The Real Housewives of New Jersey - Episode 2 Recap

Hello all!!!  It was a good week on RHONJ so let's get started!!!

Photo Credit:  BravoTV

Watching the entire situation between Ashlee, Jacqueline and Chris is heartbreaking.  After last weeks ultimatum from Chris, Ashlee packed up and headed to Las Vegas to live with Jacqueline's brother.  Albie, like a good nephew and cousin that he is, took Ashlee to the airport.  You can tell that Jac is just done.  She is emotionally, physically and mentally exhausted and at the end of her rope.  This isn't easy, but this is what they feel is needed, and REQUIRED to get Ashlee back on track with her life.  The conversation between Albie and Ashlee on the way to the airport is disturbing and sheds some light on the place that Ashlee was in during this time - she drank Nyquil through a straw!  Funniest and saddest line of the episode goes to Albie; "Ashlee thinks she's Ke$ha, she has Ke$ha music playing in her head.  She thinks that a limo is going to pull up, and shopping bags are going to fly everywhere and she's gonna jump on and there's going to be champagne and like flashing lights and that's it.  That's how life is supposed to be."  Was I the only one that had a feeling of dread when Albie dropped Ashlee off curbside at the airport?  When she called Albie to tell him she missed her flight, he was kicking himself too because HE knew it too!  Due to TSA regulations, he wouldn't have been able to go to the gate with her to ensure that she got on the flight.  But I knew as soon as he drove away that there was no way she was going to make it.  She didn't want to.  Maybe there was a part of her that thought if she didn't get on the plane and went home, Jacqueline and Chris would change their minds and not make her go?  Who knows.  They definitely weren't happy to see her when she returned to the house, and I'm sure that's not what Ashlee was hoping for.  It was very tense.  The next day, Chris took her to the airport, went inside with her and ensured she got on the plane.

PhotoCredit:  BravoTV

Caroline and Lauren met with Dr. Perricone to address her weight issue and put her on a diet plan.   I thought it was really courageous of Lauren to share this part of her life on camera - she's not a paid cast member and is under no obligation to do so.  We find out that the situation with Chateau didn't work out last year.  She felt that they weren't respecting her, so she closed up the day after her grand opening.  We only saw a few minutes of what I assume was a very lengthy meeting.  Caroline is trying to keep her motivated and strong.  Lauren's one meal a day is a large container of pasteurized egg whites, with mixed berries and some sort of chocolate powder.  Caroline saying it's a lot was a nice try but not terribly convincing!  Lauren said it best when she said that she thought the diet was going to work because "it was the closest thing to anorexia".  Yikes!!!!  Good luck to her!!!!!

Photo Credit:  BravoTV

We see Teresa and Joe Giudice headed to the pizza place.  Apparently, they are closing it up.  Joe felt that the location was good, and the first 3 days were great, but he got bombarded and couldn't get the lunches out on time.  He couldn't be there all time time because he didn't have a license and to rely on people to bring him back and forth was a pain in the butt.  So he decided to get rid of it.  It was too much on the workers to handle everything (cooking, taking care of customers, etc.) without him there.  In the next breath he says things like "you've got to hustle to make a buck" and talks about having 4 daughters and the expense of that.  Teresa said they thing she said she is going to miss the most is him bringing food home so she doesn't have to cook dinner and being there with the family more.  Teresa doesn't want people to feel sorry for her.  Joe said he has a major project across the street from the pizza place.  Apparently he wants to get rid of the gas station that is across the street and put up a senior residence building.

Photo Credit;  BravoTV

Next we see Rich Wakile having a heart to heart with his son Joseph (15) while touring a gas station / convenience store that he owns.  Rich is trying to teach him about owning a business and the responsibility and hard work that it takes.  Can Joseph see himself in business with his dad?  Joseph said that he would rather do real estate because you don't always have to "be by the rules".  I thought it was very interesting that Rich made it a HUGE point to tell him that regardless of what kind of business you go in, you can't go in to it cheating from day one (which I don't think is what Joseph was trying to say).  Every business has rules and to succeed you have to put a systems in place.  Clearly, Rich is a successful businessman because his philosophy is if you open a business, you gotta run a business.

Photo Credit:  BravoTV

Everyone gathered back at Jacqueline's house for dinner.  Those meatballs looked insanely yummy!  Chris, Al, Caroline, and Lauren arrived first followed by the Gorga's.  WHAT A FEAST!  The Wakile's showed up and it was just a food fiesta.  Everyone stood around the kitchen counter and were concerned that the Giudice's were expected over and what that would mean for the tension between them and the Gorga's.  Joe and Melissa were just going to try to enjoy the night and not let things get to them.  Melissa was trying very hard not to share with everyone what Teresa said to Joe G. about her.  It was VERY awkward when the Giudice's walked in the door.   Teresa stopped the conversation to tell everyone that she knows everyone has been talking about her (Caroline - "Teresa decided to hold a news conference").  Once again, she explained her position that it's a family cookbook and she didn't write to offend anyone.  If it did, she apologizes.  Rich couldn't help himself - he jumped in and asked Teresa is she was going to pull it and reprint it.  Teresa replied that she wasn't because it wasn't malicious, it was all in fun.  She also went on to say that she writes amazing things about the people in the room and put her brother Joe on the spot about it.  Gotta commend him, he said nothing.  Her husband tried to get Teresa to stop and she just kept going.   Melissa (by her own admission) doesn't care about the cookbook as much as she's pissed that Teresa called her a gold-digger, popped up with "Well, we'll take one for the team so you can make a little extra cash, it's fine".  YOWZA!   Teresa said she felt everyone was family, and then she said let's move on.  In her interview, she said she apologized and that should be good enough.  I think Jacqueline said it best when she said that if you don't acknowledge what you did to hurt somebody's feelings then it's not a true apology.


The men went downstairs to play poker, while the women stayed upstairs to talk.  While setting up for poker, there was the usual guy smack-talk going on.   Joe Giudice and Rich Wakile started yapping at each other and the next thing you know there's raised voices and the camera cuts away.  All of a sudden, it's the next morning and Joe Giudice and Teresa are talking about last night and how he managed to end up with a black eye.  Pieced together from snippets with them, Melissa and Joe Gorga, and Chris Laurita we find out what happened.  It seems that Joe Giudice and Rich were smack talking, Joe went to grab Rich by the "frank and beans", Rich swung him around, wrestling ensued, they ended up on the couch and a big iron candlestick holder bashed Joe Guidice in the face and gave him a black eye and a bloody nose.  Why oh why the Bravo cameras decided not to show that is beyond me.  Hysterical!!

Photo Credit:  BravoTV

Aren't Kathy and Rich Wakile not the cutest married couple?  I love that they are so involved with their kids and the kids seem to understand and respect it.  While talking to Joseph on his way out the door for a date, Kathy discovered that a girl emailed Joseph naked pictures of herself!  A girl that he doesn't even know!  (Apparently they all share an email account for their twitter accounts - very smart parenting move!).  Kathy is appalled and rightfully so.  She emailed the girl back, telling her how inappropriate her email was and can't she do anything better with herself than email naked pictures.  The girl actually responded with an excuse for doing it and an "I'm sorry".  This girl should be thankful that I wasn't Kathy in this situation or I'd be tracking down her parents and letting them know what she's doing.  That's just insanity!   Rich thought it was awesome - he's such the dad of a teenage boy!!!


Chris Laurita, Christopher and Albie went over to the Giudice house for dinner while Teresa was out at a book signing.  Albie asked Joe Giudice about the situation with his license, and Joe didn't have anything to say.  Apparently, his license was suspended for a DWI conviction, and he allegedly went in to the DMV with someone else's information and obtained a false license.  He said that he thinks his license will be back in October (2011), and he has a driver for work.  As Gia puts the baby to bed, Joe shows a newspaper article about Joe Gorga to the guys - something about a lawsuit that made the papers.  Christopher said that the old drunk Joe Giudice was much more fun, the current drunk Joe Giudice was filled with snide remarks and he wants to make sure that people know he's the best.  Christopher recalled a time that Joe told him he had the best brain next to God.  Um, okay.  Not sure where to go with that one.  The last we see of this dinner is Joe Giudice saying that he believes in karma, and that it comes around.

Photo Credit:  Bravo TV

Melissa is hard at work on her new single, a ballad "How Many Times" that's a tribute to her husband.   She is so appreciative for the things that he does for her, and she's not afraid to show him and tell him.   Melissa planned a romantic dinner for her and Joe and was surprising him with the finished song - so sweet!  You can really tell how much they love each other!  Joe was perplexed at dinner and wasn't sure what Melissa was up to.  Was it another baby???  Nope.  When Melissa finally told him that she put all of her feelings for him in to a song and played it for him, the look on his face was awesome.  He teared up and he was so moved!  It was the perfect, "I'm so amazingly in love with my wife" reaction!!  He picked her up and took her directly to bed. Gorgasms for everyone!!!!


On a side note - holy hell is the Gorga house fantastic or what?  I'm a sucker for intricate woodwork and moulding and all I can say is WOW - spectacular!!!  Did Joe build the house and pick all the details out or did Melissa help????  Did they do it together??  Have a designer?  I absolutely LOVE IT!

Next week's episode looks like some sort of a costume party and Melissa calling Teresa to the carpet about the gold-digger remark.  Stay tuned for more!


Join me and the Momcasters from NotSoSoccerMomRadio as we tweet during RHONJ on Sundays at 10PM/9PM CST using the hashtag #NSSMRHONJ.


You can download Melissa Gorga's new single "How Many Times" on iTunes NOW!