February 4 - Plus-sized clothing retailer Lane Bryant's lingerie fashion show had a cabaret theme, complete with Moulin Rouge-style singers and dancers. Comic Roseanne Barr (remember her?) hosted. "I thought I'd be the only fat person here", she deadpanned. Rocker Steven Tyler was front and center; his daughter Mia was one of the runway models. Kelly Osbourne of the hit TV family closed the show, singing "Papa Don't Preach" from her new album. (Note to Kelly: you might want to rethink your career choice.) Attendees were puzzled that gift bags contained tiny-sized tank tops. We recycle - we're donating ours to the 40-pound models hitting New York for fashion shows later this week.

February 3 - Odd couples were a theme at Monday's American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) benefit. Sharon Stone arrived with fashion designer Vera Wang, actress Milla Jovovich came with Donna Karan, Sex and the City's Kristin Davis' date was fashion designer Michael Kors and Elizabeth Hurley was on the arm of Elton John's boyfriend David Furnish. AmfAR's honorees were Richard Gere, Vogue magazine's Anna Wintour and TV producer Lorne Michaels. We were disappointed when Italian fashion queen Donatella Versace, regularly spoofed on Saturday Night Live, met the TV comedy's cast members with good humor. At least Donatella upheld one diva tenet: arrive late, very late.

February 2 - Rudy Giuliani's ex-wife Donna Hanover's method for losing a guy may be to drape her dirty linens on the public clothesline for ten months. Nevertheless, that's all over now and she was relaxed with her new beau at the premiere of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, starring Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey. Fashion designers Michael Kors and Jill Stewart, Hudson's husband musician Chris Robinson and hundreds of contest-winning singles attended the premiere and party. Even handsome McConaughey has imperfections; at a press conference the following day, he told us that his hair is thinning, and that he's "had a hair regeneration".

Griffin Dunne at The Guru party

Heather Graham and Jimi Mistry reach for their inner gurus

Mike Nichols, Bette Midler taste-testing at 66

January 31 - At a party for the critically-dissed Indian-style The Guru, star Heather Graham said she'd never seen a Bollywood movie, but now she's a fan. She loves musicals, so is happy that now she's discovered this genre. What Graham didn't discover until much later was that her red bra was visible through her open-backed black top. Popular in Britain, co-star Jimi Mistry is a mystery to Americans. Actors Griffin Dunne and Molly Shannon partied the night away.

We predict that chef Jean George Vongerichten's new Chinese eatery, 66, will be a star magnet. Notables like Elizabeth Hurley, Willem Dafoe, Mike Nichols, Bette Midler, Alan Cumming and Candice Bergen have been taste-testing the menu all week, and the place isn't even open yet. The verdict from everyone we spoke with: excellent.

January 14 - The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures sure draws an A-list Hollywood crowd for their annual awards gala. This year directors Francis Ford Coppola, Pedro Almodovar, George Lucas and Todd Haynes joined an army of top-name actors for this pre-Oscar award ceremony. George Clooney injured his Achilles tendon playing basketball, but that didn't slow him down - he raced around, the fastest person on crutches we've ever seen. Carey Lowell laughed when husband Richard Gere hugged Chicago co-star Queen Latifah, then laid his head on her chest. Michael Moore now feels badly about the way alzheimers-stricken Charlton Heston came off in his film Bowling for Columbine. Meanwhile, if anyone finds out what the National Board of Review is, let us know.

January 9 - At the party following the Broadway opening of Moliere's Tartuffe, the mystery of Hollywood director Ron Howard's presence became clear - cast member Bryce Dallas Howard is his daughter. The pretty 21-year-old thespian motioned at her open-down-to-here frock and quipped, "The dress works, with tape everywhere." Showbiz bigshots Matthew Broderick, Edie Falco and Lauren Bacall toasted the play's success.

Movie star Renee Zellweger arrived late for an appearance on the David Letterman show, taped her segment, graciously signed autographs and joined in her fans' applause. In and out in twenty minutes.

Filmmaker Ismail Merchant, Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Senator Frank Lautenberg and music legends Joni Mitchell and Graham Nash joined photography-world heavyweights like Bruce Davidson, Mary Ellen Mark and Deborah Turbeville for Aperture's 50th anniversary golden gala benefit at Sotheby's. Culture accompanied the cocktails; on exhibition was the renowned fine art photography publisher's traveling exhibition, "Photography Past/Forward: Aperture at 50".

January 7 - Mayor Mike Bloomberg is thrilled that the GRAMMY Awards ceremony has returned to New York after four years in L.A. "My youngest daughter, Georgina, begged me to get her a ticket", he told the sleepy crowd at the (very) early morning press conference announcing the final nominees. Stars like Ashanti, Avril Lavigne, John Mayer, Kenny Chesney, and Justin Timberlake lined up to tell the world who's nominated. Cyndi Lauper just wanted to have fun with hair. "I told my hair stylist I needed something new. It's an animal print," she said of her striped locks. A Recording Academy staffer told us that they had to keep rapper Nelly up all night to get him there so early; "We told him it was a late, late night event." And sure enough, when Nelly took the microphone he said, "Good morning. That's all I'm going to say because I'm sleepwalking" before reading his list of nominees.