Obama

Everything you need to know now — here, in our daily news roundup.

• Cat Marnell has quit her job as beauty and health director of XO Jane, reportedly over her refusal to stop using drugs. "I couldn’t spend another summer meeting deadlines behind a computer at night when I could be on the rooftop of Le Bain looking for shooting stars and smoking angel dust with my friends and writing a book, which is what I'm doing next," Marnell said. [Page Six]
  

• Leandra Medine, also known as The Man Repeller, married in a private ceremony in New York on Thursday. While Medine had floated the possibility of wearing custom Prabal Gurung, she instead walked down the aisle in off-the-rack Marchesa. "Prabal and I were going to try and work together but it just didn't work out," she said. [Racked]
  

• Lady Gaga's upcoming fragrance Fame is billed as the first black-colored eau de parfum. It becomes clear when the wearer sprays it on, and it contains notes of honey, apricots nectar, and tiger orchids. The scent will debut around the same time as Gaga's September issue cover of Vogue. [The Cut]
  

• President Obama caused a stir in New York City's West Village Thursday night when he attended the fundraising dinner hosted by Anna Wintour at Sarah Jessica Parker's home. While guests — including Michael Kors — broke bread inside Parker's brownstone, some neighbors were prevented from going into their apartments or relaxing on their rooftops. [Daily Intel]
  

• Christian Louboutin would like to make one thing clear: even though a French judge has allowed Zara to sell a red-soled shoe that infringes on Louboutin's trademark on red soles, the company definitely "continues to own valid and enforceable trademark rights in its Red Sole Trademark, including in France itself as well as throughout the world." The company is still battling a red-sole trademark case against Yves Saint Laurent in the United States. [The Daily Telegraph]
  

• Zac Posen — who has quickly amassed upward of 90,000 followers on Twitter — says that while he doesn't type his own tweets, he does directly oversee the woman on his staff who does. "I tell her exactly what to say — every word," Posen said. [WWD]
  

• With a week left to go in the campaign to fund his documentary Advanced Style — which, like the blog, depicts stylish women aged 60 to 100 — Ari Seth Cohen has already surpassed his goal of raising $35,000. [On the Runway]
  

• Singer Iggy Azalea has signed with Wilhelmina International, the same model and celebrity management agency that has counted Iman, Coco Rocha, Carol Alt, and Theodora Richards among its talent over the years. [Rap Up]
  

• Daisy Lowe says her most memorable modeling moment so far was "mud-wrestling for the Pirelli calendar in the middle of the street in Porto Seguro, Brazil." The most embarrassing? "Getting rushed to the hospital after my hair was dyed blue for a job!" [Vogue]

Photo: Tom Munro, Elle January 2010

A few hours of snooze time could've nipped the economic collapse problem in the bud. Maybe. That's what my revelation was last night, which hit me when Arianna Huffington spoke at the Commonwealth Club, a nonprofit organization that holds public forums for the greatest minds and influencers.

At the end of each Commonwealth speaking engagement, the moderators always asks their high-profile guest to voice a 60-second pitch to change the world. Arianna, the woman who made the magic of Huffington Post happen, replied in less than a minute and said, "Get enough sleep." Wait a minute. That's it? Don't tell me that issues like the 8 million Americans who lost their jobs last year, the 1.4 million who filed for bankruptcy, and more personally, my friend who is on the verge of losing her house, can be solved with a simple trip to dreamland?

Of course, Arianna was half joking, but at the same time, there was a tone of truth to it. The news website mogul said she really believes that if leaders were sleeping enough, they would be wiser about their decisions. Even President Obama and his economic brain team, which includes Timothy Geithner and Larry Summers, need to have a good work-life balance. Let's face it, they're humans too. This means they can burn out, just like everyone else.

I've constantly talked about the dangers of being sleep-deprived, such as how it can result in mental problems, so Arianna's comment on shuteye just further drives the importance of sleep home. Do yourself a favor, and take heed from Arianna's words: "It's time to get some sleep."

It's all over the news: the recession ended a long time ago.

Data released by the National Bureau of Economic Research today said the greatest recession America has faced since the 1930s ended last June. The technical and most common definition of a recession is negative economic growth for at least half a year. Economic growth in America slowly began from July of last year, and we're apparently still in the throes of recovery.

Although we're out of the recession, the country is still reeling from the aftereffects of it. Take a look at some of these sobering statistics:

• One in seven Americans lived in poverty in 2009. This figure is 32 percent higher than the previous year.
• More than eight million people lost their jobs because of the recession
• Over 1.4 million people filed for bankruptcy last year

President Obama said today that even though the recession officially ended last Summer, the recession is still painfully "real" for jobless Americans. Does it feel like the recession is over?

You get many perks when you're leading a country, and a high six-digit salary is one of them. President Obama's salary is $400,000 (not factoring in his book sales) while British Prime Minister David Cameron is getting paid a hefty $231,000. I know that sounds like a lot, but wait till you hear how much this guy makes.

To find out, read more.

According to the government, over half of Americans don't seek out the preventative care that most doctors and public health officials recommend. In an effort to reduce preventable and expensive long-term health problems, the White House has issued new rules requiring health insurance companies to provide access to routine preventative care at no cost to members. Included in the new rules are procedures like cancer screenings, diabetes and cholesterol tests, routine vaccinations, prenatal care, and well baby and child checkups. Additionally, the administration is working on a supplemental list of preventative care services for women. The new regulations, which will not allow deductibles or co-pays toward included procedures, apply to new health plans as of September 23, or existing health plans that make major changes to their policies. The new requirements could raise insurance premiums an average of 1.5 percent.

Exact details surrounding the included services are a bit gray. Even the official White House site doesn't contain a definitive list of included services, which leads me to believe that the exact list of procedures may be able to be determined by individual insurance companies within the guidelines set by the government.

It's often pointed out how fit and healthy President Barack Obama is — he plays basketball with a passion, goes to the gym six days a week, and when on vacation chooses to bodysurf over lounging on the beach. It was even reported that during his presidential campaign he hit the gym for 48 days in a row. In light of his struggle to kick a nicotine habit — something he says he is 95 percent cured of — Obama lives a pretty fitness-focused lifestyle.

Last night the first couple was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey for the holiday special, Christmas at the White House, which gave viewers a peek into how the first family spends their holidays together. While watching, I was struck by a few things that the president said on Christmases past and thought to myself that particular gifts he received as a child helped shape him into the health conscious man that he is today.

To find out what the president's favorite childhood gifts were, read more

In last night's episode of Man Shops Globe, Keith Johnson traveled to South Africa, where he was on the hunt for not-so-typical African crafts. After stumbling upon some unusual pottery and a handmade wooden dining chair straight out of a Van Gogh painting, he wandered into a magical art collective shop called Magpie , which sells knickknacks and décor made entirely from recycled objects. Be it a lid to a dog food can, a wine cork, or a Barbie, the eco-conscious craftsman turned the disposable into the extraordinary. Johnson was blown away by a tall, dramatic chandelier made from found objects, trinkets, and castoffs, and ordered one for Anthropologie.

As it turns out, President Obama bought the $4,800 recycled chandelier for Sasha and Malia's bedroom in the White House. We did learn back in January that the Obamas planned to decorate the girls' room with Pottery Barn and Anthropologie, and that they already have a large collection of African and Asian art, so it's quite fitting actually! While the purchase is certainly expensive for young girls, as is the family's celebrity decorator Michael Smith, Barack and Michelle did decide to pay for their White House renovations personally, and forgo the allotted $100,000 presidential decorating budget, so you can't blame them!

It's Bryanboy's first season in New York and, to kick things off, the blogger will film and narrate a behind-the-scenes Marc Jacobs documentary...

In other MJ show news, there is one person and one person only who earned a front row +1 to his Fall 2009 runway show. 

The Three As Four presentation was, apparently, terrifying. 

The New York Times is examining the "Obama effect" in regard to the Fall 2009 model castings. 

Erin Wasson wore a snazzy fur/bellbottom combo to the Alexander Wang show last night.