Bethenny Frankel & Family's West Village Stroll

Bethenny Frankel and Jason Hoppy take a stroll with their daughter Bryn through the West Village on May 24, 2011.

Credit: Zimbio

Photos by FlynetPictures.com

Bethenny 'Laying Low' After Emotional Season

The season finale of Bethenny Ever After was Monday night – and now Bethenny Frankel says it's time to take it easy.

"I love the show, I'm proud of it," Frankel told PEOPLE at the National Magazine Awards on Monday. "It's been a very emotional, intense season. But we're starting filming in July for season 3, and I need the hiatus."

She recouped with husband Jason Hoppy at the Viceroy Anguilla for two weeks after filming, she said, and since then has been trying to slow down. "I have really checked out of my own life a lot," the reality star, 40, said. "I'm laying low. I really hit the wall going 90 miles an hour."

Frankel celebrated her daughter Bryn Casey's first birthday a day early at Dylan's Candy Bar in New York Saturday with "a big celebration." Then she had a relaxing Mother's Day, which was exactly what she wanted.

Despite rumors that they might be moving to L.A,, Frankel says her family is staying put for now. "It's an ongoing conversation but I have a business opportunity that will keep me in New York, so I don't think that I can move to L.A."

She and Hoppy plan on spending a relaxing summer in New York exploring their neighborhood.

"We've only lived downtown for a year, so we keep finding new pockets," she said. "Jason and I like to walk around, find new restaurants, sit outside, have sangria or SkinnyGirl margaritas. We just like to venture out. New York is such an amazing place so we like to find new little outdoor cafes to hang out."

Credit: PEOPLE (Asher Fogel)

Bethenny Could've Gone Forever Without Sex

Bethenny Frankel is really good at being very frank — even when it comes to talking about sex with her husband post-baby!

We wonder how Bethenny’s husband, Jason Hoppy, feels about this interview?

The Bravo star opened up to Redbook about what sex was like for her after giving birth to her daughter, Bryn.

“It was like sticking my foot in a pool of cold water,” Bethenny tells Redbook. “I could have gone on forever not having sex. It wasn’t a personal thing toward my husband — I think Jason’s the sexiest man alive. But it was kind of nice to be like, ‘Nope, store’s closed.’ ”

Bethenny gave birth to her daughter via C-section, but still said it was painful to have sex after.

“It doesn’t matter where the baby comes out; they still cut stuff,” she says. “It was kind of like being a virgin. We had to tread lightly.”

But Bethenny works hard with her husband to set the mood.

“If it’s date night, I’m putting on lingerie and we’re having sex,” Bethenny says. “If it’s the weekend and our schedules aren’t crazy, we’re having sex. But the fact that I’m even using the term ‘date night’ shows how different things are now.”

And they may still try for baby number-two!

“We throw caution to the wind and use the withdrawal method now,” she says. “If we got pregnant again, we’d be happy.”

Credit: OK! Magazine (Nicole Eggenberger )

Bethenny Frankel Has “Money Noise”

Despite the wealth she’s acquired, Bethenny Frankel can’t shake that frugal feeling.

“Money changed things for me because I was always so nervous about not being able to pay my rent and striving to pay my rent,” the reality star, 40, tells me. “Once I had some money, I didn’t know how to stop striving and being worried about money.”

She continues, “Like food noise, I have money noise. I don’t know what it means to be able to afford things, so I’m frugal. I’m not someone who can go out and buy something retail – or spend freely – because I have anxiety about knowing how many years I couldn’t pay my rent, and how many years I was way negative in my tax return and losing money.”

The married mom admits she shopped for shoes today at Kohl’s, and regularly shops on eBay, Bluefly and Shopbop.

“I’m an online shopper exclusively, and I buy everything at discount,” she says. “ 99.9% of things that I wear on the show are something I got on sale. I don’t walk into department stores and pay full price for things. I just don’t.”

Still, she splurges where it counts and doesn’t put a limit on how much she’s willing to spend.

“If I absolutely love something, I’ll j buy it. I like diamonds, jewelry and watches. Those are my little luxury areas. Even shoes, I have expensive shoes, but they’re all on sale or somehow I found them at a discount.”

Now that she’s a mom to daughter Bryn, 11 months, whose dad is hubby Jason Hoppy, she hopes to use her monetary blessings to do good for the children of the world.

“I’ve donated to charity over the years, but now that I have money I would like to get more involved and aligned with specific charities – for babies, to help unprivileged babies. If I would like to find a place to spend my money, it would be more charities because I’ve been haphazard about it. If someone asks, if I go to a charity event, I’ll donate. I’ll donate my services, or I donate clothes and end up doing eBay charities. I pick charity a month, but it’s all over the place. I’d like to be more focused on a charity.”

Credit: OK! Magazine

Bethenny Ever After Renewed for Third Season

That was fast: Barely a month after season two of Bethenny Ever After bowed on Bravo, the network is readying another cycle of the series starring Bethenny Frankel.

Vulture has learned a season-three pickup will be announced later today, just in time for the network's upfront presentations to advertisers in New York, Chicago, and L.A.

This makes sense given that the Monday-night series has averaged a healthy 1.4 million viewers since returning February 28 and continues to do well with Bravo's key demo of rich folks under 50 (we're not kidding about the rich part, either; the network even has a name for its target — "affluencers").

No word yet on when season three will air, but the timing of the renewal couldn't be better for Frankel and hubby Jason Hoppy: The duo celebrated their one-year wedding anniversary Monday, an event she told Access Hollywood would be "an all-out sexfest." Awww! How sweet!

Credit: New York Magazine (Vulture)

Bethenny: My Reality Days Are Numbered

Always outspoken reality star Bethenny Frankel stopped by Access Hollywood Live on Friday and, as usual, no topics were off limits with the hilarious "SkinnyGirl" pioneer.

Following a clip from Bethenny's show, Bethenny Ever After, in which Bethenny was seen trying on bras, Billy Bush jumped right into the good stuff asking, "Is there anything that you won't show on the show?"

"Full vagina," Bethenny deadpanned.

"But half is OK?" Billy asked, laughing.

"Yeah. Like, quarters," Bethenny told Billy and Kit Hoover. "Upper and lower quadrants. I have standards!"

Bethenny, who got her reality TV start on Bravo's Real Housewives of New York, then branched off to a solo show with Bethenny Getting Married?, now stars in Bethenny Ever After, which follows her life as a wife and new mom to 10-month-old daughter Bryn.

"Little Bryn is the best – she stands on her own now," Bethenny told Billy and Kit of her daughter with husband Jason Hoppy. "Her little thing is to clap – 'If you're happy and you know it' — and she's happy and she's knows it, so she's clapping."

Adding, "She travels with me everywhere. I just love it so much. She's such a doll baby!"

"Let's say she's three or four years old — do you still have her on TV? Are you trying to wrestle with that?" Billy asked.

"No, I'm not trying to wrestle with that. There will be a very immediate future end to my reality television career – it can't go on forever," Bethenny revealed. "It will go on, but not for that long… I would probably say a couple more [seasons] but this isn't going on forever. We really want our private life back."

Credit: Access Hollywood

Bethenny Talks Motherhood, Inlaws, Her Book

It didn't take long for Bethenny Frankel to become the fan favorite on Bravo's "Real Housewives of New York City."

The reality star, natural foods chef and best-selling author soon scored her own spin-off, "Bethenny Getting Married?" -- in which she wed love Jason Hoppy and delivered their daughter, Bryn -- and currently stars in "Bethenny Ever After."

In her latest book, "A Place of Yes," Frankel, 40, lists 10 rules "for getting everything you want out of life."

ParentDish recently spoke with Frankel about her latest book, motherhood and dealing with her inlaws. An edited version of the interview follows.

ParentDish: What does the title "A Place of Yes" mean?

Bethenny Frankel: It does not mean a way to the power of positive thinking. It means a way to get there. You don't have to want what I want. It's about how to plow through and get there. It's how I got to where I am from coming from a place of yes. So many people told me no and how it couldn't happen. I kind of just knew in my gut that I could make things happen.

PD: There are 10 rules in the book. What do you think is the most important one?

BF: I would say maybe all roads lead to Rome, because people worry about the right job and it has to be the perfect situation. And all roads lead to Rome is kind of about getting on the road; it doesn't matter if you get derailed or have to stop, as long as you are moving forward, you can get to your destination one way or another.

PD: You don't speak to Jill from "Real Housewives" at all anymore, right?

BF: No, we don't speak at all. Listen, I have boyfriends that I lived with that I broke up with that I don't speak to, you know. We met briefly before the show, but ultimately our friendship began and ended on reality TV. The way it went down was extremely difficult because my father passed away, I was in a new relationship and being pregnant. The way it went down was really not ideal.

PD: How has motherhood changed you?

BF: My priorities totally changed. I wake up in the morning and the minute I hear her I want to run to her. If I go to L.A. for work, I'll take a red-eye and not stay overnight so I can come back and see her. I just want to be with her every single minute. I've been listening to every woman who says it flies by, and it really does. That will be problematic for me; I can already see that being my issue. I'm going to have a really hard time letting go.

PD: You also write that women should have sex with their husbands even when they're not in the mood.

BF: You just don't want to be the girl five years in, always saying no and in a raggedy robe. You want to try and come from a place of yes.

PD: So, do the producers want you to do goofy things on your show?

BF: Not on my show. That's why Max got fired (recently), to be perfectly honest. I didn't want someone who wanted to be funny and come up with quips. It actually really annoyed me. In reality, he'd be two hours late and he'd want to take a cab instead of the subway and I'm big on work ethic. You think this is a TV show -- this is my life. I get in wicked fights with my producers. There will not be a word out of place. If it's not something I said or did, it will not be on the show or I'll never do the show again. I have a serious foot down mantra.

PD: I hope you're not offended, but I'm on Team Jason regarding issues with his parents. Your daughter is so lucky to have grandparents who adore her.

BF: I'm not offended. I do understand and I love them and they're wonderful. I don't need them to be here every two weeks staying over and vice versa. It's a 50/50 split as to what people think. Guilt shouldn't be a reason for doing things. I want my family and I have to have quality time, too. We need to have our own life. We need to have our own moments together and then share them with other people. I totally get where you're coming from, but it's a balance. Jason and his parents are very talkative and, on a TV show, that's really nice for an hour, but when you've been together for three days in a row you can imagine. That's fine if it's occasional, every week it's too much.

Credit: Parent Dish (Nicki Gostin )

Bethenny Frankel: Not Happy With Co-Workers

Bethenny Frankel has become very good at marketing herself. However, this kind of around-the-clock self-promotion can lead to problems, as revealed on Bethenny Ever After (Mon., 10PM ET on Bravo).

She sat down with husband Jason Hoppy to talk about why her business isn't producing product as quickly as she'd hoped and wasn't at all happy with what she was hearing.

"Everyone's freaking out because they can't get the product," she said. "And we're not producing it fast enough."

Jason explained to her that there wasn't sufficient demand during the early stages of production, and when demand peaked, they couldn't keep up.

Bethenny believed the demand would come all along, as she reminded him. "I told everyone this would happen," she reminded him. "Why can't everybody produce as fast as I can market?"

Credit: TV Squad ()