TV Weekly Recap: Michelle Trachtenberg and Becki Newton!

I didn’t score an invitation to High School Musical 3 star Zac Efron’s 21st b-day party at Pace in Hollywood on Oct. 19. So I’m living vicariously through his pal and 17 Again co-star Michelle Trachtenberg.

At the MacDella Cooper Foundation Celebrity Gala at the New York Athletic Club last week,  the former Gossip Girl told me, “I got him a gift certificate to one of my favorite men’s clothing stores, Steven Alan.”

Michelle knows a thing or two about fashion. She looked amazing in her Rachel Pally gown. Thank goodness I was wearing a Gustavo Cadile frock, who is one of Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria-Parker’s fave designers. Gotta keep up!

On Monday, I got schooled on Whale Wars (catch the new series on Friday, Nov. 7 at 9 p.m. on Animal Planet), and got the skinny on how Ugly Betty’s Becki Newton does just that.

“For breakfast, I like eggs. And dinner? I make great lasagna. I’m not a picky person, I like everything,” she declared at the Audi exclusive launch for the 2009 Audi A4 in NYC. “I just try not to eat the whole thing.”

If it was only that simple for the rest of us.

And how is Becki beating the recession? By sharing clothes with her husband!

“I wearing my husband’s The Starter Wife’s Chris Diamantopoulos t-shirt and a Chan Luau scarf,” she said. “I find New York dressing is a whole different thing than L.A. because it’s freezing outside and you have the layering thing. It’s way more interesting than just wearing a cocktail dress.”

Except when you have to wear the cocktail dress. Then it’s just cold.

Ugly Betty airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on ABC.

Finally, I stopped by the eBay Home for the Holidays penthouse for tips on scoring gifts for the season. For all the TV DVDs I don’t get from Santa, I can snag on the site for deep discounts. Sweet!

Until next week, fellow Fanatics! And Happy Halloween!