Bethenny Frankel Does Dallas: SkinnyGirl Style

Torrential downpours couldn't keep close to 500 die-hard devotees away from a chance to meet the Queen of reality TV, Bethenny Frankel Hoppy, at Majestic Liquors yesterday in Addison.

Bethenny made appearances at several liquor stores around town on Friday.  I caught up with her in Addison where she signed bottles of SkinnyGirl Margaritas.

Her handlers had this circus show act down pat. We were given strict instructions on how this party would rock and roll: Bethenny would sign one item and one item only.

You walked up, handed her your item and while she was looking you in the eye, she was simultaneously signing your bottle.  You then posed for their professional photographer who snapped a quick pic (we were told they would be uploaded to Facebook) and out the door you went.

Want some scoop straight from Bethenny? I have two tidbits of info!  First, they are about to begin filming Season 3 of Bethenny Ever After. After that... Bethenny says she may be "ready to hang up her reality TV shoes" and enjoy private life for a while.  The second exciting tidbit is that she is about to release a SkinnyGirl Sangria.  It will be a white wine based sangria and "it might be better than the SkinnyGirl Margarita".   I can't WAIT to try it!

Click here to see a photo gallery from this event

Because I am a silver-tongued she-devil, I had wrangled myself onto the VIP list, so I was #7 in line (translation: I was inside the store all nice and dry). I felt sorry for the legions of fans who stood out in the pouring rain to see Frankel.  I gripped my freshly-signed bottle tight to my chest and made a mad dash for my car.  As I was pulling out, I spied Jason Hoppy dashing to the limo. I was tempted to go bang on the window and ask for a photo, but I didn't. If it hadn't been raining...

Cynthia Smoot, Jennifer LeLash and Molly Nolan

Frankel is the poster child for how to parlay a reality TV show into a multi-million dollar conglomerate.  She first burst onto the national scene in 2005 by appearing on The Apprentice: Martha Stewart.  A few years later, she turned up on Bravo's smash hit The Real Housewives of New York City.

Channel 11 was live on the scene

She recently took what was "an acorn of an idea in her head" and created a low-calorie cocktail in a bottle called the Skinny Girl Margarita. She used her wit and humor to bulldoze her way into a virtually all-male industry and, as viewers of her hit show Bethenny Ever After know, just sold her company for a reported $128 million dollars after only 18 months in production.

Bethenny is a New York Times best-selling author, chef and just launched a line of supplements called SkinnyGirl Daily.  She is also wife to cute-as-a-bug, Jason Hoppy and has an adorable daughter, Bryn.

I want to give a shout out to 2 readers (and fellow women business owners) I met at this event:  Karen Wiseman who has a jewelry line, Blossom Shop and Carinthia Kishaba, who also has a jewelry line called Couture Rocks.  It was so great to meet you. Thanks for supporting my blog by following along on my adventures!

Like Bethenny, many women have had a "little acorn of an idea" in our head and are working hard to acheive our dreams.  Frankel shows us that it is possible to have it all: wife, mother, millionaire! You go, girl!