The Bachelorette - Emily Maynard - Episode 8

Tonight's episode was all about the hometown dates!

1st Hometown - Chris from Chicago, IL

Chris's family is Polish so they started out their date by going to a Polish-American restaurant.  Chris took this opportunity to prep Emily to meet his family.  Emily was excited to see where Chris came from.

Emily got to meet Chris's Mom, Dad, and two sisters.  They were a very welcoming family and Emily had a wonderful time getting to know them.  She fit right in.  Emily had a little chat with Chris's Dad and asked him if he thought Chris was ready to take on a family.  He said "He will do his best!"

Chris's sister, Renee, was not about to sugar-coat anything.  She told Emily, "If Chris isn't the one, cut him loose sooner rather than later.  Don't string him along."

Later they all joined in for some Polish dancing.  Emily loved this date and hoped they all turned out this great.

2nd Hometown - Jef (with one F) from St. George, UT

Jef is Mormon.  There is no hiding it, try as he might.  His parents are not doing "charity work" in South Carolina.  They are serving a mission, Jef (with one F).  Don't pretend that we don't know what's going on here.

Emily and Jef had a fun date which started by going off-roading in some sort of dune buggy mobile.  Jef took her to a remote area on his families 200 acre property and shot at some clay pigeons.  Jef said Emily was "super sexy holding a gun".  Oh, Jef (with one F), let's hope you don't have to get too used to seeing that.

Out of all the families, Emily was most nervous to meet Jef's because he once dumped a girl that his family did not approve of.  No pressure.  In the end, she did swell.  She seemed to fit right in with the rest of his family.  The question of wether or not they had the same "values" kept creeping in.  Emily kept responding that she felt that they did, but I wish they would've made it a little more clear as to what they were REALLY asking.  We all know what that is.

Jef wrote Emily a really sweet letter on the plane ride home from Prague and red it to her while they sat and enjoyed a sunset.  It was probably one of the sweetest letters ever.  Very cute.

3rd Hometown - Arie from Scottsdale, AZ

Emily met up with Arie on his own turf.  At the racetrack.  He took Emily for a spin in his Indy car and she loved it!

They are totally getting married.  Emily said Arie looked "stupid hot" in his racing outfit.  I have never heard anyone refer to another person as "stupid hot", but I'm sure it's a great compliment.  Arie prepped Emily to meet his parents by telling her that they weren't like most parents.  They were more open minded.

Alas, they all meet.  Arie's parents, being from The Netherlands, spoke Dutch to Arie about Emily.  Emily felt awkward not knowing what they were talking about.  Finally Arie translated.  It was all good.

Arie tells the camera that he's ready to propose to Emily.  He's very confident that that girl is his.

4th Hometown Date - Sean from Dallas, TX

Sean is a cocky, cocky guy.  Personally, I don't really care for the guy, but Emily sure does.  I think he's incredibly arrogant.

Anyway, Sean proceeds to tell Emily that he doesn't just "give himself" to any girl.  That is why he is 28 and still single.  When Emily asked him if he saw a future with her, he responded "I like where this is going."  Psh.

Finally, she meets his family.  Sean tried to pull a fast one on Emily and tell her that he still lived at home with his parents.  He even took her up to a fake room that was supposed to be his that was disgustingly filthy.  He really had Emily going until he told her it was all a joke.  She is so gullible.

Sean had such a wonderful date that after Emily got into her chauffeured SUV and tried to drive away, he chased the car down for two blocks just to get another kiss from her.  Awh, so sweet.

Back in L.A., all the men gathered for the final rose ceremony.  It shouldn't really come as a huge surprise that Chris got the boot.  He was going a little crazy.

The Bachelorette - Emily Maynard - Episode 7

Tonight's episode took us to beautiful Prague!

Emily's first date was with Arie.

They walked around Prague and enjoyed some sights. The topic of Arie having a relationship with one of the shows producers came up in this episode.  Basically, what the story is, is that Arie and one of the producers dated briefly about 10 years ago (mind you, this would make him 20 years old at the time...TWENTY!)  Emily was upset that she had to find out about it from the female producer so she wanted to see if Arie would bring it up in conversation.  He wasn't getting any of the hints that Emily was dropping.  Finally, off camera, Arie, Emily, and the producer lady had a heart-to-heart and all came to the agreement that it was so long ago that it doesn't matter that Arie never mentioned it.  I was proud of Emily making this grown-up decision because it would've been seriously stupid if she held this against him.  S.t.u.p.i.d.

These events did not put a damper on their evening.  They still enjoyed a lovely dinner and firework show later from a boat.  Oh, and Arie dropped the "L" bomb.  Yup, he told Emily that he LOVES her. This made her "the happiest girl in the world".

Emily's second one-on-one date in Prague was with John (a.k.a. Wolf).

They started out by going on a little boat ride and then went for a walk around town.  They stopped by the Lennon wall and drew some art.

They decided to draw a boat on the wall since that's where their date started.  How cute.  Then they found a wall of locks and decided to add one to it with their initials on it.

At dinner Emily wanted John to open up more to her.  He told her about a previous girlfriend that had cheated on him.  Emily now felt like she knew why John was so closed off.  He's afraid of getting hurt again.

After Emily dropped off John for their date, Sean decided that he wanted some one-on-one time with Emily.  He tracked her down in the streets of Prague and they got to chat for a bit.  Emily loved the sentiment.  She really loves to be pursued.

The evenings group date attendants were Doug, Sean, and Chris.

All three were super bummed they didn't get a one-on-one date, but they were still happy to get some time.  Chris went a little crazy.  He even told Emily he was upset with her for not picking him to go on a fun date.  She apologized that he was mad, but didn't seem to regret her decision.

They started their date by taking a horse drawn carriage up to an old castle.  When Emily got some alone time with Doug it was super, super awkward.  To be honest, I'm confused as to why Doug has stuck around as long as he has.  His body language while around Emily did not convey loving feelings towards her.  It was just one awkward moment after another.  It was clear what Emily had to do.  She sent Doug packin'.  Doug didn't even see it coming, in fact, he planted an awkward kiss on her (mid-sentence).  Yikes.  I had to rewind that one a few times.  I felt embarrassed for him and yet I couldn't help but laugh at him, too.  Sad.

So, after Emily let Doug go home it was down to either Sean or Chris to get a rose.  Emily gave the rose to Sean.  She likes him more.  Deal with it, Chris.  Chris is turning into a nut-job.

The final date of the evening was with Jef.  It was actually a really cute date.

They came across a wooden puppet store and bought two puppets that were (somewhat) in their likeness.  They took them to a pretty library where they re-enacted their entire dating history with them.  Then they laid together on the floor of the library, looking up at the painted ceiling, and talked about their potential future together.  And babies.  Emily wants babies NOW.  They had a great date.

In the end, Doug and John were the gentlemen that went home.

Next week are the hometown dates!  We'll get to meet the families of Sean, Jef, Arie, and Chris.

The Bachelorette - Emily Maynard - Episode 6

Tonight Emily and the guys were in Croatia and I was so jealous!  It looks so gorgeous there!  Ah, must go.

Her first one-on-one was with Travis.

She took Travis out to walk around old town Dubrovnik.  Later they enjoyed dinner in a romantic setting.  A castle.  Yup, it was so romantic that Emily dumped Travis.  She said the romance just wasn't there.  It was really sad.  Travis was really beat up about the whole thing...really.  Tears and all.

The group date was pretty hilarious to watch (as most of them have been).  She invited along John, Doug, Chris, Arie, Jef, and Sean.

First they went to the new movie 'Brave'.  Then they found out that they would all be participating in ABC's version of Highland Games.  All the guys had to dress in funny little kilts and wife-beaters and show how manly they were.

They had to ride into battle on their trustworthy steeds...donkeys.  Love it.

After many manly grunts, Chris finally got the rose on the group date.  Emily felt that he was the bravest of them all and really took some chances with the challenges and had fun with them.

The last one-on-one was with Ryan.  Ryan was so excited to get another date with Emily.  He was super confident that they would have a great time and he would be walking away with a rose.

They had a fun day oystering and then headed back to some kind of palace for dinner.

Although there are many things that Emily does like about Ryan, in the end she just doesn't see herself as his wife.  He tried to smooth talk his way back into Emily's heart, but she insisted that he not stay.  You go girl!  Way to hold your ground.

Losers this week were just Travis and Ryan.

Emily ended up giving all the remaining guys roses because she just has not made up her mind about them yet!

Next week they head to Prague!

The Bachelorette - Emily Maynard - Episode 5

Tonight's episode took us to historic London:

This first date had some awesome coincidences in it for me and I'll explain why in a second.  Her first one-on-one was with Sean.

They boarded their very own, private, red double decker bus and hit the best sites of London.  After a day of running around town, they finally sat down for dinner at the Tower of London.  Now, this guy right here is the Beefeater that welcomed Emily and Sean to the Tower of London:

I thought this guy looked familiar and for good reason.

Yes, my husband and I had our picture taken with that VERY Beefeater in London two years ago.  Crazy, right?!?  I couldn't believe the coincidence.  Howie thought I was crazy until I pulled up the picture on my Facebook and showed him.  "Yep, that's him."  I had no idea we were getting our picture taken with such a celebrity.

Second coincidence of the night was that Emily was seen having her picture taken in this very phone booth, too:

That's me!  And I'll tell you, that phone booth was nothing special.  It smelled like urine.  Quite popular, I'm sure.

Anyway, so they ate dinner in the Tower of London and in the end Sean got a rose.  Emily really likes this one.  They topped of their evening by making out in front of the Tower Bridge.  Very romantic.

The group date was a very eventful one.  Those in attendance were Chris, Arie, Ryan, Doug, Alejandro, John, Kalon, and Travis.  They met up in Stratford-Upon-Avon, the birth place of Shakespeare.  Emily gave them the fantastic news that they would be re-creating Romeo & Juliet in front of a live audience.

Some of the guys were up for the challenge.  Others were petrified.  Ryan took to his role pretty easily since he got to kiss Emily.

Arie was a horrible actor, so he got cast as one of the nurses.  He made a pretty hot chick. (not)

Emily thought Kalon took the acting WAY too seriously.  She wanted him to just have fun with it and he couldn't.

Overall, Emily was pleased with their performances and took them to the nearest pub for a round of beers.  That's when all hell broke loose.  Word on the street was that Kalon and Chris had a conversation the night prior to the group date.  Kalon mentioned, in passing, that Emily had a lot of "baggage".  We assume this to mean her 6 year old daughter.  So, Kalon was essentially calling Ricki baggage.  When Doug got wind of this news he went straight to Emily and told her the news.  Emily was livid.  Beyond livid.  She was very, very enraged. (check out a poorly made video of Emily confronting Kalon here)  Due to the unfortunate actions of Kalon, Emily started to wonder if anyone was going to stick-up for her.  She wants a protector, not a coward.  So, Emily didn't hand out any roses on the group date.  She was too mad.

Once Emily had some time to blow off some steam, she had her final one-on-one date with Jef (from SLC!!).

They started out by having a really lame tea party.  Some old lady came in and tried to teach them the proper way to have a tea party, but neither Emily nor Jef were wanting to have any part in it.  So, they bailed.  They headed out on their own.  They eventually ended up at the London Eye for a scenic activity and some dessert.  They had plenty of good conversation and when Jef felt right about it, he FINALLY kissed her.  Emily ended up giving him a rose so, she must be diggin' our SLC guy.

The cocktail party this evening had a lot of misdirected anger coming from Emily to a number of the guys.  I really think the whole Kalon thing was blown way out of proportion.  Emily cornered a few of the guys and asked them "Why didn't you stick-up for me?"  I really didn't think some of the guys deserved to be put on the spot like that, especially Arie.

By the time the rose ceremony ended, these were the only two that high-tailed it home this week.  Kalon and Alejandro.

Next week they head to Croatia!  I'm so jealous!

The Bachelorette - Emily Maynard - Episode 4

Emily jet-setted all the guys to their first of many international stops on this journey to finding love.  Their first stop was beautiful BERMUDA!

Tonight's first one-on-one date was with Doug.

Emily felt that a one-on-one with him would clear some things up for her.  She thinks Doug is too perfect of a guy and wants to get the dirt on him.  After a day of shopping in St. George, Bermuda Emily surprised Doug with a post card.  Not a post card for him, but for his son.  She thought it would be neat to write his son back since he wrote her a letter first.  Doug was really touched at the sentiment. Later at dinner, Emily was still trying to get the dirt on Doug.  Doug struggled to bring up any dirt and still continued to have the perfect answer for everything.  Emily asked him "What would be your ex-girlfriend's biggest complaint about you?"  He smiled and said "That I spend too much time with my son and I didn't wash her car enough."  Playin' it safe, Doug.  In the end it paid off because he still ended up with a rose.

The group date consisted of Charlie, Ryan, Chris, Jef, Sean, Arie, Travis, and Kalon.  The boys were separated into two teams to compete for more time with Emily.  They were to race sail boats against each other and whichever team lost had to head back to the hotel for the rest of the day.  No one wanted that!  The boys got ready to compete.

In the end, the yellow team won and sent the red team back to the hotel.  The red team felt defeated and sad.

The yellow team consisted of Ryan, Jef, Arie, and Kalon.  The guys were happy to get more one-on-one time with Emily.  Jef, for example, had Emily all to himself on the beach and had great conversation.  However, he never moved in for a kiss.  This kind of disappointed Emily.  She's still wondering if he's really as into her as he says he is.

Arie was a little more productive with his time with Emily.  They pretty much made out the whole time.  They really have some great chemistry together.  They can't keep their hands off of each other.  I don't want to jump the gun or anything, but I'm pretty sure Arie is a front-runner.

Tonight's group date rose went to Jef.

The final date of the night was the dreaded two-on-one.  Nobody wanted that date.  They are always awkward.  It doesn't matter what they do to try to not make it awkward.  It's ALWAYS awkward.  The lucky guys to go on this one was John and Nate.

They spent their awkward date going sailing and cliff jumping.  They all just wanted the date to be over.  They tried to enjoy dinner in a cave, but no one seemed to want to eat.  With the rose sitting there on the table they couldn't focus on their food.  Nate got to talk to Emily one-on-one first and opened up to her about his family and friends and how much they meant to him.  He even got emotional about it.  Yup, that's right folks.  He got emotional.  He cried.  Like a baby.  John must've impressed Emily more though because in the end she gave him the rose.  Nate had to sail on home alone.

The cocktail party proved to be pretty interesting.  Lots of conversations taking place.  Ryan thinks he's just God's gift to man.  Did we hear enough about how great of a catch he is?  Yes, I think we did.

Emily got to smooch on Sean.  Apparently they are getting closer.

Chris sat Doug down for a little chat.  Chris is upset with Doug and his comments about how young he is (he's only 25).  Doug is 33 and so much more mature than Chris and he likes to point that fact out.  Chris is tired of it and stood his ground.  Tension.

The guys that got sent home tonight were: Nate, Charlie, and Michael.  (we were a little shocked by Charlie!)

Next week the guys and Emily head to London, England!  Good times.

The Bachelorette - Emily Maynard - Episode 3

Emily's first one-on-one date tonight was with Chris.  She decided to make him work for his dinner by climbing to the top of a massive building.  This was more of a "traditional" Bachelorette date night, if you know what I mean.  But, Chris was up for the challenge.

They made it despite the weather getting bad.  It got super windy and a storm started moving in.  Emily got scared but she had Chris by her side for comfort.

At the top they enjoyed a lovely dinner and had great conversation.  Emily continues to be really impressed by Chris.  She seemed to get a little concerned when she realized how old Chris was.  He is only 25.  Emily is 26.  She doesn't normally date guys that are younger than her so, this threw her for a loop.  By the end of the night she must've overcome that though because Chris got a rose!

They topped off the evening with a private concert from country singer Luke Bryan in the streets of Charlotte.

The participants of tonights group date were Charlie, Sean, John, Michael, Alejandro, Alessandro, Stevie, Ryan, Doug, Jef, Tony, and Travis.  Unfortunately, ABC decided not to post ANY photos from this portion of the episode so, I have no visuals for you.

Emily took the group to a nearby park and led them to believe that it was just going to be a day playing football.  Much to their dismay, the day turned out to be an ambush from Emily's closest friends.  They were able to interview the guys one by one and tell Emily what they thought of them.  Some guys were on their best behavior, but others were a little too honest.  Alessandro, for example, let the women know that he's 1) cheated on a previous girlfriend in the past, and 2) had a one night stand with his cousin (3rd cousin so, maybe it doesn't count, right?).

Oh, Alessandro...you are so dumb.  He got even more dumb as the episode went on.  We'll get into that later.

Alessandro wasn't the only guy scoring points with Emily.  Ryan decided to open up his pie hole by saying that Emily shouldn't get fat because he would be less attracted to her if she did.  "I would still LOVE you, I just wouldn't love ON you as much."

What a charmer.  We'll see where THAT gets you Ryan.

Throughout the date Tony seemed to be missing his son at home a ton.  He was constantly talking about how much he missed him and wanted to be with him.

Emily knows exactly how he's feeling so, she decides to send him home early.  I don't think she really saw a future with him anyway.

Sean is the lucky guy who got a rose on the group date.  He impressed Emily's friends the very most, in fact, one of them probably would've taken him home if she could.

The final one-on-one date of the night went to Arie.  I don't know if you noticed, but Arie is pretty cute.

Emily took Arie in a private jet to Tennessee to visit Dollyworld.  Emily is a huge fan of hers so, it was only fitting that he see this side of her.

They had a great time playing games and getting to know each other better.

They even sat down to try to write a love song together.

Much to Emily's surprise, Dolly Parton showed up to sing to them!  She was shocked because she's such a big fan.

Dolly serenaded them while they danced.  Such a cute moment!

Later, at the cocktail party, a lot of revealing conversations took place.  First of all, Travis decided to ditch the weird egg.  Emily told him it was time to let it go so, together, they smashed it.

Probably the most interesting of all came from Alessandro, the jerk (pictured earlier in this post).  He told Emily that raising her child was a "compromise" he would have to make for her.  Emily wasn't happy about that.  She doesn't want Ricki to be a "compromise" for anyone.  She wants them to consider her an honor to raise so, bye bye Alessandro.  He was out of there before Emily even had an opportunity to hand out the roses.

Tonight's fatalities were Tony, Alessandro, and Stevie (yay!).  Stevie was creepy.