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22 •
Resident 
The Week Of March 3, 2009
 
 
 N e  w  K i d  o n t  he   Bl oc  k
Ke l l y K i l loren  Bens imon  jo ins t he cast o f  
 Real   H ousew ives o f   N ew Y or k
Good look s. Grea t par ties.An e xci ting career.Model- turned-mom Kell y Killoren Bensimon has a lo t  to smile abou t. Bu t  f orge t  the gli t z and glamour.For  this Manha t tan mom  —  who recen tly joined Bra vo’s
 Real Housew iv es of  New  Y ork City 
 f or  the sho w’s second season  — i t’s  the simple  things  tha t reall y ma t ter.
 
 —
 H eat her C orcoran
 
Resident 
The Week Of March 3, 2009 • 23
Cover
 T
his is our family issue, andI know you’re the motherof two little girls. Tell me alittle bit about your family?
I have two amazing girls; one[Thadeus] is 8 and one [Sea]is 10. I gave birth to both of them in New York City and welive between New York and theHamptons. They go to schoolhere, most of their activities arehere. They go to school uptown,we live downtown …
Like a lot of Manhattan moms, you balance kids and acareer. How?
My career is like the new, modern career — I don’t work in an of-
ce, so I have a lot of exibility. It’s basically taking everything thatcomes this way and maximizing. For example, I started a magazine
called
 Elle Accessories
, and I love accessories, so I decided to createmy own line, because I realized there was a huge void in the market.
Here I was, telling all these women across America, “Mix it up; be
a chameleon,” but really didn’t see that there were any options forthese woman to do that. So I decided to create a line of jewelry thatwould make women, if they wanted to look like a ’70s rock star theycould do that, if they wanted to be more elegant like a ’50s moviestar, they could be like that. Just a line that was really my favorite
pieces, but that were fun and sexy and transitional.
Any tips for other mothers who are trying todo it all?
I think one of the biggest things in order to bal-ance work and family is to
not 
try to balance work andfamily. Just wake up in the morning and go for it andhave a good time. They say that you create your ownmemories … so if I’m creating my own memories, Idon’t want to remember the bad ones. I’d rather havefun. This morning we were reading all these little Rob-
ert Frost poems to my kids, and
 Mr. Peabody’s Apples
, thatMadonna wrote.
Now you’re the newest cast member of the
Real Housewives of New York 
. How’d thathappen?
I was already in the Bravo family; I was up for
another show with Tim Gunn. Then the executive producer said,“You know what, we would really love to explore your life.” So theyinterviewed me and asked me to be one of the housewives. At rst, I
hadn’t seen the show, so this whole idea of reality TV was something that I thought was disingenuous, I didn’t think that it was reallytrue. I decided: If I’m going to be on the show, then I’m going to becompletely authentic and genuine, not watch the show, and just bemyself. I wanted to show other single, working moms, that you can
have it all. Having children and being single is a luxury. I don’t think 
of it as baggage, I think of it as 
the ultimate luxury.
   B   &   W   p   h  o   t  o  c  r  e   d   i   t  s  :   S  e   t   h   S  a   b  a   l  ;   R  e  a   l   H  o  u  s  e  w   i  v  e  s   ’  p   h  o   t  o  :   A  n   d  r  e  w   E  c  c   l  e  s
From top: Sea, Kelly and Thadeus “Teddy” Bensimon; a modeling shot; the cover of Bensimon’s book on bikinis; with the cast of 
Real Housewivesof New York City 
.
 
24 •
Resident 
The Week Of March 3, 2009
 
Cover
The idea o totally being yoursel, that’s really cool…
 When people describe me, they always describe me as genuine.That’s exactly who I am; there’s absolutely not one disingenuousbone in my body. I’m very true to myself, to my friends. I’m nice tothe doorman; I’m nice to the president. I really couldn’t care less. Ireact to you. If you’re nice to me; I’m nice to you.
You’re the frst to say you’re not a housewie, or asocialite.
They call me a socialite. I wrote a book on American style andthe ultimate American socialite is Nan Kempner. So if they’re saying I’m like Nan Kempner … thank you! I don’t have a similar lifestyle
to her, but I’m attered that people think of me in a way that I’m
representing New York’s social situation. I’m lucky enough to be ableto go to all these fun parties, and meet these interesting people, sothat, I think, is lucky. I’m a
lucky
ite; I’m not a socialite.
 When you went on the show, did you have to prepare yourdaughters at all?
No. In fact, we walk down the street all the time, and I say tothem, “Does the show have anything to do with us walking down thestreet?” No. “Does the show have anything to do with how much Ilove you?” No. “Does the show have anything to do with how muchwe love our dogs?” No. “So what’s the big deal? It’s like when mom-my writes a book, does it have anything to do with Sea and Teddy?”No. “Am I doing anything that’s harmful or hurtful to myself or toothers?” No. So we’re good. I have a very strong code.
The second season is just starting to air. How do you ft in?
The one thing that’s great about the show is it really portrays one of the big luxuries about living in New York: that it is a melting pot andit is all these different walks of life. It shows Ramona from Rhinebeck,and it shows LuAnn from Connecticut, and it shows Jill from Long Island, and it shows Bethenny from New York and me from outside of Chicago. I think more exciting than getting along with the friends is just exploring New York through different eyes. That’s the most evoca-tive character on
New York Housewives
, New York.
How would you describe the other “wives?”
They’re Type-A, unique, dynamic individuals. That’s what New
York is lled with, and that’s what makes New York so exciting. It’s
ever-changing and ever-evolving.
Having your lie documented in the media, what lessonsdo you hope your daughters learn by watching you?
I hope that they see their mom not engaging in fodder and rising above it. I’m not snarky; I don’t gossip. If I don’t like something I’m very straightforward about it: I don’t like this, please change, or, let’smove on. I’m like the non-housewife. I work, I live downtown, I’mwith my kids all the time. I’m a different kind of housewife.
Right now the recession is on everyone’s minds. You writea lot about New York and Hamptons society, how do yousee the recession aecting the city?
I see this recession as an amazing opportunity to do things thatare important. Spend time with your kids, pick up your kids
 Kelly’s Shopping List 
Th fashinista sha h picks f shpping andnttainmnt in Nw Yk and th Hamptns
I love
French Sole
, I buy all my shoes there. I really like
Marc Jacobs
a lot. I love
Tracy Feith
. I love
Cartier
,except Cartier doesn’t loveme, because their prices are too expensive. I really like
Calypso.
In the Hamptons, Ilove the
Monogram Shop
; Ilove
Ralph Lauren
.My kids, most o their  things are rom Ralph Lauren.I’m an American; I love theAmerican amily. Not neces-sarily super-traditional, butalways well-maintained andwell-groomed. I like whenkids always look neat.Every single year it’s my daughter’s birthday, we always go to the
Costume Institute
and we always go through whatever show is happening at the Met. Aterwards we go to
HelloKitty
. I take like eight o her riends and we get a car and we just fy all over the city going to all these un spots. It’s just excit-ing and educational. It’s exactly what New York is; these amazingplaces in a sound bite.For a night on the town … Ilike
Delicatessen
. One o my great riends owns this restaurant
Charles
I love. I love
Fat Cat,
Ilove to drink un beer and play Ping-Pong. I eat at the
Mercer Kitchen
 a lot, I like
Lure
. I like downtown;I like things that are more relaxing.Most people when they go out or dinner, they’re all dressed up. I like to wear jeans and a T-shirt. I justwant to go someplace where I canhave something really yummy toeat and just enjoy the person thatI’m with, because that’s really why I’m going out. My avorite place togo out is just tostay in, to stay inwith my kids.
Kelly Killoren Bensimon
Continued from page 22
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