She’ll get you next time, Corning.

(left) Russell Armstrong (the one with the moustache) looks at the camera at a senior dinner party Randy Edwards held for his friends. (right) Armstrong at the same dinner party with Edwards (in yellow).

Last week, Russell Armstrong, the estranged husband of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Taylor Armstrong, hanged himself. Some say his actions were a result of what was about to be aired in the next season of RHBH. Bravo, which airs the series, is now apparently re-editing its latest season because the impeding divorce between the Armstrongs was a major plot point.

Until yesterday, I didn’t know that Armstrong grew up here. Follow the jump and read the note sent to me by his friend Randy Edwards.

Russell “Rusty” Armstrong was my best friend. He lived in Carrollton until he was 15 and then in Dallas where he attended Richardson High School and graduated from in 1982. Because Rusty went to junior high at Dewitt Perry and his freshman year at Newman Smith in Carrollton, he made a lot of friends there. When he went to Richardson, he made a lot of friends there. It was because of our continued REALLY close friendship growing up that he kept in contact with everyone in Carollton. So much so some people thought he did graduate from Smith. It was this friendship that brought me in contact with a bunch of kids from Richardson High School and form friendships with them. Some I remained friends with at Texas Tech and beyond. Which brings me to my point. You could not find one person that knew him at either high school that didn’t think the way he was portrayed was like the complete opposite of who he was and who the tabloid-driven media keeps dragging him down the road. None of his close friends would say he was a perfect person either. He was an engaging, funny, hard worker who loved his kids and loved his wife. He would send me pictures of the kids. I would open it and there would be, like, 200 pictures. I talked to Russ three times in the last two weeks. I know two other people who talked to him. One of them did every day. I knew he was heart broke and said, “They are all piling on.” There is a website dedicated to everything bad about Russell Armstrong. It is in-depth and took someone a lot of time and a lot of money. No one person had the time to do that. Who would benefit? TMZ? Bravo? There is a heart-broke family here in Dallas and a bunch of heart-broke friends, me being one of them. … I am proud to be from Texas and the city of Dallas. My friend Russ was from Dallas, Texas. His name has been wronged. —Randy Edwards

Stubbs Davis and Nancy Hamon

According to Pegasus News, Angus Wynne has reported the death of 92-year-old philanthropist Nancy Hamon, whose life was filled with much happiness and heartache. Her generosity was overwhelming (SMU, the Dallas Zoo, Presbyterian Hospital, UT Southwestern Medical Center, the Winspear Opera House, etc.); her parties, whether on board a yacht in the Mediterranean or at her Turtle Creek penthouse, were legendary; and her personal tragedies (the premature deaths of her son and her husband) were heartbreaking.

Warning: We learned last night that club rules forbid profane tattoos to be visible. Heck, at this point they should take anybody who has air in their lungs.

The Associated Press reported that while packing in a Dallas hotel, Franklin had a mishap with her Jimmy Choo shoe. Greenwichtime.com reports further:

Franklin performed Thursday at the home of a Dallas “oil baron” and was packing her clothing later in a hotel room when she stepped on the shoe, causing the heel to “wrap” around the toe, spokeswoman Tracey Jordan (not, as I pictured, Tracy Jordan) told the Associated Press Tuesday.

I’m still trying to wrap my head around that description, but thanks to Alan Peppard, we know that the oil baron in question was Jim Musselman, who threw the party in honor of his late wife, Shelly.

“He does that all the time,” she said. “It’s not really news.”

“Huh,” I said. “I guess I’m just a little surprised that he’s going around talking like that.”

She said, “For a racist, you sure are a prude.”

Casa Bellamini

Some gals, when they live through a divorce, get a face lift. Others get a boy toy. But newly-single Lee Bailey (aka Ed Bailey’s ex-) just finished the final steps in purchasing Braden Power’s Casa Bellamini on Turtle Creek, with Allie Beth Allman’s Doris Jacobs making sure all the T’s were crossed. As one residential real estate pro put it, “It’s a perfect match.”

This 8,430-square-foot, two-story mansion, with its oh-so-cool party/spa master bathroom and salt-water pool in the living room, has been a neighbors’ nightmare. After a little refreshening, Lee claims the Cole Smith-designed palazzo will go from “the party house” to “the convent.”

BTW, the two black swans that originally came with the property are now down to one. Evidently, the surviving swan killed the other one.

Hayden Panettiere

UPDATE: Check out our full-on photo gallery from the GQ Super Bowl XLV Party at the Hickory Street Annex on Friday.

Ok, well, I’m sure it wasn’t just the GQ party that brought the celebs to town, but it did get several of them here. It was a fantastic party with plenty of celebrity sightings. We’ll have an album up soon with photos from the party taken by something more advanced than my digital camera and iPhone. (Both died before the end of the party. I will be more prepared for tonight’s parties.)

Snowpocalypse Continues to Plague Super Bowl XLV

Of course the story last night at the GQ, Lacoste, and Cadillac party was the weather. At least, it was at the beginning of the party. Media was told to arrive at 8:30, but valet didn’t open until 9. Therefore some of us had to walk a block in the snow/ice/sludge. The planners were still preparing the Hickory Street Annex 15 minutes before the party. They realized that when they put heat lamps on the deck, the ice on the overhang started melting. Not wanting to repeat the incident from earlier in the day, they sent people to the roof with shovels to knock down the snow and ice.

Several reporters for the red carpet were a bit late in arriving because getting a cab was nearly impossible. One photographer from Just Jared was upset because he had tried to no avail to find a cab to take him to the ESPN party in Fort Worth. He ended up staying at the GQ party all night.

I asked the reporter and cameraman from yardbarker.com how they were enjoying the week in Dallas. They said this is their seventh Super Bowl to cover. I regretfully asked them how this week compared to the others. “Honestly, it’s the worst,” they said. But they did say that things were getting better and that they were having more fun on Friday than they had at any point this past week.

For some, the weather affected their clothing choices. For example, Cee-Lo Green was wearing a black snowsuit. Terrell Owens said he dressed for the weather with his hoody/sweater ensemble. And Hayden Panettiere said she chose her dress because it had sleeves (though they were sheer sleeves so I’m not sure how warm that can make you).

But, honestly, once in the party, no one cared about the weather.

Eye Candy
Terrell Owens was the first to arrive and walk down the somewhat-heated red carpet. He was gracious enough to give everyone along the carpet (and I do mean everyone) an interview. It took probably 25 minutes for him to get to the party. Later, he was also one of the last celebs remaining at the party. So either he had nowhere else to go or he was just being a great guest.

Kurt Warner was one of the next to arrive. He talked about his stint on Dancing With the Stars and explained why he was going for the Packers. He wants to see someone who hasn’t won it in awhile. Also, he’s bitter about his loss to the Steelers in Super Bowl  XLIII.
Ryan Kwanten from True Blood (his team is the Eagles), Joe Manganiello from True Blood, Brian Baumgartner from The Office, tennis star Andy Roddick, and singer Joe Jonas all walked through. Everybody got excited when Cee-Lo Green showed up. Unfortunately, Cee-Lo has to be one of the worst interviewees I’ve ever seen. He’s a soft-spoken, one-word kind of guy. At one point, a reporter in exasperation said, “Give me something!” He didn’t.

Right behind Cee-Lo was Hayden Panettiere. I’ve always thought she’s a very cute girl, but her helmety-type blond hair just wasn’t doing anything for her last night. She’s 21 but looked about 30. However, she is fantastic on camera. As soon as that little red light stated flashing, she turned it on. She’s quite the opposite of Cee-Lo: loud and long-winded.

Guy Fieri showed up near the end of the red carpet. Poor guy was filming at some diners in San Antonio on Friday morning. His flight to Dallas was canceled, so they sought out a car. Guy and crew finally found a car. It took them seven hours to get to Dallas.

Also spotted at the party were Brooklyn Decker, Demi Moore, and Ashton Kutcher. Adam Sandler was supposed to show, but I never saw him. And, trust me, I was looking.

Party Like a Rock Star (or Party Like Someone Who Got Access to a Cool Party and is Trying to Act Cool)

The party was fantastic. It was big enough that there was a great vibe and a good party atmosphere, but small enough that you could literally rub elbows with the celebs. My husband died when I told him Brooklyn Decker bumped into me. (Sidenote: she’s not intimidating in her supermodel ways, but very naturally gorgeous. And nice.) We got in line behind Hayden Panetierre to get our Lacoste t-shirts screen-printed. Then we stood beside Brian Baumgartner to get a drink. By the time Cee-Lo took the stage around midnight, it looked like most of the celebrities had left. But no one else was ready to go.

The bar in the elevator was a huge hit. When asked about the purpose of an elevator bar, the bartender said, “Why not have it?” I thought maybe you drank shots or something when the elevator went from the second floor to the first and back again. But no, you just rode the elevator.

Another huge hit at the party was Jill and Gill Bumby. Covered from head to toe and wearing wigs, the two obviously did not want their identities known. After a bit, it made sense. The two, who were sitting at old-school typewriters, were typing out honest appraisals about guests’ appearances in the form of a poem. They were actually rather spot-on with their assessments. I would’ve loved to read their assessment of the of the girl in the red dress and cowboy boots who thought it was okay to leave the bathroom door open so anyone who walked by could see into the very lightly frosted glass of the bathroom stalls. But I didn’t get the chance.

Unfortunately, Jennifer couldn’t get out of Chicago, so the Joneses sent their plane to give her a lift this afternoon.

UPDATE: Alas, Jennifer didn’t make it as planned. Thank heaven, they had a Fergie nearby!

UPDATE ON UPDATE: Just heard from the Dallas Cowboys’ Joe Trahan (not to be confused with the WFAA Joe Trahan) that Jennifer did make it to the party after all and “performed late.”