Toronto, Septbember 10-19, 2009 – While one of us was fully immersed in New York Fashion Week, another of the OAN team headed north for the Toronto International Film Festival, where the stars came out in force.  George Clooney, Matt Damon, Natalie Portman, Jennifer Garner, Michael Douglas, Keanu Reeves, Colin Firth, Penelope Cruz, Ewan McGregor and even The White Stripes were among the stars roaming the Canadian city. 

Highlights of the festival included Colin Farrell’s infamous meltdown when photographers yelled at his sister to get out of the way at the screening of his movie Triage.  “You don’t roar at a lady like that!” Farrell admonished, picking one photographer in particular and shaking a finger in his face. 

Our other favorite TIFF moment was when fans in full zombie regalia came out to honor Night of the Living Dead legend George A. Romero at the screening of his newest, Survival of the Dead. 

Even scarier than the zombies, however, was Drew Barrymore's two-toned hair color at the press conference for her directorial debut, Whip It.

As always, the TIFF is a pleasure for the working press, the press conferences are civilized, the red-carpets well run. 

New York, September 10-17 – We were totally immersed in Fashion Week, reporting for New York magazine.  And what a week it was, beginning with the circus-like fun of Anna Wintour’s brilliant Fashion’s Night Out, where we roamed Barney’s, Bergdorf’s and Saks for hours before popping in to Oscar de la Renta’s Madison Avenue boutique for his sing-along with Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler and Barbara Walters.  Genius.  Diane Von Furstenberg proclaimed FNO a national holiday!

We chatted with Kanye West’s elusive muse Amber Rose.  Tim Gunn told us what he thinks about Ungaro’s hiring of Linday Lohan in an advisory role.  We witnessed Marc Jacobs’s awe-inspiring show, and Lady Gaga’s excellent performance at his after party. 

Narciso Rodriguez had the lovely Jessica Alba and the hilarious Courtney Love in his front row, and late-late at his party at Rose Bar, we bumped into his pals Cindy Sherman and David Byrne. 

Even Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman was amazed that her partner, Keren Craig, made it to their presentation just two days after giving birth!

At Calvin Klein, the beautiful Eva Mendes sat next to Jamie Dornan, the male model with whom she made those racy, oily ads.  Thandie Newton and Rose Byrne also graced Calvin Klein, and we talked poop with The Beautiful Life stars Sara Paxton and Nico Tortorella at the after party. 

Tommy Hilfiger scored the star of the week with the lovely Taylor Swift in his front row just days after she was infamously victimized by Kanye West at the VMAs.  It is interesting that Fashion Week opened with FNO’s hopeful nod to retailers, and Hilfiger closed the week with a star-studded party to launch his new Fifth Avenue store.  Could recession-wracked retail be coming back to life?

Photos: Caroline Torem Craig

New York, August 28, 2009 – Beer and tennis go together very well, so Heineken teamed up with the USTA to host the US Open kick-off party on a steamy Friday night.  James Blake and Venus Williams came to let off a little pre-tournament steam, while the rest of us danced to the tunes by DJ M.O.S. and sipped quite a few cold ones – miniature kegs were everywhere at the party, and beer-toting waiters roamed the vast warehouse space, making sure nobody was parched.

We quizzed some of the non-athletes at the bash about their skills on the tennis court.  Penn Badgley says his tennis skills are rusty.  “I haven’t played since I was about ten,” the Gossip Girl star told us.  (Sipping a Heineken, Penn admitted that his beer-drinking skills are “pretty polished.”)   Saturday Night Live comic Kenan Thompson said his tennis skills are “whack;” Olivia Palermo and boyfriend Johannes Huebl play frequently and are “really good,” and Emmy Rossum says that while she is a lousy tennis player, she enjoys watching others who are not.  We’ll second that.  

Photos: Luisa Johns/PKI