Diamonds, furs for Britney on her 26th birthday

Courtney Hazlett The Scoop

Britney Spears rang in her 26th year on Sunday and although she didn’t have her kids with her, she was surrounded by friends, fun and plenty of swag.

At 9:56 p.m., Spears and her pals Alli Sims and Sam Lufit arrived at the Scandanavian Style Mansion where Sharon Stone was hosting a party. OK! magazine reports that around 11 p.m., a small chocolate birthday cake was presented to Spears and a small crowd broke in to “Happy Birthday.”

Editor-in-chief Sarah Ivens says that the pop princess seemed to be in a much better state that the last time the two were together; during a disastrous photo shoot that resulted in an unfortunate incident with Spear’s dog and a Zac Posen dress. “Britney looked slim and pretty,” Ivens says. “I just kept thinking how much better it was this time around than the last time we spent time with her. We really hope this birthday and her new age will be a turning point.”

And in case you were wondering, the gifting suites at the Mansion made sure the birthday was a memorable one for Spears. She reportedly received the following:

$30,000 in fur coats
A $10,000 diamond and gold ring
$4,000 in Barito brand sunglasses
Various t-shirts and hair products

Brad Pitt’s pet project

Slide show   The week in celebrity sightings Ferrell and Reilly shake ‘n bake again, Miley sings in the city, McCartney stirs Beatlemania in Quebec and more. more photos

New Orleanians were thrilled to find out on Monday that Brad Pitt would be announcing plans to create more than 100 affordable, ecologically sound homes in the Lower Ninth Ward. This weekend, big pink houses were installed in the flood-ravaged neighborhood as stand-ins for those homes.

On Nov. 9, at the Clinton Global Initiative in Manhattan, Pitt pledged $5 million to the project, challenging others to match his largess. Producer and environmental philanthropist Steve Bing contributed $5 million. A team of architects led by John Williams of New Orleans began designing the homes. More details will be announced on Tuesday.

Weekend box office
This week’s rundown of the top three films looks a bit recycled. As predicted, last week’s No. 1 “Enchanted” took first place. Behind it were “Last Christmas” and “Beowulf.” This week’s new Jessica Alba film “Awake” was fourth place, and earned only $6 million.

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