Barack Obama will not be permitted to bring his Blackberry with him when he moves into the White House in January, much to his dismay. He will have three full-time calligraphers on his household staff of 94, though, as well as 18 maids, seven butlers, eight electricians and four florists. [NYP]

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When the Yellowstone Club filed for bankruptcy earlier this week, company execs were quick to reassure the clubs roster of billionaire moguls that the resort would remain open for the ski season. Now it looks like Bill Gates, Barry Sternlicht, Peter Chernin, Dan Quayle and the club's other members are going to need to find someplace else to spend Christmas vacation. Court filings indicate that the club doesn't have enough money to make monthly payroll, or even pay this month's food and electricity bills. What will happen? One suggestion: "Gates can just buy it and save the hassle of worrying about where to ski this winter." [WSJ]

♦ One of the recession's teeny silver linings: In an unprecedented move, luxury brands like Chanel and Louis Vuitton are cutting prices for US customers. [WSJ]
♦ Supermodels—they're just like us! Helena Christensen braved the crowds in London yesterday to grab a polka-dot Comme des Garçons cardigan from H&M, and proudly wore it out that night. [Grazia]
♦ Does Agyness Deyn care about the fate of fluffy animals or not? On Wednesday, she DJed at the Humane Society's Cool vs. Cruel ceremony with boyfriend Albert Hammond Jr. But she's apparently not averse to wearing fur on the runway or to non-animal rights events. [Fashionologie]

Gawker reports—and the Daily News confirms—that Ashley Dupre has taped her first TV interview since she got mixed up in a very minor scandal involving a politician that you may or may not have heard about back in March. Diane Sawyer sat down with the $5,000-an-hour woman yesterday for ABC News; the interview is expected to air next Friday as part of a two-part 20/20 special. It's quite likely Dupre collected substantially more than her standard rate for the Sawyer sit-down. Although ABC News cannot officially pay her for an interview per network policy, rumor has it she was compensated with a "consulting fee" and for "archival footage," which should keep her attired in $632 Fendi belts for many months to come.

More layoffs today in the wonderful world of media: In addition to cuts at EW and Essence, 8-10 people were let go yesterday from InStyle. Blackbook canned its creative director. Jim Cramer's NYC-based finance site, TheStreet.com, closed its offices in San Francisco. Bauer Publishing laid off five editorial people from Life & Style. Forbes dismissed staffers assigned to ForbesAutos.com, scaled back ForbesTraveler.com, and closed its conference business. But despite rumors to the contrary, Nylon says it is not closing down, so it isn't all bad news today.

♦ Former Country chef Willis Loughhead has signed on as executive chef of Table 8 inside the Cooper Square Hotel. The restaurant is expected to open in January. [The Feedbag, Eater]
♦ The 10 best places to go on a cheap dinner date in NYC. [NYO]
♦ To celebrate ten years in business, Café Boulud is debuting a new $75 five-course menu. [The Feedbag]
♦ A few impressions from Txikito's opening last night. [Strong Buzz]
♦ Gael Green offers up her take on Thomas Keller and Grant Achatz's 20-course dinner at Per Se the other night. [GS]
♦ Village Pourhouse near Columbia is testing out a novel way to lure customers to 109th Street: Take a cab to the bar, save your receipt, and the bartender will "match your cab fare in the form of a bar tab." [The Feed]

Before she picks apart Barack Obama's wardrobe, perhaps Times fashion critic should reevaluate some of her own questionable fashion choices? The new issue of the Daily Mini reports on Horyn's love of the jort, an item she's been wearing with alarming frequency to runway shows as of late. "Of course, Cathy is not the first to be seduced: Jorts have a long and storied history. The Dukes of Hazzard's Catherine Bach turned "Daisy Dukes" into a pop-culture icon. (Jessica Simpson revived the trend in the 2005 remake.) brave starlets like Nicole Richie, Lindsay Lohan and Kate Moss have also dared to bare thigh, though they tend to do so with a bit of irony." The cover of the November issue is below.

Sarah Palin Poolside? You Betcha! [Bauer-Griffin]

"I know a fair number of people who work for the firms that are imploding on Wall Street. When I see them, should I ignore the issue or say something, like: 'I'm sorry things are so bad at your company. It must be stressful for you?'" Philip Galanes has a few suggestions. [NYT]

Have you ever looked at a Barbie doll and wished you could replicate the look for yourself? You'll be able to do just that in a few short months. Mattel is now planning to turn Barbie into an "adult fashion brand"—something the company has already done in Asia—and partnerships are already in place with Bloomingdale's, Vera Wang, and Jeremy Scott. Mattel has also negotiated a pact with the CFDA whereby the trade group will help the company locate 50 designers willing to "produce life-size outfits inspired by Barbie" in exchange for a big, fat wad of cash, and Barbie's first runway show will take place during Fashion Week in February. But there's more to come: Mattel is also launching a line of beauty products, one of which bears the very appropriate name "Plastic Smooth." [WWD, The Cut]

No holiday celebrations this year for employees of CB Richard Ellis and Cushman & Wakefield: Both real estate firms have decided to forgo their annual Christmas parties. But CBRE says it's going to give employees a half-day off from work instead, which might very well be a better deal. [NYO]

Like most hedge fund moguls, Steve Cohen hasn't been having a very good run recently. (His flagship fund is reportedly down 18 percent so far this year.) But that isn't stopping the billionaire from making some home improvements: The proud owner of one of the most over-the-top estates in America is now looking to make his mansion even bigger. Last night, an application by Cohen and his wife, Alexandra, was put before the Greenwich Planning and Zoning Commission. The couple is seeking permission to add another 1,145 square feet to their already-massive 35,000-square-foot Crown Lane home. There's no word just yet as to whether the request was approved. There's also no word on what exactly the Cohens plan to use the additional space for, especially since the estate already has a basketball court, indoor pool, 6,734-square-foot ice skating rink (along with a separate structure to house the Zamboni), and about half a billion dollars in art scattered in every direction. A few photos of Cohen's estate are located here.

Are you close personal friends with Kim Basinger? If you are, and you're still looking for a perfect (and really inexpensive!) holiday gift to give her, you can head over to Europe where an ad agency is distributing Alec Baldwin-themed toilet paper as part of a promotion for 30 Rock. [AdFreak]

♦ Peter Chernin, Rupert Murdoch's right-hand at News Corp., may be planning to depart the company in the near future. [LAT]
♦ 60 Minutes has snagged the first interview with Barack Obama. [THR]
♦ WWD has a roundup of how magazines will fare overall in 2008. Most of the news is depressing, yes, but there are a couple of bright spots: Elle and Men's Journal reported 3 percent increases in ad pages. [WWD]
♦ You knew this one was coming: Political statistics star Nate Silver is reportedly shopping a pair of books to publishers. [NYO]

This is turning out to be a very bad week for Candace Bushnell. NBC cancelled Lipstick Jungle earlier this week. Now comes word that money-losing Sirius is discontinuing her weekly satellite-radio talk show, Sex, Success and Sensibility, after she declined to take a 50 percent pay cut. [Portfolio]

John Mayer shopping at Paragon Sports on Broadway and later leaving Gold Bar in SoHo with Jennifer Aniston (left) ... Jeff Daniels riding around town on a tiny bike ... Miley Cyrus arriving at the Sirius studios in Midtown for an appearance on Howard Stern's show ... Matthew Broderick walking son James to school in the West Village ... Regis Philbin and Don Rickles arriving at ABC's studios ... Famke Janssen crossing the street with her dog ... Leighton Meester hanging out on the Gossip Girl set ... Katie Holmes talking on her cell phone ... and Natalie Portman leaving her trailer on the set of her new film.

Here's a new way to sell real estate in these troubled economic times: Supply your hesitant clients with copious amounts of liquor, and then sit back and watch as inhibitions fade and the offers start to roll in. At least that's what several Manhattan real estate brokers are hoping, a number of whom are now offering up bourbon, wine, and whiskey at condo tours around town. [NYT]

Yesterday Times fashion writer Cathy Horyn gently rebuked Barack Obama's sartorial tastes, implying his "dad jeans" made him look like a sitcom character from the 1990s. ("When he wears them with white sneakers and a windbreaker, one could almost say he had stolen the look from Jerry Seinfeld's character on the television series.") The criticism isn't likely to convince Obama to break out the baggy jeans. As the President-elect made clear a few months ago, he's no fan of the belted-around-the-thighs look style favored by many young black men: "Brothers should pull up their pants," he told MTV viewers in a pre-election appearance. "You are walking by your mother, your grandmother, your underwear is showing... Some people might not want to see your underwear. I'm one of them."

It's a grim day for employees of Citigroup as they hear more about the beleaguered bank's plans to cut costs and slash another 10,000 jobs. But Citi director Dick Parsons doesn't want to see anyone to give up hope. He issued a memo to company employees earlier this morning and urged them to "keep the faith." The memo's below.