Laurie Sandell

On the shuttle bus to the affair

Still buzzing from last night’s extravaganza, which was one of the most fun nights I’ve had in recent memory. My friend Amy Spencer and I watched the show and got ready at my house, stuffing our faces with so much Chinese food I, at least, was unable to fasten my dress until we arrived at The Beverly Hilton. Thanks to C., I was wearing a Leila Rose gown and carrying a Naeem Khan clutch. The jewels–a pair of cubic zirconia “shmimonds” from Bloomingdale’s–were mine.

The night began with a walk down the red carpet shamefully holding our coats as the paparazzi yelled, “Get out of the way!” so they could shoot Diane Kruger. We entered the party via The Godiva Room, a Willy-Wonka-like creation featuring plexiglass cubes filled with truffles and doubling as coffee tables; cascading chocolate towers; stations overflowing with chocolate-covered strawberries, truffles, nuts, and every imaginable Godiva product. After adding to my tight dress discomfort by sampling a few truffles, we headed inside to mingle.

Those legs belong to Stacy Keibler!

The first people I saw were Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy, who win the cutest Hollywood couple award (mainly because they’re one of the only married Hollywood couples left), and Courteney Cox, who was seated on a couch with her hubby, David Arquette. Amy and I made a few circles around the room, where we spotted Evangeline Lilly, Heidi Klum and Seal, Morgan Freeman sitting with Jeremy Irons, the entire cast of Glee, and Lindsay Lohan–though I didn’t realize it was her until the next day, when I saw photos of her in that crazy getup. Then Amy saw The Edge. Her sister toured with U2 for a year-and-a-half as their masseuse, so we got to sit with him and his wife for a while as every boldfaced name, manager, publicist, and random partygoer stopped by to pay homage.

Sampling a Godiva chocolate-covered strawberry

It was crazy the way people approached him: squatting down at his feet, bowing and putting their hands into prayer position, or bending at the waist as though approaching the Dalai Lama! Eventually we tired of The Edge (that’s a joke) and went out onto the smoking patio–second only to the bathroom for star-spotting. The first person we talked to was Bradley Cooper, whom Amy had interviewed.

We ran into Amy's friend Diego

He was polite but not über-friendly; the experience reminded me of talking to that random hot guy in college who looks over your shoulder the whole time he’s talking to you. We ended up in a little circle of guys that included Chris Kattan, who was talking on hyper-speed and being very funny. Christina Hendricks was draped over a nearby couch with her fiancee, Geoffrey Arend. We went to the bar to refill our drinks and saw the adorable Zac Efron with Vanessa Hudgens, and flirted with Topher Grace. Then Amy saw Chris Harrison, host of my all-time favorite show, The Bachelor, and brokered an introduction. He was in game-show-host mode, all smiles and a million miles away.

When we went to the bathroom we discovered stations manned by professional makeup artists, ready to touch us up, along with baskets of L’Oréal goodies. Back in the main room, I spotted Anna Lynn McCord–from behind, mind you, but I knew it was her–wearing a white, drapey, Grecian gown, and Neil Patrick Harris.

Hanging with Julie Benz from Dexter

Headed back out to the smoking patio and fell into a very long conversation with Julie Benz, who played Rita on Dexter. Turns out she’s obsessed with cooking, to the point that she wants to have her own cooking show.

At the end of the night we exited via The Godiva Room and ended up in conversation with an adorable, doe-eyed woman and her cute blonde boyfriend. Talked to her for a half-hour before we realized she plays Trudy Vogel, Pete Campbell’s wife on Mad Men. The four of us literally shut down the party and exited at around two in the morning, where Amy and I took our requisite photo in front of the InStyle step-and-repeat, then boarded the shuttle bus back to the parking garage. What can I say? It was a stellar, A+ night. THANK YOU, ARIEL FOXMAN!