Former Real Housewife of New York City Dorinda Medley partnered with Amazon to upgrade her home with all the latest Amazon Devices.
This is Medley’s second year working with Amazon, which has added an extra element to her festive home. Medley’s love for Halloween doesn’t stop at her home decor but continues with her Amazon Echo Show 15 and Ring Video Doorbell, which she has featured at Blue Stone Manor. The manor was built in 1902 and has since been upgraded in a multitude of ways. Her home’s popularity has grown over the years and accumulates a heavy amount of visitors each day. Keeping within the spirit of Halloween, Medley has incorporated her Amazon devices into the theme of the holiday. She has set her devices to greet guests in a way that keeps the Halloween spirit present by setting her Ring Doorbell to the sound of Dracula screaming, the lights dimming, and music playing. She also has created Halloween-inspired menus with the help of her Amazon Echo Show 15, which allows her to search and display recipes by simply saying, “Hey Alexa, show me a recipe for…”
These Amazon products work for all holidays and everyday use to help make life easier and homes protected. The Knockturnal spoke with Medley about her Amazon devices and how incorporating them into her home has been beneficial.
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The Knockturnal: Tell me a little about your partnership with Amazon.
Dorinda Medley: Well, you know, this is my second year doing this partnership with Amazon and smart devices and the Ring in particular. I love it. Because you know, I have this old 1902 house and it’s now been made a smart house. And you know, we have this incredible doorbell, the Ring Doorbell. And you know, I love Halloween. So when you press a Ring Doorbell Dracula yells out to me, I look on my Echo Show 15, the lights stem, the music comes on. And I’m able to like, greet and meet people before they even get to the door so I can see what they’re wearing, I can see who they are. And I can welcome them and kind of start to experience before they’re even there. And it’s just, it’s really nice, because you know, you can watch it on your fire stick upstairs, it’s so good for me, because I’ve always got so much going on in the house. And you know, it’s big enough that like, I can’t get to everything all the time. So you know, from my kitchen from my Echo Show 15 I can answer the door, I can see what’s going on with the Ring security cameras, I can pull up recipes, I can put on music and I can do it all while standing right there. So it just makes this integration for someone like me that has so many things going on at Blue Stone Manor and I love to decorate it just helps me just facilitate it all in a very smart way.
The Knockturnal: And I’m so happy you mentioned Blue Stone Manor. Because when I was reading the Amazon article, I saw that you described it kind of as Marilyn Monroe meets Frankenstein. Help me picture what that looks like.
Dorinda Medley: You know, here’s the thing, we bought the house, my husband and I. It was built in 1902 it’s an old Stanford White House, it was actually a house that they only used one month, a year in July, festival time. so no one had really updated or the people that did, did what they could to keep it together. But no one had really shut it down and, you know, renovated. And we realized very early on that like, it was as much a restoration as it was a renovation. And what I really wanted to do is you know, I wanted to do an aesthetic that kind of complemented the era of the house but also was fun. And I love color. And I love that expressive expression of color. And I just wanted to choose not creepy just a little bit maybe like it’s a whispering house. So when you come in, it welcomes you with a lot of colors and lacquer and dark floors and rich curtains and I just think that adds to the comfort right away. That’s why you know, Halloween suits it, I think or even Christmas. I mean, can you imagine a house like this? You come into the beautiful film way entrance. You press that doorbell, the Ring Doorbell, and Dracula screaming out and then you look in and you see the light dim. You hear the music go on? I mean, tell me that and then you hear me speaking to the Ring Doorbells and my Echo Show 15, I mean, you immediately set the tone in the house. I think that’s why Amazon partnered with me because the house lends itself to this fantasy to this creating this kind of feeling. Now I can do it effortlessly with smart devices. I mean, I’ve always done it, but it was sort of a run around for me. “Oh my god! Someone’s at the door,” running down the stairs, put on the music, turn off the lights. I don’t have to do any of that now, I can see them. I can set it up. I can know who’s at my door, I can greet them. And it’s all done just with the touch of you know the screen on the Echo Show 15, That’s a great thing! And I never really realized that when Amazon introduced me to the new devices last year. It’s a game changer. And when I say the new device that I now have my kitchen even though I’ve been watching TV and it’s like a real TV like you can watch prime. You know you can watch a movie while you’re cooking and pull up a recipe. You know, it’s nice to have that integration, especially in a house that’s so old. Who would have thought that? I’m sure she’s thinking, what the hell’s going on here?
The Knockturnal: As you mentioned buying the house the way it was to now having all these different smart devices. How’s that transition been for you?
Dorinda Medley: Well, it’s amazing, because, like I said, the house is, like, 11,000 square feet, right? So it’s nice to be able to be in my bedroom, watching the firestick. TV, and it pops right up. And I can talk to you, I can do it on my phone, then I can just see who’s in my backyard, who’s in my front yard, who’s at my front door. And that’s a really funny story. When they were setting it up, I didn’t realize they were going to bring this Ring camera and spotlight. One of the Amazon people said, “Do you mind when we put the spotlight up?” “So you put it up temporarily, or the camera in the spotlight?” And I said, “We’ll put it up there? Why not? That sounds great!” And I opened the gate because I have a gate at the bottom of the hill. And literally I was in the kitchen. And what popped up on the camera was someone that came through the gate and was walking on their property and the Amazon people can tell you this is true. I’m like, “those aren’t Amazon people. So I thought this is incredible. Like I can see immediately from my phone from the Echo Show 15, from my fire stick. And I literally shouted out what are you doing here? And that’s a great feature for someone that lives on 18 acres. And now that the house is so popular, I mean, people stopped by my gate every single day. So the security aspects, the fact that I can do all these things, pull up music, pull up recipes, pull up any kind of information I need, watch TV, see who’s at the doorbell, have the lights dim But what’s really nice is that it’s a beautiful security feature, especially for house it’s become so popular.
The Knockturnal: I wanted to touch on one of the tips you mentioned when preparing a Halloween get-together with the help of Amazon Devices. And one of the things you talk about is creating a Halloween-inspired menu, with help from Alexa. Tell me how this has helped you?
Dorinda Medley: Well, it’s great because it’s a beautiful big screen. And you could just explore all kinds of fun, new recipes, without having to print them out or go to cookbooks. And you can create a theme and save them and make it so much easier. You save it, You can create your grocery list, you put on your music and you can start baking right in your kitchen or cooking, while the Echo Show 15 is right in front of you. Then you can save the recipes and create your own recipe book which is what I’ve been dealing with it. I’ve got to tell you something. I literally was never a really big technology person but I couldn’t live without it now. It’s a game changer for me, especially when I’m up there by myself. It comforts me. You know, I’ll be like, “ Alexa turn on the living room,” if I’m up in my bedroom at night. And I want to go downstairs to do something I can literally put all the lights on before I leave my bedroom. Isn’t that nice?
The Knockturnal: Honestly, that’s amazing. It gives you that companionship aspect.
Dorinda Medley: Right! I know that sounds weird, but it really does.
The Knockturnal: And another tip I kind of wanted to touch on which I loved was staying present and connected at the same time. And I feel like some people do miss that balance. They either do one more than the other or they just don’t have an equal amount when they divide it. What has that balance been like for you?
Dorinda Medley: What’s funny, I was just talking about that today on my radio show ‘Make It Nice with Dorinda Medley.’ I was just talking about this topic because I feel like a lot of people since the pandemic the balance has been very off. Like we’ve almost been in a little bit of a post COVID fog and I really found myself trying to hit that right balance again. And I think you have to be very conscious of it. I’m a big believer in you know, not overpacking my schedule saying no. And if we learned anything during the pandemic, like your time is important, time for you is important. quiet times important because that’s where you create your most creative self to then go back in the world and be fully present for your job, for your family, for your friends, for your creativeness. But you know, you do have to value both, but you have to be very, very aware of it and conscious of it and do it. And I think only now people are starting to realize that they have to pull back again and let y’all mix up a bunch of the lessons we learned during the pandemic into what is now our new present day life.
The Knockturnal: When we first started this interview you talked about your love for Halloween. So what would you say you enjoy the most about this holiday?
Dorinda Medley: Everything. I mean everything, I mean the secret I want to tell you is I love Halloween more than Christmas. That’s the truth, because it is such an incredibly magical, mystery filled, romantic time. It doesn’t have the pressure of Christmas presents and all that and you are allowed if you’re creative and you have a space like Blue Stone Manor. I now have these smart devices to create a world that is so interesting. And so how can you not like Halloween? It’s like there’s a little bit of a you know, old world mystic thing going on. But you know, do we believe in ghosts and don’t we all the questions pop up in October, the month of October is a magical month, I think. You have to be a real cynic. You’re not going to a house that is decorated for Halloween and not feel joy. That’s a problem. Like you couldn’t be my friend if you were that person.
The Knockturnal: Do you have any future projects coming up or currently working on, that you want to tell me about?
Dorinda Medley: Well, of course, I love this Amazon partnership. I hope we do it for years to come. Because I love the Amazon Ring and I love all the smart devices that go along with it. I have Blue Stone Manor bourbon, which is doing thank God very well. I’m really proud of my radio show on Sirius XM on Radio Andy, every Thursday. And, you know, I’ve been doing a lot with the women’s expo speaking, doing a lot of speaking engagements. I’m doing one this Saturday in Edison, New Jersey, from 12:30PM to 1:30PM. And just trying to be, you know, just on the hustle and getting myself out there. Let the world hear my voice trying to move it a little inch at a time.
