US WEEKLY CELEBS SIGHTING!
Mike and I were waiting for a table at La Conversation, on Doheny, a really cute little French cafe on the border of WeHo and BevHills, for brunch this morning, when a black Escalade pulls up, and two teeny-tiny girls alight from it: Nicole Richie, looking tan, blonde and MUCH prettier than those scary anorexic pics in the tabloids (and yes, thin, but not scary thin like that bikini shot in Star. She’s just really tiny), wearing a loose white and blue peasant blouse, huge sunglasses, denim cutoffs, and holding a black Balenciaga motorcycle bag.
She was with Mischa Barton, who was wearing a pink and orange Pucci or Matthew Williamson mini-dress that came up mid-thigh, rocking a cute patchwork Chanel bag, and white sandals. They were both gorgeous and impeccably made-up, although their hair was artfully casual (Mischa’s looked like it was still wet, it was twisted back from her face and then hung in loose curls). They were with Cisco Adler (Mischa’s boyfriend) and Nicole’s new boyfriend, I can’t remember his name, but he’s been pictured with her in Us Weekly.
It was an US Weekly moment come to life! There were paparrazzi across the sidewalk waiting for them to leave the restaurant. Mike and I were seated right behind them, so we even overheard their convo a bit. It was REALLY hard not to stare, they were straight in my line of vision.
They were pretty loud, laughing a lot, kind of high on the attention (and if you’re young and beautiful, why not??) and plotting their ‘escape’ from the restaurant so they would not be harassed by paparazzi. It was fun to see them–they just seemed like a couple of pretty kids who liked to have fun. They were also nice to two little girls who asked for their autographs, and to an older matron who showed them a picture of themselves in some magazine.
SALE NEWS
This morning Mike and I also made our way to the DIVA Cappellini sale, a fabulous Italian brand that carries B&B Italia, Alessi, Cappellini–high-end modern Italian furniture. Our Cappellini couch is one of our most treasured objets and we heard they were doing a MAJOR sale, so of course we got there before it even opened.
We totally scored–we got this fab office chair that’s usually around $800 for $100, a walnut bookshelf ($200 from $2000), walnut side table ($150 from $1100), a small felt bench with chrome legs ($200 from $900), three light fixtures for $90 each (they are $900 at the store) and a fabulous Wenge (dark African wood) coffee table ($450 from $3000).
There was this fabulous oak coffee table that was only $150 but it was SO HUGE we had no idea where to put it. And this one couple who saw it, they were so aghast at the price–they had bought the SAME ONE just last year for about $4000!
The clientele at these design sales is so great for people-watching–hipster couples with their cutely named children “Sienna! Come here!”, architects with their geometric frames, lots of older Europeans–one fabulous woman, she looked German, she had white-blonde hair, a deep tan and was wearing a white eyelet sundress, very low in the cleavage, with gold Prada sandals and a white Lanvin purse with a gold chain. She was probably around 60 and she looked AMAZING! Total Baroness Schraeder.
Overheard at the sale. A couple looking at a Jasper Morrison watering can (very sculptural plastic) The man saying huffily, “I can’t buy it. I already have TWO ridiculous watering cans!” Mike and I totally giggled because, sadly, we also already own TWO ridiculous watering cans. I bought Mike a beautiful Stelton stainless steel watering can for Valentine’s Day last year ($400) and we also own a Philippe Starck watering can. Did I mention that we only own ONE plant? It’s a lemon tree out on the deck.
But isn’t life about little luxuries? The $5 cafe latte? The $20 Chanel lipstick? They said the secret to life is to have little happy things that you look forward to every day. The Taiwanese are apparently very good at this. And we can vouch for this, our Taiwanese friends are very cheerful people, and they look forward to such things as eating a really great dinner (and they ALWAYS know the best places to eat).
My dad is like this also–he’s always looking forward with much joy to the small things in life, like lunch. When my dad first had chemo, the two of us had lunch every day, and there was this Taiwanese dumpling restaurant we ate at EVERY DAY because they had the best pork dumplings. And every day, without fail, we looked forward to this meal–talking about what we would order, and then afterwards, reminiscing about the food! And then the next day we would go back there again.
Pop’s back on chemo for three months, and we’re going to go back to our usual schedule of rotating restaurants that we love…President Thai (the best roast duck salad), Din Tai Fung (the dumpling house), Goldilocks (a Filipino restaurant), yummm… I look forward to it!
What a great day–today I received the book jackets for ANGELS ON SUNSET BOULEVARD, and they are GORGEOUS!!!! It is GOLD FOIL with EMBOSSING on the angel wing tattoo. It’s just so lovely. I can’t stop looking at it. You know how writers always complain about their covers? (And I have had my share of ugly covers–I won’t mention the book, but just know it’s the one with my picture on it! Yikes!!) Well I am SO HONORED with this one. S&S really did such a great job!!!!! THEY ROCK! I wish I could put it up but you won’t be able to see the SPECIAL EFFECTS of the cover until you see it in a bookstore. It comes out February 27!
And that means I should sign off now because I am still rewriting it!
xoxo
Mel