Reopened in October after an extensive reno, New York boutique hotel the Marcel at Gramercy offers five-star amenities in the realm of four-star prices, with cutting-edge modern décor and the posh Bar Milano restaurant, featuring Northern Italian cuisine upscaled for the Gramercy crowd. The hotel's facelift brings in modern minimalism in a cross between Oscar de La Renta's spring collection and the aesthetics of a lava lamp -- grandiose yet clean, with pops of olives & mustards next to futuristic metallics. Part domestic sanctuary, part club lounge, the fireplace, chandelier, and semicircular leather couch cater to cocktails and the creative set both. Co-owned by the people behind the Empire Hotel, the Marcel features five guest floors and 135 rooms, each complete with increasingly standard iPod docking stations, flatscreen TVs, and marble bathrooms.

The owner of the best head of hair in Hollywood and one of EW's breakout stars of 2008 was in Rockefeller Center today for another chapter in what is easily the batshittiest month of his life. Meredith Vieira was interviewing the star of Twilight on the Today Show when she asked him to come outside and field questions from various bridge & tunnel vamp fanatics. Notice the rabid glint in their eyes. It's the hair, so flawless in its flaws. Kristen Stewart was there too, but since no one else paid any attention to her, we won't either.

According to recent surveys, the number one thing America loves is bacon. This is followed a very close second by the country’s unrivaled obsession with statistics, lists, rankings, and other ways of quantitatively measuring things that are essentially qualitative in nature. For example: U.S. News & World Report's Best Colleges rankings? E!’s Top 20 Celebrity Pants Mishaps of 2007? So, on the eve of Thanksgiving -- the most Yankee of holidays -- BlackBook is finally going to give the people what they’ve been literally begging for: a scientifically based ranking of the top 10 spots in the city to party, according to BlackBook's coldly logical calculations and our sinister star chamber of nightlife mandarins.

Improv Everywhere decided to create fake welcome signs for inbound travelers arriving on international flights at the JFK airport. After conferring with waiting drivers for correct spelling of names, about 20 IE-ers created quick homemade "welcome home" signs and heartily greeted several passengers with hugs, flowers, and chocolates. The bewildered travelers enjoyed themselves once the gig was explained to them, but their reactions before they were let in on the secret are worth a peek. Check it out here.

New York magazine sent readers of all stripes into a fits of hysteria by claiming that both Sarah Palin and Hilary Clinton set women back a few decades by reinforcing reductive stereotypes -- specifically, the ditz and the bitch. But similar pundits are also waxing philosophical on the link between Barack Obama's election and the potential upswing for more diversity on TV. So if television is indeed the window into the American psyche (and let's be honest, who can contest otherwise?), then what sort of change are the ditz/bitch forces of Palin and Lady Clinton supposed to embody?

Michael Smith, private beat architect for Katsuya, Ferragamo, SBE, and The Standard, on drunken David Hasselhoff, the ambience of teeth brushing, Mark McGrath’s desperation, and MILFs in the White House

How did you get your start in Los Angeles? I started off DJing back in 2000, where, unlike today, LA didn’t have more DJs than housepets. Most DJs want to rock clubs and be the hero. I never cared if people knew who I was. I was in love with downtempo music because I could work, sleep, chill, and basically live to it. I looked to do completely different types of events: cocktail parties, art spaces, boats in the South of France, you know ... and found a niche outside of the club that allowed me to take more chances and meet more people. Eight years later, I’m doing global music marketing projects for many of the world’s top brands (Diesel, Vanity Fair, Jaguar, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Cavelli, 20th Century Fox). Crazy!

Solange Azagury-Partridge, Londoner and self-proclaimed control freak, taught herself about jewelry design and turned a mere hobby into a luxury brand. Over the last 20 years, she’s created some of the most innovative and sought-after jewelry, with clients like Victoria Beckham stopping by her Notting Hill boutique. She talks to BlackBook about the opening of her New York store, why you should buy diamonds when you can't pay your mortgage, and designing her own engagement ring.

At least in New York, designer hats are selling like hotcakes. Ann Demeulemeester and Sonia Rykiel versions have been moving off boutique floors at record speed. And retailers like Urban Outfitters are cashing in on the trend with slightly watered down versions of what’s selling on Madison Avenue, says the New York Times. Proof of the chapeau having its moment in the sun: the CFDA’s nomination of milliner Albertus Swanepoel for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Award, which fashion designer Alexander Wang won earlier this week.

Every year in Los Angeles, the night before Thanksgiving seems to come as a huge surprise -- everyone remembers that it’s Wednesday, and tomorrow they're blessedly free from going back to work. Bars and clubs across the city remember it too and treat this night like a hot Saturday in high season. It all comes together to make Thanksgiving Eve one of the most promising nights of the year to go out. Here’s our list of November 26th blowouts for your partying pleasure.

1. The Hideout - Ah, glorious Los Angeles. Party on the beach in late November! Though usually Wednesdays at the Hideout are reserved for quiet chilling (and, earlier in the evening, a spot of speed-dating), this night will play host to resident DJs and, as past years indicate, an unusually packed dance floor. Not to worry; there’s breathing room on the beachside patio.

2. Chloe - This new-ish Santa Monica bar is on the elegant side; people come here for schmancy small plates and complicated cocktails. But on the 26th, there will be a DJ and plenty of raucousness. Wear a dress -- but one that can get spilled on.

If you frequent Kanye West's blog, which I can proudly and defiantly say I do, you'll know that he's perched on the cutting edge of everything design-oriented. Houses, skirts, cars, bookshelves, commercials -- you name it, if it's at all forward-thinking, then Kanye's got a handle on it. The guy knows art and design, and to prove it once more, has commissioned Brooklyn artist and toy designer KAWS to decorate his new record 808's and Heartbreak. This comes after West introduced many Westerners to pop artist extraordinaire Takashi Murakami with the artwork from his previous album.