she is filming.

After this panel, Tinsley, Lu, and Dorinda were scheduled for a photo op (of course Ramona refused to be included). I didn’t have the best luck choosing photo op lines today. Dorinda and Lu were on one side and I was on the side with Tinsley. Oh well. She’s no Dorinda but it’s cool. Luckily, I was first in line because apparently they were only at the photo shoot for ~20 minutes before leaving.

By this point it was ~7:00pm and my mom and I already missed our dinner reservation (sorry mom). We headed back to the hotel to change for WWHL and managed to get a quick bite at the hotel bar (this is where we met our new friend Shelley who is pictured above). I, of course, was in a massive hurry because WWHL didn’t have assigned seats so it was pure anarchy. The line was probably 5 blocks long and i was 10 roses and 1 tequila in so I was being a massive brat (sorry mom). Anyway, I find it hard to believe anyone read this entire post so i’ll write more about WWHL / day 2 later. The best part of WWHL was when I snuck down to VIP, ran to the stage, and Kim Richards held my hand. It was too pure of a moment to capture a photo but I said, “Kim, I love you so much. you are an icon” and she grabbed my hand and replied, “thank you so much sweetie.” I’ll never be the same.

Ta ta for now!

I did not proof read this so don’t judge me.