Tea

Shopbop.com is one of my favorite online retailers. If you have some extra money to pick up some fall or winter items, now would be the time to do so. They're having a killer 30% off sale on new merchandise through tomorrow evening. They also have some great fall clothing and boots on sale as well as some swim items if you are going somewhere warm soon.

I was finishing up brunch at Joan's on Third today when the paparazzi literally jumped out of nowhere. They should really be called the poparazzi since they pop up whenever a celebrity appears. They are like those undercover policeman and FBI agents you see in movies who appear to be regular people hanging out, but then shape shift as soon as the deal goes down. I did not do a good job of Name That Celeb Game today. One of the busboys informed me that the woman crossing the street (jwalking) was Sharon Stone. WTF? She was not as tall as she seemed and I thought she was a younger actress. Stone came off more like a scruffy thritysomething TV actress than The Sharon Stone

It appeared that she was driving a C series convertible black Mercedes--very low-key--I like that. Her destination was the button store next to Joan's which I always pass and wonder how it stays in business, but try and etch it into memory so that when I need a button, I'll remember. Ms. Sharon Stone was spending quite a bit of time there and was apparently being very interesting because the paps kept on shooting her and there was even a videographer. I guess it was a slow day. I was surprised that the chick paps weren't dressed nicer and both had huge purses. One pap was wearing black leggings, Ugg boots and a T-shirt and no, she wasn't a teenager. I realize that being a pap isn't glamorous, but these ladies could at least brush their hair and wear a pair of nice fitting jeans and a decent shirt. Oh, and wouldn't a petite messenger bag be more appropriate than a large shoulder bag? Another busboy pointed at one of the chick paps, “I know her. She gave me her card and told me to call her whenever a celebrity comes here, but I threw it away.” Yeah, ‘cause you need to take some pride in your appearance, pap chick.

Honestly, I like skirts a lot but never seem to find ones that fit perfectly. I did pay more than I wanted to for this Marc By Marc Jacobs black jean pencil skirt, but perfect fit on a basic is worth it. I'm sure that you can find a similar skirt for less. I was surprised that Marc by Marc Jacobs has vanity sizing since I went down a size or 2 in this skirt. I felt like I did the last time I tried on trousers in Club Monaco--I hadn't lost weight but went down a size or 2. It was frustrating because then I was between sizes instead of fitting into my regular size. Stop Vanity Sizing Now.

Here is a cute picture of Katie Holmes wearing a similar skirt.

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Wow. The paparazzi are really out of control. I usually see the paps from afar or on film sets where they have to be somewhat well-behaved. While I ate brunch at Toast this morning (last Wednesday) Lauren Conrad and Kyle Howard were lunching inside. There were no paps when they had pulled up earlier in a fancy silver Audi that looked more like a Lotus. But when they exited, paps popped up from everywhere. The paps were literally standing all over the street and not worried about getting run over. One woman in a Range Rover honked at a pap that was in front of her blocking her from moving and he yelled the most obscene profanities at her that I don't feel comfortable repeating here. I was so shocked and disgusted. The late twentysomething pap went on ad nausea. Besides that, I'm sick of the reality that most celebrities call the paps themselves or have their publicists do it. No, people like Lauren Conrad don't naturally have paps trailing them like Britney Spears. Lauren Conrad is very slim; she doesn't look curvy at all like other gossip sights have suggested.

A day after my L.C. sighting, I was lunching al fresco at Cafe Vida in the Pacific Palisades and was forced to look at Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt as they passed by and stopped to say hi to some guy that Spencer knew--they probably went inside for lunch, but I was still reeling from being forced to see these faux celebrities in person that I didn't notice. I did observe that they were both not wearing sunglasses (in case the paps were around) despite the fact that it was a very sunny day. I really could have gone the rest of my life without seeing these two. Heidi is not a very pretty girl--she's just OK and her body looks better in photographs. She doesn't have a bad body or anything, but she was wearing shorts and I doubt that she works out. Someone needs to get her a different colorist because her almost platinum blonde locks make her look like a wannabe Playboy Bunny--maybe Hugh needs another girlfriend? L.C is prettier, though she looks like your average Hollywood starlet--nothing special.

I don't know. I have a feeling that Suri is going to act like a spoiled brat when she grows up. I mean, do you think that Tom Cruise's adopted children had customized dolls? You know that Katie was getiing her hair colored one day and Suri insisted that her doll get a dye job. On second thought, her nanny probably did it since the color is way too dark to be flattering.

I know some of you wish that you could have gone to the Toronto Film Festival. I know this isn't as good as going, but I've decided to give away the contents from my In Style Magazine gift bag to one lucky reader. The contest ends Monday, October 6 @ 9 pm PST. All you have to do is leave a comment here or email me: TiffanyStone@gmail.com with "TIFF GIveaway" as the subject. Good luck!

[Breakfast: a lemonade and wheat toast with butter and apricot jam]