Posts Tagged ‘Dining’

Cameron Diaz ‘Lucky’ For Hot Bod

June 25th, 2009 / Author: OK! Staff

There’s something about Cameron Diaz during the My Sister’s Keeper premiere held Wednesday at NYC’s AMC Loews Lincoln Square.

Clad in a white J. Mendel frock, the buoyant bombshell radiates joy in every way from her wide smile to her easy laugh to her sparkling blue eyes. She towers over everyone, and her deep tan and fire-engine red lipstick simply heighten the glamour.

How does the actress, 36, stay trim?

“I guess I’m just lucky,” she laughs, attributing her bod to that old standby — genetics.

In this medical drama opening Friday, Cameron plays mom to a daughter suffering from leukemia. To save her child, Cameron gives birth to another daughter, played by Abigail Breslin, who is forced to endure medical tests to save her sister until one day, Abigail’s character says “no” and seeks medical emancipation.  

“Mothers are goddesses,” Cameron says. Her own family was on hand when she received her star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame this week. “Family’s everything. They’re the most important things to me, absolutely.”

One thing Cameron likes to do for her family is cook, and co-star Heather Wahlquist admits she makes a mean guacamole. “She cooks very healthy, with a lot of garlic and olive oil,” she tells me. “She gave me one good tip: if you get garlic on your fingers – it smells because you cook with garlic – then you can take stainless steel, and rub your fingers on it, and it goes away.”

Cameron’s co-stars can’t stop gushing about her.

Thomas Dekker tells me, “She’s like an old movie star. She has that bubbly, charismatic movie star presence, and then she can turn around and do something. It’s surprising how good she is in this film. I think all the people who were like ‘she’s the wrong choice,’ once they see it, they’ll be amazed.”

Director Nick Cassavetes, who also helmed The Notebook, was responsible for making sure Cameron didn’t cry throughout the film, which was nearly impossible, the actress admits.

Nick tells me, “I was surprised by what a great woman she was. I didn’t think she went that deep. It’s not because she’s Cameron Diaz, but when you know someone, you’re like ‘hey, how are you? What’s going on? Ho-ho-ho, hee-hee-hee.’ We really had to go there for this one, and I was surprised by how still her water was.”

There’s Abigail, 13, who is all gussied up in monster heels. A woman shrieks and gives her a hug. Her looks aren’t the only way in which she’s mature.

“She’s so smart for her age, and she knows what she wants,” costar Evan Ellingson tells me. “She uses big words. She’s smarter than I am right now, and I’m 20 years old.”

She also has a child’s side.

Heather, who plays her aunt, says, “The funny thing about Abigail is when she’s on set, she’s a serious person who gets into her character and knows exactly what she’s doing, but when it’s over, she’s a kid again. We put together this puzzle that we couldn’t wait … they’d say ‘cut!’ and we’d be like ‘yes!’ and running back to finish our puzzle. It was fun.”

My Sisters Keeper opens Friday. 

Mya: Why I’m a Vegaquarian

June 17th, 2009 / Author: OK! Staff

Inspired by a friend who has been a vegetarian for seven years, Mya, 30, made the switch to a vegetable-heavy diet. But, she adds, “I do eat fish.”

Why did she cut the steak?

“Sometimes meat gets you thick,” she tells me. “I feel a lot better. I’m not opposed to people eating meat, but it’s something that I do for myself to keep in shape, stay lean and prevent sickness.”

Lindsay Lohan is Chic in NYC

June 8th, 2009

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Kathie Lee Gifford Makes Sacrifices For Kids

June 8th, 2009 / Author: OK! Staff

Kathie Lee Gifford is truly a supermom.

How does she maintain the work-life balance between her Today show gig, marriage to Frank Gifford, 78, and being a mom to Cody, 19, and Cassidy, 15?

“Usually not very well at all,” the talk-show veteran, 55, laughs. “Oh, you know, I think if you always make your family your first priority, everything else will fall into place.”

She tells me, “I was asked to do Broadway years ago when my daughter was one-year-old. And I had to say ‘no’ to Mary Poppins – Julie Andrews herself. I said ‘my daughter’s one. She’ll only be one for one year, and I’ll never have this time again.’ And she answered me in the most beautiful, proper English accent. She said [theatrics] ‘Kathie, you know I had to make those same decisions when my children were little. You’ll never regret putting your children first. You’ll always regret when you don’t.’”

Hoda Kotb chimes in. “If you meet her kids, too, they’re salt-of-the-earth, really, really terrific, well-adjusted, sweet, nice kids. People ask her all the time ‘how did they turn out that way?’ And both Kathie Lee and Frank were so present in their children’s lives, and figured out priorities. It seems so basic when you stand on the outside and watch it.”

Kathie Lee laughs, “Now they don’t want us anywhere near them.”

These days, Cody and Cassidy are busy studying their craft. “My son’s in college studying film, and my daughter’s studying acting. She’s my little budding actress, and he’s my budding director/writer.”

Of course, Cody and Cassidy got some superstar advice along the way.

“The last time I was here for this American Cancer Society benefit, Rosie O’Donnell was one of my guests,” Kathie Lee says. “Rosie sat at my kids’ table, and she kept eating their French Fries and the crust off their grilled cheese sandwiches, and telling them ‘don’t smoke crack.’ That’s what I remember!”

In the elevator, she dishes that daughter Cassidy admires Audrey Hepburn.

Jane Krakowski Manages Sweet Tooth

May 28th, 2009 / Author: OK! Staff

Jane Krakowski calls ice cream “one of my favorite desserts” during Breyers Smooth and Dreamy Webisode event held at Midtown Loft and Terrace in NYC.

Although  the 30 Rock star, 40, confesses she doesn’t eat it very often, she abides by the dieting motto “everything within reason.”

“Ice cream is one of my favorite things,” she gushes. “I always think you can tell a great ice cream by their vanilla. It’s the test of all tests. But my favorite flavor probably is chocolate chip mint. It’s so delicious. And Breyers, I’ve always loved their chocolate chip mint ice cream because they don’t put green in it. It’s actually natural – it’s white. It’s the way it’s meant to be.”

As waiters sail around offering up Atlanta Burning Delight desserts decked out with  “peaches on the bottom, vanilla ice cream, raspberry topping and whipped cream,” Jane’s Webisodes air. She’s placed in iconic roles in Gone With The Wind and King Kong.

“I’ve never done anything that was this technically advanced in the sense that I can actually be acting with Clark Gable and it’s seamless,” the Tony winner tells me. “I was absolutely blown away by the advancements in the green screen technology and what they can do these days. Our director of photography lit it with that old Hollywood studio lighting that nobody does these days. It was one of those experiences that I don’t know where else aside from this Webisode you could have.”

Ooh, check out that sundae bar! We’re talking Smooth and Dreamy Rocky Road, Strawberry Cheese Cake, Chocolate Chocolate Chip and Creamy Vanilla pairs with marshmallows, strawberries, fudge, nuts and raspberries. Delish!

Gift bag time: I pick up a Breyers ice cream scoop (it’s awesome!), Breyers ice cream coupon, red heart-shaped bowl, matching red spoon, Smooth and Dreamy Breyers notes, Gone With The Wind DVD and The King Kong Collection DVD. Woo-hoo!

Find out Jane’s workout secrets in the OK! out now. “Brunette Bombshell: Ashley Tisdale” is the cover line.

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How Danielle Fishel Dropped 30 Lbs.

May 26th, 2009 / Author: OK! Staff

Danielle Fishel is walking lighter these days now that she’s dropped 30 lbs.  

The Boy Meets World star turned Dish host credits NutriSystem for her weightloss.

“I thoroughly enjoyed doing it last year, and since then I have maintained by learning portion control,” the actress, 28, tells me. “That was one of the greatest things NutriSystem taught me. I cook a lot now. I eat 95% of my meals at home. I never eat fast food, I take protein bars with me everywhere, and I make all of my own food. I eat very low-carb and high fiber and a lot of protein.”

She continues, “I make a lot of fish, I love vegetables – so that’s a good thing – and then, the working out and the eating well, that allows me – I have a sweet tooth – so that allows me to have a cookie here and there. My mom just baked my favorite – my kryptonite is chocolate chip cookies that my mom bakes that are amazing.”

Danielle tells me she spends nine hours a week in the gym, doing cardio for an hour three days a week, and cardio for one hour and weights for another hour three days per week. She builds her workout into her morning, and gets her motivation from her trainer.

“It’s my favorite part of my day. It wasn’t always my favorite part of my day, but I grew into the lifestyle of working out, and now if I miss a day or I have to skip because of work, I don’t feel like my day is complete.”

One of her dieting dos is enjoying a cheat meal – but not a cheat day because she can get carried away.

“It’s so important to maintaining your overall mental health,” she says. “It’s easy to know that you only have a week before you can have something that you really want than to know ‘I’m never going to be allowed to eat this again.’”

Her favorite healthy snacks?

“I love my protein bars that I eat. They’re called Pure Protein, and they’re chocolate peanut butter ones. I put them in the refrigerator so they’re really cold, and, to me, they’re like my equivalent of having a Snickers, but it’s super healthy and low sugar.”

Also: La Tortilla Factory’s low carb, high-fiber tortillas. “I make wraps with those. That’s one of my favorite lunches is to make a salad and have a little turkey wrap.”

For Danielle, motivation to lose weight happened gradually.

“It takes awhile once you put weight on to have the ability to say ‘all right, I’m cutting everything out and starting over from scratch.’ But I just wasn’t happy. I was feeling uncomfortable in my clothes and in my skin. When I’m not feeling good about myself, I don’t feel like being social. I was wanting to stay home all the time, and there were a lot of friends and family events going on that I didn’t feel like going to because I didn’t have anything to wear and I didn’t feel good about myself. That was the biggest motivating factor for me. And when I don’t feel good about the way I look, I tend to be really grumpy without even realizing that that’s why.”

How did she feel after she dropped the poundage?

“I felt a-mazing after I lost weight,” Danielle says. “You wake up and you feel so much healthier. That’s the biggest thing for me. Not even so much the physical appearance of it, it’s more the way you feel. That was the biggest upside for me.”

Keeping it off is no sweat.

“Once you have the weight off and you feel great about yourself, it’s easy to look at something that you’re going to eat or look at the gym, and say ‘I’m really happy right now with the way I look, so it’s not worth it to me to have this cookie or have this cake or skip out on my gym appointment.’”
 
What slimming secrets can Danielle share?

“No matter what size the tag says, get the size that actually fits you,” she says. “Nobody else sees the tag after you’ve put it on. But dressing in clothes that fit you and that are more fitted – if you feel like you’re carrying extra weight, the only thing that makes you look even heavier is wearing bigger, baggier clothes.”

She adds, “Having a good tailor will make you look thinner, and dressing appropriately for your age and in a clothing size that actually fits you.”

Catch Danielle on The Dish, which airs on Style Network.

Dining With KT Tunstall

May 21st, 2009 / Author: OK! Staff

When KT Tunstall and I meet up at NYC’s Pink Pony, she’s joined by pal Ebenezer Bond.

“We met when I went to boarding school in Connecticut for a year,” the Scottish-born singer, 33, tells me. “He was the guitarist in my first ever band. We would do gigs at school in little cafes. I see him every time I’m in New York.”

Even as KT, who wed Luke Bullen in September, shot up the charts with Black Horse & The Cherry Tree and Suddenly I See, she has remained grounded.

“The one thing I think both of us would say about the other is that we absolutely haven’t changed that much since we were 17.  Both of us don’t really want to conform to the traditional idea of life being set out for you and that there’s certain paths that you have to follow. Both of us very much feel that you make your own reality.”

In this OK! outtake, KT dishes on food.

What do you love about this restaurant?
This place is my favorite because it looks like it hasn’t been touched for sixty years. It’s actually really hard to find that now where you find that authenticity in a restaurant where it’s not been upgraded and made fancy. It seems very artistic and it’s absolutely beautifully done out. You don’t have to look at everything if you don’t want to, but if you do, there’s just so many things. There’s beautiful quotes on the wall, fantastic pictures, books everywhere. The other day we were spotting books that had the same titles as my song titles. As you can see, it’s really laidback. There’s no kind of uptightness about it. It’s got a very artistic feel to it.

I have to say that this place is where you would get the best hot chocolate in New York. I was just speaking to the waitress today, and they actually receive huge slabs of chocolate and they shave chocolate into a cup and then actually melt the chocolate. It’s not powdered. It really is one of the best hot chocolates I’d had.

Best food memory?
My best food memory would be my mother’s sherry trifles.

My dad is a physicist and my mom is a school teacher — very academic people. The real trend when I was young and my dad was at university was that the academic community would have dinner parties.

I would hear everybody discussing, chatting and debating until 2 or  3 in the morning, lying in my bed. I used to love hearing all the chatter upstairs.

But my mom would make these amazing desserts for the dinner party.

She would always make homemade ice cream with cherries and chocolate chips and nuts. She’d also make sherry trifles.

I love custard. I actually got called Katie Custard when I was a kid because I had a bit of a problem with the custard.

One night, I sneaked upstairs and finished off quite a large remainder of sherry trifle, and subsequently got horrendously ill in the middle of the night. ‘That’ll teach you for eating too much trifle,’ my mom said.

It was a boozy trifle.

What foods are your favorites?
I love very simple, well-cooked, fresh ingredients. Italian food is probably my favorite. I love Japanese also. And here, and it’s the same in London, one of my favorite places in London is called The Albertine. It’s very similar to Pink Pony. You kind of feel like your dinner’s been cooked by your mom. It’s very, very home-cooked.

Trumps Talk Terrible Twos, Donald III

May 8th, 2009 / Author: OK! Staff

It’s a busy time for Donald Trump Jr.

The Celebrity Apprentice finale takes place Sunday, the same day as Mother’s Day, and daughter Kai turns 2 on Tuesday.

Donald Jr., 31, and wife Vanessa, 31, who wed in 2005, welcomed son Donald III in February.

How is Kai adjusting to life as a big sister?

“She’s doing very well with it now,” pleasant Donald tells me during the Operation Smile’s 2009 Smile Event held Thursday at NYC’s Cipriani Wall Street. “She’s very good with the baby. There are definitely moments of jealousy as I think there would be. She’s a tough little one herself. But no, she’s great. She’s having a lot of fun with it. Donnie’s doing great, getting big fast, he’s 15 lbs. already at three months. He’s going to be a monster, so we’ll see. He’s been great.”

How does Kai help?

“She actually helps with the feeding,” Vanessa tells me. “I’m breastfeeding, but sometimes I pump and put it in a bottle so she can feed.”

Donald embarrasses. “Way too much information.”  

She continues, “But she loves it. She loves to sit there, she puts the pillow around, she copies me with the burp cloth and feeds the baby. Of course, you have to be there because she’s a baby herself. But she helps.”

When asked for a milestone, Ivanka’s big bro admits defeat. “This is her category. I have no idea what these things are supposed to be.”

Vanessa says, “For now, she’s stringing more than three words together, so that’s a huge milestone. She’s acting like a terrible 2-year-old, so that’s her huge milestone. So it’s ‘no,’ and it’s ‘yes.’”

Donald says, “She was the sweetest child one day, and the next day, she was really pushing her boundaries. It was a very fast transition.”

Vanessa says, “She’s got a very strong personality. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

Adjusting to life as a family of four was a change.

Vanessa says, “The first few days when I came home with my son, it was definitely difficult because you have a baby at home, and now you have another newborn and you have to attend to both. With the breastfeeding and stuff, it was very difficult. But I’ve been able to manage up to this point, and as soon as you get things going and you have a routine, something will happen. I’m hoping that everything stays the way it is.”

Donald adds, “We’re looking for status quo right now. If we can maintain the way we are, we’ll be good.”

With two kids, how do they make couples time?

“Who? What? That doesn’t exist,” Donald says. “Yeah. Uh, we don’t. We try to integrate as much stuff with the children by bringing them to dinners and making them a part of it. I think frankly it’s a way to really develop a child well, too. You incorporate them as much as you can, and we do what we can once they go to sleep.”    

Would they like more kids?

While Vanessa says “we would like to have 2 or 3” more, Donald counters “we’re in negotiations about that.”

When Vanessa brags that her son only wakes up once a night at three months old after she shares her daughter woke up four times a night until she was eight months old, she catches herself. ”I’m lucky. I have a good boy. I don’t want to jinx that.” Donald adds, “Don’t say that in public. It could be a mess.”

Donald Jr. and Vanessa sit down at dinner to enjoy a red beet, string bean and goat cheese salad; basket of homemade breadsticks and sliced French bread plus warm Cipriani rolls; and dinner of roast filet of beef with sauce perigourdine. Vanessa Carlton and the original winner of America’s Got Talent, Bianca Ryan, perform, and the event raises nearly $1.5 million for the cause.

Donald and Vanessa are on the board of directors for Operation Smile, which is a worldwide children’s medical charity whose network of global volunteers are dedicated to helping improve the health and lives of children and young adults.

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Jordin Sparks: I Love My Curves

May 7th, 2009

American Idol winner Jordin Sparks doesn’t stress about her figure.

“I hike when I’m at home,” the singer, 19, says. “I ride bikes, and I eat healthy.”

How does she deal with the pressure to be thin?

“I’m all up for working out and being healthy and eating right, but I don’t have to be a size four and I’ll never be a size four,” the Arizona native says. “If I ever get to that, you have permission to say ‘Jordin, what the heck is wrong with you?’ because I would blow over.”

She adds, “I just think we’re always going to be concerned about it, and we’re always going to be obsessed with it, but it’s really sad – especially when I see a four-year-old who doesn’t want to wear a jacket because she thinks she looks fat. She’s four! That should not be happening.”

Jordin wouldn’t change a thing about her body.

“I love the way I look. I love my curves, I love being able to fill out a dress and be like ‘Yeah, I look really good today.’ But I do have my days where I feel like ‘I really wish I could stay inside right now.’”

Has the No Air singer ever tried a crazy diet?

“My mom raised me pretty good, and was always like ‘eat in moderation’ and everything is really good. My dad, I mean, he played football, so we’ve always been a really active family, but I’ve never done a crazy crash diet thing. Those are always really scary, bad for you, bad for your health.”

Watch OK!’s exclusive video from the opening of the American Idol Experience held at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

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