Perennially hot mama-to-be Gwen Stefani was literally around the corner from my house last night!  She and hubby Gavin Rossdale were eating at Marix, which is a yummy tex mex restaurant (and where I had my birthday last year, by the by.)  You know, call me a dork, but I will never become jaded by celebrity spottings/proximity; I can’t help but think it’s amazing when we cross paths or visit the same haunts.  Are they better or more important than you and me?  No, nein, non.  But are they prettier and more Ooh! to look at?  (Despite…or because of…the airbrushing and gym-ratting and plastic surgerizing and salon sleekifying…?)  Um, yeah. 

Gwen’s trademark cherry-red lips make me happy in a really primal beauty way.  How does she pull it off so well time and again?  (Gwen in red lipstick=amazing.  Jolie in red lipstick=clownish mess.  The only “real” girl I’ve ever met who can pull off red lipstick is my former roommate Adrienne.  Props, A.!)  The trick to wearing red is finding a shade that works with your coloring; Gwen has a very warm, yellowish look because of her Italian-heritage skintone and brown eyes, so she sticks with vivid, creamy blue-reds without pink/fuschia in them.  (My recommendation: MAC Cosmetics lipstick in Russian Red, which is rumored to be her favorite color and is pretty much universally acknowledged to be the best shade of red lipstick, even for those with pink/cool undertones.)

Side note: Whenever I see a pregnant celebrity with zero roots, I can’t help wondering what the deal is.  According to some health professionals, it’s safe to dye your hair after the first trimester; others say that because small amounts of dye are absorbed into your body, which can theoretically have an effect on the baby’s organ development, you should avoid dye in general and only highlight or frost if you must.  (Pregnancy or no, I’m kind of creeped out by the fact that the dye seeps into the bloodstream at all!)

Weeks after her mysterious hospitalization, Gwyneth Paltrow emerges—a vision all in pink—triumphant, glowing, blushing, fabulous at a Gucci/Unicef charity event.  Am I alone in my Gwyn-dulation?

Gwynnie, I didn’t even realize how much I missed you. 

The Other Gwen: Miss Stefani looking pretty damn gorgeous with her signature platinum hair, black liner and red lips.  I’m not digging Demi Moore’s goth hair, however—although you do have to give her credit for chugging the ol’ youth elixir 

After a brief moment of awesomeness, Katie Holmes is creeping me out again.  Event chair Madonna looks splendid, but I think this shade of blond is too yellow for her