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DK and I went out to dinner at a restaurant called Aspen last night. It's decorated like a modern ski lodge--kind of. There's a fire in the middle with seating around it like a community table. It's a cool place to sit if you're single. We had reservations and they tried to seat us at the community table, so you should specify you don't want to sit there if you make reservations. It's crowded there and not a good place to sit if you want intimacy with someone. As we were walking in, Joel Madden walked past us. He looked exactly the same as he does in photographs. He was wearing a hat and had a sleeveless black shirt on so he could show off his tattoos. I really didn't care about seeing him 'cause he's totally not cute, but I figured that Nicole Richie had to be there if he was.

I have to admit that during dinner I was a bit distracted because I didn't want to miss a Nicole Richie sighting. I had to know if she'd really gained weight and wanted to see what she was wearing. DK and I were in the first booth seat and they were in the last one. The only way for me to see Nicole would have been to walk around the restaurant and that would have been totally obvious. I could only see the back of Nicole's head. However, we were in the perfect viewing area for when she left. I tried to chill out by ordering a tequila sangria with DK. The sangria was way too sugary. I've realized that I don't like sangria, but it always sounds so refreshing. Then I had a lime infused vodka martini that was also very sugary, but tasty. Note to self: You don't like sugary drinks. (The best drink that I've had recently was a Prosecco cocktail with ginger and lemongrass at Rustic Canyon Wine Bar in Santa Monica. Do go there.)

Aspen is all about small plates. Their bison sliders were the best sliders I've ever had. My other favorite were the mashed potatoes. They have a sampler with wasabi potatos and ponzu sauce, regular buttery mashed potatoes with a beurre blanc sauce (aka butter and white wine) and sweet white potato with mojito sauce--don't know what that was, but it was good. Dipping mashed potatos in sauce was the best. The mini cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for dessert weren't bad. The frosting was amazing. I needed that after my first bad experience with Magnolia cupcakes the other day. Honestly, I didn't want dessert after all those sugary drinks but ordered it so we'd still be there for Nicole's exit. Of course, the second after we ordered dessert Joel and Nicole paid their bill and left. I wanted to slide around our humongous booth seat to get the best view of Nicole as she was walking out, but that too would have looked weird and obvious. I decided that I'd just stare at her when she walked by. I told DK to do the same. "Pay attention to what she's wearing and her weight!" I demanded.

I had a Nicole Richie and DJ AM sighting last year, but for some reason I was really excited about this one. Nicole has gained weight and looks normal skinny instead of 'Ana' skinny. DK agreed that she didn't look gross skinny. We could really tell since she was wearing black leggings and black boots. Her top half was covered with a short coat and lavendar pashmina. Oh, well. Nicole did not look happy and looked very tired. Maybe she and Rachel Zoe had a catfight earlier in the day at some fashion show. Nicole also looks different depending on how much makeup she wears. Her face was pretty bare. I don't think she was even wearing lipstick. FYI: The entire time we were there she didn't go to the bathroom, though Joel went twice. So there you go.

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