Memo Pad: Taking Space... Gearing Up... New Style...

AN EPIPHANY AT GRENOUILLE: The choice of La Grenouille for Thursday night's dinner party for new House & Garden design director Wendy Goodman was no accident. "When [editor in chief] Dominique [Browning] and I first met, I told her about how, when I went to La Grenouille as a fashion editor, I was completely intrigued by this building, a former carriage house," recalled Goodman. That curiosity grew into a story in New York magazine about the building and restaurant's storied history that "changed my life, and changed my career," she said. "I thought, this is exactly what I want to do. I want to explore the way people live and why they live the way they do. Last night I was looking at that room and thought, who would have ever thought?" Conversation among guests, who included architect Richard Meier and designers Robert Couturier and Miles Redd, touched on how the changing media landscape affects their work. "I think there's really a feeling that we're on the verge of a sea change in the way that we show projects, because there's so much information and alternative media now," said Goodman. "Everything's changing really quickly, and it's a wonderful challenge to the magazine, how to present and shoot stories." — I.C.

GUZZLING PAIR: Seems some Hollywood stars aren't afraid of a few extra calories. Actresses Sophia Bush and Arielle Kebbel, co-stars in the teen flick "John Tucker Must Die," knocked back a few at the Best Life Vail Film Festival, which ran March 29 through April 1. Bush emphatically declared her love for Stella Artois beer, despite the current trend in Hollywood for actresses to stay as slim as possible. "All Hollywood girls are like, 'No beer for me, it makes me fat.' But I love beer and Stella is my favorite!" Bush and Kebell mingled with D.B. Sweeney and Giancarlo Esposito in the Best Life Lodge, where celebrities enjoyed après-ski festivities hosted by sponsors Epson, Shiseido, Calvin Klein and Swiss Army Apparel. — S.D.S.