It's not about the Oscars, it's about the parties...

Every year, come November/December, you can expect – if you’re popular – a nonstop parade of parties. Cocktail casual, bohemian chic, holiday extravagant. We definitely have our fair share of holiday soirees in L.A., but the real party season gets started around February where there can up to ten parties and events before the day of reckoning looms – The Academy Awards.

What you’re about to read is but a mere sampling of what happens in the five day action packed crescendo, leading up to the Award ceremony on Sunday, Feb. 22nd.

Susan Michals

Wednesday night, 6.30 pm:
Nadja Swarovski threw a little tete a tete on the roof of the Thompson Hotel. Lady Victoria Hervey swooped in and out with a vivaciously black bountiful ensemble, a couple of Brit sidekicks, but very little pomp and circumstance.

Designer Reem Acra arrived early -but feeling a bit under the weather she snuck out almost as quickly. Soon the place was jammed - not just with Swarovski crystals, which were on display throughout.

Whilst this was one of THE launch parties starting off the Oscar weekend, it was also a sneak preview of Atelier Swarovski, Runway Rocks, and Swarovski Crystal Palace. Glam outfits by Viktor & Rolf, Christopher Kane, Jonathan Saunders, Devi Kroell, Giles, Doo.Ri, Erickson Beamon, and Dori Csengeri were dotted throughout on display.

Designer Julia Clancey, in a lovely mint-colored art deco-inspired mini dress of her very own was on hand, "I use a lot of Swarovski jewels in my frocks. Literally all of my jewelry and dresses are decked out in Swarovski crystals...I wish I could afford the real thing for myself!"

"Everything turned out perfectly, only now it's too chilly to wear my party dress," admitted Nadja Swarovski

Celebrity Quotient: Medium, but high on the Brit contingent.

Eddie Redmayne, Angie Harmon, Danny Huston, and Melissa George had a few glasses of champagne before bolting - probably to the next bash at the Chateau Marmont. Needless to say, the standout, eye-popping starlet of the evening? Andrea Riseborough mingling shyly, in a radiant gold dress accented with teal stockings.

Thursday, 5pm.
Nothing screams award season like the infamous gifting suite. For the most part though, the days of the uber freebies are over - not because the economy's spiraling out of control, but because the IRS got hip to the millions being handed out at these things and decided to start taxing people for all those free goodies. Up into the Beverly Hills I went, past many a mansion now for sale (probably all foreclosures). Usually these things take place at a hotel - but this one was at a swanky abode of about 10,000 square feet. I was thinking Prada? Gucci? No. Vacuums. Flip Flops. Nail polish. Don't get me wrong; those items are all great. But at an event like this - where we're on the cusp of Hollywood's most elegant night of the year, it seems kind of...random. Granted, Kenny Jay Lane jewelry was there, and Charlie Lapson's fabulous leather bags and stunning little accoutrements. There were massages and facials and manicures upstairs - but I was kind of scared to go up there. I had seen a couple of starlet's head up, but in the hour I spent perusing the merchandise, no one had come back down. Robert Buckley - the super fox from Lipstick Jungle and current Hollywood IT boy picked up an unlikely goody - a vacuum. "My mom's gonna love this!" Later in the evening, the gifting made way for the partying, when Paris Hilton showed up in current Hollywood designer fave Julia Clancey's soft pink layered gown.

Then it was off to get scrubbed (and I'm talking scrubbed in every crack and crevice) before being tanned by Nicola Joss of Saint Tropez Tanning - who perfects the art of sun worship without the negative side effects on girlies like Scarlett Johansson, Isla Fisher, and Keira Knightley .

Celebrity Quotient: Medium (day) High (night). Paula Abdul, Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson, Rosario Dawson, Anna Lynne McCord. Needless to say, the arrival of Paris Hilton always sends an event into a completely different stratosphere, even if she only shows for a mere 10 minutes.

Friday:
All I can say is, after Thursday, a day of rest was required.

Saturday 3pm:
The Peninsula Hotel - known for its high tea and even higher discretion. All day long, one could experience the ultimate in Oscar pampering; haircuts by Patrick Melville and his band of oh so merry men including L.A.'s very own Jon Patrick, acupuncture, and one of the most luxurious experiences, eyelash extensions by a hip slice of heaven that goes by one name - Ja'Maal. The problem? All those hair dryers going simultaneously blew the power in the hotel, not once, not twice, but about five times, and you really don't want someone - no matter how amazing they are - cutting your hair in the dark. Lindsay Lohan was there for the 2^nd day in a row. When she wasn't furiously texting and smoking, she was getting all centered and shit with acupuncture. Needless to say, the woman looked much more relaxed when she walked out as opposed to when she walked in.

Celebrity Quotient: Low. While there were tons of gorgeous vixens gracing the suite, Lindsay was the biggest star by far.

Sunday: 5pm
D-Day. All previous nights have nothing on tonight’s shindigs. Everyone is about to spend their entire evening trying to outdo each other with the celebrity body count. I hit the Prince after party – he went on close to 2 a.m., but that did not sway anyone from leaving despite the fact things had started nearly 12 hours earlier. Taraji P. Henson – nominated for Benji Button was there, in a different gown than what she had on at the show. She didn’t win tonight, but that did not stop that girl from getting down to the Purple One’s melodic mélange of old and new. Vanity Fair was apparently the party to beat, but I didn’t bother – I was having way too much fun sipping my champagne and reminiscing about Purple Rain with Taraji swaying in front of me and Mika by my side.

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